I bought the cheapest kit I could find on eBay - let's see if this was a good idea

[ThatCluelessGerman]

Today in pictures again:

Build up the dark brown stain, in between I used fine steel wool to knock back some areas with nice grain.



After drying:



And after the first coat of tru oil. I won't do many coats now before drilling the holes and finishing the front, just a few so the wood is kind of protected when touching it or laying it flat on a table.



My first fret job
First I leveled the fret board using the notched straight edge. Then I marked the fretwire, sanding with a level to find and remove low spots, then recrown with a fret file. The first 12 frets were amazing, no work needed! But in the upper areas, it was a mess. Two wires were so high, the level could almost rock on it. Took me at least an hour to finish it, including polishing with my dremel.



It's not a super pro job, but I think this is going to be playable. At least I hope so

[ThatCluelessGerman]

So, the pickguard is worrying me a bit. It looked nice yesterday after the vinegar and salt treatment, but the green color kind of disappeared drying it carefully. Meh. So today I got some ammonium which is reacting quite well. However, I'm pretty sure after rinsing and drying it, half of the corrosion will be gone again

Also, I am hoping for more blue and green colour here but luck is not on my side yet...

Any recommendations how to preserve the pickguard after drying? Most probably a spray varnish, right? I have high gloss liquitex liquid varnish but I'm not sure if high gloss is what I'm after.... Maybe some matte acrylics spray lacquer?

[Simon Barden]

A bit late now, but it's always worth trying to tap down any high frets with a hammer. Either one with a hard plastic or brass face to it, or else using a block of wood on top of the fret to protect it.

Sometimes they just aren't pressed in far enough, and sometimes the slot isn't cut quite deep enough, so that no amount of hammering will press it in any further.

You'll find out how well you've done once you get it strung up. It should certainly be better than it was.

The main thing I find is to make sure you've got rid of all the fine scratches across the frets where they've been filed down. You should be able to run a piece of high E string (e.g a 0.010") across each fret without it catching. It's possible to have shiny looking frets but still have small scratches that will make the fretboard feel very rough to play. I go back to P240 grit paper when this happens and then go back up the grits. I give each fret the same number of rubs with each grit, even if that fret was OK, just to try and take the same amount off each one.

[ThatCluelessGerman]

Hey Simon, thanks a lot, very helpful. I had actually tried to (lightly) hammer the fret in, but I didn't really dare to use more than very light force. I had inner visions of the neck breaking in half, so... ;-)

I didn't know about the small scratches, will see how it works when it's strung up. Today, I actually wanted to assemble it, but as the ammonia ate through the copper leaf and I may need to redo the pickguard, my motivation today is... pretty... low.

[ThatCluelessGerman]

Mixed feelings about today's work. I got into a small argument with my husband about drilling the holes in the body and neck... He drilled the holes for me (because we have a vintage drill that's older than me and I don't want to touch it...) but he's absolutely sure I'm wrong about the size and the neck will split when screwing it on

Then, I finally did the copper filling on the front side. I used wood filler like adviced by Simon to help me sand it down and it worked great.

When I was already done, I decided to f*ck it up as good as I could by trying to polish the copper. A small piece of veneer broke out at the binding. F......unky! So once again filling and sanding...











If you look at the copper, it's kinda dull unless you look from an angle. But I guess that's what I need to live with. Currently not sure if I should have gone with gold instead...? Hm. Dunno. Let's see when it's done.

[ThatCluelessGerman]

I was really unsure if I should stain the front, too, but then decided to use only oil. So here it is after the first coat.





The back is already at the third coat. Starts to build some shine.



Other than that, I cut and filed a tiny shim for my new Tusq nut, which is not as high as the piece of sh... errr plastic the kit came with.



Tomorrow, I'm planning to finish the neck. Need to print a decal (OMG I need to give this thing a name?!) and then do 2 more coats of tru oil. And then? Assembly!!!!!!

How long will it take until the guitar is "settled"? I'm a too eager to play it I guess. How many weeks should I let it cure and settle?

[FrankenWashie]

I was really unsure if I should stain the front, too, but then decided to use only oil. So here it is after the first coat.





The back is already at the third coat. Starts to build some shine.



Other than that, I cut and filed a tiny shim for my new Tusq nut, which is not as high as the piece of sh... errr plastic the kit came with.



Tomorrow, I'm planning to finish the neck. Need to print a decal (OMG I need to give this thing a name?!) and then do 2 more coats of tru oil. And then? Assembly!!!!!!

How long will it take until the guitar is "settled"? I'm a too eager to play it I guess. How many weeks should I let it cure and settle?

You’d probably want to give it at least 2 weeks I’d think.

[jugglindan]

The veneer looks stunning, so I think you made the right call about no stain.

[colin2121]

When you start screwing things together rub some wax on the thread. Makes the screw go in a bit easier.

[ThatCluelessGerman]

Thanks guys!

Need to do my taxes in the next weeks anyway, so I guess I can have it sit and cure for two weeks. At least I hope so :-)

On a funny side note... While I was already playing with it in my mind, it dawned on my that I totally forgot that I actually have to solder it first
I don't have much soldering experience, but most things are pre soldered anyway, so I think it's just soldering the pickups to the switch and the output. I think I can do this myself. At least I hope ;-)

Thanks for the advice with the wax, I hope it will work out and I'm not ruining it on the home stretch :-)