RCM-12 The Dirty Dozen

[Gary B]

Pit Bull build number two for me.
One of the great things about the kits available is it gives the opportunity to have something far more quirky than I could justify if buying ready built.
Ticks a couple of boxes that are currently missing from my guitar collection being semi hollow-bodies (although that doesn't mean there wont be a 335 at some point) and 12 string.



I have bought some toaster style pickups to replace the kit humbuckers. These weren't expensive so I'm not expecting much more from them other than to look the part but we'll see. I have a more upmarket pickup upgrade in mind but want to get the guitar built and playing first to see if it warrants it.
The visible part of the pups are the same size as those supplied but they have a bigger base so first job is to enlarge the routes to suit.
Progress will be slow at first as I have a few DIY jobs on and then a weeks holiday coming up but I'll be doing a bit whenever I can.

ETA the neck is a bit loose in the pocket but I'll let things settle down a bit before I work too much about that.
Better pics to come when I do the mock build.

[Dedman]

I'll be watching with interest, this one is on my hit list

[Gary B]

Managed to do a bit amongst other jobs
Headstock shaped


And one pup route done. I'll be making new surrounds that fit better later on.

[Gary B]

Evening all.
I'm looking for a bit of advice from the PBG massive.
I have put the bridge and saddle and a couple of tuners in place temporarily to check alignment



As mentioned above, the fit of the neck into the pocket is very slightly loose but its enough to let the neck go from this



to this



With everything set where it looks best it appears there is a gap on the bass side of the pocket. I can just get my steel rule into this and that is just under 0.5mm thick.



If I project the centre line I marked out to the neck pocket and measure to the sides this seems to confirm 0.5mm wider on the bass side.

The question is whether this is worth worrying about - do I need to shim the pocket or just make sure I align everything right when it comes to gluing the neck?

As with my bass there is a wedge shaped gap between the end of the neck and the pocket. I do intend to shim this just for a bit more positive neck / body contact.

BTW the pickup routes are a WIP by me enlarging with an Aldi 'Dremel' - they weren't that rough when the kit was delivered

[Marcel]

If it were me I'd be seriously looking at shimming. Not necessarily filling the entire gap with a shim but at least a substantial portion of any gap.

You could get away without shimming however most glues will shrink slightly over time leaving the joint weaker than desired, so filling most of the gap with wood to a firm fit is preferential.

[Gary B]

Thanks Marcel.
I've been thinking about it today and had come to the conclusion that I should shim it.
Its not a huge amount of work at this stage.
I have some adhesive backed shims intended for a neck so I think I will remove the backing and glue a couple of them in the neck pocket then sand down until I get a good fit

[Gary B]

Ok, I have shimmed the neck pocket.
it felt like I sanded the shim down to almost nothing but it has done the job and I'm a lot happier with the fit now.

Test build



Lots of tuners!



And a few bits

Next job is to level and dress the frets then start sanding

[Gary B]

On the basis that we don't have problems on here, just opportunities to exercise our skill and ingenuity, I have given myself quite an opportunity...

I decided to stain the top black then sand it back to pick out the grain.
This wasn't very successful as there rally wasn't a lot of grain at all and a fair bit of sanding has been needed to get rid of the last patches of black.
Now I've read many times on here how careful you need to be when sanding a veneered top.
In my defence, I didn't realise this was veneered until -



Insert swear words of your choice - I used them all.

So, having given it some thought, it shouldn't be too difficult to re-veneer the top.
Would I need to completely remove the existing or just go over the top of it?
More of a challenge would be the binding - I guess I would need to redo it to make a proper job of it. Any suggestions how to go about removing the existing? I remember someone doing a replacement binding recently so would be grateful if anyone could link to that thread.

Any thoughts, suggestions or shoulders to cry on would be gratefully accepted!

[Simon Barden]

This article is worth reading as they veneer over the existing top of a LP copy to cover up various re-filled holes etc. and re-do the binding. It's easier veneering over a flat top than a curved one.

https://www.theguitarmagazine.com/wo...ersion-part-3/

[Gary B]

Thanks for the quick reply Simon.
That article looks really helpful.