First Build GSM-1

[steve69]

I only have only one electric guitar (a MIJ strat copy from about 30 years ago). Not played much for 25 years but the Pandemic has given me a reason to play again. Looking for a contrasting sound to the strat but a comfortable solid body. I have done a lot of DIY around the home over the years so thought i would give this a go... but will be taking my time and doing it as best i can.

Selected Kit
GSM-1 kit in Mahogany, with tuning gear and nut upgrades. Not doing any further upgrades until guitar is in a playable state.

Unboxing
First impressions - AWESOME.
Very well finished body, nice looking straight neck. I did order the chrome finish but was delivered black but in the end decided to just run with it. A guitar with attitude my daughter said.

Dry Build
All looks good, nice tight neck pocket. All parts fit as expected. I wasn't expecting wiring to be provided in such a complete state - and quality look good.

Now comes the first big question? How to correctly set the scale length? Currently looking at 317mm from crown of 12th fret to centre of bridge hole of high E string. Seems to leave the correct gap for the neck pickup but it would be nice to really confirm this as this is a glue in neck.

Anyone earthed the tailpiece?... similar to that done here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjV-LK5LHqI ... you will need to drill your own hole from the electronics cavity to post hole.

[jugglindan]

Welcome, and good luck with your build.

[Simon Barden]

Hi. It's a nice kit. Just working on one ATM. You'll find the truss rod cover is wrong - two screw type, not three. You can cut it down in length and drill for 3 screws, or else I suggest you look for a 3-screw bell-shaped truss rod cover on Amazon or similar.

[steve69]

Ok thanks for that you are correct, i have the two hole type. At least its a fairly minor part. Will probably cut down and redrill as you suggested. I think i saw your post earlier and had a nail at the nut. I too can see one there but it is cut off flush in my case. Do you have any suggestions for setting the scale length / neck position correctly?

[Simon Barden]

I just positioned the neck so there was enough wood showing at the front of the neck pocket to get the edge of a pickup ring onto without showing a gap into the rout.

[steve69]

Thanks Simon, measuring with the bridge sitting in place and the bridge adjustment all the way forwards, i get 314mm to the 12th fret which seems about right. The fretboard finishes about 1mm in front of the pickup ring so the pickup will then cover the edges and butt up against the neck. Cheers.

[steve69]

Just drilled a small hole from the tailpiece hole through to the electronics cavity to pass the earth wire through.

Then realised that i have a black finish on all the hardware which is insulating. A quick google and saw that some people remove some black paint from various parts to get an electrical connection through to the strings.

[Simon Barden]

Have you checked the finish with a meter?

[steve69]

Yes I have a multimeter and almost everywhere reads open loop.

On the bridge there is a metal wire across the adjustment screws with some occasional connectivity between the post holes and the saddles. On the tailpiece i can also get some occasional connectivity from where the string ends sit to the post hooks. I will look more closely later with a better light and a magnifier.

What is probably most important is getting connectivity from the earth wire to the tailpiece post as that is harder to fix once its in. So will give the tailpiece post a good scrape to remove paint. Maybe some solvent could be used to carefully remove some selected bits of paint.

[phrozin]

Simon you are certainly becoming the guru of guitar tech 👌