Joe G’s PSH-1 First Build Diary

[Joe Garfield]

I’d like your thoughts on this, please. 3 posts of pics. I was expecting some work but this seems a bit excessive on the sloppiness. The scratches in the veneer and the horrible neck sanding are just careless.

First set of pics showing mostly what looks like very rough sandpaper used on the veneer. You can see the scratches continue across the binding around the F-holes so it’s clearly not from the wood grain.

[Joe Garfield]

More... showing the neck heel is curved, slanted, generally uneven. It’s a messy fit and will take a bit of work and probably shims to fix.

[Joe Garfield]

More...showing some things around the edges - filler, dents, binding, etc.

[Sonic Mountain]

Yeah, that's a bit rough.

Nothing is unfixable though. The deep scratches in the veneer would be my biggest issue.

[Simon Barden]

Looks more like it's been put down on something rough, or some rough heavy things have been placed on the top, rather than rough sandpaper have been used.

I'd sand that heel flat, rather than try and use shims. And look to see if the neck is level withy reference to the top of the guitar when fitted. Often the fretboard isn't quite an even thickness from side to side to compensate. If it is flat, then leave the side-to-side angle well alone. Also remember that the sides of the pocket will stop the neck rotating even if you level up the side-to-side angle, so you'll also need to attack the pocket sides and use some veneer fillers to allow the neck to sit fully perpendicular.

I'd try a hot iron and a wet cloth on the veneer and see if those marks will steam out. Most should, and it will at least look a lot better, if not perfect.

[Joe Garfield]

I agree the deeper scratches are really the main concern. I can do a burst to hide things around the edges, I can steam out some of the dents, and I can sand and re-shape the neck. But the veneer is so thin there isn't much I can do to sand things out.



Maybe this pic shows the scratches the best. You can see the scratches continue into the binding around the F-hole. They clearly sanded the veneer with a very rough material.

I'll raise the grain and do a light sanding, maybe it will help. I just know these veneers are super thin and there isn't much sanding I can do.

The neck will need a bunch of work - the sides aren't perpendicular to the neck/fingerboard joint and the bass side does sit higher. It's also really roughly sanded so the neck block will get smaller as I finish it, and thus require shims (veneer) to make tight again.

[Simon Barden]

Or maybe they only rough sanded the ply underneath the veneer top, and the vacuum treatment they normally use to pull the veneer onto the top when gluing it has pulled the veneer down into those scratches. The veneer comes smooth enough, so I can't see them sanding it directly at all, But the ply top underneath may have needed some. But regardless of what actually happened, you've got a really poor kit there. It really should be returned. But the lockdown situation and the delays doesn't make that very practical.

[Joe Garfield]

I went back to look at my bill for this guitar and had a pretty major attitude adjustment. Challenge accepted.

[Joe Garfield]

Steaming out a dent: the only thing that could have made this more rewarding was using a tool I bought for another hobby but never used - the little trim iron

I fixed the one real dent on the front and a couple minutes n the back. I will let the wood fully dry before doing anything else.

[Joe Garfield]

I’ve waited 2 months for this guitar. Did anyone think I’d really stop that easily?

I cleaned up a few things.