Burley 335: Final Touches

Got some time to spend on the 335 today, and that meant finally tackling the wiring and doing a fret job. First the wiring, which is always a little daunting for these semi-hollow builds. Thankfully i stayed with the stock mini-pots for this build and that made fitting the hardware into the sound-hole much easier. As usual, I wired up with shielded push back wire from Stewmac. This is a must if you want to minimise the noise for a semi-hollow or hollow build where no cavity exists.

Wiring harness complete and ready to be inserted.

This time I also allowed myself a generous amount of wire between pots and the output jack. As a result, the wiring harness went into the body with very little fuss - I'm getting quite adept at using the aquarium tubing to pull the controls through their holes.

With the wiring in and tap tested, it was time to turn my attention to the fretboard. I straightened the neck by adjusting the truss rod (clockwise to add back bow!) and let my notched straight edge show me when it was good. It was then on with the files to get the frets leveled and re-crowned. A pretty straightforward process all up.

Fretboard straight and ready for fret levelling.

With the frets leveled and re-dressed it was on with some Dr Ducks Axe Wax to clean it up, condition the Rosewood and generally make it look the business. I'm not sure about the nut for this build at this stage. The plastic nut that came from DIY guitars actually looks pretty good in terms of string height at the first fret, so I may run with it for the time being to see how she feels and plays. I know bone is better, but if it ain't broke and all that.

On with the Dr Ducks for a some nicely conditioned Rosewood.

And so this build is finally ready for final assembly and a test-drive. To be honest I can't wait. I think the front veneer looks killer and I really love the way semi-hollows play. I'm excited to see how this one plays, and my hopes are high that she's going to sound very sweet indeed!