My Build Diary

[OEG69]

Hi All,

New to this so any advice would be very welcome. I have attached some pictures of where things are at the moment. The neck has had 10 coats of tru oil, letting it sit for the next week or so before final buff to make sure its hard enough.

Had a horrible thought that I jumped ahead by marking and drilling the body as I haven't applied any grain filler as yet but I'm thinking that if i make sure to clean out any drill holes I will be okay.

Welcome any advice that anyone has, this is my first kit and thus far, all learning has come for either watching hours of You Tube videos and extended conversation with Chat GPT who actually seems to come up with some pretty sound advice.

Stay Safe, Happy Builds and Picking.

OEG69

[Trevor Davies]

Hi OEG69. The black should look good. How do you intent to stain it?

Also, the taped area on the heel of the neck? I would normally tru-oil the whole of the heel at the same time as the rest of the neck. What are intending for the area under the tape?

[OEG69]

Hi Trevor,

Haven't considered any stain for the neck. Was planning on just the Tru oil finish. The reason I taped off the heel was hat I didn't want anything to interfere with the fit, as it was very snug out of the box, I thought that coats of oil or such would add layers thus potentially messing with the fit, and if it had to be sanded back, I would mess the fit up even more. Suggestions? Very open and keen to learn from people that have done this before.

[EsquireEsque]

Hi Trevor,

Haven't considered any stain for the neck. Was planning on just the Tru oil finish. The reason I taped off the heel was hat I didn't want anything to interfere with the fit, as it was very snug out of the box, I thought that coats of oil or such would add layers thus potentially messing with the fit, and if it had to be sanded back, I would mess the fit up even more. Suggestions? Very open and keen to learn from people that have done this before.

I would suggest continuing with the tru oil.... if by chance it is too difficult to put the neck in - just lightly sand around the base of the neck to help it "slide in".

[OEG69]

Here is one for the electrical brains trust, Need some help please with understanding the wiring. What is the Grey wire from the switch for and where does it go?

Also, a yellow wire has come off the volume pot, from the middle tab I think can someone please confirm.

What goes to ground? and which two are for the socket jack. Thank you, appreciate the advice.

OEG69

[Trevor Davies]

Here is one for the electrical brains trust, Need some help please with understanding the wiring. What is the Grey wire from the switch for and where does it go?

Also, a yellow wire has come off the volume pot, from the middle tab I think can someone please confirm.

What goes to ground? and which two are for the socket jack. Thank you, appreciate the advice.

OEG69

Yes, your yellow wire does come from the middle lug of the volume pot. The other end joins to the jack tip.
One of the black wires will go to the jack ground.
The other black wire will go to the trem' claw ground.
The grey wire is the switch ground, the other end can be soldered onto any of the pot grounds.

Different colour for the switch ground, but like the following picture:

[Trevor Davies]

Hi Trevor,

Haven't considered any stain for the neck. Was planning on just the Tru oil finish. The reason I taped off the heel was hat I didn't want anything to interfere with the fit, as it was very snug out of the box, I thought that coats of oil or such would add layers thus potentially messing with the fit, and if it had to be sanded back, I would mess the fit up even more. Suggestions? Very open and keen to learn from people that have done this before.

I would add some tru-oil to the neck heel, especially the parts that are visible when the neck is on. Otherwise, it may be difficult matching the colour.

[OEG69]

Hi Trevor,

Thank you so much. Explains things very well. Appreciate the advice.

OEG69

[OEG69]

Hi Trevor, Wanted to say thank you for the advice, it got me to thinking and you're very correct, there were parts of the heel that are visible once seated. Appreciate the advice, you saved me from making a mistake that wouldn't have ben noticed until much later on, and would have been harder to fix. Thank you.

Regards

Owen - OEG69

[fender3x]

Watching "hours" of YouTube is actually not a bad idea. Watching just one on any particular thing you want to do can be a little dicey since not everyone who posts on YT knows what they are doing. But if you watch a few vids on the same process you get an idea who is genuinely knowledgeable, and what the standard practices are.

1+ putting some finish on the neck heel, and one additional reason: it will seal the wood. You don't need as many coats on the heel if you are worried about fit, but you do want to seal it. Otherwise it could swell or shrink a bit with changes in humidity, sweat, drought, global warming, gushing fans, etc. You don't need as much finish on the heal as in places that will get more wear, however, particularly if you are concerned about fit.

Moisture is also part of the reason for the pre/post drilling conundrum. There are folks that always pre-drill. I typically don't pre-drill. I use water based finishes. In the past I have also wet-sanded (although I am doing less of that now). In either process there is a chance of getting water trapped under cured finish, and that can really mess things up, particularly if it makes the wood swell. The downside of not pre-drilling, however, is that you run the risk of chipping or cracking the finish when you drill into the cured finish at the end of the build.

Advantages to Pre-drilling include that it allows for a complete dry fit, and avoids the risk of cracking or chipping when drilling at the end. It seems to me that most of the folks here who pre-drill tend to use oil finish...but I could be wrong about that. Since you have already pre-drilled, I would recommend doing a few quick coats with shellac or Tru-Oil or some other non-water based sealer before applying any water based products or wet sanding just to be cautious. I use shellac a lot because it is very thin, it's cheap and it's compatible with almost everything, but since you already have Tru-Oil that would do the trick as well ;-)