GST-1 Kit

[Tadhg]

Hello All. I've been lurking on here for years, and finally ordered my first kit last year. It was delivered in early October.
And I'm slowly getting into it. It was purchased as a birthday/Christmas gift for my son, so we're supposed to be building it together, but he's been a bit busy. And I don't want him to have to wait forever to receive his finished gift (he may or may not consider time spent working together to be a gift ).

The plan isn't fully developed yet. I've asked the boy for a headstock design (and given him suggestions for inspiration, not as direction), but he hasn't finalised that yet. He's picked a colour (we'll see how achievable it is), and I've organized a few upgrades with the original order. We'll get to that in time.

When the kit arrived, the neck pocket felt a little tight. After leaving it in my office (which gets a bit warm), the pocket ended up even tighter. And the pocket route didn't quite look right. I ended up using a chisel to very, very finely remove a little material on each side (scraping with the chisel - no hammer), and also to scrape out the radius a little more finely. I'm quite pleased with my efforts. I have a much greater appreciation for a sharp chisel! Below we have a before (with pickguard on) and after.


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You'll also note on the 'before' photo that the route for the neck pickup's a bit tight on the pickguard... I'm kept some shavings/sanding dust and I'm planning to mix them up with a little Titebond to fill that area a little. Just so that it doesn't stand out as an obvious shadow.

I've done a little re-shaping of the body. I routed the bridge for a humbucker. We're not going that way for now, but I'd rather leave the boy the option of swapping in a loaded pickguard with a humbucker down the track if he so chooses without needing to re-route, re-finish or re-shield (yep, we bought the copper shielding). I also massively increased both the belly cut and forearm carve, and given I've also bought an extended access neck plate, I shaped that, too. All of the initial cuts on those three locations were done with an angle grinder and a flap wheel. Then sanded flat with my old rectangular orbital sander. I was pretty pleased with myself - I didn't have any major grooves from the flapwheel, in spite of my relative inexperience with it all.

It's currently sitting sanded to 240 grit. Next step is grain filler. Then I'll drill all the holes (neck, then trem, then pickguard). Here's the comfort curves after sanding:



You can sort of pick up the depth of the forearm carve's extents by the grain:


With everything sitting at that stage, I decided to tackle something I could do after dark. I levelled out the truss rod and did a fret dress and polish. We had quite a few high frets - and the 20th was very, very low. We'll find out how I went when it's all installed, but having levelled, dressed and polished the frets, I'm hoping it'll go close.



I'll try to update as we go. And thanks to Sonic Mountain for letting me drop round so he could have a look over the kit before I got into it.

[Tadhg]

Well... I've been busy with everything but this, unfortunately. I've made a little progress.
First was to use some of the timber shavings I'd saved to fill the top side of the neck pickup route. It was just a little too tight on the edge of the pickguard. I overfilled it, then cleaned it up with a chisel.

In advance of paint, given we're talking Ash, it seemed prudent to do some grain filling. So I went and purchased some TimberMate, and given colour wasn't a stress (I'm still being told it'll be painted by the boy), I went ebony. That also helped me check for any grooves where I'd enlarged comfort carves (think I did ok). It's now sanded to 400 grit.

Rear view:

I think that shows the enlarged or extra carves (belly cut and neck plate) fairly well, thanks to the TimberMate.

Front view:


Overall, I'm reasonably happy. I ran the TimberMate too wet during its first application (I did two coats) - it wasn't a slurry, it wasn't 15% water, I spilled in too much. So painting it on was like painting water. Most of the body has come up very well. But I think I need to redo three smaller locations, including the forearm carve.
I've got two fine cracks that are open (need filling - one area, one of the cracks is the body seam), a roughish spot on a radius/edge, and the forearm carve I've taken a little too much off - the TimberMate came off a little more than the timber, and I can feel the wave of the grain again.

Given the TimberMate went on very wet, it also went into the neck pocket. Which is now too tight again. So I'll need to sand that back, too... It's a very, very fine coat - I scraped it out - but you can see the TimberMate in all the cavities. I've sanded back everywhere I can in the cavities - I'm hoping that it's sufficient for the primer/basecoat, and the copper shielding tape.
You can also see the extent of the filling in the neck pickup route, which has retained more of the TimberMate than the area around it.

