Greg's 12 String SG Build

[Greggo85]

I read somewhere that there is a sealer you can put on street the Keda to protect against the UV. But i do now remember you saying that you choose another dye.

Top coat, I'm not sure - I have a cousin who offered to allow me to use his automotive lacquer. He lives about s half hour from me and does shift work so I might just use a rattle can (Watco I've heard is good). But I also want a good quality finish, so I may use what was offered. Still undecided to be honest.

[Greggo85]

Yes it will be to heavy lol. The body is a little thicker than Gibson and Epi's SG's so that should help a little. I'm using mini Grovers, and I'm gonna try the new placement of strap buttons Gibson is doing on the 2018 SG's - which is right behind the to horn instead of the way Tony Iommi's SG's are. So that should help too.

[Greggo85]

It's been awhile since my last update but as you can see, the neck has been glued on using Titebond III. I'm also going to begin bursting the top tomorrow.

I was going to try and match the tone of the blue on the mahogany to the maple by using yellow. But that didn't work... at all! The yellow might have worked if I would have started with it, but oh well - the burst should look nice!

[Andy40]

What a brilliant blue Greggo. Thats Keda dyes then??

[Simon Barden]

For future reference, just use standard red top/label Titebond for the neck join. It's more than strong enough but it can be steamed apart if necessary. Titebond III is very heatproof and waterproof and if there's something wrong with the join, then you just won't get it apart and you either have to live with it or throw it away and get a new kit. Hopefully you did a test build and checked on neck placement and scale length with respect to the bridge position and angle before you glued it all together.

[Greggo85]

Yes Andy40 - Keda!

Simon - I appreciate the info and I'll keep that in mind. I checked to make sure - probably not as thoroughly as I should have but it's on there now! At this point all I can do is hope I got it. if not, it's.... a rather expensive learning op.

[Simon Barden]

I'm sure you'll be fine. Occasionally there have been problems with neck angle on the kits, resulting in a very high or overly low bridge height, which is why a test build with the neck clamped in place is always encouraged to make sure everything is fine and that you can make adjustments before anything is glued together. Even using the original Titebond, it's still quite an effort to get the neck off. Titebond II and III have their place in the woodworking world, especially for exterior work, but there are certainly a few instances where they are not the best product to use.

I really like what you've done so far, so here's hoping it's plain sailing all the way.

[Greggo85]

So today's update brings me to completing the Headstock. The neck is satin so I did the Headstock separately. Glossed, sanded and buffed out.

The body top has been given a black to blue fade as you can see. It's not absolutely prefect but I'm pleased with it. It took me s couple tries - first time I tried to blend the 2 together which might have worked if the blue and the black were the same product (mini wax stain vs dye). Lesson learned! Haha. So I stained the whole top black and hoped that using a disc sander would give me the effect I'm looking for and it did!

So next step is to start lacquer on the body!

[Fretworn]

Gorgeous finish. This is going to look awesome.

[Marcel]

The Blue has a lot of "Look at me" coming through ..... definitely a good thing as it will stand out in a crowd ...