Gavin & Ebens BC-1

[gavinturner]

Thanks guys. We are in the home straight now. We'll see how well the young fella does with the soldering iron. If he's anything like me at his age I'll keep the burn cream handy and his mother as far away as possible .

Cheers,
Gavin.

[sfkhooper]

With only a few coats of poly on the headsock, the little guy could not wait to apply his custom decal. So, executive decision made, we went ahead and applied the sucker! The result looks pretty awesome and it was high-fives (sic) all round. We managed to *just* fit the decal between the top tuning pegs.

That decal is really good! Can I ask how/where you got it made? Great build so far, by the way. That is one lucky kid!

[gavinturner]

That decal is really good! Can I ask how/where you got it made? Great build so far, by the way. That is one lucky kid!

Thanks Hoops! We got the decal made at 'Best Decals' - their 'Custom Headstock Decal' offering:

http://www.best-decals.com/

Eben went for the silver option. I've also used white and been very happy. The decals they make aren't water-slide, they stick on, and I have had good experiences with them. Saying that, I always cover all decals, including these, in as many coats of clear as I can.

cheers,
Gavin.

[sfkhooper]

Cheers, Gavin. I've been hunting around for a decent vendor. These guys look like they could be the goods!

[gavinturner]

hi guys,

a little more progress on our build this weekend. We managed to get the top and back wet sanded and buffed (although not as nicely as I would have liked - this poly is not behaving itself, and patience is not a 9 year old's virtue) and also got the pickup cavities shielded. After shielding, we grounded the bridge and installed the pickups with their chrome surrounds. The pickups are Entwistle HVX's (http://www.entwistlepickups.com/pickup.php?puid=HVX) which I have read rave reviews about. I was looking at some Entwistle soapbars for another project a few weeks ago, and my son saw the HVX's and had to have them (go figure). Anyway they look great and I'm sure will sound awesome. I would have preferred Entwistle Darkstar's on this particular project (given the thrasher motif) but I was overruled.



Anyway, things are nearing completion. Just the neck to go on and the control cavity to do. We have already had plenty of fun soldering up the wiring harness, so that can just drop in now.

cheers,
Gavin.

[Brendan]

Gavin - keen to hear how the Entwistles go - seem to be a nice price point and lots seem to think they're pretty hot.
Oh - and the guitar looks great!

[Tim]

VERY METAL \\m/ awesum

[stan]

great work, Eben looks ready to rock

[gavinturner]

hi guys,

Well, we finally finished the rockabilly thrashmeister today. She's all strung up and the Entwistle HVX pickups sound awesome. Eben is really happy with the way it turned out, and so am I.



I gotta be honest, this wasnt my favourite pick for a guitar shape, but it looks amazing hanging on the wall with my others. The colours Eben picked suit the design perfectly and the flame paint job has come up well.



We had a few issues with the Minwax wipe-on poly. Any little bump seems to take it off, and it didn't buff up as well as I expected. These issues are probably to do with us not allowing the appropriate curing time, but I'm not sure. I'm thinking i'll do some more test pieces before trying it as a finish again. It did serve its intended purpose however - allowing Eben to do the finishing himself, and this was the most importnt aspect of the build.

Here's a picture of the headstock (nothing has really changed there!)




Anyone who is considering building a kit with their kid(s) I would recommend it whole heartedly. Eben has had a blast putting this together, and I have gotten to scratch my favourite itch with another kit. It's win:win all the way! A great bonding experience for father and son.

[gavinturner]

Here are pictures of the front and back of the body.



I picked chrome humbucker rings for this build so as to offset the large amounts of blue. I gotta say though, these chrome humbucker surrounds are my favourite no matter what the build.