tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26836906125520034712024-03-05T17:12:37.343+11:00Guitar Kit BuilderDocuments the various guitar builds and ongoing adventures in luthiery that is Fires Creek Guitars in Holgate, NSW, Australia.Gavin Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08785296016273386554noreply@blogger.comBlogger313125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683690612552003471.post-76683277724331349602020-04-24T13:50:00.000+10:002020-04-26T10:33:37.345+10:00Gibson LP/335 etc. Headstock Template<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Since Gibson's crackdown on illegal copies of Les Paul and other models, it's become a little difficult to find a template for a Les Paul style headstock. I managed to find this one doing the rounds. Just select it and print it at approximately 82mm width. It should fit the headstock of most kits.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-ShyCHtAKnZTg7jlXI2bdHkjD97hc5tAh2aswx5I0QsSbmuSLqkaVfwEE8rCeZvY_dmILA7WsDfhd-d7cJ8LvIfc1grNgo_3sT1SrSCA96Xbb4i7OEcW4unxP_UgMcvABm-iDkXJ4R41/s1600/GibsonHeadstock+-+print+at+82mm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1022" data-original-width="458" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-ShyCHtAKnZTg7jlXI2bdHkjD97hc5tAh2aswx5I0QsSbmuSLqkaVfwEE8rCeZvY_dmILA7WsDfhd-d7cJ8LvIfc1grNgo_3sT1SrSCA96Xbb4i7OEcW4unxP_UgMcvABm-iDkXJ4R41/s320/GibsonHeadstock+-+print+at+82mm.jpg" width="143" /></a></div>
</div>
Gavin Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08785296016273386554noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683690612552003471.post-25922566683861506052017-06-12T13:16:00.001+10:002017-06-12T13:19:36.478+10:00Ricky 4001 Bass - Well, She's Dead.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I got a little time today to go through some of the fallout from the
fire and try to salvage the one remaining build-in-progress.
Unfortunately, Looks like this one is ded as well. If there was any
doubt about the caustic nature of electronics smoke/soot then here's all
the evidence you need. I started sanding down the body with 360 grit to
see if I could get it clean. The wood was actually coming up OK until I
saw that the binding on the heel of the body had bubbled very badly as a
result of soot exposure. I tried for 20 minutes to sand the bubbles
out, but here's what I ended up with. The soot has eaten huge holes out.
right down to the wood underneath.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwptuXOa53gmJrBwUlwlaPBJ6Ctolzc6AhpR8S1_SkNl0n-39fKCc-eX6o7P5XBUMEejO0h3ofZKWSGjoqaXpG6zew6d-XvEZh7KnKHDgggSKHrcR8ZaB0LB5DJS25gmQE69HlBQ3R-jCo/s1600/20170612_130001_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="1000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwptuXOa53gmJrBwUlwlaPBJ6Ctolzc6AhpR8S1_SkNl0n-39fKCc-eX6o7P5XBUMEejO0h3ofZKWSGjoqaXpG6zew6d-XvEZh7KnKHDgggSKHrcR8ZaB0LB5DJS25gmQE69HlBQ3R-jCo/s400/20170612_130001_001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO32WRuresjJHePdOj-O6HNuWBn-ncX_f214RzQbFCyW5ejRKpawFCN6_aLDMptOe5JIfD0wAIogGKGOyeKtbwFS3KZ0C6OwUfNmNWElJWDVNZRa7G8QstFFrLwneXT3joPExyPSQD3leT/s1600/20170612_130009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="1000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO32WRuresjJHePdOj-O6HNuWBn-ncX_f214RzQbFCyW5ejRKpawFCN6_aLDMptOe5JIfD0wAIogGKGOyeKtbwFS3KZ0C6OwUfNmNWElJWDVNZRa7G8QstFFrLwneXT3joPExyPSQD3leT/s400/20170612_130009.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Electrical soot is cautic shit. It even eats through plastic binding.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Looks like this build, along with its brothers, will be going into the
rubbish. Someone with more skills could probaby replace the binding, but
sadly that isn't me. Of all the builds I thought this one might survive
as I'd planned a full body paint. But sadly it isn't to be. </div>
Gavin Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08785296016273386554noreply@blogger.com0Holgate NSW 2250, Australia-33.407 151.40999999999997-33.407 151.40999999999997 -33.407 151.40999999999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683690612552003471.post-59683497696666524892017-06-12T12:05:00.001+10:002017-06-12T12:07:42.505+10:00Bareknuckle Super Strat - Grain Filling & Colour<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I found an hour today while the wife walked to dog to actually get some
building done in a makeshift man-cave that I've set up. There's no lighting, but I've
got some rubber mats and some carpet down on a temporary bench. I got the body sanded down to 360 grit, with a few water wipes to raise
the grain and 400-grit cutting back. Pretty happy with the smoothness -
this is a nice piece of wood! With the surface prepared, and time running
out (is that the patter of dog feet I hear?) I slapped on a slurry of
ebony timbermate to fill the grain.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOu0sthZUboe-pCAtsnYObqXBE0hEmXYJxNTWNTZ1kheEEoJkJCAhzNt1GyY9Ph9W5-gaW8KfbTIOOfukLGk_SEGsb1bWHEawXgU4B_mfyfECfsfx7D5hPjLNkld4fRxC0-q-TEag1ZhtG/s1600/20170528_113918.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="1000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOu0sthZUboe-pCAtsnYObqXBE0hEmXYJxNTWNTZ1kheEEoJkJCAhzNt1GyY9Ph9W5-gaW8KfbTIOOfukLGk_SEGsb1bWHEawXgU4B_mfyfECfsfx7D5hPjLNkld4fRxC0-q-TEag1ZhtG/s400/20170528_113918.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ebony Timbermate applied. Just gotta let it dry completely.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Fast forwad one weekend hence, and it was time to sand the Timbermate back and get some colour on. After agonising over the flames idea, I've turfed it into the too-hard basket and decided to go with straight black stain. I sanded off the Timbermate with 400 grit, and the body is now
smooth as a baby's wossname. It might be even too smooth to take colour. Hmm. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibi5apzGH4muoyhe9bhKkgBMGhD6JCjL6BY7E7dVP2oZRUvc7vHL3Or7wT4fYT7gqZ8dVwa4q4LQFi09CJs5xax_lb1N9GnzgYFwMiR-MOlo-7jtUDLUFiLrXFGuuUQbTE0o-vqaURDGeu/s1600/20170612_094948.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="1000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibi5apzGH4muoyhe9bhKkgBMGhD6JCjL6BY7E7dVP2oZRUvc7vHL3Or7wT4fYT7gqZ8dVwa4q4LQFi09CJs5xax_lb1N9GnzgYFwMiR-MOlo-7jtUDLUFiLrXFGuuUQbTE0o-vqaURDGeu/s400/20170612_094948.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu8abC-li7ZiZgmCj_-UkJN8_uZajg9v9EgiMtvG8yn6hW9DOp3nvAJ5he9O7IjWxhNgJilG8JkR81_ojbHcejcTQdpPmrWvwzGEYxktwmBut0kdqe4_E0A4xa72OVB6A40KjR4S50zFqX/s1600/20170612_095001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="1000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu8abC-li7ZiZgmCj_-UkJN8_uZajg9v9EgiMtvG8yn6hW9DOp3nvAJ5he9O7IjWxhNgJilG8JkR81_ojbHcejcTQdpPmrWvwzGEYxktwmBut0kdqe4_E0A4xa72OVB6A40KjR4S50zFqX/s400/20170612_095001.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Timbermate sanded off, and grain filled nicely.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I got out the Colortone black dye and applied a first stain coat.
I've been tossing around colours for the last fortnight, but trans black
finally won out. I'm certainly a creature of habit! The stain
is drying as I type and soon I'll be able to apply a second round.
It's starting to look good, although there's a couple of spots where the dye
hasn't taken as well as I'd like. Always seems to happen with black dye
(well mine anyway). Too much sanding I'll wager. I may need to hit these
with a stronger dye soluton, or add some Colortone to the Tru-Oil when the
time comes.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIE2eT-fbQ0z-D7CF_NUfaIX_PY7hjHWrDaG8GbaytvIVGqvNgvJJIGx41eEk6PA2eGI87b1uD7_Rc7aZsQj_gCyquEsJBl7dJRRtcB9cBydGm8umFnZ_W1n2_iDXuLgfsEAcp8Hp2QEl-/s1600/20170612_102553.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="1000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIE2eT-fbQ0z-D7CF_NUfaIX_PY7hjHWrDaG8GbaytvIVGqvNgvJJIGx41eEk6PA2eGI87b1uD7_Rc7aZsQj_gCyquEsJBl7dJRRtcB9cBydGm8umFnZ_W1n2_iDXuLgfsEAcp8Hp2QEl-/s400/20170612_102553.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfOuglHn8V01ATTtKE-bLZNa9-gmQ5Q_nXeFJIAOey91lzANP9hgyJEnNB1j4vxikByrAl4xjWRrv7t_iNsFL6Ky9QmgVC2ChRI0a6AR2xL3HrEoYgeQKlDzctvoX54X4NHRv6R6IEqnTs/s1600/20170612_102617.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="1000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfOuglHn8V01ATTtKE-bLZNa9-gmQ5Q_nXeFJIAOey91lzANP9hgyJEnNB1j4vxikByrAl4xjWRrv7t_iNsFL6Ky9QmgVC2ChRI0a6AR2xL3HrEoYgeQKlDzctvoX54X4NHRv6R6IEqnTs/s400/20170612_102617.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First coat of Colortone Black dye</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
Gavin Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08785296016273386554noreply@blogger.com2Holgate NSW 2250, Australia-33.407 151.40999999999997-33.460021999999995 151.32931899999997 -33.353978 151.49068099999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683690612552003471.post-70179406895545591232017-02-27T18:34:00.001+11:002017-06-12T13:18:21.036+10:00Bareknuckle Super-Strat<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well, it's a couple of weeks since the man-cave fire incident. I dried my tears, collected together a few tools, and have managed to clean out a spot in the shed to create a new
workspace, I bought a replacement electric drill and I'm now in a position to actually start building again.<br />
<br />
A week after the accident, I found a box on my doorstep - an Ash super strat kit sent to me by Andy in the <a href="http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au/forum/forum.php">Pitbull Guitars forum</a> as a pick-me-up after all the fire hassles. It was an amazing act, completely unexpected, and really choked me up. They really are an amazing bunch of guys and gals over there in the forum. The kit is actually a special order (not an off-the-shelf kit by any means), with no front cavity and only pickup and bridge routes.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjyM_fBLd1iOvQ6yNn2Tef38mw0QqC4XrdePv1ZhZdl97qFi8wXrYanZY8xLr5A0ByApDqjhghjGbHuqutZbsVN8BaPrTxyO2Rqo_tFWpb7gRUD6_D1Ql5bEsT37hFEki-D531RWCn1rp8/s1600/20170217_112649.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjyM_fBLd1iOvQ6yNn2Tef38mw0QqC4XrdePv1ZhZdl97qFi8wXrYanZY8xLr5A0ByApDqjhghjGbHuqutZbsVN8BaPrTxyO2Rqo_tFWpb7gRUD6_D1Ql5bEsT37hFEki-D531RWCn1rp8/s400/20170217_112649.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Pitbull Guitars Special-Order, Ash Super-Strat</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Since it arrived I've
been itching to get going on the kit, and today I
managed to get a simple mock build together. I loosely positioned the bridge, ran the outside strings to test for neck straightness, and used my new electric drill to bolt the neck into place.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEmpifdR455XYN3eyz523g4xRBJj5s_cJg6RbjxP0uzkxvTcWassPv4l_xEAVdk55z-UVlV-rU71Ln7K8v4T6TgYCJuXuQYOgama_NaZKUngg5o-CvKa3b8tLypek_ZnbZ4dWB2Mn09dkJ/s1600/20170226_164327.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEmpifdR455XYN3eyz523g4xRBJj5s_cJg6RbjxP0uzkxvTcWassPv4l_xEAVdk55z-UVlV-rU71Ln7K8v4T6TgYCJuXuQYOgama_NaZKUngg5o-CvKa3b8tLypek_ZnbZ4dWB2Mn09dkJ/s400/20170226_164327.jpg" width="223" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Neck looks straight in the pocket.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It all took less than 10 minutes with the new drill. Do you know I've never tightened neck bolts with the drill until today? Such a time saving, and no stripped screws! Anyway she's looking pretty sweet.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWPI6MkeKfhBmS67RccR8wRvrFFujwxM1grISo-bJyrPTB8JVJVea-kbsl1thyphenhyphen2xGcEAtSZH9mwc752e3tE7uhRpwpjpK7_4SjsvF217GpYFUl0HsL0XqOb2_da6L9yvQyZWEg8Ftd_WfD/s1600/20170226_165609.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWPI6MkeKfhBmS67RccR8wRvrFFujwxM1grISo-bJyrPTB8JVJVea-kbsl1thyphenhyphen2xGcEAtSZH9mwc752e3tE7uhRpwpjpK7_4SjsvF217GpYFUl0HsL0XqOb2_da6L9yvQyZWEg8Ftd_WfD/s400/20170226_165609.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHTlSj3FnsbD-pMrcP2wbahLR3L-M12ppsTVkzYtIjU8Vv6HVhSAdhFaLOVmqQlgB6-UmYy-ktCecMWAdV7tiEftwdoKRpKSZhVjRM53XWODYUmoY5Rl8glOjxYO0g8mER-6VdVRfCTVT-/s1600/20170226_165627.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHTlSj3FnsbD-pMrcP2wbahLR3L-M12ppsTVkzYtIjU8Vv6HVhSAdhFaLOVmqQlgB6-UmYy-ktCecMWAdV7tiEftwdoKRpKSZhVjRM53XWODYUmoY5Rl8glOjxYO0g8mER-6VdVRfCTVT-/s400/20170226_165627.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Neck bolted into place and looking good.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Given that the top of the guitar is so clean, I'm planning on leaving her a bare-knuckle
build with no rings around the pickups and just bare wood as far as the eye can see. A real no-nonsense shredder.<br />
<br />
The Ash
grain on this 2 piece body is pretty good and should look great with some grain filling and stain. For a finish I was thinking ebony or walnut Timbermate in the grain, and a trans-black dye job over the top. I
was also thinking it might be cool to add some "natural wood colour" hot-rod
flames. As with my previous builds sporting hot-rod flames, the idea would be to mask off the flame sections with artists frisket. Then the stain would be applied, hoping that the masked off wood remains clean and untouched. Another option might be to mask off everything *except* the flames and seal those up good with Tru-Oil before trying to stain the rest of the body. Hmm, as this is completely new territory, I might have to actually spend some time testing these techniques!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCMT4OA7bv0zn51ri3ZdFMX-bM_0aQfg6JxWR2vBt9eG3rJujNxbxIq0e6__tckB3sgCd_tiQ7qy73RJW-33z7VRdFfNthfgtZSlOugwtq_XBba27qD79nPm_qT5tf1AwI8EPValJ0FLr7/s1600/20170227_143304.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCMT4OA7bv0zn51ri3ZdFMX-bM_0aQfg6JxWR2vBt9eG3rJujNxbxIq0e6__tckB3sgCd_tiQ7qy73RJW-33z7VRdFfNthfgtZSlOugwtq_XBba27qD79nPm_qT5tf1AwI8EPValJ0FLr7/s400/20170227_143304.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First draft - hotrod flames.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Anyway, as you can, see I dummied up some flames to try to get a feel for how it would look on the body. I think the black/natural contrast could really work with this design and I'm really excited to give it a try. I must say, I do like how the flames look on the body. Time to start some testing while I get the body sanded and the grain filled. Stay tuned for test results!</div>
Gavin Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08785296016273386554noreply@blogger.com0Holgate NSW 2250, Australia-33.407 151.40999999999997-33.460021999999995 151.32931899999997 -33.353978 151.49068099999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683690612552003471.post-31687737071280589432017-02-16T11:31:00.001+11:002017-02-16T11:31:02.932+11:00Heartbreak in the Man Cave<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well, I have some very sad news to relate today. Last week we had an electrical fire in the man cave. A de-humidifier caught fire and smoldered for hours. The windows and doors were all closed (to promote de-humidification) and so the oxygen supply was limited.<br />
<br />
Fast forward to the aftermath and every surface in the 2-room granny flat is coated with a thick layer of electrical soot. Every crevice, every cranny, every cupboard is full. It stinks, it's corrosive, and it's fucking everywhere. While the building interior will need to be gutted and replaced, more importantly it is looking like every guitar on the walls and in the racks will be written off, including all my builds in progress. The hollow-bodies are particularly affected - being full of soot - but the hardware and frets on all guitars have very quickly become corroded. To make matters worse the cleaner used to remove the soot is not doing the finish any favours.<br />
<br />
So basically that's my collection of around 20 guitars, built up over 5 years of hard work, decimated in one foul swoop. To say I am totally gutted is an understatement.<br />
<br />
Once the damage is repaired I'll slowly start re-building, but right now I think I'll go sit down and have a cry.</div>
Gavin Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08785296016273386554noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683690612552003471.post-73768414303747649412017-01-23T15:21:00.002+11:002017-01-24T14:19:53.331+11:00Scratch Pine Toronado: Body Finish Do-over<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Due to a catastrophic clear coat fail, the scratch Toronado build languished in the corner of the man-cave. After a hiatus of almost 12 months, I've finally gotten around to resurrecting it. I couldn't rightly abandon my first (and only!)
