Dream Catcher LP

[stevierayvannabe]

Hi all,

I just started shielding the pickup cavities on my lp. I was wondering where the shielding would have the greatest effect as it appears I might not have enough tape to do both pickup cavities and the control cavity. I have completed the bridge pickup cavity so the choice is do the neck cavity after the neck is installed or do the control cavity and wait for some more tape.

Cheers,
Brian

[stevierayvannabe]

Oh and I just thought of another possibly silly question. I'm making my own headstock decal by printing onto waterslide decal paper. Should it be attached to the bare wood then clear over, or put a coat of clear on first then the decal then the rest of the clear?

Thanks
Brian,

Oh and got the colour done on the neck today, so next step is clear coating. Very excited.

[stevierayvannabe]

Sorry that was rude to not put a picture up, so here it is. Sorry for the poor lighting but it is in the basement.

[stevierayvannabe]

Just found the answer to the decal question, amazing what you can find on this site.

Cheers,
Brian

[gavinturner]

hey Brian,

The colour on the neck looks great! Personally I would wait for more shielding tape and do all the cavities.

You probably know this but just in case...Don't forget to solder a wire between the shielding on all the cavities (so they are electrically connected) and then one of them to ground so that they are all grounded. Oh, and shield the back of your control cavity cover and make sure it connects electrically to the cavity shielding in as many places as possible (eg. around the entire lip of the cavity). The key is to create as complete a faraday cage as you can around the "hot" wires with as few slits or holes as possible.

cheers,
Gav.

[Brendan]

Brian - hard to tell what's been masked on the heel of the neck, but you may want to double check that there's no paint on the bit that needs to be glued. They don't tend to like each other and it may also slightly affect the neck angle. Otherwise looking good! On the other issue - go with Gav - it's a whole lot easier to wait a couple of days than have to pull everything apart to stick some copper tape down then put it all together and find yourself one small chrome screw spare (variant of Murphy's law).

[stevierayvannabe]

Hi all,

Well I found some more shielding tape and finished off all the shielding, including the backs of the covers, and tackled the wiring. I watched Adams excellent video's on wiring a couple of times and downloaded the wiring diagram. I then took it one wire at a time. It's not a neat as I was hoping but for my first time I'm happy with it. I'm even happier that it seems to work properly. I then finished installing the hardware on the body, leaving the pickups loose for adjustment purposes while attaching the neck.

I just have a couple of clear coats to do on the neck and it will be ready for hardware in gluing in. Kinda nervous about that part, but I've been watching Adams video on that as well.

Here are some pics of the wiring and such.

Oh I want to thank Adam for the excellent videos. They are great for confidence building and reference as the project goes.

Cheers,
Brian

[gavinturner]

Great job on the shielding Brian! Looks top notch. Your whole build is really coming together - love how you've popped the flamed maple top! Don't sweat the set neck - I was nervous to begin with too, but there's nothing to it in the end. What kind of glue are you planning on using? I recommend titebond. Just check the string height one more time before gluing and clamping in case you need a shim. Looking forward to seeing this baby finished and to hear what she sounds like!

cheers,
Gav.

[stevierayvannabe]

Thanks Gavin,

I picked up some Titebond glue for the neck. Took a little time to locate but when I found it I snapped it up. Thanks for the compliments. I'm really enjoying this new hobby, although I found myself looking at the kit page wondering what guitar should I start saving for next, no no finish the one your on first Brian.

Cheers,
Brian

[gavinturner]

Yes Brian that's how it starts! Sounds like the addiction is setting in - most of us have an acute case. In 6 months time you'll have 4 different builds on the go at the one time even though you promised yourself that you wouldn't start the next one until the current one is done....

cheers,
Gav.