First build ATL-1QW

[mrguiro]

Not a huge amount of success with the acetone to actually remove the glue, but with some careful use of blue sharpie (and blended using the acetone) the visible white dots are suitably covered.

I've now started building up layers of finishing oil. What have others done when dealing with two different coloured strains? I'm worried about the blue bleeding into the amber on the sides so I'm oiling the top first and will do the sides and back once the top is more stable.

Also 6 decals prepared ready for multiple attempts.

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[Simon Barden]

Sensible move. A couple of layers of the oil should be enough to stop and bleeding and you can do top and sides together.

[HaccasDave]

Thank you so much for posting a build diary. I have the same kit as you and I've just started to get to grips with it. I particularly like what you've done with the headstock, so I plan on copying that. But before I get there, I think I've got a bigger problem to start out.

Doing a trial assembly, I think that I have some significant bridge location problems:
a) The front and back holes aren't the right spacing for the supplied bridge; more significantly
b) To get the cavity for the bridge pickup is too far back to get the saddles in the right place for the scale length; and
c) The holes don't seem to set the bridge perpendicular to the strings (obvious from join in the veneer)
d) The bridge assembly gets nowhere close to the pickguard (tho this may be feature rather than a bug)

You mentioned bridge location problems at the start - how did you resolve them in the end? I think I might need a router to open out the bridge cavity.

Thanks

[mrguiro]

Hi you are most welcome to copy my headstock design. Funnily enough, I thought I was being original, but I have since found that it's very similar to the headstock of a Fender Coranado - ah well.

I think I came across some very similar issues to you:
a) Nope I agree my bridge also didn't match the pre-drilled holes at all. I assumed that because I'd ordered the gold finish I got a different sized bridge?
b) Yes I also found that to get the bridge in the right position for the pickup cavity and the correct scale length I had to remove some wood. I used a Dremel with a rough sandpaper fitting. I thought it would take forever to remove enough wood, but in fact it got through it quite quickly. I put masking tape on the body to protect the veneer, offered up the bridge in the planned location (with the pickup installed) and drew around the pickup baseplate on the masking tape to mark out the required cut. I then went at it with the Dremel until the pickup fitted with the bridge in the right location. It doesn't look particularly pretty, but it will all be hidden.

I originally thought that, to allow for full adjustment, I should site the bridge so that the scale length was correct when the saddles were int he middle of their adjustment range. However this called for far too much removal of wood so instead I measured the scale length the be almost at the full extent of adjustment on the saddle for the top 'E' string, on the basis that all of the other saddles were likely to be adjust back from this. This arrangement only meant I had to remove approx. 4mm of wood to get the bridge pickup to fit.

c) No, I also felt that the pre-drilled holes would have meant the bridge would neither be straight or central. This worried me a lot. All I can assume is that the bridge the holes were intended for has some sort of odd hole placement! I too used the centre line of the veneer to align my bridge (and this did seem to be central to the body)

d)With the supplied pickguard I felt that the gap between it and the bridge plate was neat and even. However, I wanted a white pickguard so I bought an aftermaket one. My new pickguard is very similar to the supplied one but the contours are slightly different and it doesn't trace the line of the body so well. Look for pictures of a Fender Thinline '68 for guidance

Note: if you are planning on staining the body, don't fill the unused pre-drilled bridge holes. I thought I was being clever, but the surface glue has prevented the stain from taking. It will all be covered by the bridge, but I'm disappointed with the look of the body without the bridge attached

I hope that helps

[mrguiro]

OK all done then! :-)

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[Royami]

Looks good! How's it play?

[mrguiro]

Looks good! How's it play?

That's the best bit in that it plays really well with a really straight neck. I've been able to get it intoned correctly and I can set the action lower than I actually like. The only problem is the finish on the neck which is a bit "grippy", but I'm not Steve Vai so no biggie.

My biggest disappointment is the overall finish. I guess I was impatient and got too much in areas and then tried to sand it back and in the process messed up the staining. You can't see from the photo but the finish is quite uneven and dull in places.

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[McCreed]

The only problem is the finish on the neck which is a bit "grippy"...

I looked quickly but didn't see any mention of what you used for finish on the neck.
There are a couple of things to consider, one, it may not be completely gassed off and may become less grippy over time.

If the problem is due to a gloss finish, you "satin-ise" or "de-gloss" it. I prefer synthetic sanding pads for doing this, but fine grade sand paper works too.

Edit:
Also, despite the imperfections you've mentioned, it looks good in the photo!
And if it plays well/sounds good, that's the most important part.

[Simon Barden]

Carnauba wax polish is recommended by a Fender Custom Shop chap for making shiny necks un-grippy. 2 applications should do it.