If you've any tips, I'm more than open to them.

[dozymuppet]

Well, it would be a shame to paint over that lovely grain, that's for sure.

Either way, you want the neck to have as much contact with the neck pocket as possible. If you're confident you've sanded enough without taking away any of the shape, then wipe it with Shellite or equivalent to remove any residual surface impurities. If you're going to spray it, I would tape up the pocket to prevent any more layers of "stuff" building up. The pickup cavities are less important.

Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

[Tadhg]

To my surprise, I thought the grain looked better before filling... I do like it on the comfort carve, but there's a few spots where it's just not that strong. The finish isn't my call, though (that's the boy's call), and, if I can get it right, it should look pretty special. If...

I'll definitely tape up the neck pocket for painting. I was trying to keep the filler out of there, but it was so wet it just started to flow in there. I'm not stressed about the shape of the pocket - I'm confident that I'll be able to keep it square. I don't want it too tight - I don't want to have that typical hairline crack on the lower side in a few years' time.
I'll have a look at getting some Shellite.

[Tadhg]

So... I’ve done more. I block sanded the sides of the neck pocket to remove the grain filler. I got back to a nice fit. I used more Timber Mate to go over areas where I felt I’d taken too much off, and where I had small chips. It looked good. Though, looking again, I'm wondering if I've taken enough depth off the carves... Maybe I should've gone deeper/bigger/thinner at the edge?

Then I started to pre-assemble before drilling, to check scale length. And that’s where things got interesting...

I bought a Babicz FCH Z series 2 Point Trem for this build. It looks great. I looked at how to install the bridge – the only info I could find was this: The online guide for installing the ST Bridge is here. It basically shows that you stick the neck in, drop the pick guard on, and then drop the bridge in. In theory, the neck sets out the pick guard, the pick guard sets out the bridge. But it doesn't work that way for my guitar, partly due to the 2 Point Trem (it’s not as clear to set out as a 6 point with the solid steel across the front of the trem). But even with the supplied bridge, it doesn’t work.

If I were to use the Kit bridge, I’d need to shave 1mm out of the pick guard to make it fit (whichever end). I know that I’ve messed with the pocket – I widened it slightly a couple of times, and I reshaped the corners to allow a better fit for the neck. So that the neck could fit all the way in to the end of the pocket. But I didn’t extend the pocket, and I don’t believe I’ve moved the neck by more than 1mm.

So, I had a chat with Sonic Mountain (showed him the kit in person), he said that having too long a neck pocket isn’t actually that unusual... He suggested moving the neck out maybe 2mm.
Next, given Simon Barden’s started his Hexacaster build, I messaged him and we’ve confirmed a few numbers. I’d found a PDF that was supposedly a Strat’s setout dimensions. I know this isn’t technically a strat, but there’s clear inspiration here. The PDF had 76.2mm for the length of the neck pocket. That matches Simon's Dave Gilmour Custom Shop Fender Strat. My kit was 80mm deep. Simon's was about the same. Most of the other dimensions on the PDF matched relative to each other, but they didn’t have anything else tying to the neck pocket.

So, in setting the neck the full 80mm into the body, the best setout I could get with the Babicz gave me 646 along the top E. Obviously that needed to be longer - I needed tolerance. The neck from the nut to the top of the 12th fret was 323.5mm.

To further complicate things, the Babicz casting is different where the trem bar mounts. The kit trem is 26mm from the heel of the trem to the leading edge of the steel at the trem bar. But the Babicz is only 22mm. That means, if the trem’s located towards the back of the route, you can see through the trem/block route – the Babicz doesn’t cover it. That meant that, even if I was getting 646 and only theoretically needed to move 2mm, it would look terrible. I needed to move 4mm, to cover the trem/block route.

I was in a quandary about what to do with it all... Ultimately, I decided to fill the neck pocket. I have some saplele veneer; I used Titebond and layered up the bottom of the neck pocket. I got it back to 75mm. I then did the super glue and masking tape trick to put some sandpaper on the bottom of the neck, and used that to sand back to smooth and length. This got me to the correct scale length, though I then found further issues...