scratch body build, now could I?<br />
<br />
The cause of this build's untimely demise was yet another issue with Acrylic as a finish. Once my current builds are done I vow never again to cross Acrylic's dark path! Everything seems OK with an acrylic finish until you try to assemble the thing. But, as soon as you screw into the acrylic, chances are it will lift from the surface in a bubble and you'll hurl the thing across the room. And it seems to be worse the thicker the clear coats are. Grrrrr! Maybe poly will serve me better in the future.<br />
<br />
Anyway after dusting the body off I sanded it back completely, added a whole new coat of black dye, and got
the Tru-Oil going. After 5 coats things are looking good already. I didn't apply the dye as darkly this
time around, opting for more of a trans-black look. The pine grain is standing out nicely although the colour is looking a
little blotchy. That's to be expected with pine, and truth be told I'm not that fussy.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh27LE2u-ECqFwQAUh0qhV0JaGjqMPNtIjdeiTDx3IqowhpjEZ3b9QAfHLA3Gvzc94YjG2SAhct86J-liPfWNvhNxfb72yVu4R4Re3R1EY9gkoxUsnKAPchyphenhyphenkzHQYvsNaarWryRR6a2DEMu/s1600/20170123_132641_small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh27LE2u-ECqFwQAUh0qhV0JaGjqMPNtIjdeiTDx3IqowhpjEZ3b9QAfHLA3Gvzc94YjG2SAhct86J-liPfWNvhNxfb72yVu4R4Re3R1EY9gkoxUsnKAPchyphenhyphenkzHQYvsNaarWryRR6a2DEMu/s400/20170123_132641_small.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lots of grain in the pine to see, but some blotchy patches too.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Honestly, any variation in the finish is good with me; whether it's beautiful grain or colour blotches. I'm not even sure whether I'll even bother getting the body up to a full
gloss this time around. I'll just keep applying layers of TO until I'm happy, but I'm kinda digging the satin oiled look the early layers of Tru-Oil give. I might leave the shiney to the chrome and pickguard for this bad boy.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZDW7Sj_pHRSEYIsfYmKVOijqa1yKwoKEzyMMU-ryskKU0_jbVrB2XR2MrD2UCXt8ZHFETJTtGI5cBuK8DWNnZAlizGH2qNwBXa-Jo6v_VF-QLTeMXLIk4Ez43bNHaryQ3pNQksZLRmAkf/s1600/20170123_132215_small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZDW7Sj_pHRSEYIsfYmKVOijqa1yKwoKEzyMMU-ryskKU0_jbVrB2XR2MrD2UCXt8ZHFETJTtGI5cBuK8DWNnZAlizGH2qNwBXa-Jo6v_VF-QLTeMXLIk4Ez43bNHaryQ3pNQksZLRmAkf/s400/20170123_132215_small.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Toronado is a really nice shape, am I right?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I gotta say, coming back to this build I forgot how much I love this body shape. It's a little Tele, little Jazzmaster, and a little Jaguar-esque all mixed into one. I think after
this one is done I'll get on and start another, this time maybe just in a simple Amber or Yellow. I will have to start from "scratch" again though as my MDF template is ruined.</div>
Gavin Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08785296016273386554noreply@blogger.com0Holgate NSW 2250, Australia-33.407 151.40999999999997-33.460021999999995 151.32931899999997 -33.353978 151.49068099999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683690612552003471.post-19331136381686340632017-01-23T14:42:00.000+11:002017-01-23T14:42:15.856+11:00Jazz Bass: Wiring & Assembly<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I finally got this bad boy assembled and wired up today. This time around, as the bridge pickup cavity wasn't really shield-able, I didn't bother shielding either of the pickup cavities at all. I just whipped out the Slugga snail-tape and shielded the control cavity. The omission of the shielding on the pickup cavities seems to have done very little to increase the noise level - something to remember for future builds. I have read elsewhere that it isn't necessary, and even some who say it affects the brightness of the pickups so go figure.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnS9CmWI8OnISmjdvQuGu85yFMVp7FSg0n14hJkleTcFX5ZuhdGK7FQzFevCv-T87Jq7KXNdtIXIdAXYDlyuvcaDoHNDaKZ5elhxpZ4-9oL148-7Tp-n6Cv3fF8HBTcRVgPypVfGI-5Cg9/s1600/20170123_123308.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnS9CmWI8OnISmjdvQuGu85yFMVp7FSg0n14hJkleTcFX5ZuhdGK7FQzFevCv-T87Jq7KXNdtIXIdAXYDlyuvcaDoHNDaKZ5elhxpZ4-9oL148-7Tp-n6Cv3fF8HBTcRVgPypVfGI-5Cg9/s400/20170123_123308.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shielding by "Slugga".</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
With just 4 solder points, I had the remainder of the control wiring together and making noise in no time. Man, I love
the ease with which these F-type kits go together. 4 wires
soldered, and everything is done? Magic. Pitbull really do provide the goods with these pre-soldered control cavity covers.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihK56vKYOq_VuMGXF8SzyPSF3PZFfHUBqkIZjFFtr67iyoqB78x7EFw3zq2vYFY6UciCcJJLCaSVM2_Z_59p-wiS1Hp36iGo_5G7ltp7dKcURi4HG15FZlHx8fADom_KUgOtYsegExYR20/s1600/0032.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="377" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihK56vKYOq_VuMGXF8SzyPSF3PZFfHUBqkIZjFFtr67iyoqB78x7EFw3zq2vYFY6UciCcJJLCaSVM2_Z_59p-wiS1Hp36iGo_5G7ltp7dKcURi4HG15FZlHx8fADom_KUgOtYsegExYR20/s400/0032.gif" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jazz Bass Wiring is amazingly quick with a pre-soldered control cover.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
And so with the wiring done and the covers screwed down, she is finally making a nice clean, low boomp - boomp sound; especially
from the neck pickup. Niiiice. Can you tell I'm not a bass player?? Well, I'm not. But I'll still try to do a sound demo once she's finished. How hard can this bass playing be ??? :P<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbepu1PwGAJYYmPABNtyLpC2lDiBrJw49mfBNb2DgJgORJ7KL7nggOJpKub9rbo3MkOviMBtdjjEKAnP0GZdYXHRg8U_VsaqmZlaxsIT_V_u01BXTidEqlasUNQfr6yL-rR0SSDHTGDG_K/s1600/20170123_131824.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbepu1PwGAJYYmPABNtyLpC2lDiBrJw49mfBNb2DgJgORJ7KL7nggOJpKub9rbo3MkOviMBtdjjEKAnP0GZdYXHRg8U_VsaqmZlaxsIT_V_u01BXTidEqlasUNQfr6yL-rR0SSDHTGDG_K/s400/20170123_131824.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFrYQ9vfK0TNnmMu7qeRdAq_nzCBrq7GjRtuS2Ky7BR7rMkKKZlX_BVr8BhDe3DpziupVJYYNToYsYLOiLIGJ7m3UjnJ6OzE63avbUMf9pBaLTJCM-DxCMzNrhxUuWYoNuFyfay8MTKw__/s1600/20170123_131904.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFrYQ9vfK0TNnmMu7qeRdAq_nzCBrq7GjRtuS2Ky7BR7rMkKKZlX_BVr8BhDe3DpziupVJYYNToYsYLOiLIGJ7m3UjnJ6OzE63avbUMf9pBaLTJCM-DxCMzNrhxUuWYoNuFyfay8MTKw__/s400/20170123_131904.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seafoam goodness gives a really nice looking instrument.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnT3KgLU4Ns64M-50GToa7ZEpVDOhNKcQT1rs6gCxv3ZCybqQeDbtkF7K5fS_iu0BrOXQDgx-JmtojZX607TduCgIAA5f7HQmWIs9OKQDxkotktbC5eFe_IBJ1ViEHkrWM-mUIWoYrIfW2/s1600/20170123_131920.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnT3KgLU4Ns64M-50GToa7ZEpVDOhNKcQT1rs6gCxv3ZCybqQeDbtkF7K5fS_iu0BrOXQDgx-JmtojZX607TduCgIAA5f7HQmWIs9OKQDxkotktbC5eFe_IBJ1ViEHkrWM-mUIWoYrIfW2/s400/20170123_131920.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The all important headstock signage.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO_Dz-nS-ojS1b5fvBEcdHeyH83XwtRMnMqpxN-wgww-t-RWUc27udBZ1-gOYEuPSUHsdn3zwsuwuUH8Wc5gBVH1OF2eonGFx-2buGau1RyKYNz4DknrnMGZ9C8HgiAO5SQ43b7iEEhMCC/s1600/20170123_132030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO_Dz-nS-ojS1b5fvBEcdHeyH83XwtRMnMqpxN-wgww-t-RWUc27udBZ1-gOYEuPSUHsdn3zwsuwuUH8Wc5gBVH1OF2eonGFx-2buGau1RyKYNz4DknrnMGZ9C8HgiAO5SQ43b7iEEhMCC/s400/20170123_132030.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ready to join the flock!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I still have to do a fret
level, a re-crown, and adjust the height of the nut, but to be honest
she's playing quite nicely already. In no time at all she'll be a permanent resident of the guitar rack!</div>
Gavin Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08785296016273386554noreply@blogger.com0Holgate NSW 2250, Australia-33.407 151.40999999999997-33.460021999999995 151.32931899999997 -33.353978 151.49068099999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683690612552003471.post-55899241933333320222017-01-04T15:05:00.002+11:002017-01-04T15:05:28.489+11:00Jazz Bass: Bringing the Shine<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Finally got an hour or two to myself after the chaos of the Christmas season. I put it to good use, polishing the body of my Jazz Bass build and getting more Tru-Oil on the neck. Polishing started with 1500 grit, then moving on to 2000
grit and finally Meguiars Ultimate Compound. After two rounds of compound the shine is finally starting to come out. It may need a third!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw49TZi52Pmx-uG9Z9tthgo15HIaqaj0Q5_rSkhE6uumPpBSWz5_fVOpV7Q922bwscwfLKYxzVocAAzuei6q3TJFJoleEtBp9K_aLTTmz3qvWjAjt2Dg_ozb7vkOGd0OVb9PLm6A6kGVLK/s1600/20170104_143854.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw49TZi52Pmx-uG9Z9tthgo15HIaqaj0Q5_rSkhE6uumPpBSWz5_fVOpV7Q922bwscwfLKYxzVocAAzuei6q3TJFJoleEtBp9K_aLTTmz3qvWjAjt2Dg_ozb7vkOGd0OVb9PLm6A6kGVLK/s400/20170104_143854.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUy4Y7R8RDgKCDEFnrm6hhV8F8EIC6-6waCu7gIJSnZFKSeE014DmCGqi0px9PKAjpzdIauochdn2hH7PJ1qlOLwmlQSfYszmbX5S2vqVhN6dpdwXkj0XyRQhTUAwy6ptazLo-cK4sQnq0/s1600/20170104_143923.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUy4Y7R8RDgKCDEFnrm6hhV8F8EIC6-6waCu7gIJSnZFKSeE014DmCGqi0px9PKAjpzdIauochdn2hH7PJ1qlOLwmlQSfYszmbX5S2vqVhN6dpdwXkj0XyRQhTUAwy6ptazLo-cK4sQnq0/s400/20170104_143923.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ultimate Compound for polishing.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Once I'm happy with the surface after the Ultimate Compound, I'll hit it with one round of Meguiars ScratchX 2.0 just for good measure. In the past I haven't been able to see a noticeable difference with the ScratchX but hey - why not. <br />
<br />
In addition to polishing the body, I have managed to get a few more coats of Tru-Oil on the neck. It's definitely starting to look and feel great!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin2JBdpHTBEpLZKOn3y1yY9pbsT90jmYpG_SCIjHxiYotZ29vNFemvXWX_X7AyfBCojgFt146NLGx-mIktuHtmQfS4lfdhfkiuq43eTVW0dOcDb5WRV3qfayZX69twcr1fTq_N_uiXJ2NQ/s1600/20170104_144219.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin2JBdpHTBEpLZKOn3y1yY9pbsT90jmYpG_SCIjHxiYotZ29vNFemvXWX_X7AyfBCojgFt146NLGx-mIktuHtmQfS4lfdhfkiuq43eTVW0dOcDb5WRV3qfayZX69twcr1fTq_N_uiXJ2NQ/s400/20170104_144219.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tru-Oil almost complete on the neck.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This build is coming down the home straight now. Once the polishing is done I'll be able to line the control cavity with copper tape, get the pickups screwed in and soldered and she'll be ready to rock. Not long now!</div>
Gavin Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08785296016273386554noreply@blogger.com0Holgate NSW 2250, Australia-33.407 151.40999999999997-33.460021999999995 151.32931899999997 -33.353978 151.49068099999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683690612552003471.post-79502893729720622452016-12-06T23:29:00.002+11:002016-12-06T23:29:47.614+11:00Jazz Bass: To Cover on Not to Cover<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Decisions, decisions. <br />
<br />
Ok, so I'm not a bass player. I'm not even much of a guitar player. So
when I make decisions about hardware etc, I usually go on aesthetics
more than anything else. For my Jazz bass I need to decide on hardware -
to cover or not to cover? Those bass players out there - do these huge-arse chrome
covers make the jazz bass less playable?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZiTIXZghBFFbs-zMBDvkp8s2pK8F1iAOJN9aPitUewxEhplOAVpp8-z4J7NjHYqSg84WZlNXHzgyXBwlCj507ft3bY7D4mZ1V1FfBD1nvF-u9xpwnBIE26O-Zfl1SRWeg8BW05FtkUH2r/s1600/20161206_154435.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZiTIXZghBFFbs-zMBDvkp8s2pK8F1iAOJN9aPitUewxEhplOAVpp8-z4J7NjHYqSg84WZlNXHzgyXBwlCj507ft3bY7D4mZ1V1FfBD1nvF-u9xpwnBIE26O-Zfl1SRWeg8BW05FtkUH2r/s400/20161206_154435.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiokFCy_iy6FeDGCVDDHcMwhW9TqYXrUq9sfj-NYqTEs-zfGbWcCqWxpEKYow8npj1aV1kLnu0LKYWA4VaY11NxU8AvDCMsVOuVvSYezyEowhorD2zdSROFRGzwXxvxvReLhE8qj7jIZWCk/s1600/20161206_154414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiokFCy_iy6FeDGCVDDHcMwhW9TqYXrUq9sfj-NYqTEs-zfGbWcCqWxpEKYow8npj1aV1kLnu0LKYWA4VaY11NxU8AvDCMsVOuVvSYezyEowhorD2zdSROFRGzwXxvxvReLhE8qj7jIZWCk/s400/20161206_154414.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjasApOJ_4xEqStw8IAXVNlKE4LdK5nQQTouN3656mmDmleThvTHL2xYvqeiwilR9vveLhVBE3lP95XeeNspuufL_3vWMpaipe8EG3A3HRT5l-Jmm-2b4ivPN9Y_A9xHCFJLlfLX5w-XCZu/s1600/20161206_154536.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjasApOJ_4xEqStw8IAXVNlKE4LdK5nQQTouN3656mmDmleThvTHL2xYvqeiwilR9vveLhVBE3lP95XeeNspuufL_3vWMpaipe8EG3A3HRT5l-Jmm-2b4ivPN9Y_A9xHCFJLlfLX5w-XCZu/s400/20161206_154536.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">50s retro cool to a more playable instrument?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Personally I've always liked them - I think that they give the
