PBG Build #3 ES-1S

[ChrisWiedeman]

I've also found that mineral spirits, Q-Tips swabs and paper towel work nicely to clean up the bindings.

[Simon Barden]

It does depend very much on the stain used. Spirit/alcohol based stains have a much lower surface tension than water-based stains so get into all the multitude of smaller cracks that water-based stains don't. The tiny cracks are relatively deep, and even heavy scraping won't touch them. Whereas paint or water-based stains are fairly easy to clean off, and if they won't come off with a rag/swab and your choice of cleaning fluid, then a scrape with a sharp blade should do it.

If it's paint you're using, then don't leave it too long to clean of/scrape off as the longer you leave it, the harder the work it is to scrape off as it cures harder and harder.

[Gary B]

Apologies for making a pretty poor effort at keeping this build diary updated.
Guitar is, lets say, phase 1 finished and looking like this

[Gary B]

And the back

[Gary B]

I have strung it up with the strings supplied (minor gripe - the kits are advertised as being supplied with Ernie Balls but none of mine have been). These are lighter gauge than I normally use so set up will need some tweaking when I change them but is playing quite nicely straight away.
Of the three PB kits and one other that I've built so far, this feels the most 'factory' from the word go so I moust be learning something as I go along
I thought it would be a good idea to leave the wires a bit over long to make installation easier which was probably true but means they keep trying to make an appearance in the F hole. On the to do list to shorten them at some point.
Incidentally, as recommended on here I bought some flexible tube to fit over the stems on the pots to pull them into position but the stuff I got had quite a thick wall which bulged out when fitted to the pot and was slightly too big to fit through the holes in the body.
I ended up using some heat shrink tube which I only had in short length so taped that to a cable tie and that worked nicely.
So another enjoyable build and I'm really happy with the end result.
Will just enjoy playing and let it settle in for a while before I restring and fine tune the set up.