The bargain bin ES-5

[FrankenWashie]

Don’t forget to have a close look at your neck angle if you are going down the floating bridge path.

Roger that, there is some advanced stupid happening with the neck block, so that will be taken into account. Prior to opening the box I had discovered that it would need to have been a custom bridge anyway, neck angle was rather steep.

[FrankenWashie]

You're a braver man than I, Frankie!

I'll stick to my solid bodies...

Often brave and stupid are interchangeable terms....

[Fretworn]

Which one is Frankie, which one is Igor? Hmmmmm?

[FrankenWashie]

Oh I wish I looked that good, such smooth clear skin and such a healthy pallor! Sigh. Not to be.

At any rate, the FrankenLab tutorial in advanced Ill advised luthiery continues. Today’s lesson, removing a faulty neck block.



The neck block in this ES is pawlonia. Not such a bad thing, pawlonia is a traditional cabinet making timber in Asia, and many fine guitars have been made from it. This was not a great piece of pawlonia however. Notice the very rough floor to the neck socket, this is what happens when you try to shape pawlonia with tools that aren’t as sharp as they should be. The fibres resist, tear at the tool edge and pull chunks with them when depart. This leaves you with a moonscape. Not ideal for a critical joint in my view.

By heating up a bridge knife with a micro torch I was able to free the top edges of the block from the guitar sound board. This was made easier by the fact that I only really had to free one side.


Note the complete absence of glue from the top side of the block in the photo (upper side of the joint in the guitar). You can see also from the view of the box with out the block that there is absolutely no glue on the upper side of the joint. The bulk of the glue is on the lower bout side and the face of the block.



You can see the residue of the original factory glue up, in the whiteish residue. I think it is a form of space filling urethane type glue, it is flexible and pliant, even when set. This also makes it a bugger to remove with anything other than a sharp chisel and patience.
The yellow glue residue is the titebond I used when I fitted up the shims to tighten the neck pocket. Potentially my earlier kludging had reinforced the joint, but I guess that is all moot now.

At this stage I want to point out, I am not having a go at PBG, or the quality of the product, I am just laying out what I have found. Not sure that anyone else is likely to pursue a course in advanced stupid like the FrankenLab, and go to these lengths with a kit build, but I do this kind of stupid so other don’t have to, or at least are well informed if they take leave of their good senses and have a crack.

So with the old block removed, some work need to be done on setting a proper curve for the front of the guitar. Some careful reshaping of the neck heel needs to be contemplated and a suitable block of mahogany needs to be fabricated.



Once this has set up for a day or so we will get to measuring plate angles and marking out to shape that block, and setting up to hog and rout the heel pocket.





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[OliSam]

This is a top diary.
So much more knowledge is gained from this kind of experimentation.
Thanks so much for sharing in such detail - a 3 thumbs up to you Sir.



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[king casey]

This is a top diary.
So much more knowledge is gained from this kind of experimentation.
Thanks so much for sharing in such detail - a 3 thumbs up to you Sir.

A cautionary tale for all potential ES-5 owners and current owners crying into their tea.
Somehow I'm thinking my decision not to leap on this one are somehow vindicated.

Having looked though, I cannot now look away.

cheers, Mark.

[FrankenWashie]

A cautionary tale for all potential ES-5 owners and current owners crying into their tea.
Somehow I'm thinking my decision not to leap on this one are somehow vindicated.

Having looked though, I cannot now look away.

cheers, Mark.

I would say that, having seen a number of the standard ones built with no issues, this custom version might simply be a “Monday or Friday job” from the factory. It’s certainly a learning exercise for me and hopefully a bit of a guide for others. I believe though that standard ex factory would be fine, it’s the risk you accept of the bargain bin pickups.

It’s a lot of fun though isn’t it?😁

[FrankenWashie]

This is a top diary.
So much more knowledge is gained from this kind of experimentation.
Thanks so much for sharing in such detail - a 3 thumbs up to you Sir.

So that would be Igor’s left hand then 😉 Cheers Oli!

[McCreed]

At any rate, the FrankenLab tutorial in advanced Ill advised luthiery continues.

This literally made me LOL, and I nearly snarffed my coffee!!!

Thank you.

[FrankenWashie]

The replacement neck block has been rough fitted, but I’ll fitting shall hav to wait until I can get around to making some moulds to hold everything true until I can get the back refit.



I’ve left the neck block deliberately tall to allow for any angle I might need to factor in for the back plate, it looks pretty flat but better safe than sorry




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