bass a real 50s retro vibe. But will I hate playing it in
the end? What do you guys out there think? </div>
Gavin Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08785296016273386554noreply@blogger.com0Holgate NSW 2250, Australia-33.407 151.40999999999997-33.460021999999995 151.32931899999997 -33.353978 151.49068099999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683690612552003471.post-31160906203936886512016-12-05T13:34:00.000+11:002016-12-05T17:44:22.443+11:00Flamed Starcaster: Headstock Flair<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
More work on the Starcaster headstock this week. Since there is no shaping required this time around, as a homage to the original Starcaster look I am creating a whooping
swirly thing on the headstock. This 'single piece of flair' will be sprayed black and the now world-famous Turner logo will sit inside it.<br />
<br />
Using a frisket sheet I cut out my whooping design and carefully stuck it down on the headstock. I then masked off the rest of the headstock and neck ready for spraying with black acrylic. That was a few days ago now.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8cErYyvTAlfazijZZNyXyqhk663c37mvfGszCoLSJ0Boui9T24_dvD1Um5gq0XIUf-V3uIhua-0a0j1WWIkTwutrgOdYBWY5s8MlRf-JH-ylVfiM7TOucWmr6TIiRjVauqviepCdItAwn/s1600/20161201_141007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8cErYyvTAlfazijZZNyXyqhk663c37mvfGszCoLSJ0Boui9T24_dvD1Um5gq0XIUf-V3uIhua-0a0j1WWIkTwutrgOdYBWY5s8MlRf-JH-ylVfiM7TOucWmr6TIiRjVauqviepCdItAwn/s400/20161201_141007.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frisket is on and the headstock is masked. Just needs paper to cover the neck.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHg4y0N7Bc0hR-d5bbbT-OuCFWwTpRyRtiS39n8zxGXCg86CN3VZ9rZgsQeB-oi9q4qHRZTQc-OzsBghn8X0EHvRf1xlY50HJNpGUbJ_o5OWBqmEEMlWN0J6LQT9XL5PpSGAagosDv6gHw/s1600/20161201_142119.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHg4y0N7Bc0hR-d5bbbT-OuCFWwTpRyRtiS39n8zxGXCg86CN3VZ9rZgsQeB-oi9q4qHRZTQc-OzsBghn8X0EHvRf1xlY50HJNpGUbJ_o5OWBqmEEMlWN0J6LQT9XL5PpSGAagosDv6gHw/s400/20161201_142119.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First coat of black acrylic spray applied.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After the first couple of coats I got some 2000 grit and wet-sanded the black to smooth it out before adding a couple more coats. I then let it sit and dry for a couple of days.<br />
<br />
The masking came off the headstock and neck today. I'm pretty happy with how the
single piece of flair came out. I tidied it up just a smidge with the craft blade, and got my acrylic
logo stuck on there. Looking good! I followed this up with the first
soak coat of Tru-Oil before letting her hang in my extra-special drying room
for a few hours. The Tru-Oil is slowly bringing the grain in the neck to
life, so hopefully she'll look nice in a month or so's time.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih1QGxlGYmnHtJYi8cvBKCJdMnBrJ9D_8XxrewBFwME95moBI2S8KEBhYbKA7bNyCPDXCkVlAUzAVxWVnRjUcQEaPS2OZOsvht9NYqpzzmYUkcIC_-pMYWO0AmXyhCz1sa_OYGGOANdAvZ/s1600/20161205_115609.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih1QGxlGYmnHtJYi8cvBKCJdMnBrJ9D_8XxrewBFwME95moBI2S8KEBhYbKA7bNyCPDXCkVlAUzAVxWVnRjUcQEaPS2OZOsvht9NYqpzzmYUkcIC_-pMYWO0AmXyhCz1sa_OYGGOANdAvZ/s400/20161205_115609.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Single piece of Flair is on, with the logo positioned inside it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I followed this up with the first
soak coat of Tru-Oil before letting her hang in my extra-special drying room
for a few hours. The Tru-Oil is slowly bringing the grain in the neck to
life, so hopefully she'll look nice in a month or so's time.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR-4UBhlVa5nOtQhFh1yInY_D4wfzcxWc0exZ3BaW_Z0w_pnMxcIby0Ffve8ddOwRCc-bqMTTQPvaZ80jjflrSJyttVneuGqPhqW0rLKHAQDUVzPI9DjkyRqxyPn3Cuaic05TFMah-IExm/s1600/20161205_121018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR-4UBhlVa5nOtQhFh1yInY_D4wfzcxWc0exZ3BaW_Z0w_pnMxcIby0Ffve8ddOwRCc-bqMTTQPvaZ80jjflrSJyttVneuGqPhqW0rLKHAQDUVzPI9DjkyRqxyPn3Cuaic05TFMah-IExm/s400/20161205_121018.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhveHC5YBEfSLQ0WqXEgfHQYad87mnTryywmhEDLDGm6nQkmHny2kkvdX-3eNtWoq2IiY-btzWqF5YiKju8_GB0aUGRN9F7eVHNo0xCkwPLIVVyK_XchT_d9hHClIX0oYho8cLw_sGwex59/s1600/20161205_121120.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhveHC5YBEfSLQ0WqXEgfHQYad87mnTryywmhEDLDGm6nQkmHny2kkvdX-3eNtWoq2IiY-btzWqF5YiKju8_GB0aUGRN9F7eVHNo0xCkwPLIVVyK_XchT_d9hHClIX0oYho8cLw_sGwex59/s400/20161205_121120.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First Tru-Oil soak coat on and soaking.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
That last photo of the headstock is very misleading - the colour is no where near that yellow. The colour is more like what you can see in the photo of the neck above it. Anyway, now for the patient drudgery of multiple Tru-Oil coats on the neck. I'm looking forward to getting it over and done with so I can finally set the neck and have this thing actually looking like a guitar!</div>
Gavin Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08785296016273386554noreply@blogger.com0Holgate NSW 2250, Australia-33.407 151.40999999999997-33.460021999999995 151.32931899999997 -33.353978 151.49068099999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683690612552003471.post-63945720740373150652016-11-30T13:27:00.001+11:002016-11-30T13:59:04.054+11:0012 String Telecaster - Jangles a Go-Go<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well, she's been finished for a month or two now, but today I finally had time to take some photos of my trans-black 12-string Telecaster.. I reckon she looks amazing! I've always had a thing for black and white Telecasters, and for a 12-string she is surprisingly comfortable to play.<br />
<br />
Now admittedly I'm not the best guitar player that ever lived (far from it) and the 12-string is a challenge to play compared to the traditional 6, but god I love picking this bad boy up. Thanks to a nut height that needed no adjusting and a super straight neck, the action is low and very little finger pressure is needed to fret the strings. It's just so comfortable that even I can bust out a tune with just a little extra practice.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBhJB-qijR89hUa3FVzX9UfRfG8eO2sYHVTInWZNJJPXLcrdUz9GsLy0Be-2dqfv3kImmrvsRdnoMHHmAN_A0ofgqImuEfP7K5EAfGAqDGkRGJZmuvAAym2HS9SmQnNLod5bnGzeRH2Ify/s1600/IMG_0283.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBhJB-qijR89hUa3FVzX9UfRfG8eO2sYHVTInWZNJJPXLcrdUz9GsLy0Be-2dqfv3kImmrvsRdnoMHHmAN_A0ofgqImuEfP7K5EAfGAqDGkRGJZmuvAAym2HS9SmQnNLod5bnGzeRH2Ify/s400/IMG_0283.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtPqptjxlIZImBEsMEzx_t24Uf4fADC5K1PMQcPjkwXo4pvCvW7xTH96L7KT93UYJWfvAq6dmqrZKQBpiWijiRUoJVo0lKtkxwB-9osuyD7ClsUKdovET-E2IMLHzz_io4EBWE4QLxMQaG/s1600/IMG_0280.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtPqptjxlIZImBEsMEzx_t24Uf4fADC5K1PMQcPjkwXo4pvCvW7xTH96L7KT93UYJWfvAq6dmqrZKQBpiWijiRUoJVo0lKtkxwB-9osuyD7ClsUKdovET-E2IMLHzz_io4EBWE4QLxMQaG/s400/IMG_0280.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Already some scuffs on the back - tough love!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Despite taking half a day to get in tune, once the neck settled down the tuning stability is really quite good. Some locking mini-tuners would make this even better, but I can live with it for now. Some of the strings do need a little tuning tweak now and again and that's ok (as I said, for now). Unfortunately, just checking each and every each string with the electronic tuner is a major undertaking ;).<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2oUWT9bZ_E6VCjmkNnV64sUvG6HJCV4HccfScdIUaXF_yX31bJSA5Nr7QmqHCYpViMxHo9P0rnlfH1r6L6wxEULn70OaWlQjg-R_UKZlsxXbtcScGzeAyCKgAYaiGf-vP7gZuo-pmLlJ3/s1600/IMG_0275.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2oUWT9bZ_E6VCjmkNnV64sUvG6HJCV4HccfScdIUaXF_yX31bJSA5Nr7QmqHCYpViMxHo9P0rnlfH1r6L6wxEULn70OaWlQjg-R_UKZlsxXbtcScGzeAyCKgAYaiGf-vP7gZuo-pmLlJ3/s400/IMG_0275.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIwKBnVd4uc9eKGBROoSxaCd7apMwRWkuP1IChgTyFIEJnY6o84cwVnFlKT-QSdRVXMRoHeFEyILhawjO53-YERzz4GvKeXg8Ph_kM7HIvrB5AFFfgHls6oP_RpPLkmYpxorxN7uyJ_fdc/s1600/IMG_0278.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIwKBnVd4uc9eKGBROoSxaCd7apMwRWkuP1IChgTyFIEJnY6o84cwVnFlKT-QSdRVXMRoHeFEyILhawjO53-YERzz4GvKeXg8Ph_kM7HIvrB5AFFfgHls6oP_RpPLkmYpxorxN7uyJ_fdc/s400/IMG_0278.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Trans-black flame maple with a deep Acrylic gloss.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The guitar's single coils deliver a beautiful jangly tone, especially with a clean channel. Open chords are especially nice and the sustain (even accounting for my bad finger placement) is great. Time to channel Marty Wilson Piper and belt out a few tunes by The Church.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6venfV6HpcywQc_ycsj7uw8mda3qICq1YJ39nXe3z7KUU9mNhB0Cw3k3xdc-wAZo8uK8MbPoGaGAFXbdSCfZfpBYC2bH4Ux0X3w29aqz809rvbrplriIjtaGW5Kum7oKoLewnOu3xH3a6/s1600/IMG_0282.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6venfV6HpcywQc_ycsj7uw8mda3qICq1YJ39nXe3z7KUU9mNhB0Cw3k3xdc-wAZo8uK8MbPoGaGAFXbdSCfZfpBYC2bH4Ux0X3w29aqz809rvbrplriIjtaGW5Kum7oKoLewnOu3xH3a6/s400/IMG_0282.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tune me please. Please?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF6WmnM7hsUmcK6uR-M9vImtKK5jaCan_ck8gPnUCf5PzQ232v0DglfF5vREgFziz2EpTOlunT2VSnM7h6pyqiEHSt-aa8JI_7U7URAh1SMBxqgBc5FwrsO9AT6FQ7_46SQrKcTjKw9MxU/s1600/IMG_0288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF6WmnM7hsUmcK6uR-M9vImtKK5jaCan_ck8gPnUCf5PzQ232v0DglfF5vREgFziz2EpTOlunT2VSnM7h6pyqiEHSt-aa8JI_7U7URAh1SMBxqgBc5FwrsO9AT6FQ7_46SQrKcTjKw9MxU/s400/IMG_0288.JPG" width="266" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY2p8KqYfyf8RMzJOZ3MJPHvkVAUousy5Nz10lyWxUY9b4j90fIb4kHL99uwvNYBs3vzE7Xhui6SWxEKObCO1mQ0Oc_MYwPqEoPIrQ5ywdRyF22hmXgnjTUPyqHkP8q5dhuHcOYRAHpvQE/s1600/IMG_0287.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY2p8KqYfyf8RMzJOZ3MJPHvkVAUousy5Nz10lyWxUY9b4j90fIb4kHL99uwvNYBs3vzE7Xhui6SWxEKObCO1mQ0Oc_MYwPqEoPIrQ5ywdRyF22hmXgnjTUPyqHkP8q5dhuHcOYRAHpvQE/s400/IMG_0287.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
All in all a very satisfying build and a great end result. I can't stop picking this thing up and strumming it. <a href="http://diyguitars.com.au/">DIYGuitars</a> did a good job with the kit, especially the dialed in nut height and I'm really impressed with the kit quality. I highly recommend you all to get out there and build your own 12 string Telecaster. There aren't many of them out in the wild (compared to other models) and that makes it all the more satisfying to own one.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16748822914489659878noreply@blogger.com0Holgate NSW 2250, Australia-33.4030106 151.40680939999993-33.4560326 151.32612839999993 -33.3499886 151.48749039999993tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683690612552003471.post-25697015170578741512016-11-28T18:32:00.002+11:002016-11-30T14:46:05.036+11:00Jeremy's Mahogany Les Paul: Neck Re-radius and Re-fret<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hi ho everybody, I'm continuing my run of posts with an update on my Les Paul build for Jeremy over at <a href="http://guitargas.com/">http://guitargas.com</a>. Unfortunately, with the build nearing the home straight, I somehow messed up the fret levelling and ended up with frets that were all over the place. I have subsequently found out that there was a very subtle twist in the neck that I could not see, but hey- no excuses pal!<br />
<br />
Anyway, with the frets munged beyond repair (well, by me that is ;) ), I enlisted the help of luthier extraordinaire Dingobass at Pitbull Guitars to bring the neck back from the dead. I commissioned a fret replacement and sent the neck to WA for DB to work on. By the time DB received the neck, however, it was in an even worse state than even I could have put it in. Even with a metric fuckload of bubble wrap, good old Australia Post managed to break the corner off the fretboard. Grrrr - you fuckers!!!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoo5q1nlsOzz7bD6X2sWgDjzlffvas9w0OIhcW2xdwAwFkGftKVoarql6vid_RLo8esaC6lwQTJfUX8t03EfqM0_45UveWajmAXz7TICKszijzIcijP-oui4dSXcRzSYXo3lTs-OcmpLyq/s1600/20160530_094919-768x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoo5q1nlsOzz7bD6X2sWgDjzlffvas9w0OIhcW2xdwAwFkGftKVoarql6vid_RLo8esaC6lwQTJfUX8t03EfqM0_45UveWajmAXz7TICKszijzIcijP-oui4dSXcRzSYXo3lTs-OcmpLyq/s400/20160530_094919-768x1024.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Why Australia Post? Why do you suck so fucking hard??</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
