Jed's FS-1 (starting with a problem)

[King Erik XIV]

1st post here, and 1st kit build.

My son Jed was given an FS-1 kit for his birthday which we were going to build together, but he and his friend jumped the gun and decided they would do it alone.

Mistake #1 they started when I wasn't around
Mistake #2 they didn't bother reading the manual or online info (friend said he has done it before)
Mistake #3 - see pic. They decided the first thing to do was to glue on the neck. Unfortunately they put it about 6-7mm too far into the body, so there was not enough room to put the pickup
They then decided that the only way around this was to remove the last fret, and chisel off the bottom section of the neck that protrudes into the pickup cavity. The result is that the overall length of the neck will be about 6-7mm shorter.

My question is - will having a slightly shorter neck be a problem.
Follow-up question, if you think it will be a problem, is there anything that I can do about it?

If I leave it as is and then put in the pickup there is a 3-4mm gap/hole between the pickup and the end of the neck, so any suggestions on how I could plug that or cover it?

Thanks
David

[vh2580]

The shorter neck will affect the intonation of the guitar. You could steam with an Iron to remove the neck and there are several vids on YouTube on how to do it. It also will depend on what type of glue was used as to wether it will come easily. To fit the pickup in its current configuration you will still need to remove more of the neck end so it would fit in the cavity.
I would have a go at removing and repositioning and then could tidy up the fretboard area with a statement piece of timber or shell or similar.

[Trevor Davies]

I agree with vh2580. The way it is now, the scale length would not be achievable using the tune-o-matic bridge. So the best thing to do would be to remove the neck and tidy the fretboard area.

OR If the neck cannot be removed, maybe:

1. Dowel and redrill the post holes to suite the scale length of the neck. (+ drill the ground wire hole).

2. Could the bridge be changed?

Could a bridge like used on some Gretsch's be used - like a Gretsch Adjust-O-Matic bridge? Care will need to be taken to get one with the correct string spacing and radius. The body post holes will need to be filled or covered. The kit tail piece will still work. This could be a reasonable option.

Could a hardtail bridge be used? I do not think the string height would be suitable, and the kit tail piece would not be used.

[King Erik XIV]

Thank you Tony and Trevor for your replies.
I approached Adam @ Pitbull with a few questions, and even asked about placing the body and neck so we could start again (that would cost $190 which is reasonable)
We have decided to try and salvage what is there, which may or may not work out, but it will be a great way to learn!
I like Trevor's suggestion to dowel and re-drill the post holes, and I think this could be a relatively easy way to go about it (compared with trying to remove the neck). I will fill, measure, drill, and use the hardware that I already have. That will leave a couple of dowel plugs visible, but I thought the easiest way to cover these and the gap at the neck is to cut a new pickguard that will cover any patches.

[King Erik XIV]

The story so far...
I tried staining the timber with a black stain - I like the look on the back, but the front has turned out more brown than black. Oh well, I'm not too fussy and that will do. (I'm not looking for perfection, I just want it to be useable and to learn a few things along the way). I covered the stain with Danish oil (I know it's perhaps not the best or most highly recommended for guitars, but it's what I had and it works for a lot of people), and then a polish with a beeswax furniture polish. I prefer a matt-type finish like this.
I decided to leave the neck as is and to fill and re-drill the holes for the bridge including the 2 other holes that weren't there in the first place. I think I have it in a position that will work. Interestingly one hole only went back about 2mm, while the other went back about 7mm. That means the neck is now offset and not in a straight line with the pickups. If you look at the bridge compared to the pickup cutouts, it looks like the bridge is angled the wrong way. However the bridge is correct in relation to the neck. I don't know if this is an error from the boys gluing it on an angle, or if it was because the guitar is cut wrongly, but I strongly suspect it was what the boys did. However, I don't mind the slight wrong angle as long as I can tune it. Given the somewhat abstract shape of these guitars, I don't think anyone will notice when looking at it ... I hope!

[King Erik XIV]

Getting close.
So far it all seems to be working. Just need to do the fine tuning, and check the frets.

[Trevor Davies]

Looking good. Hopefully it tunes up OK. The non-angled bridge worries me a bit!

[King Erik XIV]

Looking good. Hopefully it tunes up OK. The non-angled bridge worries me a bit!

It's not a non-angled bridge, its just that I took the measurements off of the neck and frets rather than worry about the pickup position. If you compare the bridge to the pickups it looks like it is angled the wrong way, but if you look in relation to the frets it measures right.