Marcel's ES-1TL

[Marcel]

Spent a few hours shaping the headstock... turned out reasonably well for a file and sandpaper job...

I've included a shot of my jig to hold the neck in my vice so it could be worked on. handy thing is it also allows to be reasonably sure the filed/sanded edge sections are square to the front face... and nil vice marks on the headstock (which my vice is easily and perfectly capable of doing.. it will crush wood if you want it too)...

Also a couple of pix of my pine tuner test template drilling trial, and yes the pine is thicker than a headstock so the ferrules don't sit low enough, but it was only to prove drilling measurements and spacing.... The exact same drilling (as close as possible) was done to the headstock...

[Marcel]

Had a play with colours... I'd like to hear opinions...

Which colour is best?? Top, bottom, or Left or Right of the bridge ?? Or none of them ...

[Kick]

Your daughter has a fine taste

I'd go for the middle one.

[stan]

Some nice work there
I like the brightness of the top colour

[Dedman]

I agree with Kick, the middle one

[Marcel]

Thanks for the input guys...

Either side of the bridge are slightly different versions of the Teal Green/Blue. In this instance my preference strongly leans toward the Right of the bridge side hue, however the Left side hue is much simpler to replicate. I might try it all again but with a substantial reduction in the strength of the Green as I'd still prefer to have it at this stage a bit more Blue as the Shellac I intend to put over the top will pull it back slightly toward the Green ...

[Marcel]

Got the neck set today.... What a buggar of a job it was too....

The dry fit was tight, but I thought it would work. Did all the measurements. Ground down some spare bridge posts so they would just slide in and easily pull out again so I could mount the bridge in the right spot to take the measurements. Everything looked fine. Double checked everything ... all is good, Break out the TiteBond...

First go... DAMN!! the neck didn't want to go all the way in the slot. After a few minutes of pushing, pressing, grunting and groaning... and many many real choice expletives, I pulled the neck out, which was a job in itself as the TiteBond had already begun to set...which led to more choice expletives about all the lies I've heard and read on how long TiteBond takes to set... yeah right, maybe in snowman country it works fine, but in the tropics in our wintery 25C and 20%RH it sets almost as fast as superglue.... 2 or 3 minutes max is all you get... Add an Expletives list too long to mention...

Spent the next few hours cleaning up the mess..... and had a suitable refreshment to calm my angry nerves....

2nd go... I had carved out, scratched, scored, sanded, scrapped, dug, and may other excavation names at the neck and the neck slot in the body.... Nothing stupid, but the dry fit once again seemed okay. This time it wasn't as tight, but still reasonably firm and now with plenty of tiny little grooves and holes for the TiteBond to reservoir in as the neck very snugly went into place.

Applied the TiteBond, Positioned the neck. A bit of wriggling to get everything lined up.... one good push...and it was home.... Yay!!!

Clamps on, Damp rag to wipe off the small amount of excess that was now being squeezed out.... It's all good, and it only took me 4 hours...

[FrankenWashie]

Yeah its fun isn't it!

[Kick]

Oh man, what a story. Luckely all is set and done but your story is fun to read

[OliSam]

Hey Marcel
I'm about to start a set neck LP so reading this gave me hope that if I stuff up a little I still have a chance to remedy it.
Good work mate!


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