To my relief, DB assured me that he could reverse this travesty and set to work weaving his magic on the fretboard. The results were nothing short of spectacular.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8FTWlCGKTsUeUxDdP_pv-y1jUpln5xKqnME_T3Ar9ILc_YOfyanA_JfRufR9L3RL3Ph4cvKrjaLHkD6qSWzPsVWy5_cuDnfmaIxipw4-VIkt9ZehCmFZyei-ptNh2uBJsIOQ7TbGFRnNe/s1600/20160613_115717-1-768x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8FTWlCGKTsUeUxDdP_pv-y1jUpln5xKqnME_T3Ar9ILc_YOfyanA_JfRufR9L3RL3Ph4cvKrjaLHkD6qSWzPsVWy5_cuDnfmaIxipw4-VIkt9ZehCmFZyei-ptNh2uBJsIOQ7TbGFRnNe/s400/20160613_115717-1-768x1024.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk1EXMVkLM-LAVJQfupYOj04-Psnj4yj-UsrtS9ngGD4nEXsnnsxZI6WCvNrYreBxZKz6Z6UKQ5HfkSb0hQDF-1ozz08fXbUvg59LcMO0aob-VB_l_f1Jltp46-HNhsL6nuDNK0Obaj3UE/s1600/20160615_094843-1024x768.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk1EXMVkLM-LAVJQfupYOj04-Psnj4yj-UsrtS9ngGD4nEXsnnsxZI6WCvNrYreBxZKz6Z6UKQ5HfkSb0hQDF-1ozz08fXbUvg59LcMO0aob-VB_l_f1Jltp46-HNhsL6nuDNK0Obaj3UE/s400/20160615_094843-1024x768.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With a wave of his wand, DB restores the fretboard.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
With the fretboard repaired to better then new, DB set about doing a re-fret, level and re-crown on the entire neck. The results speak for themselves. An infinitely better result than muggins here could achieve with his two hands full of thumbs. Thanks DB, you're the real deal and you saved my ass.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAnoiF3Jth46IIwLQqIMgQmhTeApTEzgu9ShB-rgGW-uLXRAm19xaPwEz65Bk-aGDDrSVtK75djBaf2_14ORXs8f6sOVsAqYI5G36YNdJeRvTgz1U5yAICQn8uUr5jP47WK0gPP-6Xx95-/s1600/20160619_153140-1280x960.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAnoiF3Jth46IIwLQqIMgQmhTeApTEzgu9ShB-rgGW-uLXRAm19xaPwEz65Bk-aGDDrSVtK75djBaf2_14ORXs8f6sOVsAqYI5G36YNdJeRvTgz1U5yAICQn8uUr5jP47WK0gPP-6Xx95-/s400/20160619_153140-1280x960.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwZjpP_7cjcKWQTSJ5X0WXrFH9-_b86k1LEyLbuq4QrYjQuCtYWVZa2aHN5gtrQzeJFCnABedj54eH6Jul2TDbpdOWbBQncIE-8SYC0JDcq16r8NJxdkcLDp7qB-66tZE7e3bqoqHWOjxW/s1600/20160619_155511-768x1024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwZjpP_7cjcKWQTSJ5X0WXrFH9-_b86k1LEyLbuq4QrYjQuCtYWVZa2aHN5gtrQzeJFCnABedj54eH6Jul2TDbpdOWbBQncIE-8SYC0JDcq16r8NJxdkcLDp7qB-66tZE7e3bqoqHWOjxW/s400/20160619_155511-768x1024.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUi3svqL0MDfZT16nPA1CoBLMps51JATBMxi9-LhgVaY9JkLga9FAH4SQMgbAvfmXOioWoCpKn4mDg2C8feipxuk7-wfRUh9T__DxcSXNU8zm8i0GAuEPzXXvqDadlhoWTYE8EtuQM8Vyb/s1600/20160620_154754-1024x768.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUi3svqL0MDfZT16nPA1CoBLMps51JATBMxi9-LhgVaY9JkLga9FAH4SQMgbAvfmXOioWoCpKn4mDg2C8feipxuk7-wfRUh9T__DxcSXNU8zm8i0GAuEPzXXvqDadlhoWTYE8EtuQM8Vyb/s400/20160620_154754-1024x768.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With DB's re-fret the fretboard looks superb!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
With the neck back in my hot little hands, it was time to get it set and finally move ahead with this bad boy. With some Titebond, some clamps and some prayer (all hail the Flying Spagetti Monster) the neck was soon attached and the axe was finally looking like something.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZHXbNoGYe41RCo5cqS5v_TRTyj8cZGoZeMhMHYXidmZbMA-AGmtPeu_Q4kr8ascInTFhJfP3TaVUp0DumRj9NNTZZ3ZaqZJRPEoFGC0ycnJ-hAlMP50EQcsOHX0JaTph36rcpEVgJgmje/s1600/14560127_1274231462611397_6967876065230764842_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZHXbNoGYe41RCo5cqS5v_TRTyj8cZGoZeMhMHYXidmZbMA-AGmtPeu_Q4kr8ascInTFhJfP3TaVUp0DumRj9NNTZZ3ZaqZJRPEoFGC0ycnJ-hAlMP50EQcsOHX0JaTph36rcpEVgJgmje/s400/14560127_1274231462611397_6967876065230764842_o.jpg" width="225" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk0KtjkjybsAUSMjMiR3m6bxQyLeXI7gmxtK6WYLB6f3X-qyl1VHGM6T9bvzLybI8_ee_zkTw4qNyN_5Vk694xEgo3-zLqVXXAY8ToCJoGpXwuREunF-iWklPufP7pOQTqAynZt6Z3xIZO/s1600/14525143_1274231455944731_6800761377319807559_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk0KtjkjybsAUSMjMiR3m6bxQyLeXI7gmxtK6WYLB6f3X-qyl1VHGM6T9bvzLybI8_ee_zkTw4qNyN_5Vk694xEgo3-zLqVXXAY8ToCJoGpXwuREunF-iWklPufP7pOQTqAynZt6Z3xIZO/s400/14525143_1274231455944731_6800761377319807559_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizk-O2FPdoj1CSIA0ITqtfPjURGGIoakzYxp_6atWLMrmfTEZqlGq4AzhjwoZ4GJkX7q_YvLub4JyNxHgJT3GoE7sgfYPbYBar7K2yS30ITshw0dgKRYUyBjEPyV0j77kw_Tq18qBD0eVD/s1600/14542432_1274231679278042_6739878535992754036_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizk-O2FPdoj1CSIA0ITqtfPjURGGIoakzYxp_6atWLMrmfTEZqlGq4AzhjwoZ4GJkX7q_YvLub4JyNxHgJT3GoE7sgfYPbYBar7K2yS30ITshw0dgKRYUyBjEPyV0j77kw_Tq18qBD0eVD/s400/14542432_1274231679278042_6739878535992754036_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjatLLdgkOcBxFCrajOmN-DTXbNDEKK24WnriWsn5NhFcmugC2ng4oi5upJJAcajYCmbvUQVMl49RJCS21fKx5exvrqc7CkH4sOPeaqU8YFhb4SHuzRKff0FL-PuKBvcVr-uHJEBaCsJuGj/s1600/20160628_193044.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjatLLdgkOcBxFCrajOmN-DTXbNDEKK24WnriWsn5NhFcmugC2ng4oi5upJJAcajYCmbvUQVMl49RJCS21fKx5exvrqc7CkH4sOPeaqU8YFhb4SHuzRKff0FL-PuKBvcVr-uHJEBaCsJuGj/s400/20160628_193044.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Q8ZaB7_gpJigVMlLA6YPbp041HsIg2UI8-MW62HXPSGfzxVyqCg3jr2wGTRO2HtHRHFQD5hu9gL0oZIIp2yBHVk2k0LFmeqoXRCgFip4LOB1BPi_RykZqi0hy_6PI63NYzoiMObuWa4W/s1600/20160628_193139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Q8ZaB7_gpJigVMlLA6YPbp041HsIg2UI8-MW62HXPSGfzxVyqCg3jr2wGTRO2HtHRHFQD5hu9gL0oZIIp2yBHVk2k0LFmeqoXRCgFip4LOB1BPi_RykZqi0hy_6PI63NYzoiMObuWa4W/s400/20160628_193139.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's a guitar Jim!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
To be honest with you, I'm really loving how this baby is looking. This just could be my nicest looking build to date. I think Jeremy will be pleased (I hope so anyway). Hardware assembly is next on the list, so cross fingers for no more issues!</div>
Gavin Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08785296016273386554noreply@blogger.com0Holgate NSW 2250, Australia-33.407 151.40999999999997-33.460021999999995 151.32931899999997 -33.353978 151.49068099999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683690612552003471.post-28079374918071183202016-11-28T18:10:00.000+11:002016-12-05T17:47:53.024+11:00Jazz Bass: Headstock Shaping and Tru-Oil for the Neck<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Sorry guys, it's been a long, long time since I posted any updates on any builds to this little bloggerino. Unfortunately I've been terribly busy with work, and am finding less and less time to either build (which is utterly fucking depressing) or even to write about it. Anyway I'm hoping to address this situation in the coming weeks - with several builds close to completion, I would really like to share the results with you all.<br />
<br />
Anyway, today's post concerns the Jazz Bass build which recently changed it's colour to Surf Green and got a few coats of acrylic clear. It's looking pretty good I dare say, and while the clear coats cure, I have finally found some time to shape the headstock and sand the neck smooth.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEdtP8Jo-6hZXbV8YD4GfFc17wJbIQpH40HKuwvnDYKex07I22CGzzPjpkLaJT4LHq-6L2Z0yUnUm9aKuMjzR8_5_c6n6DTODeYpFZGnZWDWwgGfb2G0OeBXdeRKeEU668VPzQGmXIxx56/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-11-21+at+9.07.23+AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEdtP8Jo-6hZXbV8YD4GfFc17wJbIQpH40HKuwvnDYKex07I22CGzzPjpkLaJT4LHq-6L2Z0yUnUm9aKuMjzR8_5_c6n6DTODeYpFZGnZWDWwgGfb2G0OeBXdeRKeEU668VPzQGmXIxx56/s400/Screen+Shot+2015-11-21+at+9.07.23+AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The standard Fender Jazz Bass headstock template.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I managed to find a bunch of Fender bass headstock templates on the <a href="http://www.tdpri.com/forum/attachments/bass-place/66934d1292895136-p-bass-headstock-template-bass-heads-1-pdf" target="_blank">TDPRI site</a>,
and hoped they would be enough to seal the deal. I decided on the stock
standard jazz bass template and printed the pdf 100% scale. Problem was, the template (as usual) didn't really
match the headstock blank from the factory. In the end I was forced to
use the template to mark out the circular end of the headstock, and then
just free-hand the curved fin along the bottom. Not really a problem -
even with my shoddy drawing skills there's nothing a belt sander and
drum sander can't fix right? Right. Anyway, the stars seemed to align, the jig saw did as it was told, and even the sanding disc and slap wheels didn't burn out the edges. Sweet<br />
<br />
With the headstock shaped, I sanded the neck down to 360 grit and raised the grain a few times with water before staining. This time around I went for a weak solution of Colortone Vintage Amber (I do love those vintage tones) and did 3 passes in quick succession in an attempt to pop as much of the grain on this nice looking maple neck as I could.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjet_1M6yJtDLAYApW1PtlwJ3KH_2Bj-xR6BxDCMgNggBkl6srsl_PHSybtreCoARzzHZQHPMDz4k1uEuFAHFJgJyqiNAekc2ZRAq9gMfwT5RxUof8uamVSvntnwELzo3KpGK6kEDyHfdx-/s1600/20161128_173308.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjet_1M6yJtDLAYApW1PtlwJ3KH_2Bj-xR6BxDCMgNggBkl6srsl_PHSybtreCoARzzHZQHPMDz4k1uEuFAHFJgJyqiNAekc2ZRAq9gMfwT5RxUof8uamVSvntnwELzo3KpGK6kEDyHfdx-/s400/20161128_173308.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Headstock shaped, Vintage Amber applied and 1st coat of Tru-Oil.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After the dye was dry, it was on with the first soak coat of Tru-Oil and the maple just drank it up. Man, I can already see that the grain on this neck is really going to pop when the oil gets in there. About another 10 coats or so to go, so patience grasshopper, patience..</div>
Gavin Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08785296016273386554noreply@blogger.com0Holgate NSW 2250, Australia-33.407 151.40999999999997-33.460021999999995 151.32931899999997 -33.353978 151.49068099999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683690612552003471.post-66999623547090342832016-06-24T16:31:00.000+10:002016-06-25T10:08:08.030+10:00Flamed Starcaster: Side Finish<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
With the burst looking great on the front and back of the Starcaster build, the more I looked at it, the less pleased I was with how the dyed sides looked. It was time to make a tough decision. If you remember from my last update on this project, the dye didn't take on the sides in a number of places where the craftsmanship was exceedingly average. Looking at it again, I decided to apply a solid colour to the sides to cover over these patches. I re-filled the entire surface with Timbermate, applied some primer, and sprayed two coats of MTN94 "RV-99 Marron Glace" over it all. Thankfully my masking was good and none of the primer or colour made it onto the front or back.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib159lsVg9fvYk_jVgd6N7X4ZY1Ph1Bg5udyTKXQvTlXU8OwXmnkWMpGwCEIcC4UR2WfZII3VFzJ2yTWcvxz6wDbt5VrmhsRlt_rkH_O5ArJNbnPiZfVf-EkvJXeLlZGT2IlLfJY-JcM7c/s1600/20160610_154518.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib159lsVg9fvYk_jVgd6N7X4ZY1Ph1Bg5udyTKXQvTlXU8OwXmnkWMpGwCEIcC4UR2WfZII3VFzJ2yTWcvxz6wDbt5VrmhsRlt_rkH_O5ArJNbnPiZfVf-EkvJXeLlZGT2IlLfJY-JcM7c/s400/20160610_154518.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNBYyxC_P6K0ueNGIB2LFEFGPg0zfRbQ9qSFS_8Ocgq1K4kqHd_bb8SgpbBeezTa9s3v4z5pRVUsxvwMZcr6lzYaWGpNDAmtD9oomHMhwZ74mI_3Th7X5tVIvuRsmz2j0Pej9Dl3Q6ahK9/s1600/20160610_154529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNBYyxC_P6K0ueNGIB2LFEFGPg0zfRbQ9qSFS_8Ocgq1K4kqHd_bb8SgpbBeezTa9s3v4z5pRVUsxvwMZcr6lzYaWGpNDAmtD9oomHMhwZ74mI_3Th7X5tVIvuRsmz2j0Pej9Dl3Q6ahK9/s400/20160610_154529.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stain would have been better, but MTN94 has covered the bad workmanship.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I'm really glad that I made the decision. The end result is pretty damn good I reckon - much better than the stain over those shoddy patches. I'm really liking how this baby is now shaping up. I'm in a bit of a quandry about what colour to stain the neck, as I usually go with a colour to match the sides. That's not going to happen in this case - there's no way I'm going to spray the neck a solid colour as well. Maybe Amber with a bit of a dirty Tobacco burst, but I'm still thinking.</div>
