Just a fountain of knowledge, you are!! Thanks again for more good advice. It would be pretty frustrating to get everything soldered and partly installed, and find the wires too short to reach.
Just a fountain of knowledge, you are!! Thanks again for more good advice. It would be pretty frustrating to get everything soldered and partly installed, and find the wires too short to reach.
Also, just thinking out loud! Why does the jack socket have a square cover/mounting piece? I think that would only be used if the socket was on the side of the body.
PitBull Builds: FVB-4, LP-1SS, FBM-1, AG-2, TB-4, SSCM-1, TLA-1,TL-1TB, STA-1HT, DSCM-1 Truckster, ST-1, STA-1, MBM-1, MBM custom, GHR-1 (Resonator).
Scratch Builds: Pine Explorer, Axe Bass, Mr Scary, Scratchy Tele's.
The little voices in my head keep telling me "build more guitars"
Good observation, TD. As I said back a ways, the component packet that came with the kit was missing several parts. Adam sent me a new complete component package, plus a good sized sack of randon spare parts. When I set it up for the photo, i just picked up a handy gold one out of that sack, not noticing that it was the square and curved one which fits on the side of the body. I am in the middle of soldering the wiring harness now, and using the proper jack socket. I did kind of a poor job getting the headstock decal on so a new one is in the mail. When it arrives, I will finish the TruOil coats on the neck. Also, giving the paint on the body a few more days to cure completely before puting on the clear coat.
Hope you all had a great Christmas down under.
What type of headstock decal are you using?
And thankyou. Yes, I had a great Christmas (& I did not have covid this time)! Perth has been mostly fine and hot. But there have been floods in Queensland, and fires around the place as well. So, some folks have not been having a great time.
I hope you had a great Christmas also.
PitBull Builds: FVB-4, LP-1SS, FBM-1, AG-2, TB-4, SSCM-1, TLA-1,TL-1TB, STA-1HT, DSCM-1 Truckster, ST-1, STA-1, MBM-1, MBM custom, GHR-1 (Resonator).
Scratch Builds: Pine Explorer, Axe Bass, Mr Scary, Scratchy Tele's.
The little voices in my head keep telling me "build more guitars"
Headstock will have just the regular PitBull Guitars decal. Pretty pedestrian and unimaginative, I know, but good enough for who it's for, as the saying goes. The volume and tune knobs with the kit are pretty ugly, so I have upgraded them. Buying a Graphtech nut from StewMac, and shopping for a cool truss rod cover.
You blokes (your term, not mine) have had a deuce of a time with fires the last few years. Guess that is part of the natural cycle, but they do make a mess, and California and Hawaii have had a couple of towns obliterated. Cold and dry here in the Utah desert. We need snow. Happy New Year.
"Buying a Graphtech nut from StewMac, and shopping for a cool truss rod cover."
I think a nice/cool truss rod cover makes a big difference.
and Yes, the "natural cycle" has been brutal around the whole world!
PitBull Builds: FVB-4, LP-1SS, FBM-1, AG-2, TB-4, SSCM-1, TLA-1,TL-1TB, STA-1HT, DSCM-1 Truckster, ST-1, STA-1, MBM-1, MBM custom, GHR-1 (Resonator).
Scratch Builds: Pine Explorer, Axe Bass, Mr Scary, Scratchy Tele's.
The little voices in my head keep telling me "build more guitars"
This is how it looks today. On my way to about 10 or a dozen light coats of wipe-on Poly, with very light sanding at 400 between coats to keep the little pimples down. This is when all of the little unevennesses and flaws that you thougt you had sanded out become obvious. I suppose most of us started thinking our finishes would look just like Gibson or Paul Reed Smith, but wrong. I at least have had to lower my expectations considerably. But that is OK. Early on I was not too sure of the color, but after half a dozen applications of deep red acrylic, with a 2-week wait for the acrylic to dry and cure completely, I am pretty happy with the color with the clear coats on. StewMac has posted a series of videos that are supposed to teach us to produce a guitar store-quality finish. I think I will study that perhaps with next winter in mind.
High temp in western Utah today was about 3 C.
Looking good. And I agree with the difficulty in getting a great finish! I go by the three foot rule. If it looks good from 3 feet away, when I'm not wearing my glasses, I'm happy! But keep trying and hopefully it gets better with practice.
33 degrees here today and getting to 39 on Saturday!
PitBull Builds: FVB-4, LP-1SS, FBM-1, AG-2, TB-4, SSCM-1, TLA-1,TL-1TB, STA-1HT, DSCM-1 Truckster, ST-1, STA-1, MBM-1, MBM custom, GHR-1 (Resonator).
Scratch Builds: Pine Explorer, Axe Bass, Mr Scary, Scratchy Tele's.
The little voices in my head keep telling me "build more guitars"
Lookin' great! I'm with Trevor on the 3 foot rule - I also find that once it's finished and I've been playing for a few weeks, I don't even notice all the little finish issues that I stressed about while building. I guess your brain (or mine at least) just learns to block them out!
#001 (LP-1S) [finished - co-runner up Nov 2018 GOTM]
#002 (WL-1)
#003 (MPL Megacaster - semi scratch build) [finished]
#004 (ST-1 JR - Arachnoid Superhero build) [finished]
#005 (LP jr)
#006 (TL-1A)
Junk shop acoustic refurbs (various)
'The TGS Special'
Good thoughts, both. Taking off the glasses makes a big difference. But each of us is his own worst critic, so we can afford to cut ourselves a little slack, right?
Got the wiring harness pretty much ready for installation (I look at all those wires going every way, and think I couldn't possibly have gotten this right), and I am waiting a while for the wipe-on Poly to cure before polishing. The neck looks and feels great, and a few more coats of TruOil to have it finished.
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