First ever build. GS-2Q

[Infsub]

How do you drill the bridge to pick up wire hole?... Very carefully! A long drill bit! Before you finish the body!

I have a beautiful PRS build that has a sticker in a strategic spot on the body. Can you guess why?

Has to be done to ground the strings regardless of if copper shielding is used.
Heaps of videos on line of people showing you how to do it the right way... As opposed to the way I did it. Live and learn

[marcianotmarsha]

apparently doing a matte back just really wanted to give me a serious issue. I kept sanding right through 5+ layers of poly and the black stain. I finally got it to a decent place, where I'm not going to fuss about it anymore...but this is what I kept running into.


here's a pic of the top...which gave me little to no issues.


an upclose of the headstock. There's some warping, a little sanding uneveness and oddness on this one, but I'm not going to fuss over it either at this point, because I think I'll make it worse if I try to fix it at this point. And since this IS my first build...I'm just going to enjoy the color blend.

[marcianotmarsha]

And here's the neck setting on the little table rig that I had to build so my clamps would work for this project.

[McCreed]

And here's the neck setting on the little table rig that I had to build so my clamps would work for this project.

I love seeing how we all approach problem solving!
As much I dislike having a problem, solving them creatively is actually kind of fun! Good work!

[Simon Barden]

I've never used wipe-on poly but I doubt that each layer is very thick. If it's anything like Tru-Oil consistency, then you'd need to apply a lot more layers to be able to sand flat without sand-through. Even with multiple coats of nitro spray (each spray of which gives a reasonably thick coat), I still get sand-throughs.

[McCreed]

I've never used wipe-on poly but I doubt that each layer is very thick. If it's anything like Tru-Oil consistency, then you'd need to apply a lot more layers to be able to sand flat without sand-through. Even with multiple coats of nitro spray (each spray of which gives a reasonably thick coat), I still get sand-throughs.

I agree with Simon.
I have used *wipe-on poly quite a bit on necks and bodies, and I typically apply at least 20 coats but aim for 24-28. (sometimes I lose track so just do extras)

The reason I have an asterisk on wipe-poly is because I mix my own. I mix 50/50 poly & turps. It works just as good as the stuff you buy, and costs about 1/3 the price. Store-bought wipe-on poly is basically just thinned polyurethane anyway.

The advantage of DIY wipe-on is I can vary the consistency if needed. I mostly spray my poly now and the 50/50 mix is perfect in my airbrush.

[marcianotmarsha]

I agree with Simon.
I have used *wipe-on poly quite a bit on necks and bodies, and I typically apply at least 20 coats but aim for 24-28. (sometimes I lose track so just do extras)

The reason I have an asterisk on wipe-poly is because I mix my own. I mix 50/50 poly & turps. It works just as good as the stuff you buy, and costs about 1/3 the price. Store-bought wipe-on poly is basically just thinned polyurethane anyway.

The advantage of DIY wipe-on is I can vary the consistency if needed. I mostly spray my poly now and the 50/50 mix is perfect in my airbrush.

DAMN!! 20 coats?!? Well..now I know where I went wrong. geeeezzzz! I think next time I do this, I'll get one of those "thick coat" polys. Somehow it worked out really well for the top...but the back was a nightmare. So...lesson learned with my first build, I guess..

[Dikkybee007]

I have used Feast Watson wipe-on poly on 5 guitars, I use the satin on the neck underside and the gloss on the body and head top face. I have done about 5 guitars with a litre of both and I think I still have enough for a few more. The satin comes out a very faint yellow but seeing as I use it on yellow stained necks its not a problem.

Firstly to achieve a satisfactory finish you have to make sure all the prep is done correctly, the rougher the surface of course the more finish you have to put on to fill any little surface imperfections. At this point in time I am doing a Strat with twin P-90 pups and I will finish it in wipe on poly with the technique I have performed a number of times. I always finish my sanding with a 240 grit paper but may start off with an 80 grit depending on how many deep marks there are. Once I finish sanding I put on 2 or 3 coats of Feast Watson sanding sealer and sand with a very fine Scotch-brite to give a good flat surface. I put the sealer on with a sponge rubber brush as I find it gives a nice flat surface. Any finish you put on should be as flat as possible so it doesn't need much sanding. I then stain to what ever colour I am going to finish it in and then put on the wipe-on poly. You stain after the sealer so it goes on even and you don't have any blotches of stain, as per the instructions. I have used spray on poly but if there is high humidity then the finish will come out rough and when spraying there is much more clean up and setup and I have found brush and wipe on poly is quicker and easier and cheaper as you don't need a special space to spray or expensive equipment and can be done when the temps are lower.