Gavin Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08785296016273386554noreply@blogger.com0Holgate NSW 2250, Australia-33.407 151.40999999999997-33.460021999999995 151.32931899999997 -33.353978 151.49068099999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683690612552003471.post-17822231021804775532016-06-24T15:35:00.001+10:002016-06-24T15:35:09.942+10:00Jazz Bass: Surf Green it is<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well, another basswood build, another dye attempt, and another clear-coat fail. There seems to be a curse on the Holgate man-cave. This build has now become the second (or is it third?) dyed basswood body to receive dye and then end up being a solid colour. The black was looking good for a while, but in my haste pre-coffee one morning I didn't look too closely at the can and sprayed a jet of white primer over the body instead of clear vinyl. Complete noob mistake and a bloody shame.<br />
<br />
Anyway, after a few tears I threw my hands up in the air, sanded what I had flat again, and set about covering the whole thing in primer. Looking at what MTN94 colours I had in the cupboard, I decided on a surf-green finish (a bit of a default for me it must be said). The MTN94 Bali Green was dutifully extracted and a couple of coats applied. This is how she ended up.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6isWqZVqZPrlQUc5SkAzjthy5jeeLHsTdySKi4j7awqVoEAfG53D5HKJu2NJjsxLJvFd6xPIUQ_4j4wB1SKBN4rRfg_j3KFBTlFxBN1F2rlev7oYrn42jU7vzLsdQjaXiG31fP1RyJR1_/s1600/20160617_115933.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6isWqZVqZPrlQUc5SkAzjthy5jeeLHsTdySKi4j7awqVoEAfG53D5HKJu2NJjsxLJvFd6xPIUQ_4j4wB1SKBN4rRfg_j3KFBTlFxBN1F2rlev7oYrn42jU7vzLsdQjaXiG31fP1RyJR1_/s400/20160617_115933.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bass gets two coats of MTN94 Bali Green</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I must say, I do like the colour, and it'll look great under some gloss clear. Once the colour has had tie to cure I'll start back on the clean vinyl in earnest. Fingers crossed.</div>
Gavin Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08785296016273386554noreply@blogger.com0Holgate NSW 2250, Australia-33.407 151.40999999999997-33.460021999999995 151.32931899999997 -33.353978 151.49068099999997tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683690612552003471.post-14282749556519485912016-04-30T13:13:00.003+10:002016-04-30T13:13:36.953+10:00Flamed Starcaster: Dying the Burst<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have found myself with a little time away from work this week, and therefore with some time for the Starcaster build - sanding the body and getting some Colortone dye onto this beast. With these semi-hollow kits there's usually precious little sanding required for the body. Unfortunately this kit was a second that I picked up in last years Pitbull Guitars birthday sale and with it came some pretty gnarly problem areas on the top veneer and the sides.<br />
<br />
The top veneer has some very deep scratches at the bottom of the guitar, something that I can't do anything at all about. They are so deep that I suspect any attempt to sand them out would remove the veneer altogether. I could have done a solid paint job to hide them, but that flame maple veneer is just too damn beautiful to hide, even with the scratches. There were also a few very large glue marks around the edge near the binding, but a couple of applcations of Goof-Off put pay to them.<br />
<br />
To test whether I had properly removed the glue, I applied a weak dye solution (Lemon Yellow) to the entire front and back to make sure it was taking colour. Thankfully no remaining glue spots were evident.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoKJyT4AkGAkmahQi2ztx85LvZaQW3XNJDxp9gzSSdBBvK524K9gHlIJifx9Uv97s9QjfQqspo0i7pVBwi11Pmv6xVMTqs-6h4zSNCvhLHkCFjGM0cR9vQwwUELJFd2a6PwgVMUa27rmB5/s1600/20160428_131407.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoKJyT4AkGAkmahQi2ztx85LvZaQW3XNJDxp9gzSSdBBvK524K9gHlIJifx9Uv97s9QjfQqspo0i7pVBwi11Pmv6xVMTqs-6h4zSNCvhLHkCFjGM0cR9vQwwUELJFd2a6PwgVMUa27rmB5/s400/20160428_131407.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Weak Colortone Lemon Yellow shows no glue spots.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On the sides, there are two large areas where the factory has needed to extend the side veneer piece to fit around the entire circumference. Pretty shoddy craftsmanship all told, but that's why it was a second! I sanded the sides with 240 and 320 to try to get rid of as much of the joins in these extensions as I could, and then filled all the remaining grain and join marks with a slurry of Timbermate. After sanding back with 400 grit the surface felt nice and smooth but didn't look any better. In my eagerness to continue with the burst I didn't do a dye test on the sides, something I would rue later on down the track. Naughty, naughty!<br />
<br />
I let the body dry over night, wiped it all over with water a final time to remove any remaining dust from the Tmbermate, and got on with creating a burst using Colortone dyes. I actually used 5 colours this time to try to achieve a burst that gradually becomes much darker on the sides than my normal "Honey Burst". I started with Lemon Yellow all over (applied a second time) and then a little further out with a feathered ring of Vintage Amber. This was followed by a further feathered ring of Red Mahogany, and yet again by Tobacco Brown. To darken up the edge even further I got out the Colortone Black and kept applying colour to the edge, all the while blending each transition back towards the centre with the other colours.<br />
<br />
All in all I'm pretty stoked with the result, although the aforementioned scratches are standing out vividly down towards the bottom of the body.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrcNPqlXH-lgCxqroQ4tlFIHep43zqCtMl1ShQSMipq3heJPLjIQ6mF3Kmnc4TTkt6vKh7DUTTiFbk6ptjR7Fa9jhcRcfVp5ADEHrp4kkyUgfWjP8tjW9_CpVubaIaWmoAGpSaEpGa8TP8/s1600/20160428_135929.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrcNPqlXH-lgCxqroQ4tlFIHep43zqCtMl1ShQSMipq3heJPLjIQ6mF3Kmnc4TTkt6vKh7DUTTiFbk6ptjR7Fa9jhcRcfVp5ADEHrp4kkyUgfWjP8tjW9_CpVubaIaWmoAGpSaEpGa8TP8/s400/20160428_135929.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0QFVxcuYXP1xnTQ_IJonj6ElkWOEoPSnaJhsmaPnRJqxfNo4XBuFxLY-uMSDGq_JvWOqvSznuyiSoZrhyphenhyphenJ7GKL2xMC6majhpXCDTZn1LiZJlUv7aD3lq1eDP5_y9vMczotDH95gDp7M0R/s1600/20160428_135939.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0QFVxcuYXP1xnTQ_IJonj6ElkWOEoPSnaJhsmaPnRJqxfNo4XBuFxLY-uMSDGq_JvWOqvSznuyiSoZrhyphenhyphenJ7GKL2xMC6majhpXCDTZn1LiZJlUv7aD3lq1eDP5_y9vMczotDH95gDp7M0R/s400/20160428_135939.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">5 Colour Burst from Lemon Yellow to Black (sort of)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Unfortunately, when I hit the sides with a combination of Tobacco Brown and Black, my haste in preparation became immediately apparent. In addition to the sections where the wood has been joined (the glue here was never going to adequately take stain) there magically appeared several nasty glue spots around the binding. <br />
<br />
Letting the dyed body dry completely overnight, I resolved to fix-in the colour on the front and back of the guitar before trying to fix the glue spots on the sides. I had always planned on giving the dyed guitar several coats of Tru-Oil to really pop the flame and to deepen the chatoyance in the final finish. And so, on to the body went a first soak coat of Tru-Oil and boy did the colour of the dye and the chatoyance in the maple pop. Magic!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXFW2VS9k_gIw7ijuYdQyq12u8A4X24Acmn65pXkbsn089JQCg9kDt3zP1Zfy7-Lf6maPeej5HsYEVlTBwaYIPb0Fv1AGcJXSUA701lWpjJhMdx5qfv3ixfaH-cKsjj9-jAzHEDCObb7Sg/s1600/20160429_082203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXFW2VS9k_gIw7ijuYdQyq12u8A4X24Acmn65pXkbsn089JQCg9kDt3zP1Zfy7-Lf6maPeej5HsYEVlTBwaYIPb0Fv1AGcJXSUA701lWpjJhMdx5qfv3ixfaH-cKsjj9-jAzHEDCObb7Sg/s400/20160429_082203.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6b5AT2VTt1AqnlvJ4ZhqCl_yKefATnxa9JeN0eujT1Qg2X7p-6AQDwAHYUMBkfk-W88aTuJPdx-DIVtZBxj52mr5ueVcu17nJ22JjZRx5Ws04qmSd1GpHJCOaVYhexhnshuBGT5rRJhxU/s1600/20160429_135852.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6b5AT2VTt1AqnlvJ4ZhqCl_yKefATnxa9JeN0eujT1Qg2X7p-6AQDwAHYUMBkfk-W88aTuJPdx-DIVtZBxj52mr5ueVcu17nJ22JjZRx5Ws04qmSd1GpHJCOaVYhexhnshuBGT5rRJhxU/s400/20160429_135852.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First soak coat of Tru-Oil starts to add uber-chatoyance.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The next day I applied a second soak coat of oil to both sides and again hung it to dry. With each coat the grain is looking better and better, but the scratches are looking more and more prominent. Oh well, we can't have everything right? You can easily see the scratches in the front veneer in the photo below.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9NtkqjXs6wRjR5s12bD8GanFmphy6MoWGSOAZZfoxeJPK0fIi7ZVl29EUeoB-a0szYuStrCfXLGAlhXH54DH7EWMvFuu3h5dBAasdoiFFnKNymDSemNv4NetU7W6uxJb3GgSUrt_ZTo2j/s1600/20160429_141824.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9NtkqjXs6wRjR5s12bD8GanFmphy6MoWGSOAZZfoxeJPK0fIi7ZVl29EUeoB-a0szYuStrCfXLGAlhXH54DH7EWMvFuu3h5dBAasdoiFFnKNymDSemNv4NetU7W6uxJb3GgSUrt_ZTo2j/s400/20160429_141824.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIK5MOsV313XzA4I6sGqymaJaiuhF6sIZlCmg6wI0coJpBTWMYU2K0TIxo7FhNBWZfVsTCelXtRSpBk_PSiI0Sim0xurmsZc9vb65TpZd0IRf-YPpwfL-b7vBkwGfOogPvq0mtCw1ArBpe/s1600/20160429_170043.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIK5MOsV313XzA4I6sGqymaJaiuhF6sIZlCmg6wI0coJpBTWMYU2K0TIxo7FhNBWZfVsTCelXtRSpBk_PSiI0Sim0xurmsZc9vb65TpZd0IRf-YPpwfL-b7vBkwGfOogPvq0mtCw1ArBpe/s400/20160429_170043.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Second coat of Tru-Oil is on and soaking in. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After a third coat of Tru-Oil, I was satisfied that the dye job was protected enough to be able to tackle the glue spots on the sides of the body. It called for some more Goof-Off and a bit of a roughing up with the wire brushes; slowly working dye into the wood where it once resisted.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRcwT558Md9Ee1XxyyZxdVpkK4F0AXOSfhuQlvArKfEtkdC4nzsnsFJccYBq0QGxArCM5nMXoYCTIC_o_AFlXJTpeSoa04LtIm9YLVAndADjcqO2MRJyylcygaizupuoz9AxcamH7h3mmN/s1600/20160430_120330.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRcwT558Md9Ee1XxyyZxdVpkK4F0AXOSfhuQlvArKfEtkdC4nzsnsFJccYBq0QGxArCM5nMXoYCTIC_o_AFlXJTpeSoa04LtIm9YLVAndADjcqO2MRJyylcygaizupuoz9AxcamH7h3mmN/s200/20160430_120330.jpg" width="112" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1QRZX50YvqUuu1fMHP_wa-GFvD84GyVurHTccWCtEbzVDRmWdcH_KLEu5u29PTp3R936S0Yb7XVq9c4E0r0zLhNX3hBF8lFReKGcD71vUpFij_Okth25DvJ1ZOdH6668XWIVmm6AH4U0i/s1600/20160430_120417.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1QRZX50YvqUuu1fMHP_wa-GFvD84GyVurHTccWCtEbzVDRmWdcH_KLEu5u29PTp3R936S0Yb7XVq9c4E0r0zLhNX3hBF8lFReKGcD71vUpFij_Okth25DvJ1ZOdH6668XWIVmm6AH4U0i/s200/20160430_120417.jpg" width="112" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbIJ49bxBY5p5TjOCDY3Wemv-PDGGgZn2v8DYdEKneczpyI3pcXV2iaicYBVr58aAl2WpIbz7YtcZkQc8KDuM9PqUlncnulN9r2lMOF6JvRb_NMjAysoiZHdt6flVwJVbFXLU3ruwTQ9Yq/s1600/20160430_120453.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbIJ49bxBY5p5TjOCDY3Wemv-PDGGgZn2v8DYdEKneczpyI3pcXV2iaicYBVr58aAl2WpIbz7YtcZkQc8KDuM9PqUlncnulN9r2lMOF6JvRb_NMjAysoiZHdt6flVwJVbFXLU3ruwTQ9Yq/s200/20160430_120453.jpg" width="112" /></a></div>
<br />
You can see what I was up against! In the end I got something I ws happy with, although those join lines really couldn't be hidden - no way they were going take any colour even with the wire brush treatment. Oh well, some Tru-Oil on the sides and thne it will be time for some Acrylic clear coats! <br />
