1st Build RCA-4

[Pumpy]

Hi everyone, I've had my kit for a couple of weeks now. Did a mock build straight away, have done grain filling and sanding.........plenty of sanding. I'm looking at a solid colour for the body and neck, not sure on gloss or satin black, or maybe even a carbon fibre look. I've changed the bridge for a Rick replica which needed a slight recess in the body. I clamped the neck and bridge in place to get the positions right, and made sure the E and G string spacings were good before any holes were made, it seems to have come out OK so far but now I need to pick some brains.
I've read a few posts on other RC-4 builds that mention putting a wedge shim under the neck with this type of bridge but I'm not sure if thats something I'm going to need to do.
I've also used a straight edge from the bridge along the neck and found there is a 2mm gap at 20th fret, no gap at the 7th, and a 1mm gap at the 1st fret. I've not touched the truss rod yet. Any advice at this stage would be greatly appreciated. :-)

[gavinturner]

Hey Pumpy, was the neck straight? It sounds like there was some back bow if the strings were touching at the 7th fret. I would personally straighten the neck and check again. Also, check that the bridge saddles are all the way down (if the height is adjustable).

cheers,
Gav.

[Pumpy]

Thanks Gav, have slowly adjusted the truss rod and the neck straightened out no problem. Will have a play about and see if I need to shim it. Simon

[sansan]

Welcome along Pumpy!

Im building another RCa kit, thinking about solid color too, so grain filling may be necesary...how did you find it on this ash kit? Never did before.

Anyway, my neck comes with an extreme back bow too. i supose that it could be better adjusted with all strings on. isnt it?

S!

[Pumpy]

Hi Sansan, I've been watching your build, its looking good. Even though I sanded, filled the grain and sanded again you can still see a bit of the grain through the primer so looks like it needs a bit more in places, I don't want to rely on paint to fill anywhere. The neck had a large bow but seems ok now. Looking forward to seeing how yours turns out :-)

[sansan]

Thanks pumpy.. I would fill the grain at least one time and then sand, because i will spray on with some grey/white primer prior to black acrilic. I would like to see some grain ruin of the body so, maybe one coat of both fillers may necessary.

Ill be watching for your work.
S!

[Pumpy]

Slowly moving forward. After straightening the neck I realised I did have to shim the neck as all the other RC-4 builds have done when fitted the Rick bridge. It's a few mm higher than the bridge that comes with the kit and the action is way too high. I don't have any wood working tools as such, a few chisels, clamps etc, but found some hardwood axe wedges that I thought I could use. They were pretty much the size I was looking for and fitted in the neck pocket, it was just a bit thicker. I bought 2 just in case, made a bit of a jig out of some old wood so it would hold the wedge while I sanded, and after about 10 minutes had a wedge 1.2mm thick. Pretty amazed as was expecting it to be a bit harder than it was and fully expected to use them both. I decided to glue to wedge to the neck first and then if needed I can make some minor adjustments, and when it comes to setting the neck I'll only have one glue joint to worry about.

[Muxorama]

I'm really hot to do a Fireglo finish on one of these. How good is the binding on the body? And is the binding already installed on the neck, or do you have to glue it on? Pitbull advertises the binding as "Cream" color....wish they had used white to match the pickguard but it doesn't look too much darker than white from the pics....?

[Pumpy]

Hi Muxorama, I'm really happy with the kit, the binding is already fitted on neck and body. Personal choice I guess if you want to change it as it is a bit different to white but not much. There's a lot of info and tips here from many very experienced people. I've covered my binding while sanding, painting etc. and will neaten it up at the end. Good luck with yours :-) Simon

[Pumpy]

Still progressing with my build. The mock build with the bridge and neck wedge went well, and the action looks like it'll be pretty good with plenty of adjustment up and down. I checked and double checked everything more times than I can remember and eventually got the glue out and left it for a few days. It set really well with no gaps around the neck pocket so really pleased. I decided early on to set the neck and then finish just to get the best join. Bit of a learning curve, I thought I'd sanded plenty and had a good smooth finish but as soon as primer went on it brought out every little imperfection. So I've spent my last few build days sanding, grain filler, sanding, a bit more grain filler and sanding. Having the neck already set has made it a little awkward at times but no big issues. So with a very smooth and even primer surface the first couple of semi gloss black went on and I think it's turned out OK considering it's just rattle cans. I'm sort of torn at the moment between finishes, I did want to go for the traditional Jetglo Rick look but then again a build should be unique I guess and am considering a carbon effect finish. I've tried the finish out on my pedal case top and it came out ok, but still not sure. The test has a couple of black coats on plywood, and one coat of gloss clear but gives an idea although the picture doesn't really show it as well as it is. I would want a few clear coats on to give it a real deep shine.