AGM-1 First Build

[Simon_B]

After 18 months gestation I finally bit the bullet and ordered an AGM-1 kit to build for an old mate. We played in a band 30 years ago, and after 27 years not really playing he convinced us to reform for his 50th and maybe some nostalgic gigs. It's been fun, but I wish I could remember more of the gigs in our drummer's scrapbook!

He's wanted an SG for decades, and wouldn't put my Epi 50th anniversary SG down. I can also use it as leverage to get my Squire Chambered Tele back.

So the plan;

1. Bevel the body cutaways to approximate my Epi 61
2. Lots of sanding
3. Level and dress the frets
4. Cut the headstock design
5. Measure scale, check alignment and glue
6. Maybe a burst
7. Tru Oil and Birchwood Casey conditioner

Color scheme is Colortone Cherry Red and maybe a thin edge burst with Red Mahogany and maybe even some Ritt black dye (in the laundry) for the outer edges to hide the end grain. Headstock, I'm thinking a light black Ritt, sand and then lots of red to give it some depth. An abalone or Mother of Pearl Gibson crown waterslide and matching witticism based on his name/volume.

Planned upgrades, I ordered locking tuners - but probably not;

1. Bone nut
2. Treble bleed on the neck
3. Grover tulip tuners, maybe something open
4. Looking at the bridge, maybe upgrade
5. Strap locks
6. He has a pair of SD Antiquity 'bukkers!

I'm also influenced by the aged neck on Dan_B's fantastic Jnr https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...hlight=tumeric

The neck looks fantastic, no obvious flaws and the tuner holes are good enough for Government work.



The Body looks like it's from the same piece and they flipped the bottom piece.



So my question to you guys, do you think the body will stain consistently with Cherry Red? Should I highlight the grain with some black?

[Sachin]

You could stain the whole body black, then sand back. I used rit dye on my current explorer build and its really easy to layer on then sand back. When you sand back, the grain should be coloured black with the sanded regions of a light haze. As soon as you put the red over that, the grain will really pop out. I find rit dye works best when layering over different colours. Just my two cents.

[stansby40]

Being mahogany you probably have to grain fill. To make the grain pop out just a bit you could use mahogany timbermate (which is what I did in my build). If you want the grain to be very visible you could use ebony timbermate. The good thing about timbermate is it is so easy to use just mix with water to form a slurry and then apply with an old plastic credit card, wait to dry then sand off. It fills the grain and helps to end up with a smooth final finish.

[Simon_B]

Probably a good call. I may add some Red Mahogany Colortone to try and even out the shades of the body wood.

[Hardcoretroubadour]

One vote for ebony Timberlake to pop the grain prior to staining

[Simon_B]

Looking at your first build which had similarly mismatched grains and tones - you may be onto something.

I won't really get anything done until the weekend, but a quick neck fit, the paddle will need sanding but the fretboard is pretty snug. The perfect result I'd say.

[Fretworn]

ebony Timberlake

Wait until the media gets hold of Justin’s blackface controversy!

[Simon_B]

A much wittier comment than I could summon!

[Simon_B]

Into it today. Looks like I got an LP hardware kit. When I couldn't find the pickguard I told Adam not to bother sending it but looks like I need a cavity cover.

Inspect sober!


40 grit on the random cut the bevels pretty quickly.


Neck fits after 2 minutes with 120 grit. Scale is within 1mm.


I hate rasps, I learnt fairly young that things can go south pretty quickly - fortunately nothing bad happened today.


Sand to 240 grit and first raising of the grain.


After the second raising of the grain, off to the green shed for ebony timbermate and some abraisives. Hand sanding from here to fix some imperfections and onto the neck.

Hopefully get to gluing and staining today and a few weeks to finish!

[Mcgaz]

Looks like a good kit!
Currently doing my first build with an ag-1f.
I used ebony timbermate on my kit mixed with feast watson japan black (spirit based and not sure if it mixed well) on all except the front veneer. It didnt really make the different wood sections of the guitar meld into a similar looking piece (may have even highlighted the difference), but my kit didnt have any hugely contrasting sections (on the back) and it was basswood not mahogany.

But the timbermate definitely gave the grain a black highlight.
The feast watson mahogany stain came out relatively dark with the ebony timbermate and i had no issues with any blotches popping up, nice dark cherry colour onnthe back, but my vener stayed quite dark.
Have a look at some of my pics and they may help you out.
Goodluck!