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16748822914489659878noreply@blogger.com0Holgate NSW 2250, Australia-33.4030106 151.40680939999993-33.4560326 151.32612839999993 -33.3499886 151.48749039999993tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683690612552003471.post-27229559054086948162016-04-12T17:57:00.000+10:002016-04-12T17:57:17.735+10:00Flamed Starcaster: A New Semi-Hollow BuildWith my build queue down to a single (bass) guitar at the moment, it was high time that I dive into the stack and start another! After the Burled 335 turned out to be the sweetest guitar ever, I've been itching to get another semi-hollow build going. Enter the FS-1 Starcaster kit - a kit that Adam from Pitbull Guitars practically gave away at last year's birthday special!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg39YFqoaspExS5ija6C4YASsS1pcKMWsP-hQKXYtaIFTsc5QRvAmJUJUOrpIRi0tWSLNQAsDg6KrOUvqf_66QVvTAcKpbeto15SheaED4dSwaOvc03in_In4RShxb-TjHPaaJpSBRPNuG6/s1600/20160412_160638.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg39YFqoaspExS5ija6C4YASsS1pcKMWsP-hQKXYtaIFTsc5QRvAmJUJUOrpIRi0tWSLNQAsDg6KrOUvqf_66QVvTAcKpbeto15SheaED4dSwaOvc03in_In4RShxb-TjHPaaJpSBRPNuG6/s400/20160412_160638.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unboxing the Starcaster. Flame figure is evident!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Unboxing the kit, and doing a simple mock assembly, the kit looks pretty good. The neck fit is nice and tight and the flame veneer on the top of the guitar looks really awesome. There's a few discoloured glue marks around the binding on the back and a few obvious glue spots on the front and sides, but hopefully so,me Goof-Off should take care of these. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjfb2BFW6pluR28vNG0RwYh2kQerzMgcAEMfgRmbAUP6QzdKcFGim5lp150V1b2zii3j7Ib1xIJESkLkZmuH2d6-wDSyu2W4zT7EvHasH4DZknhlSvb7mpAyE-MGNOIl23zqpWvRWprq0N/s1600/20160412_154152.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjfb2BFW6pluR28vNG0RwYh2kQerzMgcAEMfgRmbAUP6QzdKcFGim5lp150V1b2zii3j7Ib1xIJESkLkZmuH2d6-wDSyu2W4zT7EvHasH4DZknhlSvb7mpAyE-MGNOIl23zqpWvRWprq0N/s400/20160412_154152.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3KzPwrarva09Hejd0uCmXgpUJBhLQ4HQRqyfRHLwvY8eYZtKe-zJzAeTGSQ4ra_wrvq6Q8USKKzlMqomDxvrAqY1HRg8Po3T0GXOvq6zxQQ2Px48cCWKvP93lqBcB8gIBbp86kYPVHHUf/s1600/20160412_154251.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3KzPwrarva09Hejd0uCmXgpUJBhLQ4HQRqyfRHLwvY8eYZtKe-zJzAeTGSQ4ra_wrvq6Q8USKKzlMqomDxvrAqY1HRg8Po3T0GXOvq6zxQQ2Px48cCWKvP93lqBcB8gIBbp86kYPVHHUf/s400/20160412_154251.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dry fit of the neck is tight and the body looks good.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_MqDEItrzd7lvZLhZFO7zU_h6wYk-sDDAM29yovPT712c52f76fFE8ZKDL7qSbXmARF5QnBWspDLF7UC9pn8e47sUvlXFnt5LM1ycire6DcVHm6ex79M7VL6wQN-xbrEXQHcJavnkQDYV/s1600/20160412_154221.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_MqDEItrzd7lvZLhZFO7zU_h6wYk-sDDAM29yovPT712c52f76fFE8ZKDL7qSbXmARF5QnBWspDLF7UC9pn8e47sUvlXFnt5LM1ycire6DcVHm6ex79M7VL6wQN-xbrEXQHcJavnkQDYV/s400/20160412_154221.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gorgeous flame figure just begging to be dyed.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There's a small issue with the neck at the moment, and that's a small gap between the neck and the end of the pocket. This may close up when the neck is clamped, but I'll have a look at the floor of the neck pocket just to make sure there aren't any obvious issues (lumps and bumps) in there.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjDi4Ttg_zBLvP8BzdULoqaMXLuxHK2_rgJ8foElci5D6WSKQXJeITGgKdSRRU4vEMZloPpbsroVffNuvO0e9rAiORpSgPm8LuXnvM4DM_VeX_3xA3KgMRbhiiBFScH-P-hV1CRBuvxiKe/s1600/20160412_155132.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjDi4Ttg_zBLvP8BzdULoqaMXLuxHK2_rgJ8foElci5D6WSKQXJeITGgKdSRRU4vEMZloPpbsroVffNuvO0e9rAiORpSgPm8LuXnvM4DM_VeX_3xA3KgMRbhiiBFScH-P-hV1CRBuvxiKe/s400/20160412_155132.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gap at the base of the neck. The neck pocket might need a little sanding.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
When Adam offered this kit at a bargain basement price last September, it was with the understanding
that there were actually a couple of flaws in the body.Those flaws are pretty evident on the side of the body with some patching in the side sheeting and a few deep marks.<br /><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzNnHQmAJ7Mb0IZPtXy19kq5MWjuIm304_dnrB9BOMHGXFdKvvLSLk1MZfzXzdaxH_IOPcB7ZmQnN35EMF9-iJKOpT75OrMuniKZVVcAfKapMrkaQHTAW28cHBHN1fZAwQI3FH_FrUfsmL/s1600/20160412_154203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzNnHQmAJ7Mb0IZPtXy19kq5MWjuIm304_dnrB9BOMHGXFdKvvLSLk1MZfzXzdaxH_IOPcB7ZmQnN35EMF9-iJKOpT75OrMuniKZVVcAfKapMrkaQHTAW28cHBHN1fZAwQI3FH_FrUfsmL/s400/20160412_154203.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Patching in the side sheeting.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnr78TdGpJHbMqFTa6uTUtwAWtVM6I2FN-447KplMGlhSjSP9xTBsizP-UPPGFUgUCOa24ECBoMNShMygILQ0k6YEWnBFti_VSC6N0NhoVe1a7GBQx4K-eF4IpXNnpCvuD7lBcyda1S1V2/s1600/20160412_154209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnr78TdGpJHbMqFTa6uTUtwAWtVM6I2FN-447KplMGlhSjSP9xTBsizP-UPPGFUgUCOa24ECBoMNShMygILQ0k6YEWnBFti_VSC6N0NhoVe1a7GBQx4K-eF4IpXNnpCvuD7lBcyda1S1V2/s400/20160412_154209.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some not so awesome stuff on the side, but I'll cope.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
These don't worry me too much. To cover them over I plan to do a dark burst fading to black on the top and back so that the sides can be stained black. If these problem areas don't take the black stain then I'm not above hitting the sides with some black spray acrylic. Whatever it takes!<br />
<br />
<br />
All in all I'm pretty darn excited about this build. I think I'll be ordering another <a href="http://www.guitarfetish.com/Xtrem-Floating-Tailpiece-Vibrato-Chrome-Finish_p_4414.html">GFS xTrem</a> and <a href="http://www.guitarfetish.com/Wilkinson-Brass-Roller-Bridge-Locking-Studs-Chrome_p_866.html">Wilkinson roller bridge</a> for this, as well as GFS pickups of some description. Since I love them so much in my 175 build, I'm thinking of using <a href="http://www.guitarfetish.com/Hot-Liverpool-Overwound-Alnico-Humbucker_c_118.html">Nashville Retrotron</a> pickups, but given the bad Aussie dollar I might fallback to Entwistle or Tonerider pickups from Pitbull. Decisions to come!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16748822914489659878noreply@blogger.com1Holgate NSW 2250, Australia-33.4030106 151.40680939999993-33.4560326 151.32612839999993 -33.3499886 151.48749039999993tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683690612552003471.post-8881309466726158112016-04-12T13:15:00.000+10:002016-04-12T13:15:07.043+10:00Burley 335: Finally Complete<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Well, the Burled Maple 335 is finally complete and I couldn't be happier with it. The finish, being a combination of Tru-Oil to both pop the grain and provide a subtle amber colouring and Acrylic gloss for a deep shine works really, really well. That burled veneer from DIY Guitars is so freaking amazing! Obviously the secret for combining these two finishes is not to go too far with the Tru-Oil; making sure that you leave enough tooth in the surface for the Acrylic to bind to.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWb9sQeNMN7Iu7f6rdUD4B0VSz35n9b_6L7xUubJUZeThK9jho8A2sBnGBYf67z5IzyhREfAacjoQb1aR9SqLQCCCb-YPpgscmAobAAp9Pok6PPvLWk1-r3EuCaiSg1EpB7OSMJ3QyJxO7/s1600/IMG_8660.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWb9sQeNMN7Iu7f6rdUD4B0VSz35n9b_6L7xUubJUZeThK9jho8A2sBnGBYf67z5IzyhREfAacjoQb1aR9SqLQCCCb-YPpgscmAobAAp9Pok6PPvLWk1-r3EuCaiSg1EpB7OSMJ3QyJxO7/s400/IMG_8660.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tru-Oil + Acrylic Gloss - a god damn winner for beautiful wood.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
IMO the chrome hardware works really well with the natural colouring, much better than gold would have done, and the chrome humbuckers with chrome surrounds are a great replacement for the original cream dogear P90s.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRNe4cDmLF65Cl4tWc3LDLu1umA9yYaAj5RRgFwTmoI7mHwk68eUIwMmd7-i52UEdc-llZw51x0dwhaKzWuBq-D3kT4pCx7KqOz_623XmJ7g2x6QZYHoZL9UKvseWD644W5z6mv0NSWpZM/s1600/IMG_8664.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRNe4cDmLF65Cl4tWc3LDLu1umA9yYaAj5RRgFwTmoI7mHwk68eUIwMmd7-i52UEdc-llZw51x0dwhaKzWuBq-D3kT4pCx7KqOz_623XmJ7g2x6QZYHoZL9UKvseWD644W5z6mv0NSWpZM/s400/IMG_8664.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNvUiCTXH71_dzYztu3CcRxUSDUB2ezUy3SsbefaZxt76jpADeaOhvYwoBZErUrdnhWvs2EQ6yQ8xt3fQ9BvRSjsBONELsC0QuYsm4VBENKYpfcw78w7gBcqh-OOIecdJoBOanMQFTxWwo/s1600/IMG_8666.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNvUiCTXH71_dzYztu3CcRxUSDUB2ezUy3SsbefaZxt76jpADeaOhvYwoBZErUrdnhWvs2EQ6yQ8xt3fQ9BvRSjsBONELsC0QuYsm4VBENKYpfcw78w7gBcqh-OOIecdJoBOanMQFTxWwo/s400/IMG_8666.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chrome GFS parts really complete the perfect picture.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Speaking of the humbuckers, all the GFS hardware here works extremely well and really looks the part. The full chrome Dream 180 pickups sound awesome - from a crystal clean tone to a punchy growl when needed. The roller bridge combined with the XTrem tremolo system provides a great tremolo solution, keeps the guitar is tune (even with heavy tremolo usage) and really looks the part.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyWzFf2vxtsnI7XaXZDX8wEN1pxeAzxmkKWL4ONYy2VhMtltPLWzI0gRW5WXU627xrs-T1BGik9yydDpp7929_hflq14sbdRpnHWzHHH17Z0qVWABfca4mbx5LQj0L6akR1uSIUNjLEYkt/s1600/IMG_8667.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyWzFf2vxtsnI7XaXZDX8wEN1pxeAzxmkKWL4ONYy2VhMtltPLWzI0gRW5WXU627xrs-T1BGik9yydDpp7929_hflq14sbdRpnHWzHHH17Z0qVWABfca4mbx5LQj0L6akR1uSIUNjLEYkt/s400/IMG_8667.JPG" width="266" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp7HN3KtRlubT9ujUVkfttwgrJg3vDunCukskjkK4xhUQ83Vi8wQWYPWgsZb5fA102H-0MUdY9wkviKTssVVIZGNuB-jmxDNDky9R0FP8ZpeodwYuXzbsnG9tTRskwzehfG7QLCFJGPSrJ/s400/IMG_8669.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="266" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glamour shots in the daylight</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
But with all that said, it is as a playing instrument that this guitar really comes into its own. It is light, has great tone, and the resonance that this thing produces is be felt to be believed. Even unplugged the guitar generates a beautiful acoustic tone that is a feast fro the ears. Either plugged or unplugged, you can really feel the chambers vibrating as you strum a note. And all this with the stock plastic nut! Interestingly I haven't had to adjust a thing at the nut end of the fretboard. The string height at the 1st fret was perfect with the supplied plastic nut (unheard of) and so I haven't had the courage to change it out yet.</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
With this project completed, I am now officially in love with 335 guitars again. I can't find the words to describe how amazing this thing is to play. I have another 335 kit in the stack and now I'm itching to get it started!</div>
Gavin Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08785296016273386554noreply@blogger.com0Holgate NSW 2250, Australia-33.4030106 151.40680939999993-33.4560326 151.32612839999993 -33.3499886 151.48749039999993tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683690612552003471.post-69614356132654671622016-04-08T20:00:00.003+10:002016-04-08T20:01:37.350+10:00Ash Mosrite: Hey Ho Let's Go!Got a sound demo done this afternoon of the Ash Mosrite and its Entwstle X90 pickups. Now I know that a Ramones tune may not be the ideal material for a sound demo, but hey, it's what I play most of the time ;). Ths guitar was played through my Fender Deluxe 110 amp, with both clean and overdriven power chords. Overdrive is acre of a Joyo Crunch Distortion. I fluffed a couple of the chords (yes I can murder even this), so enjoy it (or not) if you dare!<br />
<br />
<center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/KC3RABaxlC0?feature=player_detailpage" width="500"></iframe>
</center>
<br />
Nice huh? Well, I think so :).Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16748822914489659878noreply@blogger.com0Holgate NSW 2250, Australia-33.4030106 151.40680939999993-33.4560326 151.32612839999993 -33.3499886 151.48749039999993tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683690612552003471.post-57051136228951361102016-04-08T11:33:00.000+10:002016-04-08T11:33:25.315+10:00Burley 335: Final Touches<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDMZctE_N1z_-TMxgKvgZ9lkqAKHLxf6dmh3EWINiNeB-nT8R7IIxbJEYvqF2QwP0OPswBPeFyov8cQVJs6C9nl2BAs5RDEWS_kJkEg_aSO2Okk9eanxJDMQKn5QWpsOvllwiCjieUT7nF/s1600/IMG_8652.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDMZctE_N1z_-TMxgKvgZ9lkqAKHLxf6dmh3EWINiNeB-nT8R7IIxbJEYvqF2QwP0OPswBPeFyov8cQVJs6C9nl2BAs5RDEWS_kJkEg_aSO2Okk9eanxJDMQKn5QWpsOvllwiCjieUT7nF/s400/IMG_8652.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wiring harness complete and ready to be inserted.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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.<br />
<br />
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 <a href="http://guitarkitbuilder.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Fret%20Levelling%20%26%20Redressing">pretty straightforward process</a> all up.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5L-UCsMZ5-35IecD9hQoSdqBmfWxStGoeF7bbkqckeNUjHzNeGkKSwSp96PjT4cdvxjwAxJtnrFRlVNy2lETNJGwV38A9oMXDCu02WJRZ8y4lUoocbE7q3-8nAW48RCaPBJT82F9mWpo-/s1600/IMG_8654.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5L-UCsMZ5-35IecD9hQoSdqBmfWxStGoeF7bbkqckeNUjHzNeGkKSwSp96PjT4cdvxjwAxJtnrFRlVNy2lETNJGwV38A9oMXDCu02WJRZ8y4lUoocbE7q3-8nAW48RCaPBJT82F9mWpo-/s400/IMG_8654.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fretboard straight and ready for fret levelling.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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.<br /><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjya-TNlssiLgUIbRMsjEzOhgzb9wsHvVDDEaQJRBOtjeyoeTFICUoS2cerPorZ8xJRHaYeKSY-rFj9wI9C8epQnjNStAm_wavSh4T-eRe4tfZ4z-BFtsGCgTMltd4o9KZQwbcwesuNIme3/s1600/IMG_8655.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjya-TNlssiLgUIbRMsjEzOhgzb9wsHvVDDEaQJRBOtjeyoeTFICUoS2cerPorZ8xJRHaYeKSY-rFj9wI9C8epQnjNStAm_wavSh4T-eRe4tfZ4z-BFtsGCgTMltd4o9KZQwbcwesuNIme3/s400/IMG_8655.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On with the Dr Ducks for a some nicely conditioned Rosewood.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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!</div>
