The Fanned One - GMS-7Z

[B'Lark]

Tempted by fun kits again... Curses...

Honestly though, this time it was pretty fortuitous. I'd been wanting another 7-string for more Metal stuff (since my other 7's dialed in more like a Hybrid for fingerstyle), so I guess it all came together nicely.





The grain running on a bit of an angle may mess with what I had drafted for my initial plans, but I'll see how that goes.



It's a neck!



Main thing I dislike with the kit is the straight fretboard end here, but eh, you work with what you can get. Bottom corner of the nut is also quite pointy. Nothing a file won't fix, but still worth mentioning.



Ooops, couple dents in the back

[B'Lark]

Interestingly, not a scarfed neck join at all. I kinda expected that from one angle, since doing the Compound Scarf is nowhere near as straightforward, but it's also not a 3-piece laminated neck, like there usually would be if opting out of the Scarf.





Just a couple more of the body with the neck attached. I do really enjoy the grain on it.



Pickups are also different from the ones I've had on PBG kits in the past, which again makes sense because fanned. Got a hunch they're A5, as I've seen similar, unbranded ones before, but can't say with certainty. They're also 4-conductor, which I'd be much more hyped for if I was actually planning on any wiring shenanigans this time... Dang.



Hipshot-style fanned bridge too. Probably the better option over the individual saddled ones. Feels solid enough at this point in time

[B'Lark]

Prewired switching. Am just gonna use it this time. Pretty neatly soldered.



For some nitpicking: Some of the frets aren't quite the full width of the fretboard further down. Not far enough to make a difference with playability, but it's visible. Fretwork is also pretty solid. They're all pretty smooth, but a couple of fret ends could handle a little bit of a tidying up.



One point as well where the binding wasn't set down in the rout quite properly. Not a big worry though.



And a shot of the back. Wheee

[Chaosblade]

Curious how the pickups end up. I was thinking about modding something onto the baseplates but the lack of screw holes make a lot of things awkward.

How does your scale length measure? I haven't gotten around to double checking mine, but I was a little concerned about my 27" side and someone else was concerned about their 25.5" side.

[B'Lark]

Curious how the pickups end up. I was thinking about modding something onto the baseplates but the lack of screw holes make a lot of things awkward.

How does your scale length measure? I haven't gotten around to double checking mine, but I was a little concerned about my 27" side and someone else was concerned about their 25.5" side.

Oh, I hadn't even thought to confirm scale lengths... Oops. Both ends on mine seem like they're pretty close. The long end is a little shorter than exactly 27" but it's not out far enough that the bridge holes won't line up

[Barry snook]

Yeah the pickups are really hard to change in this one as the mounting feet are not centred, I’ve been searching for a while but the only option I can come up with is getting bare knuckle to make them but will have to do a bit of routing on the mounting feet cavity.

[FrankenWashie]

Somewhere amidst all the other plans, there is the basis for a 27"/25.5" multi scale using a QLD Maple RG style body as a base. Must get around to that.
Nice score B'Lark, look forward to seeing how this goes.

[Simon Barden]

Uneven fret lengths seem to be a common issue with this kit. On your one, it does seem more like some are very slightly longer than the board width, rather than some are cut slightly too short for the width. Some careful filing of the ends should level things out and get rid of any sharp edges.

[Chaosblade]

Oh, I hadn't even thought to confirm scale lengths... Oops. Both ends on mine seem like they're pretty close. The long end is a little shorter than exactly 27" but it's not out far enough that the bridge holes won't line up

That sounds close to what I measured. Was worried since the thicker strings generally need to be further back than the scale length suggests. But it's probably fine, since it appeared the actual scale on the '27" side' is a little shorter than 27".

[B'Lark]

So my initial plan for staining was to do even stripes, along the grain, but when I opened it up and saw how angled the grain was, I realised that plan wouldn't work. But, I was discussing with my partner and they suggested staining along the rivers of the grain, which I loved the idea of. I'm using Angelus Leather Dye (Rose, specifically) this time around.