First Build GR-1SF

[McCreed]

Here's another option for F-tron type p/ups CLICK FOR LINK, scroll to bottom of page.

They're Made In Korea. I had a pair of the Memphis and they sounded very good. I only sold them on because I'm just really not a humbucker guy. (I can't tell how many pairs of HB's it has taken me to learn that )

[Markus F.]

Thanks guys, for all the tips concerning the pickups. Since getting the wiring installed was much less a hassle than I expected, I decided to go with the stock pickups first.

They do sound better than I thought - so at least for the moment it's fine.

I stringed it up, checked the intonation and action. I am really surprised how well the Gr plays. So all in all I am really satisfied with the result.
However, for future projects - and I already ordered a custom AES from PBG - I would do a couple of things differently.

1. Use a grain filler - although basswood is not quite porous, it took around 4 coats until the wood on the body was filled, and the neck of course took even longer.

2. Try a different finish. I have to say that occupying our home office space for weeks to apply the wipe on poly put quite a bit of strain on family relations. My wife wasn't very happy that the office could not really be used due to poly fumes what other options are there?

Spray can poly? It'll also smell but should take a lot less time to get the finish to the desired depth?

Tru Oil? Can anybody tell me about he smell/fumes? I am assuming that it'll be similar to wipe on poly.

Shellac? That should probably be the least 'invasive' but also most time consuming options.

I love to hear from you guys what you think.

3. I'd love to get a little more depth and accentuating of the wood fibres. I put on two coats of regular water-based stain, and got even color all around, however the grain is not very pronounced. I am thinking of maybe going over the body with a darker stain, then light sanding back, and then the main color. Do you have any best practices?

Anyway, here's a Pic. Still working on the Pickguard, but not quite sure whether I actually want one.

Again, thanks for all your help.

Gesendet von meinem EML-L29 mit Tapatalk

[Groovyman32]

Hi Markus,

It looks great - congrats and well done - great work! The black pup rings look awesome

RE the wipe on poly - I'm went through problems with the fumes. I did my coats in the shed out of the way of the family and moved it inside for the curing when the smell was not so bad... Now I have it hanging in the conservatory and so it's relatively out of the way. But the fumes were too much for me to handle to apply without a decent mask #lightweight.

I used a few coats of Tru-Oil on my maple neck and was really pleased with how it went on and the final finish. It doesn't smell nearly as much. But I think there are some concerns on what it does to the stain colour as it ages.

For grain enhancing - On my first body (ash) I used an oil based grain filler mixed with black oil based artist paint (although I think dark brown is a better choice). After leaving it overnight I sanded back and then applied a few coats of water based stain until I was happy - lightly sanding in between. I was quite pleased with the outcome.

For my second body (alder) I'm following the same process - even though the advice is alder does not need filling. But I couldn't get it to do what I wanted on my test pieces. I tried a dark water based stain and sanding back but that didn't work, I also tried raising the grain before the dark stain and that didn't work either. It was only the oil grain filler+paint that gave me any sort of grain enhancement. I've only been experimenting with alder off cuts so far - I haven't applied it to the body yet. On the advice of Mc I'm currently researching pre-stain conditioner. But as of yet I've not found anything in the UK that's similar. However it seems that this is just a thinned down sanding sealer that you apply and sand back - I'm not sure if I'm going to do this or just crash on and then wait for "told you so"s