Ok cool. I'll keep that in mind.Also good the tusq nut worked out fine, I'm sure mine will be right but I can get too focused on details at times.Originally Posted by colin2121
Ok cool. I'll keep that in mind.Also good the tusq nut worked out fine, I'm sure mine will be right but I can get too focused on details at times.
Lots of progress this morning. Another gentle cut back and buff. It's not as glossy as I think it can be, but I'm happy enough to leave it for now and give it a really good shine after setup.
Shielding completed
Soldering done
Initial setup done.
I plugged it in and everything works. Actually sounds pretty passable, on the brief muck around I had the neck pick up is great, but I'm going to change the humbucker. I'm getting a fair bit of fret buzz, but nothing that won't be sorted easily enough. The cheap strings from the kit are garbage, but good enough to get the bridge and nut sorted. Managed to break the g string almost instantly. Nut isn't glued yet, I shimmed it again and I think its almost right.
So I'm going to leave it strung up this week and keep tuning it, then all things going well I'll take these strings off and do a fret level. I thought I might get away with not doing that, but I think it would definitely benefit, particularly the higher frets are too tall, even after a tap with the mallet.
So yeah, very close!!! I'm fairly happy with it. The paint isn't up to my usual standards to be honest, but the next one will be better. I definitely learnt a lot. I probably give myself a 6 or 7 out of 10 at this stage. I'll see how I feel after another polish and a proper set up. I'll get it out in the sun for some nicer pics then as well.
Bit more fiddling this morning. I levelled and dressed the frets and put a new g - string on. The compensation is within the ball park and it sounds pretty reasonable. I also elected to remove the second shim from under the nut. I took about a mm off each end of it and on the one original shim it's sitting perfectly now. So thats had a dot of supa glue. Fret buzz is all but gone. I'll give a couple of frets a quick dress when I put a fresh set of decent strings on it and I think its all good.
Action is nice and low which is great, although the grub screw on the bridge are wound out higher than I expected. It all seems to work - but if anyone has some pics of how their 2 post fender style bridge looks after final set up I'd be curious to see it.
How good are the locking grover tuners? Worthwhile upgrade that makes taking the strings on and off a cinch.
I raised the hum bucker which helped a bit with the output.
Really needs some string trees, but I think I'll pass on the kit ones and get something a bit more solid.
I have discovered my tone pots are not doing anything. Bit annoying as thats all factory wired, but at least I can just unscrew that plate and have a look if anything is obviously off. Will have a look if I get keen a bit later.
After playing it a bit, I've decided I don't hate the switch placement as much as I thought I was going to. I figured it would get in the way, but the way the guitar hangs makes it fine. Its turned out a fair bit heavier than I was expecting. I'm probably going to pass this one to my 13 year daughter so I guess she'll get a bit of a work out hefting it around
I pulled off the control plate and stared at it for a bit - I can't see anything wrong, but I am no expert and don't really know what I should be looking for. I pulled the pick guard off and found one of my solders was a bit questionable, so I re did it and made sure the others were good as well. It is as per the diagram on the shop site - which doesn't actually include all the wiring, only the ones you need to solder.
I have sound in every switch position and the pickups are working. The volume control works fine. There is no buzzing at all.
Here is a pic of the control plate. The solders all look fine, but I have no idea if the circuit is correct. I'll post up the pick guard in a little while, I only just put it all back together again....
This guitar is so pretty. You must be proud.
Personally I've always thought the pickups are in the wrong places on this guitar. The neck pickup and the bridge pickup should be further away from the centre pickup.
What are the capacitor values on the tone controls? You may need to have different caps to get the tone controls to work properly. The wiring experts will be able to confirm.
Current:
GTH-1
Completed:
AST-1FB
First Act ME276 (resurrected curb-side find)
ES-5V
Scratchie lapsteel
Custom ST-1 12 String
JBA-4
TL-1TB
Scratch Lapsteel
Meinl DIY Cajon
Cigar Box lap steel
Wishing:
Baritone
Open D/Standard Double 6 twin neck
Some more pics....let me know if more angles are needed...
Thanks for the kind words Fretworn. I am pretty happy with it, especially as a first attempt. Once I have these few shake down issues sorted it'll be great. I tend to agree with you on the pickup placement, it is a bit odd.
They are the factory capacitors, the plate was all wired up when it arrived, but also squashed, so it may be that something is damaged. I just want to rule out my own stupid first
Last edited by Sonic Mountain; 01-10-2017 at 11:13 AM.
So the only thing I can see is that the capacitors appear to be on the opposite side to what is in the diagram.
Its confusing because they are also upside down compared to the drawing, but if you rotate it around they are definitely flipped. Would this be causing my issue?
The diagram is incorrect with its cap placement, your caps are connected to the correct lugs (middle and left as per photo above).
It's a bit difficult to see if anything is wrong in your pics as it needs a bit more illumination and different angles and close-ups on the pots. However, I'd be looking at the tone pot closest to the jack and checking that the cap's legs haven't been squashed down so they short between the middle and left lug or pot casing etc.
Scott.
Hi Weirdbits, thanks for the response.
Yeah I thought something like that as well, but I can't se any obvious damage, apart from the general squashedness. Some more pics, hope they help.
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