Rob's First Kit Build, the STA-1MHT

[Bob3rtexe]

I just got the STA-1MHT kit for Christmas, and am excited to begin the process. I have never made a kit before, so I'm hoping this will be a good learning experience. I had a specific question about bridge placement. I tried to measure the scale length of the guitar to find the correct place for the bridge, but was having issues. The pickguard is not wide enough for the entire bridge to fit between it. I'm not sure where I should place the bridge, and any help would be greatly appreciated.
In addition to that, I had a question about wiring. The majority of the wiring is pre-soldered, which is nice, however there are three wires that need to be soldered hang off of the volume pot. I know the yellow one goes to the output jack, and I think one of the ground wires needs to go from the output jack to the bottom on the bridge, but given that this is my first kit I want to make sure I'm certain before I solder anything. Thanks!
-Rob

[Sonic Mountain]

Might need to do a bit of judicious sanding of the pickguard to get the bridge to fit. I would just leave the pickguard off and get the bridge placement correct first. Then you can adjust the pickguard if necessary after. It’s not uncommon to have to refine the fit on various areas of the kits.

Yes one wire, probably soldered to the back of one of the pots needs to go under the bridge as an earth. Then there will be a hot wire that goes to the output jack and probably and earth for the output jack as well. If you post a pic we can tell you which goes where.

[ozzbike]

Welcome aboard the ship of G.A.S. (Guitar Acquisition Syndrome.) This will be the first of many for you....and it feels good.

Don't worry about those things. Yes, the initial mock up is good to see if there are any major issues with your kit.

But beyond that, the manual stuff is where you need to focus.

I would suggest doing a mock build to see that:-

1. The neck fits the neck pocket of the body.

2. Grab a clamp and hold the neck in place. Grab a second clamp and hold the bridge roughly in place.....and attach both top and bottom E and top E strings tuning machines. Run strings from both to the bridge....and just see that things line up....sometimes there are issues at the placement of the tuning machine holes....the nut slots....the bridge placement.

3. Undo all of that and head to the big Green Shed.....you know the one.....starts with "B"and has lots of hardware in it.

4. You will need 80, 120, 180, 240, 600, 800, 1200, 1500, 2000 grit sandpaper. (600 up should be the wet and dry style.)

5. You will need some sort of body filler.....highly recommend the Timbermate brand. They have a load of colours. (Timbermate for stains.....painting with spray cans really needs something different and then primer and base coat etc.

6. You will need to chose colours/paint/Finish coat choices for your build.

7. You will need the 25 mm Blue painters tape...not cheap...but leaves no or less muck on your wood. I also use the thinner 18mm tape as well.

8. Some small wood/foam/cork etc blocks of different shapes and sizes. I actually use an empty glasses cleaner bottle wrapped in a piece of sandpaper on the round corners of the body. The other bits are for flat surfaces around your guitar. Try not to do the heavy work with just the sandpaper and your fingers as it will cut in ruts/grooves in the surface. (Light pressure after raising the grain on the wood with say 320 grit with finger use is fine....not heavy pressure at all.)

9. Find a nice outdoor place to work.....dust will cover you and anything in your proximity. Sand yourself silly. Start with the 80 grit and remove most of your big machine marks. The finer grits are really just cleaning up the scratches from the heavier papers used before.

Tape up the control cavities, pickup routes and the neck pocket. They will get junk in them otherwise....hard to get out...ugly finishes.

10. I stop (with stains) at 180 grit.....then I apply thick shake density mix of timber mate and water and let it dry.

11. The I light pressure sand off the Timbermate at 240 grit. I most times end up doing a fingers only really light buff at the end of this section.

That is a good start.

oh...dont forget to tape up your fingerboard on the neck too.