MY JM-1 First ever build

[caseyone1]

So outta the box, some issues with the factory...
Grand ideas, NOW I can always say "recommend a dry build first" because while I had ALL the parts, I realised Dum DUm Duuuuum. Missing pre-drilled post holes in the body for the bridge.


Action: Contacted PB and almost an immediate response. New body is on its way should have it in a few days. Adam rang me back and asked for some pics to be emailed for the factory to see. Boom, sorted.

Something else I noted immediately was that the neck does not sit snug all the way back in the pocket. After some quick forum advice (awesome forum by the way) I realised I have to sand the pocket. Now, Adam from PB wants the original body and neck back as a return, I won't be sanding anything for at least 2 more days.


COLOUR:
In the interim I have had a chance to investigate colour, Pick guards and decals.
I think I will either go a black wash or a black and red lava burst.
I watched a YouTube tutorial by a luthier in the States who used water-based craft paints and it looked quite good. That said, he also procured some long-setting, water colour compatible clear which I don't think we get in Australia. And water-based colours would be good, because I have an airbrush and could possibly apply the burst well.

Once I had decided on the dark colours this required ditching the tortoise shell pick guard and going for something more shiny. After some quick responses from the forum, (Thanks SonicMountain) I got an A3 sheet of mirror acrylic from ebay $28. This allows enough space for 2 attempts at creating a pick guard.

PROBLEM: acrylic is hard to cut without making a chip in the edge, I had a quote to laser-cut a pick guard from a local guy. $240AU, that was making a Vector file, making a few prototypes in MDF and then the final cut. The cut itself was $20. Everything else was experiment and tracing.

SOLUTION: It just so happened my Father in-law has a laser cutter...I know, don't ask.
Anyway, he told me if:
1. I scanned the underside of the guard, with a black piece of paper on top of it, I will get a really clear white image to cut. I scanned it and created a JPG and a BMP.

2.I imported these into InkSCAPE (often used for 3D print rendering) and then took physical measurements of the centre of the screw holes on the guard from numerous points across the guard for reference.
3.I then used the ruler function in InkScape to cross check the measurements I had made with my straight edge to the image in InkScape. InkScape works 1:1 ration export, so once I exported it to the LAser Cutting program, in this case "K40 Whisperer", it should be apples.
4. After I opened the image in InkScape and made the image 1:1, I traced every screw hole and every pickup hole and the guard edge and the slider-switch hole as accurately as possible, within about .03mm in the colour red, because that is the colour "K40 Whisperer" identifies as a cut vector not an engrave vector. (Now this just made me think I can engrave a design in the pick guard also that will come through the mirror, anyway I digress.)
5.Saved the file as a .SVG file and then imported it into K40 Whisperer to test it's load-in. BOOM, magic.
6.Emailed to Father in-law and he will cut some MDF as a prototype while I wait for my acrylic to arrive.


NEXT
So I decided the Jazz was for Cool Cats, so I found a little e-bay purchase for $5 who will make my decal custom in foil silver.
I used Adobe Illustrator to create a design from a stock Font and a stock image of a cat. Looks awesome, will look awesome on the Head stock. Titled the Casey-Kat.


So now I wait on the body and neck delivery, the decal delivery, the acrylic delivery and the MDF prototype outcome.
Who's scared?....Me!

[Sonic Mountain]

If you can use illustrator that’s ideal for creating laser cutting files. Just need to export as DXF- although it the cutter recognises SVG you save directly in that format as well. Generally scanners are 1:1, so I use that method a lot for making templates.

[caseyone1]

Hi Sonic,
Yeah, I found the Illustrator really had a more simplified approach, it selected all teh vectors and I just changed their colour, then erased all traces of dust that were accidentally picked up in the scan. That said, my In-law was adamant I follow his method. I don;t think he was aware of the file type and illustrators power etc.
Live and learn I guess.

[king casey]

Hi Casey. I've managed to cut several pick-guards via differing techniques.
Best way was with a jig-saw and files and sandpaper believe it or not.
I'll lay the acrylic flat on the desk with minimal over-hang to reduce the vibrations.
Like everything else it does require some repeated attempts to nail it correctly.
Practicing on MDF is also a good method

cheers, Mark.

cheers, Mark.

[caseyone1]

Hi Casey. I've managed to cut several pick-guards via differing techniques.
Best way was with a jig-saw and files and sandpaper believe it or not.
I'll lay the acrylic flat on the desk with minimal over-hang to reduce the vibrations.
Like everything else it does require some repeated attempts to nail it correctly.
Practicing on MDF is also a good method

cheers, Mark.

cheers, Mark.

