Mosrite MKA-2

[Mosrite Slab]

And lastly, the headstock before and after.

[wazkelly]

Suggest using the Brass nut as the other one is probably just a silver coating over mystery metal.

I ordered a couple off eBay and found that out the hard way as they were just coasted to look like chrome or brass but a small amount of filing and sanding revealed the truth. Mo magnetic properties either for the one supposed to be stainless steel.

[Mosrite Slab]

It was my intention, the brass one is superior and nicely finished especially the grooves.

[Mosrite Slab]

As a result of something that cropped up on Witto’s Mossie built, I checked the pre-drilled holes in the body to those in the back plate. They’re miles out of alignment. How does this happen, isn’t everything supposed to be CAD in a his day and age. Something else to overcome now.

[Sonic Mountain]

Unfortunately no - there is no CAD used at all in the factory. Everything is worked up from traditional tech drawings and templates and thus human error creeps in.

It is not uncommon for the neck holes to be a bit out of whack, but it usually doesn't actually cause any problems, you just need to be careful bolting it up. If it really bothers you then the best bet is to glue dowels in and re drill.

[Mosrite Slab]

Have I made a mistake here ??

When re-siting the bridge I measured the scale length from the back of the nut to the middle of the 12th fret, however just re-reading Gavin Turner's blog I see he's done it from the centre of the zero fret to the centre of the 12th.

I don't think I have enough adjustment available on the saddle of the bottom E if this is the case.

Not a major issue to plug and re-drill, just annoying.

[Simon Barden]

Ah, the zero fret. Yes, scale length is from the middle of the zero fret, not the nut in this instance.

It's only going to be a couple of mm out, and slightly further back than it should probably be (though it looks quite forward compared to the original bridge holes). So it's probably time to fit all the tuners, bolt the neck on and string it up. You should be able to hear enough acoustically to determine whether you can set the intonation correctly (using a tuner app on your phone should help). You may find that you're fine. If not, you'll know for sure and can then plug and drill (again) before you apply any finish.

[Mosrite Slab]

Ah, the zero fret. Yes, scale length is from the middle of the zero fret, not the nut in this instance.

It's only going to be a couple of mm out, and slightly further back than it should probably be (though it looks quite forward compared to the original bridge holes). So iIt's probably time to fit all the tuners, bolt the neck on and string it up. You should be able to hear enough acoustically to determine whether you can set the intonation correctly (using a tuner app on your phone should help). You may find that you're fine. If not, you'll know for sure and can then plug and drill (again) before you apply any finish.

Thank you Simon.

[Mosrite Slab]

I'm still around, my original no rush to finish attitude is certainly true. Not by choice, just too busy and rather than fit a few minutes work on it and potentially muck it up I've left well alone until now. It's been bolted together for the best part of a year but now I've started on the finishing.

First off I damped it down to raise the grain and then sanded with 400 grit. Then gave it a coat of sanding sealer before applying two pack wood filler all over, running it across the grain. What a terrible job, it stinks and even on milder days goes off in seconds despite using minimal hardener. More rubbing down and then primer. I'm using Halfords car paint, it's acrylic, fairly cheap and easily obtainable. To cut a long story short after priming and rubbing down, I did some finish coats (Rover Pageant Mid Blue) found some imperfections especially the end grain, re-filled, rubbed, primed and re-finished. Repeated this three times as each I found something else I'd previously missed as the paint highlighted it.

After I was happy with it I took it back with 1200 then 1500 grit but went thorough to the primer in a couple of places. Lovely and smooth though so all I did was another couple of coats all over covering the bare spots and then straight onto the clear which probably total about half a dozen coats as it stands. I'll give it a week before fine sanding and then applying another large can.

The neck has been sanded then dampened before applying a few coats of thinned Rustins Antique Pine Wood Dye with a 1200 grit dry sand in between. I also trimmed off the overhang at the bridge end as I really didn't like it.

So over then next few weeks it's carry on with the body, order some Tru-oil for the neck to work on while waiting for the lacquer to go off.

Here are a few photos, no point in highlighting every stage as it's very tedious and a bit repetitive! The photo of the blue finish is with it rubbed down ready to receive a quick blow over then lacquer. The only near catastrophic moment came when the coat hanger it was hanging from snapped after constant twisting, luckily I was holding onto the wooden neck replacement.

[Mosrite Slab]

And a few more.