"Blue Heeler" Bondi Blue GR-SF1: Pt1 Aspirations, Procrastinations, and Consequences

[Honkenstein]

"Blue Heeler" Bondi Blue GR-SF1: Pt14 In All Its Glory

I was fortunate to take these photos in nice early afternoon daylight, reflected from the warm-coloured paint of the balcony above. Made it look better -- imo -- than what it really does with unaffected eyeballs.

I think the gold hardware looks nice! ... except for that poxy coloured trapeze assembly!!! I would've liked it to be the same hue as the rest of the hardware; almost a rose-gold colour. That's why I thought the copper foil/tape on the headstock might be harmonious enough to warrant an attempt.

I hope it looks good to you too!


At last, the warmth of colour shows up and is sufficiently flattering! At last!!! You may recall (from my first post) that I've had this, my very first guitar kit, since December 2017. So it really is a milestone for me.

In the first two images below, the warm, milk chocolate colour is now more reminiscent of "Red Dog" than a "Blue Heeler". In truth though, under normal lighting conditions it still resembles a Silky Terrier -- colour-wise -- than any other dog breed I can think of.

However, even though the "build" is done, there's still the "set-up" to do. I've corrected some fretwork, but it's still flawed.

Next major set-up bit I'll actually worry myself with is the nut. I bought a nut upgrade from PBG, but it's so woefully mismatched to the stock nut. Have a peek below and judge for yourself. 8)

Compare the nuts ... and weep for me. The new bone one feels great, but I need to chock it (both height and thickness). Suggestions, please ... 8(


And here's a closer look at the (almost boringly?) basic headstock decoration. Wouldn't mind hearing a few thoughts about its aesthetics in your eyes ...


Presumably, I might next post something about: Pt15 Final Assembly, New Bone Nut, Electrical Misgivings

[Fretworn]

I think that bone nut it for a ST or a TL. It’s the wrong style for this guitar.

[Simon Barden]

You've got a Fender style bone nut there, not a Gibson-style one. If it's not what you ordered, then email Adam and have it replaced. TBH, email him regardless and I'm sure you'll get it swapped over.

The copper tape could look better if it was flatter. You can burnish it flatter with a round metal object (e.g. a knife or fork handle), but it helps to get it as flat as you can when putting it on.

[Honkenstein]

You've got a Fender style bone nut there, not a Gibson-style one. If it's not what you ordered, then email Adam and have it replaced. TBH, email him regardless and I'm sure you'll get it swapped over.

The copper tape could look better if it was flatter. You can burnish it flatter with a round metal object (e.g. a knife or fork handle), but it helps to get it as flat as you can when putting it on.

Thanks (again), Simon, and to you too, Fretworn! 8) I'll chase Adam up. The order definitely indicated "G" style; "PBG Bone Nut for G type 6 String Guitar Kits - Bleached White".

[glenwilliam]

Beautiful guitar! Nice work

[Honkenstein]

Beautiful guitar! Nice work

Thanks, Glen. I think the photo actually flatters the guitar. Doesn't look that colour in person. When I get another kit (Tele?), I'll probably aim to use "Japan Brown" as the body colour.

I like the colour combo of your bass! 8)

[Honkenstein]

"Blue Heeler" Bondi Blue GR-SF1: Pt15 Final Assembly, New Bone Nut, Electrical Misgivings

I'm back. My apologies for taking so long.

Final Assembly

Essentially, the guitar looks exactly the same as in the piccies in post #71. However, I replaced the nut with a bone one.

I'm really impressed by how well intonated my kit was! I only tried adjusting the 6th string's bridge position ... but I basically undid the change. My ever-so-slightly(?) splaying of the 6th string's nut slot might have messed about with the effective string length and, ultimately, gave me fluctuating readings on the tuner.

The fret work I performed seemed to be -- dare I say -- OK, an improvement on the original manufacture. I *can* get clean notes in each position up the neck, but I can't competently play up there so it's not worth the effort at this stage to work it further to make the high notes easier to get cleanly.

What isn't as flash for me is the fact that the frets are so high that if I press a bit hard, the note will distort significantly. Well, that's an impetus for me to improve my chord-playing technique.

New Bone Nut

Patiently I sanded away at the nut, both lowering and thinning it like a master at work! ... but I didn't stop at the appropriate time! A *fool* at work. Thus, I had to chock the danged thing up with some superglue and two thin strips of aluminium cut from a smoked oyster tin lid.

