First Built - TL1-TB

[TonyH]

Hi All,

Recieved my kit in the mail today.

The neck appears cracked. Is this normal, ok, or will I need a new neck?

I'm a little nervous and a lot excited by this build. I have never built a guitar before. Hopefully having a trade background and having done a little rough building and painting will be enough that I don't butcher this.

I'd be glad for any 'tips for young players' anyone has to share.

Cheers

Tony

[Lappa]

Hi Tony, nice kit, welcome to the adventure! I am working on my first build ever in my life too, but without any woodworking experience. The pros here are really helpful, you’ll see. Take your time and ask everything! (As much as I browsed around to see others’, I would not worry too much about the neck, but surely more experienced builders will respond too.)

[McCreed]

The neck appears cracked. Is this normal, ok, or will I need a new neck?

It may be ok as the cracks don't appear to all the way to bottom of the heel, but I've never seen that kind of splitting on any neck I've used. I would contact Adam at PBG and get his opinion. If it needs replacing, he's very helpful with that stuff.

I have never built a guitar before. Hopefully having a trade background and having done a little rough building and painting will be enough that I don't butcher this.

There are certainly skills which are transferable. A lot comes down to common sense and asking questions (hopefully before something goes wrong ). Lots of knowledgeable folks here willing to share.

[TonyH]

Thanks Fellas! I'll shoot them a message. Fingers crossed.

[FrankenWashie]

Thanks Fellas! I'll shoot them a message. Fingers crossed.

Yeah that one should be a no brainer replace. That area of the heel is going to take the load from the screws, string tension, and the anchor end of the truss rod. Doesn’t look great.

[king casey]

Phew! I'm glad you didn't take a profile shot.

cheers, Mark.

[Lappa]

Yeah that one should be a no brainer replace. That area of the heel is going to take the load from the screws, string tension, and the anchor end of the truss rod. Doesn’t look great.

Oops! I was overconfident then - but I learned something today. Apologies and I hope the replacement goes smooth for you!

[TonyH]

Adam reckons the neck will be fine, so I've gone ahead with paint etc.

My impatience waiting for paint to dry got the better of me and there's a few marks. And my lack of experience and over belief in high fill primer is obvious, but it's been a lot of fun.

I started mounting hardware this arvo, and can't wait to keep going.

Is there somewhere I can find the dimensions to mount the bigsby? Or do I need to do a test run with strings to make sure it's not so far back the strings come up short?

[TonyH]

Well, I found the supplied bridge a little wobbly and not great for holding tuning after a dive on the whammy bar, so I tried a few roller saddle bridges and settled on the one in this video, which only just goes low enough for a nice action, but intonated nicely and doesn't wobble around like the other that I tried.

It sounds surprisingly nice, given the budget nature of the electronics.

Overall, a fun project. Can recommend to anyone with a basic level of handyman skills.

https://www.facebook.com/tony.haines...22473010628567

[dozymuppet]

Sounds great. Nice work.

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