Bare bones no upgrades PBG build. Maybe?

[ozzbike]

Oh you guys have little faith......I am already single.....ha ha. The significant other lives in her own place.

Just got a PBG email....order complete.....tracking number for delivery supplied. On its way....yes yes yes.

[ozzbike]

I am expecting the kit to arrive Mon or Tue next week.

I actually enjoy the sanding and staining etc. But this time I am tempted to either do a Jarrah and Golden Teak burst after pore filling with Timbermate.

Or...

Timbermate and then no stain and just do many coats of the Feast Watson Fine Buffing oil and then cabintetmakers wax and carnauba polish.

My question is:-

I normally sand the Timbermate off with 240 grit and then do 2 to 4 coats of Fine Buffing Oil applied with 0000 steel wool.

Could I start the Fine Buffing Oil after the 240 grit....and do a couple of coats and then a light sand at 320....then 400...then 600...then 800...to 1200 1500 2000. Coats in between...I normally change from fine buffing oil applied with steel wool to cloth at third coat.

Or I am better sanding through to 2000 and then just using a cloth to wipe the buffing oil on. The oil does not build like paint, poly, or tru oil...it initially soaks in and then the waxes in it just cover the surface to a low gloss.

I suppose I could just try.

I am just wondering if really fine sanding will close the wood off and no oil or wax will penetrate.

[ozzbike]

You have to love the efforts of some Aussie Post parcel people. My bloke delivered my IB-4 kit at 6.25 p.m. tonight. So very nice.

I had to look closely, return and revisit the advertisement, compare to older Basses and guitars I have....but this kit has an actual Rosewood fretboard not a newer Blackwood or Blackwood II fretboard.

The body is four piece nicely figured Ash. There is one mark on the headstock and one mark on the back of the body.

I asked for the Black Hardware pack and it appears to all be there. Not going to count screws, but the big things are there.

The pots are tiny....wow. The pickups in this kit are heavy and huge and have chunks of wax hanging out of them...which is a nice touch.....and hopefully means they are potted and less micro-phonic.

Tomorrow is out with the sandpaper time.....still have no decided what to do with finish and how to do it.....sand really smooth and then oil or normally to 240 and then sand fine with an oil and wax finish.

The fretboard looks remarkably level and the frets are a medium jumbo size. The nut is black plastic but sits flush and level.

This is really nice kit out of the box.

Well this is it. No extras on this one. I want to see how it goes together with stock fittings, and how it sounds with no upgrades.

[ozzbike]

Just another five shots of her in the rawwwwww.

[ozzbike]

From reading some IB-5 build threads.....particularly yours Frankenwashie...I have also found that the end of the neck does not really line up well enough with the neck pocket. I have looked around the net and Ibanez is not much better themselves.

I do like the rasping and filing Frankie did....may have to seriously consider that.

Here is his neck job...

https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...?t=9735&page=4

The control cavity cover is not recessed into the body. In fact it just seems that it will be perched over the top of the wood with no screw holes having been bored to aid in alignment.

I like the work you did on yours Frankie....but I have seen some other options on the net and may have to find a middle ground. I am thinking about cutting down to a ledge to allow the cover to sit down into the body. I am thinking about using some heat to bend the cover and thus have it follow the body curve. I don't know if a router is really needed for this....but I have one...I think I also will follow Frankie with the use of some chisels around a knife marked outline.

Here is Frankies post on the control cover....

https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...?t=9735&page=3

Sanding day tomorrow.....maybe have to consider the neck and the control cavity as well....hmmmm.

Gotta say I love a new build.

[wazkelly]

That looks like it should come up really nice with one of your natural finishes.

[ozzbike]

That looks like it should come up really nice with one of your natural finishes.

I have been thinking that myself Waz. 😎

[WeirdBits]

The stock pups are 4 wire, yes? In keeping with your ‘no upgrades’ policy you could try a spin-a-split layout on the stock tone pots. Tone at 10 splits the pup, ~8 gives full humbucker, and then conventional tone down to 0.

Just to satisfy that upgrading itch...

[Marcel]

Yeah, a wiring change isn't a hardware upgrade.... I'd 2nd Weirdy's suggestion.

[wazkelly]

I have already posted how to do split coils with push pulls on these PUP's and very simple to do.