Thanks Mark, yeah I researched about 4 different cutting methods and also polishing methods for acrylic. Coping saw, band saw and jig saws all seemed to be the preference, some edges are heat polished with like a gas flame, that was interesting. I hope the laser works out, apparently it just turns acrylic to fumes, which prevents it from welding itself back together.
I’m really interested to see the outcome.

[caseyone1]

UPDATE:
So I have found ALL JM-1 Alder bodies have no post holes drilled. So I won't be getting those if I want one soon, so I opted for an Ash body that was offered as an alternative. All good for me, so yeah, nothing has transpired except I may have a custom scratch plate in a few day? Maybe.

I have been researching painting and painting methods and I broke out my old airbrush and am in the process of reassebling it from broken parts etc.

I also ordered online a larger spraygun $18 for broader areas.
I am going to try water-based products. I am going to try using a spray-can sanding sealer in white, then airbrush the water-based craft colours and a brush on water-based clear.
But like I said, all in the realm of reason, I need to have a guitar first.

[caseyone1]

Update:
Today my New Rosewood neck and Ash body arrived.
Tip for young players: Ash weighs about 3 times Alder, therefore the tone-wood is denser and hence the declaration it has less top-end attack when playing, more mid tones. I also noticed the really nice dark grains in the Ash which made me almost rethink the vision of a black guitar, but I committed, so...next time.

After Looking at my spectacular new body and neck I was surprised that the Blackwood neck was pre-cut to a Strat shape while the new rosewood was a paddle.


I followed the instructions online, and while I was happy with the new body it wasn't as snug as the last neck and body. I did the dry build...


...it all matched up, the string distance to the edges of the fretboard were pretty consistent and so I drilled my neck bolt-on holes...

...I designed a machine head and pencilled it in and cut it.

.....So here is a tip, if you go for a sharp look like I did, you are going to have a heap of sanding away tool marks on lots of edges.
Issue #1, getting in all the crevices deep enough to sand away all the tool marks...I had to wrap the sandpaper around some small jewellers files and also do stuff by hand, I will put the pics in the following post...

[caseyone1]

...So here is the sanding stuff for the machine head......
Here are the tool marks from the band saw......
Eventually I got to finish it up.
Another tip: sharp little points can be chipped off and made blunt. Probably wouldn't choose this again as a method of shaping.
So what was once clean sharp cuts and points, some are a little blunter...
Finished machine head and sanded....
I continued to sand the body and that has its own set of challenges, mainly because of the dark and varied grain, you need to use your hands like reading braille to find the tool marks. If I was going for a natural finish I probably wouldn't bother being so picky, but because I am going for a solid colour, I really need to consider the final body finish. I don't want any ripples in it at all if I can help it.
So that is ongoing at the moment...

[caseyone1]

Sanded the body, off to Bunnings tomorrow to get some sanding sealer clear, some Frog tape and a water based black gloss and some clear coat.
ANY TIPS on this plan please?

I am going for the :
1. Feast Watson Clear Sanding sealer, hit the body and head stock with that. Wait an hour.
2. Light Sand with 220 grit
3. Hit it with a centre ball of Dy-Mark Gloss Wildfire red acrylic wait 1 hour, hit it again wait one hour.
4. Hit the back, edges and head stock with some Dy-Mark Gloss black wait one hour, hit it again.
5. 24 hours later repeat the Red centre and Blacks wait 48 hours.
6. Dulux Durmax gloss clear spray. leave it for a week.

Is there anything I will regret here? IF you say, "Don't go water based", that's totally OK.

Thanks in Advance.
Steve

[caseyone1]

UPDATE:
Stuff went slightly left of centre.
I did go to Bunnings and returned with all paints bu the undercoat I got was Zinsser Bullseye 1-2-3

https://i.ibb.co/F0mXfJm/IMG-3240.jpg


I came home and found some plastic a new mattress had come in and built myself a killroom. A.K.A Spraybooth
https://i.ibb.co/9p75Kxj/IMG-3238.jpg

Hit it and the body turned out ok, but the head stock got a bit of overkill.
https://i.ibb.co/sydtqLY/IMG-3241.jpg

Will be easing back next time. The primer recommends 30 mins to top coat, but I am really looking at 24 hours given the rain.
So Sanding tomorrow, then another coat of primer, then a sand then a colour will begin.