I have finally got time to work on the next couple of builds. I have had the strat kit for a while and was planning on learning to use Fusion 360 and cutting bodies on a CNC but the Ash Tele kit came up for pre order and I though why not.
I should have investigated more as the pictures did not have binding and I was hoping to practice arm and back cuts on the body but that will have to wait for another time.
I have been working on getting the guitars set up with lots of work fixing issues with everything fitting together. The dremel has been getting a workout routing and shaping.
Strat
Have black hardware from PB. Added a brass block to the bridge from musiclilly. I have tonerider vintage pups. I am still trying to decide if I just use a black dye and sand back light and wipe on poly or if I want to grain fill first in black, sand back and then do the dye for a smooth surface. I think I will try the dye only first and see what comes out as I can easily just grain fill then.
Was going to use some Gotoh pots but they did not fit so I have used some alpha minies.
I have found that the machine heads feel cheap and are not solid. Will see how they go but suspect they will need to be replaced (also on he tele - they have rubber on the tuner knobs???). The chrome heads from PB that I used on my last build were much higher quality.
Tele
I got this kit with the black hardware as I had a black wilkinson bridge already and some tele pups I could use. As it came with binding on the front I have had to rethink the whole project - no more arm cut. I like the look of the wood grain and the pick guard provided is really rough so I have decided to leave it off. I have just ordered a pup frame and a wilkinson vintage neck humbucker. It will need a bit of modification to the neck pocket to fit the frame but it will leave the rest of the body clear.
Have done a bit of work the the bridge pup routing. Making it bigger to fit the pup and making space for the wires to exit as the hole was not low enough to go under the pup. The control channel is narrow but next job is to widen it to fit gotoh pots that would not fit the strat build.
Question 1 ?
You will see in the pictures that there is glue on the body from the binding. This is in quite a few places. Is there a way to get rid of this or reduce it before adding a dye?
Question 2 ?
Has anyone had any experience with using Acrylic ink with wood dye? I an thinking of using a blue or green dye and then mixing in some white or pearl white acrylic ink to flatten it out into a kind of tinted white wash. I am not sure if the acrylic dye will sit on the surface too much an hide the grain or how it will react with the dye. Does not seem to be much online. Any ideas?
I haven't had a chance to engage much with the forum lately due to being busy but every time I get the chance it is great to see everybody's work and see the great support.