First Build - PRS-1F

**cjd** · 05-04-2021, 02:20 PM

Been waiting a little while, but excited to hopefully take delivery of the PRS-1F kit tomorrow.

I haven't completely settled on colour scheme as yet. For the body top, I have ordered some (dingotone) black stump and bondi blue stain and considering bursting the blue over the black. I think I will try it out on some offcuts first and see what it looks like.

With regard to the back and neck though, I haven't really got any solid ideas, and keen to hear what is generally recommended. The PRS-1F is a basswood body and maple set neck. I read that basswood is relatively soft compared to mahogany so is staining enough to protect from minor bumps and bangs, or will the top coats protect adequately? It is "normal" to use the same colour on the back and neck as the top? Maybe have clear coats to bring out the maple neck and just colour the front of the headstock?

Suffering from a bit of analysis paralysis at the moment!

With the videos and instructions i've seen, it seems like a good idea to attach a stick into the neck pocket to help move the body around while staining/painting. Is it safe to screw this to the body, or is that something that is only done when there's already screw holes for bolted neck guitars?

Looking forward to the journey.

Craig

**Groovyman32** · 05-04-2021, 04:53 PM

Hey Craig,

Welcome and congrats on your kit - sounds fun!

I’m a first time builder too so not very qualified to answer your questions. I don’t think the stain will offer any protection. I think your top coats will provide some defence against bumps and bruises... but then I think a guitar without dings is a guitar that’s not been played and loved.

As for the colour scheme I don’t think there’s a convention. The binding in the maple/mhog formula I think creates a natural separation between colours.

Good luck!

**McCreed** · 05-04-2021, 06:42 PM

Hi Craig, and welcome.

As Groovyman said, it's the top coat (lacquer, polyurethane, polyester etc) that offer a level of protection of the timber not the stain. Unfortunately it mostly protection from environmental conditions ranging from moisture in the air, sweat, and body gunk from our hands... and beer! These coatings will defend against very minor impacts, but none are bullet-proof.

As for "I read that basswood is relatively soft compared to mahogany..." there are lots different types of "mahogany" that don't necessarily get clearly specified. So not all mahogany is created equal. Some are harder or softer than others.
Sorry for being long-winded, my point is basswood and variants of mahogany are both very usable, good tone woods for electric guitars. I have at least 3 basswood body and 4 mahogany body guitars that have survived lots of playing and moving around and still look good.

Like G-man also said, colours are entirely up to you unless you're trying do some kind of replica of a specific model. There are some "traditional" ideals that many kind of follow, like back of body and neck being the same colour, but that's not a rule.

I think you'll find that set-neck guitars tend to follow this more than screw-fixed (or bolt-on) neck guitars. My feeling is this has more to do with difference in the finishing processes of each type than anything else.

**cjd** · 15-04-2021, 04:50 PM

OK. Underway and things are going ok. Lined up the strings and the neck seems fine. Quite a few machine scratches over the body though. Got most of them out with some fine sandpaper (P400, worried about wearing through the thin flamed maple veneer) but I think that has caused some issues with the absorbency of the DingoTone so I have a few patchy spots that haven’t taken the colour so well.

I’ve used Black Stump with a little bit of Bondi Blue on the body, and on the front I’ve reversed the quantities of black and blue. Just waiting for the lot to dry now before applying the intensifier.

I’m starting on the neck and it all seems pretty straight, so that is looking good. I’ve cut in an open book headstock (ie a very dodgy Gibson LP version) and we’ll see how that goes once it is cleaned up. I had a dismal fail with the jig saw initially, but I started a fair way from where I eventually wanted the line to be so no major damage done! I ended up doing a straight cut across with the jigsaw and then using a rasp and coping saw to shape it.

Lastly, I’ve decided to upgrade the plastic nut on the neck with a bone nut (or maybe even an graphtec). It seems to be pretty well glued in there though! I am a bit worried about how hard to knock to get it off....should this come off easily or do I need heat or something like nail polish remover to help it along?

I’d post photos, but my iPad doesn’t seems to have the ability to resize photos without having to fudge around emailing them to yourself! I’ll use my pc to resize and post shortly.

Cheers.
Craig

**Simon Barden** · 15-04-2021, 05:07 PM

The nuts can be quite strongly glued on, but tapping away with a suitable sized piece of wood and a hammer should do it. You could use a hairdryer on it which will help to weaken the glue, but it shouldn't be necessary. I start tapping from the fretboard side of the nut, and then tap at either end and repeat that pattern. I'd avoid any really strong taps as it just makes the hammer and piece of wood harder to control if the nut suddenly gives, and you then risk some collateral damage.

I've replace a lot of nuts, and I haven't come across one yet that I haven't removed just by tapping. Occasionally I've had to go with some pretty heavy blows, but 90% of the time, multiple medium strength taps should do it.