I got the scale length right, the neck fitted beautifully. But I had to extend the routes for the pickups (the neck pickup was hitting the body), and then I had to extend the route for the pickup selector. Because it was hitting the body, and I need clearance for when I shield the cavity.

The one frustration I’m left facing after doing this work is that I carved my extended access neck heel to suit the 80mm, and so now it’s a little deep. I’m half considering carving/routing a small rebate into the back of the body for the neck plate, because the neck plate now extends a little (less than 1mm) past the point where the timber blends to the plane of the back of the guitar.

With all that done, I’ve then gone and drilled my neck holes in the body and the tuner holes in the neck. I’ve drilled the 2 point trem ferrule holes –I did it in two stages. First, I drilled 6mm holes to check the pin locations were acceptable, and then went to the full 3/8” to work the ferrules. Babicz recommends 3/8” for most applications, but 25/64” for harder timbers (like Ash). I’m not doing the oversize... I tried a Ø10 drill bit into some scrap hardwood – the ferrule fell straight out. 3/8” is roughly 9.5mm. 25/64” is roughly 9.9mm. My understanding (from TAFE, many years ago) is that all drills drill slightly oversize (even reamers do, but they’re a closer tolerance). The ferrules measure at Ø9.8. So I don’t know why you’d go a 25/64” – it would be too big. I tried the ferrules in the freezer; they didn’t shrink as much as I hoped. The only positive is that they’re so deep that you end up drilling through the body into the spring cavity on the back of the body, and so can push them out of the body (after trial fitting) from the back.

So... The kit’s definitely needed a little adjustment. I’ve increased carves, played with routing, filled part of a pickup route where it was exposed by the pick guard, and adjusted the neck pocket. None of which was necessarily expected, though most of which was not necessarily unwelcome or problematic. Only the neck pocket issues (primarily its length) would I consider significantly problematic, given the lack of info, and given it required filling in timber rather than removing it. But all of it has been, in its own way, enjoyable.

The current status is that the guitar’s sitting in my son’s room with the neck bolted on, pick guard sitting in place, and trem held in place by the springs to the claw (and holding the pick guard in place). Next step is to get the boy to provide a headstock shape (I’ve been asking him for months), cut that, and then move on to finishes.

Thanks to Simon and Sonic for their assistance.

And here's some photos....

As it sits - bridge not correctly located:


Forearm curve:


Saplele veneer extending the pocket, and extended pickup route:


Neck plate:


Rear view of the claw:

[Tadhg]

So... Dead thread, but the build is alive. It's been a very, very busy period for work. And it's been tough getting engagement with the boy to get him engaged (I'm not supposed to be building this purely for him, but also with him). He's been distracted with work/school/gaming and playing one of my guitars. I ended up doing more shaping late last year (2021). I had to do some more grain filling afterwards.

After the grain fill, the boy changed his mind about the finish. Because he liked the grain, and wanted to see it. So the plans for solid colours changed. We ended up with a Rit Dye option, and we've done the dye. I'm fairly happy with the outcome. The dye is also cleared, and polished. But there's some work to do on the neck (sanding, plus the frets have corroded (yellow brown?!) since I dressed and polished them! We've had double the annual rainfall here) before finishing the neck, and I've not yet shielded the body or run wires. I've told the boy - who graduated last month - that he's responsible for the sanding. He's got time, he's just in that apparently common post-graduation slump.

When I manage to get him to finish the sanding, then finish the neck (there's less than a week's work to do that - it's just a matter of when he chooses to do it), I'll get it all hooked up and post a full update and photos.

In the meantime, I've bought myself a bass kit. I had to borrow a bass last month (not a regular bassist), and it seemed a wise idea to have one for next time. And I've enjoyed this kit. I'm not going to start the bass kit until this one's finished - it wouldn't be right to make good progress with the bass whilst the boy's guitar isn't finished. Plus there's another guitar (well, bass) which was borrowed and needs restringing... Plus, work's been insane the last couple of years... Which is good (no work, no money), but tiring and time consuming.
But I'm looking forward to using what I've learned on this kit on the next one - especially given both are ash bodies...

