GS-2Z build - first one in a looooooong time

[Simon Barden]

Where are your bridge saddles when the neck is clamped? The top E can be pretty far forwards. Personally I'd move the neck back by 1mm as the intonated length is probably going to be 1mm longer than the actual scale length.

[McCreed]

...when I have the neck clamped at the correct 628mm scale length, the end of the fretboard is too close to the neck pickup cavity to the point where the pickup ring can't fit above the cavity properly - it's off by about a mil.

Simon wrote:

Personally I'd move the neck back by 1mm as the intonated length is probably going to be 1mm longer than the actual scale length.

I encountered this on my PRS-1TS build but mine was more like 3mm. I shifted the neck away from the bridge to accommodate the pickup ring. I ended up moving my bridge to get spot-on intonation, but I'm sure if it was only 1mm like yours, it would have been fine.

[jeffers]

Where are your bridge saddles when the neck is clamped? The top E can be pretty far forwards. Personally I'd move the neck back by 1mm as the intonated length is probably going to be 1mm longer than the actual scale length.

Pretty central, if anything slightly further from the neck. Moving the neck back could work, I'll spend a bit more time measuring it up before glueing.

[jeffers]

Sanding is all done now, down to 400 grit. Pretty sure I've now got sawdust spliced into my DNA, but everything is nice and smooth and ready for staining.

Speaking of, I'm now having second thoughts about my colour choice. I picked up some Karijiri red Dingotone for the top and headstock, but am now thinking a more natural route might be better - either a very mild yellow/brown or maybe straight to Tru Oil to try to get something like this:



Think I'll sit on it for a few days before making a call.

[Simon Barden]

Those type of woods with a dark and light combination, like the zebra wood or spalted maple, generally work best with a natural or just very light tint. Anything too dark and you lose a lot of the contrast and definition.

[jeffers]

Those type of woods with a dark and light combination, like the zebra wood or spalted maple, generally work best with a natural or just very light tint. Anything too dark and you lose a lot of the contrast and definition.

Yes, decided to go down this route instead of the red - which incidentally gives me an excuse to buy another kit to use the DT on. A red/black RD build perhaps... one build at a time though!

Now just a matter of figuring out which natural finish to use. Tru-Oil is what I'm leaning towards, my only concern there is about getting too much of a yellow hue - that's something I really want to avoid. Any suggestions? Living in an apartment, even one with a balcony, rules out any spray-on products.

[McCreed]

Wipe-on polyurethane will probably be your best option as it doesn't yellow with age. However, given the apartment aspect, poly may be a bit smelly. I usually advocate for mixing up DIY wipe-on (50/50 mineral turps/poly) but even with low-odour turps, it may be a bit much in an apartment.

FWIW, Tru Oil isn't too odoriferous and not as hard on the nose as poly IMO, but furthermore, I don't find the slight amber hue objectionable even after some time.

Somewhere on the forum someone (can't recall who) posted pics if Tru Oil finished guitars new & old, and the difference was less remarkable than I expected. I'll see if I can find it, but initial searches were bust.

Anyway, below is one of my alder strats (non-PBG) that is shown with a Tru Oil only finish done in 2017. The photo was shot in 2019. Very little difference after two years.

OK, I've edited to add the original 2017 photo. Different angle, different lighting etc, but I can attest that IRL, there's only a hint of colour difference.

[jeffers]

Wipe-on polyurethane will probably be your best option as it doesn't yellow with age. However, given the apartment aspect, poly may be a bit smelly. I usually advocate for mixing up DIY wipe-on (50/50 mineral turps/poly) but even with low-odour turps, it may be a bit much in an apartment.

Thanks for that. I'm assuming something like Cabot's Cabothane Clear is what we'd be looking at in this instance? I'm not too fussed about the smell as I've got a decent balcony - at least by Sydney apartment standards.

Anyway, below is one of my alder strats (non-PBG) that is shown with a Tru Oil only finish done in 2017. The photo was shot in 2019. Very little difference after two years.

OK, I've edited to add the original 2017 photo. Different angle, different lighting etc, but I can attest that IRL, there's only a hint of colour difference.

That's one gorgeous guitar. And that kind of amber hue I'd not be at all opposed to.

A piece of scrap zebrawood veneer would make all the difference to my piece of mind. Might see if I can find one somewhere this weekend to play around with.

[Dikkybee007]

I have actually used Water Based Cabots Poly and it virtually has no odour, cleans up with water and dries really quick so is good in a closed environment and have found it just as hard wearing as spirit base finishes. I used more coats than necessary, probably about 3 or 4 depending on thickness and surface roughness so I could polish to a gloss finish. I found the sponge rubber paint brushes gave a really good finish that needed little or no sanding. I have used Satin and polished to a gloss finish as it was all I had from a previous project. I never wet sand as I have found some Scotch Brite pads that I cut to use with my random orbital and hand sand what I cannot use the sander on. I have pads that are equal to about 2500 wet and dry which is way more than needed, in my experience. I then use cloth pads and a jewellers rouge either as a flat pad in my random orbital or as a cylindrical pad in my drill or do it by hand. I used to use a cutting compound but found if the compound had a wax in it, it was virtually impossible to patch fix a scratch or dint. Whereas using the rouge all I have to do is give it a rub with isopropyl alcohol and I am ready to paint straight away with no adhesion problems. Everyone here seems to keep to the same but I have found that not all that is done here fits all situations. I always do all my finishing then I route out my holes and that way I don't damage my polishing pads or sanding disks and don't have to worry about burning through my finish on sharp corners. I have found ways to protect my finish using newspaper, hand towel and thin slip resistant rubber mats. All this was found by using what I had and just being a little careful but I have had about 40 years of experience so have had a lot of trial and errors and will keep looking at new ways to do what I love doing.

[jeffers]

Did one final day of sanding to prep the body for finishing today, plus scraping the binding clean. The fretboard binding was pretty dirty, truth be told - hard to get it to come through on camera, but looked a lot like my Les Paul does after being played hard and not cleaned for six months:



After some careful work with a razor blade, it's looking far, far better:



With that and my sanding done, plan is to do the first coat of finish tomorrow morning, giving it a full 5-6 days to cure before getting to the second next weekend. Have opted in the end for Tru-Oil, although I'll thin the first coat a little with mineral turps - not to dilute the colour, but to instead allow it to penetrate the timber a bit better.