Gavin Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08785296016273386554noreply@blogger.com0Holgate NSW 2250, Australia-33.4030106 151.40680939999993-33.4560326 151.32612839999993 -33.3499886 151.48749039999993tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683690612552003471.post-3968380443118182362016-04-08T11:03:00.002+10:002016-04-08T11:03:31.318+10:00Ash Mosrite: Complete<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The Ash Mosrite build was finally completed today, and I'm very, very happy with the results. I am now the proud owner of two DIY Mosrite copies!</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqGZoc-UN3pd2y2d4Rd9EJI5HnfKkF4GIpQ2dj-A2z6Ljzk3RdMq7VTDsrXgbDrOusLAYwZyo5BV2y65hcu6tLqoXwK2uYUeQiGUesgAb7M1xmMv2bMMm9jMK0Hr2eXKiFm6EmsjW2UXTG/s1600/set.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqGZoc-UN3pd2y2d4Rd9EJI5HnfKkF4GIpQ2dj-A2z6Ljzk3RdMq7VTDsrXgbDrOusLAYwZyo5BV2y65hcu6tLqoXwK2uYUeQiGUesgAb7M1xmMv2bMMm9jMK0Hr2eXKiFm6EmsjW2UXTG/s400/set.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Twins. What father could ask for more?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The wood tones of the subtle burst combined with the black single ply pickguard give this new Mosrite a real vintage feel. The whole look has steered right away from the Ventures II look, but I'm very happy about that. It's more along the lines of Mosrite's other models, with its tummy and arm cuts, as well as the soapbar P90s. It just looks so awesome hanging there in front of a Ramones t-shirt ;).</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG2ERJP2RsnO5vmho9SPZCDmFOziL9OyV-hySGa_ZSsuN686z4fjaKTrMppi2VfROfHl0TRFEwUF_H4U4WMo-fv7jxWQxytsTtrNz28FirrM6Dr3ZDV2ehoLgDvPewNJeJhTDQA7563TMQ/s1600/vlcsnap-2016-04-08-10h40m07s023.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG2ERJP2RsnO5vmho9SPZCDmFOziL9OyV-hySGa_ZSsuN686z4fjaKTrMppi2VfROfHl0TRFEwUF_H4U4WMo-fv7jxWQxytsTtrNz28FirrM6Dr3ZDV2ehoLgDvPewNJeJhTDQA7563TMQ/s400/vlcsnap-2016-04-08-10h40m07s023.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Geez, whose gut *is* that anyway?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Even with the cuts it's heavier than the <a href="http://guitarkitbuilder.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Johnny%20Ramone%20Mosrite">Johnny Ramone Tribute</a> build (that one is Basswood), but really feels very nice in the hands and against the body - all in all a very comfortable guitar to play. Thanks to the Tru-Oil finish, the neck is nice and slick, and the 0th fret has allowed the action to come right down. The acrylic gloss coats came out really nicely in the end although, as usual, the Ash grain was a real pig to work with. Sooo many pinholes to deal with!</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />Anyhoo, enough about those pesky, pinholes. Let's see some glamour shots of the finished guitar and I can wrap this build up and get on to the next one. My stack of unfinished kits isn't getting any smaller!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVrjbdd1B_41rhWAe0PqYqCnI79d9z10fEYlab9E5TZTri1yo1arCetL22EZVHqJqgh_0nhmhV5Ed7W6hO_VL7HtCGtcFxQxA_W1moAV9Sdy78mLmd2cWZEC_XC57a1FdOnZrf5-DVjeCU/s1600/IMG_9040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVrjbdd1B_41rhWAe0PqYqCnI79d9z10fEYlab9E5TZTri1yo1arCetL22EZVHqJqgh_0nhmhV5Ed7W6hO_VL7HtCGtcFxQxA_W1moAV9Sdy78mLmd2cWZEC_XC57a1FdOnZrf5-DVjeCU/s400/IMG_9040.JPG" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjncwkbZmUcc4rRhoCgfDn-UcFMtF2JyRM7FjclNInRxcwKsFDCqmKzg_KgdZR46yphP_3WVy3ZcEMslUVtP7txE9tMseTO8EqffQCGgVN9X-rhaOFjE8Y0eewWuLT1x9FZTMXuv6teQGdH/s1600/IMG_9043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjncwkbZmUcc4rRhoCgfDn-UcFMtF2JyRM7FjclNInRxcwKsFDCqmKzg_KgdZR46yphP_3WVy3ZcEMslUVtP7txE9tMseTO8EqffQCGgVN9X-rhaOFjE8Y0eewWuLT1x9FZTMXuv6teQGdH/s400/IMG_9043.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvdqp_pAo9rBIVcLCmiuVxCBzi50B-40HLdQEek6ad3gIONlE57oBQSy9mtel0_sPPfDlk8m-W-deOsxw7vxw-jTEv5Dd9015K5L8oRNffgCDZPIT2nwmezEdjuWBANTymR38ruunQ5Y5I/s1600/IMG_9041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvdqp_pAo9rBIVcLCmiuVxCBzi50B-40HLdQEek6ad3gIONlE57oBQSy9mtel0_sPPfDlk8m-W-deOsxw7vxw-jTEv5Dd9015K5L8oRNffgCDZPIT2nwmezEdjuWBANTymR38ruunQ5Y5I/s400/IMG_9041.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDSwavfDmHcskQFN40MMv1HjvKt3nu3NdoHOBkmIEFsZRjDqnpblS1lAOg-xt3ynSl8eyf2kkkVqeWHbZajtgZTbnBphT_71m2UUTiQ6ha5ggDtKiFEfQidVGi__Jv8Ca9RmQMe98km1lQ/s1600/IMG_9042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDSwavfDmHcskQFN40MMv1HjvKt3nu3NdoHOBkmIEFsZRjDqnpblS1lAOg-xt3ynSl8eyf2kkkVqeWHbZajtgZTbnBphT_71m2UUTiQ6ha5ggDtKiFEfQidVGi__Jv8Ca9RmQMe98km1lQ/s400/IMG_9042.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glossy, Vintagey, P90-enriched goodness.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So far as the sound is concerned, all the hardware is stock except for the set of Entwistle X90s. Boy do those boys growl! This guitar sounds like a beast. Plenty of middle and low end, with an edgy attach and real punch when over-driven. It's the perfect sound for me and my, ahem, *minimalist* playing style. Hey, if it was good enough for Johnny....</div>
Gavin Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08785296016273386554noreply@blogger.com0Holgate NSW 2250, Australia-33.4030106 151.40680939999993-33.4560326 151.32612839999993 -33.3499886 151.48749039999993tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683690612552003471.post-85651712525107132552016-04-03T08:45:00.000+10:002016-04-03T09:20:14.891+10:00Ash Stratocaster: Pickup UpgradeRecently, Adam from Pitbull Guitars graciously sent me a set of Benson '63 strat pickups to try out. It has taken me forever, but this week I finally got the pickups installed in my Ash Sratocaster. The pickups came nicely boxed, with each pickup individually wrapped in brown paper and twine - a nice touch that added to the overall sense that this was a 'vintage' product. Nice. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf1tSPFfHbh9p0XpjapCjg5fBXD4qQDfbq3uyPrxjFxjDa7xopXPmRl9bN1qJLoQNNhFYpVq9YpMHkkNeJfNOQW54dNDXcKRn8V0qCYk2g22G0wjtKQXkT_YYLMnmPYs0z9eexIiIOqwwA/s1600/IMG_9462.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf1tSPFfHbh9p0XpjapCjg5fBXD4qQDfbq3uyPrxjFxjDa7xopXPmRl9bN1qJLoQNNhFYpVq9YpMHkkNeJfNOQW54dNDXcKRn8V0qCYk2g22G0wjtKQXkT_YYLMnmPYs0z9eexIiIOqwwA/s400/IMG_9462.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unboxing the Benson '63 Pickups.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Each pickup comes with vintage, cloth push-back wire that is really stiff. This made working with the pickups very easy indeed. My biggest concern about the pickup swap was that the I would lose my nice gold pickup mounting screws, but I should not have worried. The Benson pickups went straight into the pickguard using the standard Pitbull screws. Magic!<br />
<br />
Fortunately the strat wiring is very straight forward, especially with these import 5-way switches. With just the 3 hot wires to take from the switch motherboard, and a common earth to remove from the back of the first tone pot, the Stock pickups were quickly removed and replaced.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEuExNYJpNKrfVW4857wjCn1v35KnhdvuMR4uxJzxJIqAcHpDX1nWcckf7kraluqi3dgI02MTWw0g1gWU8IaFCf1r0P6LW7VbaOp_Nz_BZ0i3FTR1EsjxWZp-4ighf3pspXJCEGOaSQu6Q/s1600/IMG_9463.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEuExNYJpNKrfVW4857wjCn1v35KnhdvuMR4uxJzxJIqAcHpDX1nWcckf7kraluqi3dgI02MTWw0g1gWU8IaFCf1r0P6LW7VbaOp_Nz_BZ0i3FTR1EsjxWZp-4ighf3pspXJCEGOaSQu6Q/s400/IMG_9463.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Stock Pickups ready to be removed from the pickguard.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT1tFl_Tmk7hGttitQu6INtBb5x68EaCdfbU5yih0oxCVk-BXH3xwkYaGqlBknA7D5j_8f1tciAL6uhXZJ7-_BbUOIG8dApoPcmRmFHr5OfIa-cYU9IM0l9LWwOhFeBO2Mo1Bic3sxjiDF/s1600/IMG_9467.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT1tFl_Tmk7hGttitQu6INtBb5x68EaCdfbU5yih0oxCVk-BXH3xwkYaGqlBknA7D5j_8f1tciAL6uhXZJ7-_BbUOIG8dApoPcmRmFHr5OfIa-cYU9IM0l9LWwOhFeBO2Mo1Bic3sxjiDF/s400/IMG_9467.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Benson '63s dropped straight in.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The pushback vintage wire made soldering a dream, with no risk of shorts in both the hot and earth wires. The stiffness of the wire meant that I could easily run all three wires down the centre of the pickguard to easily match the control route in the body. No messing around pushing wires back under the pickguard wile I tried to fit it this time! I used a couple of zip ties to keep everything nice and neat, and trimmed the length of the middle and bridge pickups to keep them all the same length. A pretty neat job all up, and very impressed how easy the Benson wiring made it.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxYpo861WusTWvx2TaAzzhzQPqV7oxk4obsFi2w6RygTG34E53efbyfy56AcukOkI_YPexuTf1flHjpBe4ODjP3uWfproXr5_tqzAgzoxi_aQm1sizvtf53FCwKbRNy-qFYkQlvi0IL617/s1600/IMG_9473.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxYpo861WusTWvx2TaAzzhzQPqV7oxk4obsFi2w6RygTG34E53efbyfy56AcukOkI_YPexuTf1flHjpBe4ODjP3uWfproXr5_tqzAgzoxi_aQm1sizvtf53FCwKbRNy-qFYkQlvi0IL617/s400/IMG_9473.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All re-assembled and ready to rock!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
With the wiring done and tap-tested to make sure everything was good, the pickguard was screwed back in to place and she was ready to rock again.<br />
<br />
So how do the Benson pickups sound? Well, there is no question that the sound of the Benson pickups is a vast improvement over the stock offering. That is not to say that the stock pickups sound bad at all. Being a little gun-shy over such an important demo, I cajoled my friend Jonathan from Sydney rockabilly bank Rock Cat Rock to do some demos for me. When he first picked up the strat he remarked at how good the Stock pickups sounded.<br />
<br />
But there is no doubt that the Benson's sound an order of magnitude better. The sound is fuller with a much better dynamic range. Highs are clearer, with a beautiful crispness to the sound. The string attack sounds just beautiful and the mid range is there in abundance.<br />
<br />
We recorded two sessions. One with the Stock pickups, and then again with the Bensons. I have turned these sessions into 3 demo videos. The first shows the stock pickups, the second the Benson's, and the third provides a side-by-side shootout of the two. Although I don't have a great set-up for recording, I hope that the videos provide some illustration of the difference in the two. The guitar is being played clean into a Fender Deluxe Re-issue tube amp.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Pitbull Stock Pickups</b></div>
<center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/1cjsI94MPck?feature=player_detailpage" width="500"></iframe>
</center>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Benson '63 Pickups</b></div>
<center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/vsta-HN32Bg?feature=player_detailpage" width="500"></iframe>
</center>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Stock vs Benson Shootout</b></div>
<center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/ZrlHXLwVbBw?feature=player_detailpage" width="500"></iframe>
</center>
<br />
So there you have it. My Ash Stratocaster is now a rock and blues beast thanks to Adam at Pitbull and the wiring gurus at Benson. Awesome stuff!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16748822914489659878noreply@blogger.com0Holgate NSW 2250, Australia-33.4030106 151.40680939999993-33.4560326 151.32612839999993 -33.3499886 151.48749039999993tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683690612552003471.post-33159355926649708052016-04-02T23:26:00.001+11:002016-04-02T23:28:06.207+11:0012 String Telecaster - Polishing and PickguardFinally got some time to spend in the man cave today, and that meant getting some work done on the 12 string Telecaster. In terms of the body work, the finishing was almost complete. All I needed to do was apply some elbow grease to polish up the acrylic clear coats. As per usual, I got going with the 1500 grit wet sanding to level off the surface and then straight on to the 2000 grit to remove all the scratches. It was then on to the Meguiars Ultimate Compound to really bring the shine. It took two applications of Meguiars to remove all the cloudy areas left over from the wet sanding, but in the end - with arms burning - a really satisfying shine was achieved.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4YeGG35w8p1hNLzjsb9JT4slLN9Da9vl3nVUbcfvNdVeI848SVB1DbK6Ln7YT4Y-7eCPjyt-qyU2yR4XlCDho07cwVJh6SNQpq99ojz2nLavvmR4VD_E0haZC3AKgl83Ntkm6rMV_kqAo/s1600/20160316_144517_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4YeGG35w8p1hNLzjsb9JT4slLN9Da9vl3nVUbcfvNdVeI848SVB1DbK6Ln7YT4Y-7eCPjyt-qyU2yR4XlCDho07cwVJh6SNQpq99ojz2nLavvmR4VD_E0haZC3AKgl83Ntkm6rMV_kqAo/s400/20160316_144517_001.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW-uK9B926yG8eoBouwXGo_CJybtgbv9vrtnmlrlye9JNleEr0cWyVgGTyWJ8M2DyELN8xTnzr0gBN3RMMZ-llYQkUaCRVJlY-skuin8RpceDqLCCXYQ0_dWOO-gCzZ0ZB168okv4k6aKB/s1600/20160316_144558.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW-uK9B926yG8eoBouwXGo_CJybtgbv9vrtnmlrlye9JNleEr0cWyVgGTyWJ8M2DyELN8xTnzr0gBN3RMMZ-llYQkUaCRVJlY-skuin8RpceDqLCCXYQ0_dWOO-gCzZ0ZB168okv4k6aKB/s400/20160316_144558.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Polishing finally complete and time for the hardware.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
