Guitar kit build

Christian 71

Nice turning into a great learning experience eh Jon

Rather than use a nail file it's worth buying some needle files like this for a few quid:
GUITAR NUT FILE STRINGS BANJO CLEANER | eBay

I found they worked fine, although when you see how easy it is with proper luthier nut files you do start wondering if it is a good investment.

I'd have a check of the frets while you are at it. A credit card is all you need, basically bridge a fret resting on the two frets either side and check the card doesn't rock. Anywhere on the fret board.

A business card makes a pretty decent shim and a bit of felt tip along the edges nicely blends it. It's a pretty common trick although a luthier would make one out of tone wood.

A quick nip with a pair of pliers on the back of the tone knobs usually sorts them if they slip, otherwise just tighten the bolt.

Christian 71

Pickups are a bit of controversial topic. I'm fairly convinced Epiphone, fender and PRS used to knobble their pickups on their cheap guitars to make the US versions sound better.

An Alnico magnet costs bugger all so why stick a ceramics in a MiM strat when it would have cost a few quid to use Alnico, same with Epis and PRS Studios.

Tonerider, irongear, wilkinson and axetec do decent cheap pickups with Alnico. Personally this is one area that I think it's worth spending extra as it gives you "that tone" and used branded pickups don't really devalue, so it's easy to resell if you want to try something different.

GloopyJon

Thanks for the tips!  Having had a quick look at nut files, I think I'll try with a nail file first.  If I mess it up, then the next project will be learning how to replace the nut!

GloopyJon

As promised, here are some more pictures of the build.  If you're already sick of the sight of this guitar, you'd better hurry away now!

All of the components, tools and instructions laid out ready for assembly.  I bought the neck support on the left recently, which is nice for doing things like restringing.
                                                                                 
Fitting the pots and stuff into the control cavity...
                                                                                 
There was no hole for the ground wire to go through to the bridge support, so I veeeeery carefully drilled one!
                                                                               

Hammering in the posts for the bridge, which was a bit nerve-wracking!  It destroyed the bottom of that scrap of wood (which was my first nitro colour tester) but the posts were fine.
                                                                               

Fitting the tailpiece (if that's the right term for that part).  Since I don't have another guitar with that style of bridge, I was slightly surprised to find that the tailpiece and bridge are not actually secured onto the posts, but are simply fitted loosely and held in there by the strings.
                                                                               

The finished guitar...with the blue chicken head knobs on it.
                                                                               

A closer view of the headstock.  I've wrapped the strings the wrong way around the tuners on the left hand side.  I'll fix that next time I restring it.
                                                                                 
And the back of the guitar.  Hang on, what's that I can see?
                                                                                 
Oops!  Slight miscalculation on the placing of the handle that I fixed to the neck for painting.
I'm going to take the neck off one day and repaint that.  I might actually spray a purple burst on the bottom of the neck after patching that (not) blue bit so that the colours merge more smoothly between the body and the neck - what do you all think of that idea?
                                                                                 

It's not perfect but it's been fun and very instructive.  I don't think I'll do it again in the near future, partly because I already have quite a few guitars and I don't need to add a bunch of crappy home made ones to my collection.  No regrets, though!

KungFuPro

I'd go with a purple burst on the neck joint, just up to the heel/curved part, be easier than colour matching the tinted blue.

If you do take it apart you might want to realign the neck, it looks to be slightly angled towards the left/bass strings. Fill the old screw holes on the neck (not filler though, too soft, use wood dowels or glue/sawdust mix) and use a clamp to hold the neck in place, strings (or cotton) on the 1st/6st strings to align the neck then drill new holes. Any gaps on the side fill with 0.6mm wood veneer (lots on ebay).  Don’t be afraid to shim the neck either, even Fender Custom Shops have been known to use them lol.

misterS3

Great thread..bookmarked.

Hope it brings you lots of pleasure for many years to come.