That's a real nice looking axe there buddy. I'm going to keep an eye on this one's progress.
That's a real nice looking axe there buddy. I'm going to keep an eye on this one's progress.
Thanks Simon, soon after posting my last I had a rummage around through the screws within the kit and offered up the pickup surround screws to the pickup tabs which slide right through. They may just about be long enough to use and still get the height needed, but if not I may have to explore other avenues as you stated.
I've seen a few people use old flip flops cut up to use as backing under their pickups. To save buying any more materials for such a small job, and funnily enough i've got some flip flops that won't be missed, i'll give this method a go and see how it pans out.
Chaosblade - Funnily enough I was checking your build out as I started mine and have been checking back for updates! Wouldn't mind a 6 string of my own to pair with but I'll just stick with what I've got for now to keep the mrs on my side
The oil i've got on order is the Crimson Guitars penetrative guitar finishing oil. Theres some good demo videos on their Youtube of how they use it. It may pull some stain out in the first few applications i'm led to believe, but I'm not aware of any colour changes as such.
As soon as it arrives within the next few days I will start oiling and put up a post if it changes colour.
At a glance it's supposed to be similar to Tru-oil? Tru-oil definitely imparts a slight amber tint that gets stronger over time. For most colors that's generally not a problem, and it's beneficial for more natural colors. Blue is just an oddball color for finishing, and blue dye tends to be loaded with asterisks (i.e., a brand of dyes might advertise lightfastness, but note an exception that the blue dye is less lightfast).
I settled on a water-based poly because dries completely clear and should stay that way.
1. GS-2Q
2. EXM-1 custom
3. GMS-7F
It's been a while since I last uploaded - I must have forgotten to upload the last few updates..
So the stain is all finished now so the neck has been set.
Used Gorilla glue which seemed to set pretty quickly, but regardless I left it clamped for around 24 hours. Also used some scrap wood and cardboard as packers to prevent any damage to finish.
My biggest holdup throughout this whole build by far was waiting for my finishing oil to turn up. This took almost 3 weeks to arrive due to delays in stock of bottles arriving from the supplier. I used Crimson Guitars - Penetrating guitar finish oil. Here are the results;
Theres quite a nice sheen to it now, not massively glossy.
I pretty much followed the method demonstrated on their Youtube channel. I found that the first few coats it pulled some stain out, but this didn't effect the finish at all. I only noticed as it had turned the cloth blue!
Also it hasn't caused any discolour at all and seems to have given some depth. This is about 7 coats of oil. They say that the bottle provided can produce a high gloss finish for 1 guitar or a satin finish to two - I've only used about half, if that - so may revisit one day and layer up some more, we'll see..
I also spent some time fitting all the hardware into place so that it was ready to go for when the electrics were all done. Shielding tape turned up soon after so it was time to mess with that.
I had secured the pickups into their cavities prior to this and noticed how low they sat and that they'd be nowhere near the strings. The easiest fix would be i'd need to make some small blocks to sit at either end of the cavities to raise them a bit and then cover them with shielding tape. In the meantime I had a bamboo chopping board split on me, which I repaired, before it split again - The board was made up of multiple strips about 5mm in thickness, so this was my donor wood.
I quite enjoy putting shielding tape in guitars, time consuming but quite therapeutic.
Anyway.. Since all of this has gone on, the electrics have all been installed and soldered into place so it is now a fully built guitar - Photos to follow...
However - For whatever reason, my pickups sound really quite rubbish (diagram followed). They're sitting around 3-4mm from the strings so I have no concern with regards to that as an issue. Anyone else found their pickups to be a bit pants, or have any suggestions as to what it may be/have any pointers? TIA
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