AGM-1 First Build

[Simon_B]

Thanks Mcgaz and Hardcoretroubador for making me use Ebony. I was considering it but in addition to bringing out the grain, it evened up the 3 distinct pieces of wood.

I tried to make a paste, but being impatient I gooped it on and used a damp rag to rub it around and in.



I thought I was following the Colortone dilution guide, and got an almost imperceptable shade of pink.


So a 3rd of a bottle, almost 1 to 1. With the help of a heatgun, 2 more coats after this and it's RED!


Some neckwork tomorrow. It's not perfect, but I'm pretty happy so far. It's just gotta play well and stay in tune! The bone nut seems a worthwhile upgrade after I popped the plastic one off.

[Woltz]

Looking good mate. And great choice on the pickups, I really like the SD Antiquity Humbucker.

[Simon_B]

The SD Antiquities are sheer dumb luck, I was at my mate's place for a rehearsal last year and he showed me these pickups someone gave him. He had no use for them and gave them to his brother, but technically they're still just laying around.

So yesterday I had chores to do and got called into work for a few hours. But jumped back in after that. Still rushing!

I whacked some Cherry onto the nech because I'd already poured it, noice shade of pink - it's tempting to leave it like that! Anyway, I got the scroll saw out for the first time in over 10 years. Never used it much before that...


I should have done a few more practice runs! It looks passable from about 2 metres - see how I feel about it in a day or two. I may have to redraw and get the Dremel out.

Two passes with Red Mahogany and I think Cherry Red over that will look OK. I think I'll only use the ebony Timbermate on the front of the headstock and leave a lot on. Then Cherry over that.


My main concern is that I didn't have a pickguard (wrong hardware kit). I thought to use mine as a guide and forgot! But I may have scolloped out the lower horn too much. The pickguard from RealParts isn't wide enough to totally fill the gap between the humbuckers so I may just set it towards back.I'll need to enlarge the pickup routs a little.


But these arrived so it should stay in tune.

[Simon_B]

So after half a bottle of Tru Oil and a few old pairs of underpants, it's time to level / crown and dress the frets. A few gentle taps with a rubber hammer and they were remarkably level and the old credit card only rocked in a few patches. A very light sand of the fretboard as well.

Sandedd 800, 1200 and 0000 wool they came up quite nicely before some oil.


The high E may be a little close to the edge - but I have some room to move when fitting the bone nut. The moment of terror went quite well. The neck is straight and the scale length is spot on.


And finally a mock-up. I finally have a week's holiday so it'll get to cure before a buff/wax and sone Stock Sheen Conditioner on the back of the neck - pretty red under flash! I had to get the chisel out to fit the Humbuckers.


All up for a first build I haven't been too ambitious - but I'm pretty happy with it.

I found the polish I was looking for and couldn't resist. The frets are amazingly shiny now. I feel a strong urge to do this to some of my other guitars, like The Rickenbacker I've had since 1989.

[Sonic Mountain]

Looks great. I was surprised at how much polished up frets improve the playing experience. Definitely worth doing to any guitar.

[Simon_B]

Well, I did finish it - last November and handed it over. In addition to the Duncan Antiquities, Gotoh tuners, it got CTS pots (Zero load tone pots). Fully shielded.



It ended up super lightweight (compared to my Epi 50th anniversary), the Pickup/tone pot combination go from sparkle to growl and it has about the nicest feeling neck I've ever played. Although, sanding down the bone nut to the correct height was a pain! Finished (sans truss rod cover). Tuning stability is perfect except for the low E string. I may have to revisit it if it hsan't settled down.



Old mate was stoked!

[Simon Barden]

Great stuff! Well done.

[Simon_B]

Thanks, it taught me not to be afraid to set up my production guitars properly. It's a tone machine with a great neck and some flaws!

#2 is on it's way

[jugglindan]

That's a fine looking guitar!