I could probably have gotten away with one strip, but thought that I could adjust the two-strip "safety margin" with nut files. Well, that I did. The nut files I possess are a bit flexible so I think they're awkward to use, tending to splay outward left and right and cutting a radius in the vertical plane. I only worked on the 4th, 5th, and 6th string slots.

Slotting the danged nut is so tedious! So I "settled" for them being a bit high. No, I don't have a measurement to quantify it. I'll consider slotting them further if I deem it worthwhile. There's worse to come yet ...

Electrical Misgivings (desperately seeking advice, please)

So how does it sound? Acoustically, it's pretty ordinary. That's to be expected because the arch-top is surely 5-6 mm thick and a plywood, not a nice tone wood. Having said that, it's nice to be able to play vigorously without being too loud and still able to hear nuances that a solid body won't convey as easily.

However, Electrically I'm having more uncertainty;

• 3-way switch seems to work fine
• PUP volume pots seem largely ineffective
  
• master volume pot seems largely ineffective
  
• master tone pot seems largely ineffective
  
• PUPs noisy

I thought my wiring was good (images in post #69). Could the symptoms above have been caused by a short by (for instance) s/s braid touching wiring beneath? Is wrapping the underside of the humbuckers with copper shielding tape *causing* issues, or merely ineffective? Isn't the s/s braiding on the vintage wiring meant to act effectively as a noise shield?

My circuit earth wire to bridge seems intact, held in place between the bridge pin and timber itself, but touching strings helps alleviate lots of noise. Still noisy on different leads and in comparison to another electric guitar on the same leads.

Please advise, good sirs. I humbly defer to your collective and individual wisdom!

[Honkenstein]

I've been told that the copper tape shielding I applied to the PUPs is now actually an "antenna for collecting hum" instead of a shield against it ... unless I also earth the shielding! Does this mean I also have to ensure each length of vintage s/s braid is earthed too?

Ugh ... 8(

[Simon Barden]

Not necessarily an antenna, but to be effective it needs to be grounded. But the back of the humbuckers should already be grounded, and the tape's stuck to that, so as long at the tape has conductive adhesive (most copper tapes do, but I can't guarantee they all do) you should be fine. If you can pull the pups out a bit, you can check with a multimeter back to the jack socket ground if the copper is grounded or not.

Tone pots sound like a lack of ground. And yes, to be effective in shielding the signal cable, each braid should be connected to ground at least at one end. Some braids will need to be connected to ground or a pot at both ends in order to carry the grounding through. But it looks as though you are using some braided wires just for ground connections, in which case the braid will do nothing extra. But definitely where the middle cable is used for a signal.

It's very hard to see exactly what's going on with your wiring from the photos, but you could probably have cut down on a few wires as the braided wires can act as both signal and ground connections.

This chap has quite a few wiring harness videos using a lot of braided wire. Worth watching a few of them to get a broad outline of what should be going on.

[Honkenstein]

Ugh! ... (reprise)

Man I wish I'd seen WeirdBits'/Scott's post on GR-1SF wiring before wiring up in the "traditional" layout. I think the lack of discrete volume and tone control is what he referred to as;

"The tone is wired on the output of the master volume, as per the original schematics, but this can make them a little intertwined (volume affects tone, tone affects volume) so be warned."

Simon's reply in the same thread also supports my concerns about my own circuit because of the symptom he describes;

Connecting the third lug of all the volume pots(and the case) to ground is vital for the correct operation of the volume controls as the volume pots operate as potential dividers. Without the ground link they will just act like variable resistors. You'll get the signal through as normal with all the volumes turned up, but you won't be able to turn the volumes down to zero, and the volumes will get weaker but will never drop to zero.

This is the diagram I followed for my circuit. It came from PBG here. However, unlike the diagrams Scott/WeirdBits provided, the volume pots each have an unused lug! ... {EDIT: LUG IS ACTUALLY FOLDED BACK ONTO THE POT CASE AND SOLDERED THERE AS THE EARTH -- NOT UNUSED AT ALL!} Should I redo the wiring to align with Scott's recommendations? Should PBG use one of Scott's diagrams instead of the one listed on the www.pitbullguitars.com/wiring-diagrams/ page?




I'm tempted to rectify -- that's a non-electronic reference -- my circuit. But now the neck is glued in place I feel less keen. Still ... it'll be worth it in the end ... won't it? It'd be the second re-wiring ...