Tweaky's ES-1 build, with P90's

[Tweaky]

I finally pulled my finger out and started this ES-1 and the ES-3 [will start another post ]

The intention is to mod this kit to fit P90 pickups on it instead of Humbuckers.

Here you can see the template for the P90's against the ES-1's body that is routed for Humbuckers.



Hopefully you can see where I have pencilled in where I intend to enlarge the pickup cavities.
Some of you might be thinking, he's going to have a large gap both above and under the P90 when it's installed.
Don't worry I've thought about that and have several different ways to sort it, I just thought it would look neater to square the pickup cavity off, rather than to have mouse ear holes either side of the P90, plus having the space above and below.

One slight worry with installing the neck pickup will be that I will have to take about 1-1.5mm off the thickness of the neck tongue, that glues the neck to the body, to accommodate the depth of the P90's I doubt it will make any noticeable difference.
As an aside, the ES-1's neck was a pain to get flat, it kept going one way then another, I put it down to huge temp changes when I was trying to get it flat, as well as huge swings in humidity when it rained for nearly 3 weeks straight after Xmas ....one of the reasons I didn't bother starting either of these builds till now.

Speaking of the neck / body joint of this ES-1 kit, it seems I'm suffering the same problem as another forum member currently building their kit, with a cavity/ gap showing between the rear of the neck joint and the rear of the guitars body [see photo]


NO, I am not going to fill it with anything.... I intend to extend the rear of the neck joint with a small block of suitable wood glued on, I couldn't find maple, but I got a rolling pin that I think is made of Palm wood, which has a very similar grain/colour and density to maple, I'll use that, and shape it so the extension covers the gap, and is flush to the guitars back, so it looks and feels like my Gibson ES

The hardware.... well since I bought the ES-3 kit as well, I decided that was guitar was going to be Blonde, and more suited to the Gold hardware that came with the ES-1 kit, so I sort of decided that ES-1 build will have chrome hardware and have swapped them around...well swapped what parts I'm actually going to use from the kits.



The pickup's are Kinman noiseless P90's, the new grungier ones.
Tuners are nickel Gotoh metal button kluson types, all the volume / tone pots will be 500k boyle's, with orange cap's and braided vintage wiring, switches and plugs upgraded as well.

I'm still yet to decide what sort of finish for the figure maple top... and how far do I want the flame to pop.... very easy to make a flame top look tacky instead of classy.

[Tweaky]

Just finished enlarging the pickup cavities for the P90's, also enlarged the Tone / volume pot holes for 10mm pots
Not quite as neat as I would like with the top pickup cavity, but I plan to build custom pickup surrounds out of polymer clay for this build, so nobody will se it anyway.

[Muzza]

Polymer clay??? Tell me more!

[Tweaky]

Where to start about polymer clay.
You could make pickup surrounds, pickup covers, scratch plates, truss rod covers etc out of polymer clay.
Imagine a plasticine type material that you roll through a pasta machine,and shape to what you want, then bake in a oven so it becomes hard like ABS plastic.
You can sculpt with it, you can use different material to make pattens in sheets of it, say Fly screen or denim...anything, then cut it to the shape you want, bake it and use it.
You can take several different colour clays, form them into a patten, or a picture say, they call this a cane, you then thin this cane out into a long roll, cut those rolls into sections, then join them altogether to make a even more intricate patten, you can do this ad infinitum and get as intricate as you want .....the possibilities are endless.
Just have a look at some of the photos I just looked for to show a small selection of what's possible....I might have to start a separate thread for this [I was holding back, as I knew it would create interest ]
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=p...UIBigB#imgrc=_

I even found a guitar manufacturer that makes entire bodies covered with polymer clay...reminders me of Mambo sort of stuff.
http://hand-guitars.com/

Watch this short youtube video that explains in a few minutes visually exactly how to build a cane, and the possibilities, from the Hand Guitars guys.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYhnTu7Mz6g#t=107

That will give you more of a idea of what is possible...well anything is possible truth be known....surprised people haven't picked up on it really.
I've been working with this stuff for ages.

The best brand of Polymer clay to use for guitar parts is KATO, it's the most durable once baked, and holds the most detail.
I buy my clay from Victoria.
http://www.polymerclay.com.au/polyme...raft-c-21.html

[dingobass]

Interesting... Will have an indepth look at those links later.

[dingobass]

Oooooooooohhhh......Kinmans.... Very noice.

[DrNomis_44]

I saw a video on youtube where a guitar maker was using some polymer clay to make the dot fretboard markers for a Strat build, he used a metal former to shape the clay.

[Tweaky]

It's easy stuff to work with.....you have to be wary that when baking it there is some shrinkage.
The only other problem with it is [especially the KATO clay] is that when baking it , it does give off a lot of plastic fumes which some find intolerable.

You really need a separate oven to work with it, as the plastic fumes coat the inside of the oven....I bought a Breville Pizza oven as a reconditioned second for this.

Otherwise, the other option is to get a Turkey basting tray with a cover, put your clay inside that, then cover what you are baking with baking soda.....this works well on two fronts, the baking soda absorbs a lot of the fumes, and it helps a lot in keeping the heat constant and even over the whole piece.

Here is a example in one picture of a process that can yield 3 slightly different designs, using just 3 colours of clay [this is advanced stuff..but it shows what's possible]


You choose your 3 colours, then you divide each colour into 10 equal portions, you then begin to run each portion through the pasta machine so it's flat, with each successive portion you add 10% by weight of white, the next portion get 20% more white etc, you end up with one colour with 10 differing shades , Dark to light.....stack them like that, dark to lightest so the end of the cane is a perfect square.

Repeat with the other two colours.

You then take a tissue blade [very sharp slicing tool] and cut down top to bottom into triangles as seen it the picture.
You make the first cut in the first colour, then the same in the next colour....as you slice each colour in turn , you mix the slices together to make a new cane.

You end up with three cane like the ones on the middle row, all different, but all only using those three colours.

You then thin those new canes out until they are thin, then join the edges together however you like, repeat several times, the patten become more intricate each time you do this....and change each time you change the way you join them together.
As seen in the bottom row.

If you want to try polymer clay, here is the easiest and most satisfying design to make, and you need very few tools to do it....it could look good on guitars as well.
It's called a Ikat design, millefiori [from the Italian -many layers]....just pick two colour that contrast greatly.
http://www.polypediaonline.com/image...Irismishly.pdf

[Andy40]

Oooooooooohhhh......Kinmans.... Very noice.

I am also keen to hear these in action!

[Muzza]

Thanks for the in depth reply mate.

I've seen the cane and jewellery stuff. Does nothing for me.

What I'm really interested in is the 'practical' possibilities - like a pickup mount. I'd like to know the details about techniques and procedures and hints 'n tips about that aspect of it use.

I had to basically rebuild my humbucker mounting rings because of the extreme curvature of the PRS top (see my PRS-1TS build diary) - and I'm wondering how I would go about making one out of polymer clay for my newest kit - another PRS that arrived last week.

Once the clay has been baked, what glue/adhesive can be used?