Sundragon's Walnut 335 tribute build - A gift for a friend

[Sundragon]

So, this is the start of an ambitious build.
Ordered around midnight last night, thought I'd start the diary with the inspiration first.

Starting with an ES-1GT kit, and inspired by a blend of the two 335's pictured here, I'm building this guitar as a gift for a friend.

Will be Walnut high gloss finish with gold hardware and a capped and embellished headstock.
intended upgrades are StewMac electrics, Gotoh bridge and tuners, black tusq nut.

It will likely take a while, as I'm pretty pedantic about details, but can't wait to get started!

[gavinturner]

Welcome Sundragon,

The inspiration looks awesome - love the walnut colour on the semi-hollow and the gold hardware will be the perfect accompaniment.
How will you treat the flamed maple veneer? Are you planning to pop the grain somehow or just go walnut and let the grain speak for itself?

Will be following your build with interest. Nothing like a tasty 335 build!

cheers,
Gav.

[andrewdosborne]

Welcome to the forum. The ES kits are very good. I like your plan for this one

Sent from my GT-I9506 using Tapatalk

[Sundragon]

Hey Gav,

My intention is to do a light 'pop' run over the veneer with Black Japan, and rub back until the depth shows, then do as many coats of Walnut as my eyes tell me is right.
Fortunately, I have a kit body from a different project that I can use to do the testing of the staining and wipe-on poly I will be using to make sure it works first

[tonyw]

Welcome Sundragon, looks like an interesting project, all the best with it.

[Sundragon]

So, the kit arrived today!

Planning on getting hold of the remaining required hardware before getting into any work on the body though. Need to measure 30 times before I start anything :P

First impressions:

Overall, not bad at all actually.
The flame top is quite subtle, so the pop step will be important on this one.
Neck seems very good, slightly behind flat which is a good start.
Will be plugging and re-drilling peg holes. Considering putting a veneer on both sides of the headstock, depending on length needed for tuner posts.
Neck recess seems straight, but is both too tight and offset angle is too great. will probably need a shim and some trickery to make the end finish look pretty.
Not seeing much in the way of glue marks or factory repairs which is a bonus.
Binding looks pretty tidy, even f-hole binding is decent which I am pleased about.

Overall, a decent canvas to work with from the first look

[wokkaboy]

kit looks great Sundragon. The flame maple should pop more after you stain it black. Don't do any presanding as the veneers are thin. Look forward to progress

[Andy40]

Ohhhh gold hardware...yummy!

[Sundragon]

I'd just like to point out, whilst I'm waiting for parts from StewMac et al to arrive... that I ended up with the ES-1GT sample image kit :P

[gavinturner]

Gold hardware should look really great. You will find that even the subtlest flame will pop as soon as you get some stain in there.

cheers,
Gav.