RCA-4 rebuild

[pablopepper]

This has been on my to do list for ages. When I first built my rca-4 I rushed the choice of stain to get the right colour and it has bitten me in the bum. The initially vivid bright blue has faded and turned an ugly, patchy brown/green/blue. I'm sure the ambering of the tru oil hasn't helped, but using stamp pad ink was a terrible idea. Also the action has crept to a point where it is virtually unplayable around the higher frets and is just uncomfortable in general. A bit worrying in a set neck guitar. Anyway, I like this guitar too much for it to continue to gather dust so, a strip down and refinish is in order, and along the way I can fix all the little issues that I was never 100% happy with.

[pablopepper]

For reference, here's what it looked like just after completion 2 and a half years ago.



Removing the pickguard really emphasised just how bad the fading is. This guitar has never been left in direct sunlight for more than a few minutes at a time.



Sanding of the back revealed one of the causes of the high action.



The wood behind the neck pocket has bellied with the strain of the neck. There's about a 2mm drop.

[pablopepper]

Easiest solution I can figure is to inset the bridge. It was bottomed out originally and I should have done it before, but I was too eager to finish (there's a lesson there somewhere). The base plate is 4mm thick, so that's how much I'll drop it. Flush with the top should look pretty schmick.



Marked out, waiting to make a template.

And I've carved in a belly contour.



I've wanted to do this since the first time I played it. The sharpish edges cut into my ribs and made it very uncomfortable to play for any length of time.

Well, it's a start. Lots more sanding to go.

[Andyxlh]

I'm with you there Pablo, I have recently posted a very similar post on my RC 4 kit build thread below. Then finish on mine, poly, is ok except the top which was some pockmarking, but the action is crappy and I need to recess the bridge too. I can't see any movement of the neck pocket, but I'll have a really good look tonight.

[wazkelly]

Amazing how much TO keeps on ageing after final prepping.

I have a similar look on what was a flame maple top blue Tele that now looks more green than blue some 2 years later. I put mine down more to the TO ageing as I used ink jet ink as the stain and that was photo grade stuff.

Agree about the belly cut as Ric shape is large and can dig into the ribs.

Weird how the neck pocket bellied out?

Doing blue again?

[pablopepper]

Waz, the extent of the yellowing was a bit of a shock to me. The binding really was looking shabby. And, yeah blue is the plan, but maybe with a black sunburst this time. Maybe.

Template done, ready to inset the bridge.



After an hour or so of finessing with an exacto blade and chisel (and proudly with all my fingers still intact) had the rout looking good.



The baseplate drops in with a satisfying plop. Truth be told, it might end up being a tad too tight after the clear goes on. Deal with that when the time comes.



And with the saddles on. There's about 2 millimetres of clearance, more than enough. That should take care of the action.



Final body mod complete. On to the refinish.

[Andyxlh]

Nice job! That's exactly how I'll recess my bridge now I know it works 😊

[wazkelly]

Top job Pabs.

Will have to keep an eye on all my TO finished builds to monitor similar yellowing. Only one i have done with binding is the blue, now greenish Tele whilst all other builds won't be as affected due their base colours being in the red/yellow/brown tones.

Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk

[pablopepper]

Sanded, grain filled and stained!

Still a bit wet and patchy in this pic.


And after a couple of hours scraping the binding (very tedious, but oh so rewarding).


And after all that, I got it out to check how it dried last night and accidentally sneezed on it creating a fine pattern of droplets over the top. These all leached a little stain, so I might end up having to redo the top. Joy.

[Dedman]

it's looking dammed sexy Pabs