Most of the info I have to share about this project is on Facebook. You can look it up here: http://www.facebook.com/thepinkguitar but for those that don't use Facebook *GASP!* here is what we have so far...
It's a PBG LPA-1 kit. Its's got a beautiful ash veneer! However, my luthier friend swears up and down that the body is not ash but rather a wood SIMILAR to ash that can be locally sourced in Asia. By that I think he means to say it's not American ash as that of course doesn't grow where these kits are produced. Right out of the gate this kit's body has some problems. Nothing that will affect the end result, but worth noting.
In the cutaway there is a distinct patch that has been filled with wood-filler in the factory. Same on the jack-hole end. Nothing that affects the integrity of the body, but it prevents the back from being finished in a natural finish. All good I wasn't going to do that anyway.
The binding on the bottom of the neck pocket was sticking out quite a bit. This had to be sanded down.
More problematic is the veneer. In the factory it wasn't glued down very well, out of the box it started chipping (with barely any handling from yours truly) around the neck pocket. No problem as I was able to glue it back down and the chips will be covered by neck and neck-position pick up. There is a chip missing in one of "pot holes" (Hahaha potholes, like I am back on route 66, don't get jealous I used to live on route 66 - well almost anyway) this will get covered with a knob but more annoying is that during grain filling the veneer started lifting all along the grain that runs over that knob. I guess ash is really (especially when it's veneer thin) susceptible to moisture and veneer not being glued down all that well it split on the grain and curled up. I pushed it down with a few clamps. I will not repair this until after staining. It requires super glue and I didn't want to risk creating a spot where the stain will react differently and creates a discolored patch.
While the neck itself is mostly in good shape (no major defects there) the headstock is a different story. I honestly think they let an apprentice work on that bit :-) It's not symmetrical at all. The curve at the bottom of the headstock is a different shape left and right. Also the holes for the machine heads are visibly unevenly spaced! I haven't done a test fit to see how it looks with the tuners in place but I am thinking it's going to bother the crap out of me just knowing how uneven it is, even if nobody will ever notice... I NOTICED! I am going to have to do some thinking about this. Luckily (because this is a charity build) I am being assisted by a professional guitar builder!
I will put up a picture soon.
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