First Build - AES-1 AHAHAHAHA

[Simon Barden]

You won't sand the glue spots off without sanding through the veneer. The veneer is 0.6mm thick.

There isn't any need to sand the veneer except for a very light 'drag sand' (as StewMac call it), where you lightly run some fine grit paper (say P800 or P1000) across the surface using no real pressure at all, to dislodge any loose grain fibres. You'll probably want to do the same after applying the stain, as water or water-based stains will raise the grain a bit, making the surface feel rough.

The main purpose of sanding is to remove any tooling marks and get the flat surfaces as flat as possible but this really is mainly applicable to solid bodied guitars where they are machined out of solid blocks of wood. Hollow bodies ones made from bent/pressed ply don't have these marks and have a fair veneer face on the outside.

The neck and headstock will probably need sanding, but not too much. And keep to P180 grit as the finest grit you use if you can before staining. Too fine a grit and you close the wood surface up and stain take-up becomes patchy.

You probably haven't decided what to use as a finish yet, but in general, you'd get the really smooth finish on your clear coats.

[gpjt]

First thing to check for are glue spots. So use some turps. meths or white spirit to wet the wood. Any areas with glue on will show up lighter as it stops the liquid being absorbed - as it will also stop any stain being absorbed.

Out of interest, would rubbing alcohol work for that too? Or would it damage the wood/dissolve the glue/something worse?

[Simon Barden]

It should be OK as long as you don't overdo it But it might evaporate a bit too quickly to see what's going on properly. Meths can be a bit like that so I use turps (oil painters turps). White spirit is fine but smells awful. It also shows up more of the grain pattern, so you can see what a clear finish would look like (or what a translucent finish would show).

[Scramblermatt]

So I’ve spent a bit of time with the kit today so here are some closer pics...



There’s a small mark in the body so any ideas what to do with that or just ignore it??



Other than that the flame looks awesome!



Not sure what to do with the back so any suggestions are welcome?



The neck slots in ok but on the underside there is a huge gap so again any suggestions would be gratefully received!





And then I need to take the nut out as I have the bone upgrade so do I just prise that off or is there some skill to it??



Thanks all!

[Simon Barden]

As I said previously, you need to let the wood settle for a week or so before making any decisions on neck joint sanding etc. My ES-3 neck was the same when I first received it but fitted almost perfectly after a week or so.

Those marks are dents, possibly incurred during transit. You should be able to steam them out. Damp (not soaking wet but obviously moist all over) cloth over the top, then hold an iron on a steam heat setting over the top for 10-20 seconds. You should be able to see water vapour (as you can't actually see steam) coming off the cloth. You don't want the cloth to dry out, so best to check every few seconds.

You may not get it perfect first time, but you can repeat the exercise. You will get it somewhere between flat and a very slight dent, which you should be able to fill and hide when the clear finish goes on.

[JimC]

I'd be a bit wary about rubbing alcohol. The obvious UK equivalent, surgical spirit, has got a small amount of castor oil in, and I'm not sure what that would do do subsequent finishes.

[gpjt]

Re: using rubbing alcohol to look for glue:

It should be OK as long as you don't overdo it But it might evaporate a bit too quickly to see what's going on properly. Meths can be a bit like that so I use turps (oil painters turps). White spirit is fine but smells awful. It also shows up more of the grain pattern, so you can see what a clear finish would look like (or what a translucent finish would show).

I'd be a bit wary about rubbing alcohol. The obvious UK equivalent, surgical spirit, has got a small amount of castor oil in, and I'm not sure what that would do do subsequent finishes.

Thanks, guys! Will use white spirit, then.

[Scramblermatt]

Any tricks for getting the nut off? It’s pretty glued on at present!

[WeirdBits]

Carefully score around it with a sharp blade, just along the glue lines. Place a wooden block against the face of the nut (fretboard side) and *gently* tap the block a few times. You should hear the glue start to crack/separate and it’ll pop off. If not, try scoring again and repeat.

[Scramblermatt]

Perfect thanks for that will give it a go tomorrow!!