My first PB build - ES-1GT with modifications

[Ricky]

Thanks Guys, I really appreciate it.
I am almost fully recovered now.
@blinddrew. I know what you mean about waking with no air in your lungs ............. Scary!

[FrankenWashie]

Wow, glad to hear you’re on the mend mate. It’s certainly a nasty business, best wishes for a full recovery.

[Ricky]

I 'Think' I may have finished the clear-coating on this guitar.
It looks good right now but I will wait until tomorrow and give it a wet sand (stuff I use is ready for wet sanding after about 12 hours - Omi-Cron).
Truss rod cover made today. I will post pics tomorrow.
Wiring harness is made. Pics are on my other thread. Thanks to you guys for steering me in the right direction for the wiring (humbuckers with parallel/series push pull switches).

Cheers
Ricky

[Ricky]

I have finally finished the ES-1GT.

The wiring turned out to be a bit more of a challenge than I thought (wiring to a wrong pin on the push/pull switch did not help).
I opted for parallel/series switching but as the neck PU is only about 7k ohms, this equates to 1.75k ohms when in parallel - not enough to be practical. I will rewire this to a coil split in a few weeks.
The bridge PU is fantastic (13.14k ohms).

Finish is Crimson Guitars Stunning Stains - water based and Omi-Cron 2k clear.
Replaced the kit nut with a bone nut and the supplied bridge with a roller bridge.
In fact I think the only kit hardware I did use were the 2 tone pots

When it came to setup time I thought I was going to have a problem on the intonation. So I set it up on the bridge saddles and the string action etc. Went upstairs to my music room (attic) and plugged it in ............ Perfect with no adjustment needed. A credit really to the kit and Pit Bull.

The overall sound is great. Warm, bluesy with a bit of jazz bite. Just what I wanted.
I do not use the Bigsby style vibrato much but I think it adds to the overall look.
Truss rod cover is made from 7 layers of veneer and then sanded down.
Artwork on the back took ages but again, I enjoyed the challenge.
I settled on the name - "Eclipse". The nickname is The Purple One, after the Quality Street sweet.

Thanks everyone for your advice during the build - it was invaluable.
Here are the pics.
Cheers
Ricky

[Simon Barden]

Don't worry about the resistance, that's the correct reading for parallel (1/4 of the series value) and the drop in output will be the same (relative to normal output) whatever pickup you use. The output will certainly be more than for a split coil output, even though you'd get a 3.5k DCR reading. 3.5k is a pretty low reading for a single coil, which is why parallel wiring for a humbucker is often preferred, plus it stays humbucking.

Lots of hard work there that's paid off. Well done!

[Trevor Davies]

Great work, love the wolf paintwork.

[Ricky]

Thanks Trevor and Simon. Much appreciated!

It needs a polish and better photos to show the shine off a bit more but i just enjoy playing it too much!

Cheers
Ricky

[JimC]

Nice job.

Jim C

[ThatCluelessGerman]

Awesome details you put into it. Is the trussrod cover made from wood? It looks crazy good.

[Ricky]

Thanks Jim and Clueless.

Yes, the trussrod cover is made from 7 laminations of veneer glued together then cut to shape and carefully sanded down to allow the various wood colours to show. Doesn't take long really but looks cool.

Cheers
Ricky