[Trevor Davies]

Hi Tadhg,

I would start your bass build ASAP. That might provide the inspiration for the progress of the GST.

[Tadhg]

You may be right, Trevor...
I'll keep nagging for another couple of weeks, then see if I get a chance to start on it after Christmas. Too much work to get sorted before then.

[Tadhg]

So, it's almost 2 years.
I said I'd get back after I managed to get progress. Well...

I did manage to get the boy to sand the neck on his kit. And to oil it. I did the copper shielding. Here's a photo of the body with the copper tape in it:



So, it's Rit Dye (powdered Rit Dye). It's the ash body, with ebony grain filler, and a four colour burst - royal blue on the outside, teal on the edge and over everything, then another blue, and then a yellow towards the centre. Though the yellow wasn't very strong.

The headstock is the Teal and Royal Blue. I managed to download a Fender-style font to do a custom logo, which was printed on a cricut machine and buried under the clear.

Effectively, I think it was set up before he started uni (Bachelor of Music) that next year. It's been at uni most weeks, and he played a heap of songs on it for a class performance. Here's a photo when it was finished, on his bed.



I don't have anything more up to date than that. It falls out of intonation about every 20 weeks; that seems to be when he needs to change strings (which immediately fixes the intonation issues). It's heavy, but it looks great, plays rather well... He's been very happy with it. The Babicz trem has been great (I floated it). He decided he wanted a humbucker, so he bought himself a MIM loaded pickguard. He's happy, I'm happy, can't ask for much more.

I should note, the clear I used was the SCA clear. Sadly, they don't make it anymore. Well, not the same stuff. When I asked at SuperCheap to buy some for the next project, they told me they ran into supply chain issues, and so have changed supplier.
The previous supplier for SCA spray cans was Duplicolor.

Anyway, the next project. It's a JB-4. I did some extra contouring on it (just increasing arm and belly carves, same as the ST-1), and tried the same technique.
Except, I decided to try a wire brush on it. Which didn't work very well. I was thinking about the Sand Blasted Ash finishes we see, which are pretty cool.
So, I got brave, and pulled out the wire wheel for the angle grinder.
To my shock, the ash was hard enough that the wire wheel didn't really make much of an impact outside the soft wood in the grain. It looked fantastic. A light sanding, and it was great.

I then grainfilled with the same ebony Timbermate as I used on the ST-1. Again, it looked great - smooth, great contrast.

So it was Rit Dye time. I tried the same concept - a burst. Scarlet and Fuschia, with some Yellow in the middle.
Strangely, the grain fill mostly washed out. I don't know why - it'd been sitting there a while, and it'd been solid when it went on. Regardless, I think it came up fairly well.

I don't actually have any photos of it with strings on, or even the bridge on it, and I think it's better in the timber than in these photos, but here's a start.





So, I think I've done ok! The ST is in regular use; the JB is strung up B-E-A-D, and gets occasional use. And I'm happy with both.

I have another 16 year old now. She's actually getting guitar lessons (the boy did Grade 7 piano and taught himself guitar; the 16 year old is Grade 5 level piano, but lacking all motivation, so we've given her guitar lessons), and she wants me to build her a guitar. I've been looking on Pitbull's website, but the pickings are sparse?

[fender3x]

I love the look of the grain on the Jazz! I am working on a jazz body myself (at least it's in the cue)...and will take this as inspiration. Very cool to build for kids. My daughter and I did that as well, and there are few things as satisfying as when your kid takes up the guitar you made together. My son is a fairweather drummer. Hoping to interest him in a cajon drum build...We'll see. In any case some very cool build1. I know what you mean, BTW on the hardness of ash. My daughter's body was ash and it weighs a ton (which doesn't bother her). I broke three screws mounting the bridge. I have read the janka hardness numbers and don't believe them. It's easily as hard or harder than Canadian maple in the necks I have been using.

Please post pics of the jazz when you have it fully up... I am thinking that stringing mine BEAD might be a good idea. Did you use a 5 string set? Or did you just detune?