Once I have the body prep done I use a blue Chux, a lint free cloth that I get on a roll, and make sure there is sufficient amount of poly on and wipe it on and make sure you wipe in the one direction as that makes it easier to keep flat. I normally put 2 good coats on both body and neck and then use a white Scotch-brite I got from Stewmac which is supposed to be equivalent to 2500 grit paper. I give it a light rub is the same direction as the poly just to remove any dust and to make sure the surface is flat. I then put on a slightly lighter coat and repeat the sand and then put on a final coat and again a very fine sand and that's done the rear of the neck as I like where my hand goes to be a matt finish as I find on a shiny surface once my hand warms up it starts to stick to a polished surface. I also use almond oil on the fret area as it does the same as lemon oil but at a fraction of the price and I never seal the finger board with any finish other than the almond oil.

Where the decal goes I use 2 coats of satin and then a light sand and put my decal on. I put one coat of gloss over the whole face then apply 2 or maybe 3 coats of gloss around the decal before I put a coat over the top of the decal so as just to build up around and hopefully level it up, if not I just put another coat on. Once I feel I have enough coats on I then put 2 good coats over the whole face and a light sand with the Scotch-brite. Then I usually put another light coat on and sand and then polish to a gloss finish.

The body has 2 coats before I sand then I do another 2 coats with a sand in between each coat and then wait a week or so and polish. I found when I put the poly on I like to see it looks like it is wet and not dry but that normally doesnt happen until the 2nd coat as the first is just like an undercoat/sealer. I use the fine Scotch-brite as you would seriously have to be doing something wrong to sand through as it takes of a smidgen at a time but I am sure if you had it in your mind to sand through you could do it. You have to make sure when you put the finish on you put it on as smooth as possible as any unevenness just means you will have to use more finish to fix.

As for polishing I used to use a car polish with a sheep wool buff but if the guitar gets damaged, if the polish has a wax in it then it is a lot harder to fix or you can get a polish without any wax in it but I have found it is a little harder to get from some outlets. I use to make rings to be worn on your fingers out of Titanium and I used to polish them using a cotton buff with jewellers rouge. I bought some felt pads to fit on my random orbital sander and some cylindrical cotton buffs that fit my drill and some rouge in different grit . I use the pads for the flat surfaces on the body and neck head face and use the cylindrical buffs for the edge. You have to make sure when you sand or polish the corners you don't go along the corner but go across or up to the edge as otherwise you will sand though. I also have cut a Scotch-brite that I use in my sander to sand the flat surfaces between coats. The amount of sanding and how to put sufficient finish comes with experience and trying different techniques. On some open grained guitar necks and bodies I have firstly given 2 coats of brush on poly with a sponge rubber brush, sanded lightly and then used 2 or 3 coats of wipe on poly to finish to give a flat surface to polish. On the strat I am doing now I am going to use a brush on poly with a stain it it to highlight the grain a little bit and finish with wipe on.

I have used brush on to fill the pores of a ash bodied tele for a mate but I used artist brush to only apply the poly to the deep grain and a squeegee to flatten and then when flat enough I then applied all over. While it came out like glass I vowed never again and when I did mine I left the grain visible as I like the contrast and unevenness. Now saying all of that doesn't mean it will work for you but it does show that maybe you may need to change a small part of you technique to obtain the required finish you want without worrying about sanding through or having to redo a finish due to defects. I made mistakes as I was unsure on what finish I wanted and I have redone some of my guitars as I found the finish I used to like is not the one I like now. Due to experience I found a technique that works for me and I am sure you will find one that works for you.

[marcianotmarsha]

Can somebody please help me make sense of this?!
after all my fretting about the electronics, it turns out everything came presoldered (as far as the pots, the switch and the jack) I know that I'm going to need to desolder and then resolder the jack in order for me to be able to properly install the jack. But I'm trying to understand what is what in comparison to what I have which is.....


and what the diagram says for my build....


the red wire coming from the guitar is the bridge pickup, and the black one is the neck pickup. the black wire that is taped to the back is for grounding to the bridge.

I also have a spare blue wire that came with the kit, which I'm unsure exactly where that goes as yet.

part of my confusion is that the diagram has a picture of a 3 way switch that has 7 tabs. the one I have has 4 on one side (the 2 middle ones are bent and soldered together with the purple wire that is coming off of the volume pot. But there is no wire from the volume pot to the switch in the diagram. I think that's just the beginning of my confusion. both wires from the output jack are going straight to the volume knob, instead of one going to the jack and one going to the tone knob.
I have a feeling I'm overcomplicating this...but...the picture and what I have aren't looking the same, and my mind is being blown.
and it looks like there may be another much thicker tab on the other side that has the grey wire soldered to it.

[WeirdBits]

The PBG diagram is for a 3-way blade switch, whereas yours is a 3-way toggle. This diagram is better match for your build, but it doesn't really matter.

Hopefully this helps:


The rest of the connections appear to be OK, but I can't see all the lugs on the volume pot to be certain. Don't worry about the 'spare' blue wire.

The black ground wire from the jack is going to the back of the volume pot and then to the back of the tone pot. The grey wire is going from the back of the volume pot to the ground lug on the switch. Thus both pots and the switch have a ground connection to the jack. The red wire from the jack is your signal 'hot' which goes to the lug on the volume pot. The purple is the 'hot' output from the switch to the other lug on the volume pot, and then another red links this to your tone pot. Make sense?