EX-1L Custom, First Pit Bull Kit guitar

[tobagon]

I finally had the time to sand - unrelated note: with the famous song "I'm still s(t)anding" in my head - and now I was able to make the bridge and the neck fit. The neck fit is not too tight, but also not very loose. I'm still kind of worried that i got carried away by the song and sanded a bit too much.

I also glued in the piece that came off using CA, thanks! Apparently a small piece went missing, but I'll have to live with that.

When I put in the neck and two strings there were a few things I immediately noticed:
1) The string action seems to be very high, even though the bridge posts are screwed in all the way already
2) the low E-string is veeeery close to the edge of the neck, that becomes even more apparent in the picture with both E strings attached
3) the plastic neck humbucker ring doesn't fit into the cavity, because the neck is in the way. In the picture I've somehow pushed it in, but you can see that the humbucker cavity and the plastic part are not well aligned.

I still have to measure the scale length to see how that fits.

For 1) I guess I have to measure the angle and the scale length, and then decide on whether or not I need something to shim the neck?
I don't really have any ideas on how to correct 2) except for redrilling the bridge post holes, which I'd prefer to not do... Do you have any other ideas?
I've seen problem 3) in the other EX thread https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...ead.php?t=9684. They tackled the problem by filing/sanding the neck/fretboard. I think I might follow their approach here.

[aido78]

HI,

For the string to neck alignment issue - I would dowel the existing holes and re-drill. This is the best solution and it won't look too bad as the bridge hardware will cover the dowels. Whilst you're at it, what is the e strings spacing like at the nut? If they are not aligned there it would be worth making adjustments to the nut now rather than later.

For the string height - yes, shimming the neck is the way to go. I had to do this on my RC-1 and it was a simple case cutting and graduating enough material to both raise the neck and adjust the break angle.

[tobagon]

So after a long time of being discouraged because of this diagnose, I continued working on the kit. Thankfully I was checking other EX-Threads as well and apparently many had the problem of an angular neck heel front. So I had a closer look at mine and sanded carefully to even that out. As it turns out, the neck sits now in a way that the strings are correctly aligned
Further, I experimented with maple veneer to get the right shim height. It took a bit, because somehow the neck was rocking up and down a bit in the neck pocket, but I figured that i just had to put more veneer closer to the bridge to angle the neck even more and that worked out. If put into the pocket, the neck now sits tight, the strings have a reasonable distance and the bridge posts don't have to be all the way down.

Now that that was taken care of I sanded everything, watered, sanded again and started applying the birchwood sealer and filler to prepare for the tru oil application. I diluted the Sealer with naptha to make it easier to apply. Unfortunately, I have gotten a few runs which I will have to sand out again. You can see though, that there's already a nice shine to the body.
I used spray can lacquer for the fretbord and gave it several coats.

While that was happening/drying, I used the maple veneer to build new covers for the Truss Rod and the electrics to replace the plastic parts.

I also bought a new graphtech TUSQ nut that I will put in once the neck is glued in, in order to then sand it to the right height.

I've been thinking of putting my signature or a logo on the headplate of the guitar. Since I didn't come up with a nice logo so far I will probably go with the signature. Do you have any recommendations what could work well with tru oil? In one of the pics you can see a discarded shim with some markers I tried with the tru oil and how they bleed
out.

[DarkMark]

Plenty of people here use sealed decals. You could try an inlay with black glitter if you have engraving tools. You can see I did this with gold glitter in my ES-3 diary. But practice on scrap first.

[JimC]

This is what I did (close enough so you can see where the chisel slipped. Sigh).
Hollowed out the headstock in a circle, using a circle cutter for the edges, same cutter to make a circle of veneer and abalone (I think), cut in halves and a Laser printer transfer/decal on top. Goodness knows how many layers of Birchwood sander/filler on top (don't worry if it wrinkles) and tru oil finish. I was worried about the sealer/filler solvent and the decal, but as you can see it was OK. Scan or photo your sig, tidy up the graphic and make a decal from it and you should be good to go.

[tobagon]

Plenty of people here use sealed decals. You could try an inlay with black glitter if you have engraving tools. You can see I did this with gold glitter in my ES-3 diary. But practice on scrap first.

that looks very nice!
I don't have engraving tools, but am now considering getting one.... Would it be fine to engrave on an already finished surface? How did you glue in the glitter and how did you seal it afterwards?

This is what I did (close enough so you can see where the chisel slipped. Sigh).
Hollowed out the headstock in a circle, using a circle cutter for the edges, same cutter to make a circle of veneer and abalone (I think), cut in halves and a Laser printer transfer/decal on top. Goodness knows how many layers of Birchwood sander/filler on top (don't worry if it wrinkles) and tru oil finish. I was worried about the sealer/filler solvent and the decal, but as you can see it was OK. Scan or photo your sig, tidy up the graphic and make a decal from it and you should be good to go.

That also looks very nice! It is nice to hear that there weren't any problems with the decal and the tru oil finish! I think that a decal would definitely look better than just signing it. Plus: I got more than one try.

Thanks for the advice, I will have a hard time choosing.

[DarkMark]

[QUOTE=tobagon;187396]that looks very nice!
I don't have engraving tools, but am now considering getting one.... Would it be fine to engrave on an already finished surface? How did you glue in the glitter and how did you seal it afterwards?

I have tested this on an already stained and sealed surface (page 14) using fast drying super glue and it worked, but it requires sanding and reapplying clear coats. Afterwards I just sealed it with whatever I was using-wipe on poly. The inlay process is outlined on page 8 of the diary. If you are considering it, have some practice tests first.

[Simon Barden]

Laser printed decals should be fine with most finishes. Ink-jet printed decals are likely to be less ink-fast so they may run a bit into the finish. Jim's decal was a laser printed one.

[tobagon]

Thanks! I think I will go for a laser printed decal then, as that seems to be easier to apply and I feel like I tried enough new things in this build already.
So for the next days/weeks I will come up with a design of the signature using a tablet pen and said tablet. With that I should be able to make it look almost calligraphic.
I will also continue to increase the grit between the tru oil applications - I am already using micro mesh pads and it's starting to be a very soft glossy finish.

I also got some bat-fretboard stickers and am wondering if I should put them on and secure them with a bit of spray can clear coat, like I did with the rest of the fretboard before. I have heard that these kind of fretboard marker stickers are pretty durable, so maybe that's not necessary.

[tobagon]

I'm having trouble to get a nice and even shiny finish, often streaks are visible (even with diluted tru oil) and although it does look kinda glossy, glass or plastic like, there are some parts that are not as smooth as others. Maybe I can post pictures later. Any ideas or recommendations how to apply the last coats of tru oil?
Or do I just leave it like that, wait a few weeks and then sand/polish?