I was gonna take the advice that was kindly given to me a couple of weeks ago and file down the whole nut piece and put in string retainers but thought I'd try it by just filing the grooves first. I'm pretty happy with the results, the strings hold in there really nicely. I might swap it out in future but I'm totally fine with this for now.
I bought brush on, nitrocellulose paint because it was significantly cheaper than spray stuff and I'm a miserly Scotsman. I did five coats in total, the last three with the paint watered down with thinners. I went over it with some super fine grade sandpaper after each coat. It's not exactly a factory finish but I love the colour and it has a homespun charm (wasabi wabi-sabi, if you will)
Et voila! I took this last night. Since then I've buffed her up with some beeswax and taken the springs out of the single coil and set it to maximum height to balance with the neck pickup. I mostly make lo-fi, garage rock stuff and this is gonna be a fine addition to my arsenal. Considering swapping out the bridge pup for a seymour duncan from my Mustang (which is permanently taped into the bridge position anyway so it's surplus to requirements). Perfectly serviceable as is though and I'm gonna spend the next few weeks falling in love with her.
Thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed the learning process. I'm sure it's pretty laughable to some of you pros but I reckon I've got the bug now. Think I'm gonna order a tele next...
Cheers!
Last edited by Billy Pilgrim; 17-06-2020 at 11:05 PM.
No reason brush-on nitro can't be as smooth as spray-on stuff. You just need to do some more fine-grit sanding and then polishing once its been dry for a few weeks (almost any finish takes a few weeks to cure properly before it's hard enough to take a proper shine).
If your shielding is still like it is in the photos, then it can be improved, especially the under-pickguard shielding. Just having the tape there isn't enough. It needs to be grounded so it all needs to be continuous. If you've got any tape left, then it's well-worth covering the whole of the underside of the pickguard with the tape. The bridge single coil needs the most screening, but you've got a lot more copper around the noise-resistant neck humbucker. You'll probably also need a much bigger overlap between pieces to get good continuity. Check with a multimeter if you've got one that all the areas have a low-resistance path to one another.
It's also a good idea to run tape up from the control cavity copper to the top right by a couple of screw holes. That way, the screws are providing strong positive pressure and keeping the cavity and pickguard tape making contact. Pickguards have a habit of bending up a bit in the middle and lifting away from the surface.
Ah, ok. That's good to know. I'll order some online. I did the body first and could tell I was gonna run out so supplemented it with tinfoil. Had less left for the pickguard than I'd hoped. It's quiet as a mouse plugged in for now but it's probably worth shielding it all properly now. Ta for the feedback!
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