With polishing done I played around with some hardware configurations to see what I really liked. While it's a real shame to hide this nice flame maple cap under pickguard, I've always loved the classic black Telecaster look. Even though the body has come up so nicely I think I will still go with the plain white pickguard.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj12hizwz6ZYeEdtGO680oL4Dvn7lHs7w3mRFt0SH5zQHCk-ZsjdYKMP_1uVQlN2UypiU9oqiKshF1S63iJ3c3GnbUCOf1uqj1-RbrGkKLYtPk-ioRfZKL_lO-yopZvFe6OM7jMQe-BxewF/s1600/20160316_162148.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj12hizwz6ZYeEdtGO680oL4Dvn7lHs7w3mRFt0SH5zQHCk-ZsjdYKMP_1uVQlN2UypiU9oqiKshF1S63iJ3c3GnbUCOf1uqj1-RbrGkKLYtPk-ioRfZKL_lO-yopZvFe6OM7jMQe-BxewF/s400/20160316_162148.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No pickguard. I would probably use a chrome humbucker mount.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7zVMAZxs3731Q7aBtKX4HVm7UeqtdnFl19_ZR44DzPBMwUUrRKdH8VCqn98hoKe4KWtjkO8jfH-mlSmBxAkGRTJbNZlKSSleNeR1xsU0O7Kjhawsk3K1AE8mT4h5al3JxAgOWguD9kuT1/s1600/20160317_160622_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7zVMAZxs3731Q7aBtKX4HVm7UeqtdnFl19_ZR44DzPBMwUUrRKdH8VCqn98hoKe4KWtjkO8jfH-mlSmBxAkGRTJbNZlKSSleNeR1xsU0O7Kjhawsk3K1AE8mT4h5al3JxAgOWguD9kuT1/s400/20160317_160622_001.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">White pickguard on black. Looking classy me thinks.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
What do you guys out on the interwebs think? Am I crazy?? Well maybe. But I'm pretty happy with the combo of black body yellow fretboard and white pickguard. Can't wait to see this all put together.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16748822914489659878noreply@blogger.com1Holgate NSW 2250, Australia-33.4030106 151.40680939999993-33.4560326 151.32612839999993 -33.3499886 151.48749039999993tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683690612552003471.post-49601531667371650302016-03-14T16:13:00.002+11:002016-03-14T16:13:28.928+11:00Jeremy's Mahogany Les Paul: Clear Coats and Pin Holes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Jeremy's Les Paul has finally cured to the point where I can start looking at it again. Unfortunately, after flattening the clear with 600 grit I noticed that the acrylic clear coats have dried over the mahogany and left several annoying pin holes in the finish. Nothing for it but to drop fill them from the can. It's pretty straightforward - just spray come finish into the lid and use a bamboo skewer to put a drop of clear on top of each hole.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLr-U3_wn7ndz07XyGL7FZTuXQwNesTvwtWxk45XpqG0qxz36FMFznAGsoifR2jhk3QCZaE5g5wZKIi9-_cdD-pifQ7YUI2jB7bnu9f64dmmSWxvtQnkfhhcycnS8jyvVYWLYre3G7V4Q9/s1600/IMG_8501.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLr-U3_wn7ndz07XyGL7FZTuXQwNesTvwtWxk45XpqG0qxz36FMFznAGsoifR2jhk3QCZaE5g5wZKIi9-_cdD-pifQ7YUI2jB7bnu9f64dmmSWxvtQnkfhhcycnS8jyvVYWLYre3G7V4Q9/s400/IMG_8501.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lid from the Acrylic Spray and a Bamboo Skewer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji5dfU___j6KqfHQvVaYUH1PMmNTfJslsiGTcv_fgyZMDV8aXgyx-wEh686J-a3GQV2BFOY5JdpqHo1k1MbP0HTvdJvTtD1V83vNQJDdagIjJPv2UpyaGM98nwigP1_B5yMiizn2lwE270/s1600/IMG_8498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji5dfU___j6KqfHQvVaYUH1PMmNTfJslsiGTcv_fgyZMDV8aXgyx-wEh686J-a3GQV2BFOY5JdpqHo1k1MbP0HTvdJvTtD1V83vNQJDdagIjJPv2UpyaGM98nwigP1_B5yMiizn2lwE270/s400/IMG_8498.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pin Holes filled. Now to let them set and then level off.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
With each hole covered by a drop of clear, it's then a matter of time to let these drops dry sufficiently before they can again be leveled off with paper. In this case, with the help of my trusty outdoor heater the back was cured again in a week and ready for sanding down with 1500 grit. Having done this, and liking what I saw, I went straight on to the 2000 grit and Meguiars Ultimate Compound. The results are pretty great if I do say so myself.<br />
<br />
<center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/AlK28_S900I?feature=player_detailpage" width="500"></iframe>
</center>
<br />
<br />
A great deal of shininess is now on show. The next step is to get the neck glued on and the hardware installed. I'm getting pretty excited about this build now!</div>
Gavin Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08785296016273386554noreply@blogger.com0Holgate NSW 2250, Australia-33.4030106 151.40680939999993-33.4560326 151.32612839999993 -33.3499886 151.48749039999993tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683690612552003471.post-33546383710223388792016-02-10T20:36:00.000+11:002016-02-10T20:36:03.488+11:00Ash Mosrite: Polishing & Wiring<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Big strides forward on the Ash Mosrite build the last couple of days, with the body finally cured and the polishing completed. To get the clear coats to their final state is a 4 step process. Firstly the body is wet sanded all over with 1500 grit. At the end of this step the body is completely level once more with no shiny spots at all. The surface is completely matte and ready to shine!<br />
<br />
Then comes the 2000 grit wet sanding to remove all the scratches left behind from the 1500 grit. As the 2000 grit is applied, the surface slowly becomes more and more shiny. With the 2000 grit complete, the third and fourth steps are the application of cutting compounds - specifically Meguiars Ultimate Compound and then Meguiars Scratch X2.0 to complete the job.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibWFCwsvJeWNaO7w2gQA7nymxW5mw2nPIlFSShT6KA0FmvkQEisbevH3nElmWE4LEomQMA3j8vnoXaPjB3wVv1QOs0kyhlx4ceQVy8GHyOyzahHBF-qgB_v1EwBe90pEW0VRmd14szmgLP/s1600/polish_top.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibWFCwsvJeWNaO7w2gQA7nymxW5mw2nPIlFSShT6KA0FmvkQEisbevH3nElmWE4LEomQMA3j8vnoXaPjB3wVv1QOs0kyhlx4ceQVy8GHyOyzahHBF-qgB_v1EwBe90pEW0VRmd14szmgLP/s400/polish_top.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH_hJIbd000jtgWgYwpg5lvK3P_LjL-plwZ19yxuo46q1O-g6ygnennFDZIkOkrhNUHn5jk6iv8Ei_5O0LG20GgfvgbztnyRCG0EZOoHcSGhthyZ0FvRRh_G3Ggqo5T-nToiCZNcSufCt_/s1600/polish_back.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH_hJIbd000jtgWgYwpg5lvK3P_LjL-plwZ19yxuo46q1O-g6ygnennFDZIkOkrhNUHn5jk6iv8Ei_5O0LG20GgfvgbztnyRCG0EZOoHcSGhthyZ0FvRRh_G3Ggqo5T-nToiCZNcSufCt_/s400/polish_back.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Meguiars Ultimate Compound does it again.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After all four rounds the surface was as shiny as it was ever likely to get, and that's very shiny indeed! With the polishing done, I set the body aside and let the surface rest; concentrating instead on wiring the pickguard. I do love these builds with all the wiring on the back of the guard. So straightforward!!<br />
<br />
I began by shielding the back of the pickguard using copper tape - specifically "Slugga" slug control tape from Bunnings. It's cheap and it works perfectly for shielding. With the pickguard shielded I added back all the components and soon had the simple 2PUP, 1Vol 1Tone 3-way switch circuit (one of the simplest) all soldered up.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.guitarelectronics.com/media/img/guitarelectronics/W650-H550-Bffffff/W/wd2hh3l21_00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.guitarelectronics.com/media/img/guitarelectronics/W650-H550-Bffffff/W/wd2hh3l21_00.jpg" height="337" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1Vol 1Tone, 3way switch circuit.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzKYTeuXxtckyhSnWcZOT8pJr79QTxitUS0jJ2de-6m0IGQekp_QqylhKHu6Yy-f036Pc4GZMG8I5y3oCWXBI6xGy_wnj6hUXy-jCZmwQJ5uN4E4Y22kqSw-K0CnGdFCXLMryaAAd2pTRu/s1600/IMG_8482.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzKYTeuXxtckyhSnWcZOT8pJr79QTxitUS0jJ2de-6m0IGQekp_QqylhKHu6Yy-f036Pc4GZMG8I5y3oCWXBI6xGy_wnj6hUXy-jCZmwQJ5uN4E4Y22kqSw-K0CnGdFCXLMryaAAd2pTRu/s400/IMG_8482.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pickguard shielded and the 1V1T wiring complete.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
With the pickguard completed, I went straight on to inserting the earth wire into the bridge post and shielding the control cavity. Slugga also made short work of this task, and I quickly had the bridge ground wire soldered to the shielding, and from the shielding to the back of the volume pot.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRYBBtVyeGiAD_ZcFLmPpyhaOn8JnxRkKykCq_piCIPo_BdrsyCMhKApH9zafvHcmN1_6pcNJ47HL1TUmqGraqhS_GVRgdnOpNd1NwHxdxvrUDwFOwhbR2c574ggjQtlhgaOjSC9__giEJ/s1600/IMG_8484.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRYBBtVyeGiAD_ZcFLmPpyhaOn8JnxRkKykCq_piCIPo_BdrsyCMhKApH9zafvHcmN1_6pcNJ47HL1TUmqGraqhS_GVRgdnOpNd1NwHxdxvrUDwFOwhbR2c574ggjQtlhgaOjSC9__giEJ/s400/IMG_8484.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGGNf5WbchnTUrhz11852H1LhZak1serpuLI8JdBG8cdf2twIMza4y0XKn1J3i2lVEhDfJloM1w3uZoB2ODSJaC9IlZ5Z1AlpCCyLHKTVC5zi1jTNa6XPjqnVDL0xHFXhTkdP4fwMiVZtL/s1600/IMG_8486.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGGNf5WbchnTUrhz11852H1LhZak1serpuLI8JdBG8cdf2twIMza4y0XKn1J3i2lVEhDfJloM1w3uZoB2ODSJaC9IlZ5Z1AlpCCyLHKTVC5zi1jTNa6XPjqnVDL0xHFXhTkdP4fwMiVZtL/s400/IMG_8486.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cavity shielded and grounded to the bridge.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
With the shielding and circuit grounded, It was time to assemble the guitar, screwing the neck and pickguard to the body. It was here that I came across a stupid mistake that I made during clear coating. Having attached my hanger using neck bolts in the usual way, I neglected to mask off the inside of the neck cavity. Although the hangar protected much of the cavity, about 1/4 of the pocket at the heel end was covered in acrylic clear. In effect these clear coats creating a neck shim and threw the whole balance of the neck and bridge out.<br />
<br />
With a razor blade I set to scraping the clear coats back out of the pocket and with a little patience the problem was solved (phew). The neck is now sitting nicely in the pocket and the assembly can continue.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQE55Xw4ZtCDQ7p7iA459-PhhOaYWOvp-tnG7B-AKW3Rr0pE0ype9ncZFqFSD96Jfy2wiBMybIpHvRGgMn-KOwOW6f9mVnH8pxSNRqQLJpta7ibUhQFDaoBFNMovMmUu6y8qhDFhWj4t5j/s1600/IMG_8488.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQE55Xw4ZtCDQ7p7iA459-PhhOaYWOvp-tnG7B-AKW3Rr0pE0ype9ncZFqFSD96Jfy2wiBMybIpHvRGgMn-KOwOW6f9mVnH8pxSNRqQLJpta7ibUhQFDaoBFNMovMmUu6y8qhDFhWj4t5j/s400/IMG_8488.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA999M7AOucI6u6roq4Wy-FCMG6Dx-bp-3QtQ-z4jNHMm8bGs1u1qWR66kPi_fuMT04BcaijmziBzNdarhh55SN-aQov8Lh6j8eBUhMkp68mFRPaXVRYgf1UUMg78MgkVqAg9jCQ8pz-wk/s1600/IMG_8490.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA999M7AOucI6u6roq4Wy-FCMG6Dx-bp-3QtQ-z4jNHMm8bGs1u1qWR66kPi_fuMT04BcaijmziBzNdarhh55SN-aQov8Lh6j8eBUhMkp68mFRPaXVRYgf1UUMg78MgkVqAg9jCQ8pz-wk/s400/IMG_8490.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pickguard and neck screwed into place.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
With the neck and wiring complete, the guitar makes noise and can be played. The action is still not so nice, and the whole thing desperately needs a fret level/re-crown to start playing nicely. The neck has a 0th fret, so although I don't need to make a new bone nut, I do need to file down the existing nut slots so that the 0th fret can come into play. That's the last step in this build and I can't wait to get her finished! Stay tuned for the final chapter.</div>
Gavin Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08785296016273386554noreply@blogger.com0Holgate NSW 2250, Australia-33.4030106 151.40680939999993-33.4560326 151.32612839999993 -33.3499886 151.48749039999993