Ah great thanks! So that’s the first step? I’ve looked at PBG instructions and they say to do a mock build and then it sort of launches into scale lengths and all sorts so not sure where to start at the moment!
Will have a proper look tomorrow and take closer pics!
It's not the easiest of guitars to do a mock build on. Don't fit anything permanently to start with. just wrap tape around bridge posts so they stay in the holes, don't fit the inserts yet.
I'd also wait a week or so before doing too much fitting. When I got my ES-3, it took that long for the wood to settle down and the neck to fit in the pocket. remember it's come from 40°C heat via a jet to sit in an unheated PO warehouse with who knows what in the way of temperature and humidity changes on the way.
In terms of the glue spots and body in general...do I sand it before applying the stain? I’ve seen numerous posts about sanding and sanding and sanding but then warnings about the veneer being incredibly thin and not to sand?!?!
Is it better to sand the glue spots off or use your tooth brush trick?
Crimson Guitars do some good staining videos and I found their stains excellent.
I started out with a nice black/red/amber burst that eventually turned into a brown mess.
See my build log for further details.
It is actually rather nice but I wanted a guitar with a burst...grrr.
I used their finishing oil which was good but the turning point for me was a can of Halfords PU Lacquer
I had knocking about. It turned a mediocre guitar into one I would have bought in a shop.
Best of luck, the boys here (especially Simon as he is UK based) are very knowledgeable and friendly.
Cheers, FB.
You won't sand the glue spots off without sanding through the veneer. The veneer is 0.6mm thick.
There isn't any need to sand the veneer except for a very light 'drag sand' (as StewMac call it), where you lightly run some fine grit paper (say P800 or P1000) across the surface using no real pressure at all, to dislodge any loose grain fibres. You'll probably want to do the same after applying the stain, as water or water-based stains will raise the grain a bit, making the surface feel rough.
The main purpose of sanding is to remove any tooling marks and get the flat surfaces as flat as possible but this really is mainly applicable to solid bodied guitars where they are machined out of solid blocks of wood. Hollow bodies ones made from bent/pressed ply don't have these marks and have a fair veneer face on the outside.
The neck and headstock will probably need sanding, but not too much. And keep to P180 grit as the finest grit you use if you can before staining. Too fine a grit and you close the wood surface up and stain take-up becomes patchy.
You probably haven't decided what to use as a finish yet, but in general, you'd get the really smooth finish on your clear coats.
It should be OK as long as you don't overdo it But it might evaporate a bit too quickly to see what's going on properly. Meths can be a bit like that so I use turps (oil painters turps). White spirit is fine but smells awful. It also shows up more of the grain pattern, so you can see what a clear finish would look like (or what a translucent finish would show).
As I said previously, you need to let the wood settle for a week or so before making any decisions on neck joint sanding etc. My ES-3 neck was the same when I first received it but fitted almost perfectly after a week or so.
Those marks are dents, possibly incurred during transit. You should be able to steam them out. Damp (not soaking wet but obviously moist all over) cloth over the top, then hold an iron on a steam heat setting over the top for 10-20 seconds. You should be able to see water vapour (as you can't actually see steam) coming off the cloth. You don't want the cloth to dry out, so best to check every few seconds.
You may not get it perfect first time, but you can repeat the exercise. You will get it somewhere between flat and a very slight dent, which you should be able to fill and hide when the clear finish goes on.
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