After the finish was buffed out, it was time to get the guitar set up to play. I pressed in the tuner bushings using a threaded rod and a couple plywood cauls. It seemed to work better then trying to tap the bushings in with a hammer like I did on my kit guitar.
One flaw that exists on the guitar is a little chip in the finish around one of the bushings. After pore filling the guitar, I went on to finishing but did not clear the pore fill from the tuner holes, so the excess in these holes got painted over. When I cleared out the holes to install the tuner bushings, I chipped a little bit of finish. Lesson learned for the next guitar!
One flaw that exists on the guitar is a little chip in the finish around one of the bushings. After pore filling the guitar, I went on to finishing but did not clear the pore fill from the tuner holes, so the excess in these holes got painted over. When I cleared out the holes to install the tuner bushings, I chipped a little bit of finish. Lesson learned for the next guitar!
Tuners installed! Serial number 001 is almost complete in this picture!
I don't remember taking many pictures of making the bridge, but next I carefully fitted the bridge to the top (by sanding it on the top of the guitar like I did in my kit guitar) and then glued the bridge on.
I also slotted the bone nut and fitted a bone saddle.
I don't remember taking many pictures of making the bridge, but next I carefully fitted the bridge to the top (by sanding it on the top of the guitar like I did in my kit guitar) and then glued the bridge on.
I also slotted the bone nut and fitted a bone saddle.
I splurged and bought a few little tools on ebay. I got a tapered reamer to fit the tapered bridge pins into the bridge (instead of using a rat tail file) as well as a special saw to put the slots into the bridge for the strings. This saved a lot of time in the setup process.
Next I made the pickguard. I used tortoloid from Stewart MacDonald. Rather pricy material but it looks great. I did have a bit of trouble cutting it but it turned out well.
I've had the guitar strung up and have been tweaking it for the past week. It needed a little bit of fret levelling to stop some buzzes and fret-outs. Overall I'm happy with the guitar, although I carved the neck WAY TOO BIG. But for my very first scratch build, I'm happy. The guitar also plays in tune all the way up the neck and intonates perfectly! I'll post some gallery pics soon!
Next I made the pickguard. I used tortoloid from Stewart MacDonald. Rather pricy material but it looks great. I did have a bit of trouble cutting it but it turned out well.
I've had the guitar strung up and have been tweaking it for the past week. It needed a little bit of fret levelling to stop some buzzes and fret-outs. Overall I'm happy with the guitar, although I carved the neck WAY TOO BIG. But for my very first scratch build, I'm happy. The guitar also plays in tune all the way up the neck and intonates perfectly! I'll post some gallery pics soon!