First build - TL-1TH

[Petebullgtr]

Yes that's shimmed Mine was tight with two sheets of paper. You may need something more like a business card? Yeah the rotation thing is a bit of a mystery. Thanks for the input though.

[Bakersdozen]

Hmmm, seems the nut slot on your kit is a little over exaggerated - one would have hoped that if anyone had this problem before on their kit they would have chimed in by now. Hopefully Adam might have had this come up before and can offer a solution. In regards to nut radius - I think it is more the height you have to worry about for each string rather than make it uniform. If you do end up cutting a bone nut from scratch, then you could ensure the heights are right, then round it off accordingly afterwards to match aesthetics if that makes sense. Shimming with white paper or cardboard could certainly be done and a few drops of ca glue wicked in could firm it up somewhat? Remeber that whatever adjustment is made at the nut, may have an impact on bridge and scale length. Although 1mm isn't really a huge deal there, just be wary of that if your bridge is already located.

[jugglindan]

I spoke to Adam today, and he is going to see if they have any nuts that are closer to 4mm thick. Fortunately I haven't placed the bridge yet, but I planned to have the shims to the tuner side so the distance from nut to bridge wouldn't change with the shims (assuming this is measured from the front of the nut and not the middle).

Wicking thin CA into the paper shim might strengthen it but it also might mean I would never get the nut out again without a battle and possibly major damage.

I still have a while to go before I need to decide this.

Tonight I did more work on the neck while watching Warrior Nun on Netflix (not a bad show). First I spot/strip sanded down a few runs with 600 wet and dry, then knocked down the orange peel by dry sanding with 1200 wet and dry. This didn't take long and gave me a smooth but matte finish. I then used micro-mesh working up to 6000. With each grade, I had to wipe away small particles of lacquer after a few passes with the mesh. By the time I reached 6000 the finish looks good to my eyes. A pleasing level of gloss with no obvious scratches.

For the back of the neck I stopped at a much lower grade so it's smooth but not so glossy. More of a semi-gloss. But whatever it's called, it feels good.

I will probably buff the headstock, but honestly, I would be happy to leave it as is. This opinion might change once I inspect in sunlight.

For the body I would like a shinier gloss, so will use the same approach but go higher on the micromesh grade followed by cutting compound and polish.

I know most people wet sand, but based on my results tonight I think this dry sanding approach will work fine without risking water getting into the drilled holes.

Not sure if this is possible just because I let the lacquer cure for a few months.

[Petebullgtr]

Just a quick note on the nut placement. I shimmed the tuner side for the reasons you mentioned and only used two little blobs of PVA to hold the nut in. This could then be tapped out later if need be.

[jugglindan]

Good news, I might not need to shim so much. Adam put a new nut in the mail today

[Bakersdozen]

Awesome! Fingers crossed it's a better fit

[jugglindan]

Polishing the well-cured finish in progress. Still quite a way to go, but so far so good.

In sunlight there is still some orange peel remnants visible, mainly on the front. But it seems confined to areas that will be under the pickguard so I might leave it alone rather than risk sand-through.

Also, metallic paint seems hard to capture well in photos. IRL there is quite a lot more sparkle going on here.


Neck is pretty much done except for fret polish. I will leave that until almost last as I am sure to scratch them. There is some bubbling of the decal on Bluey which is dissappointing but there is nothing I can do about it. The decals have bedded in nicely though.

[Bakersdozen]

Looking wonderful. I can already see a good sharp reflection coming off the body

[jugglindan]

Looking wonderful. I can already see a good sharp reflection coming off the body

It's getting there. With a bright light at a low glancing angle I can still see plenty of marks and fine scratches that need work. I am less than halfway through the micromesh grades though, and will follow that with cutting compound. I am experimenting with micromesh as an alternative to wet sanding. So far so good.

[jugglindan]

Finished working up through to 12000 micromesh. The last 5 grades were quite subtle, but I can see the difference. I could watch TV in the reflection after the final grade. Next up, cut and polish the old-fashioned way: lots of elbow grease!