imalone, red and gold

imalone

I must be mad. Have just ordered this.

Oh, and some kind of guitar kit. It's currently being delivered to the wrong place of course.

TTony

Interesting ... In an "odd" sort of way 

JookyChap

Odd, is the new cool...

imalone

Thanks! It seems I'm now playing a kind of guitar lottery, depending whether it ends up in London or Belfast I may either start this week or sometime in August with only a week to do the whole thing.
Odd is the name of the game, will go into the reasons later. Or in August...

imalone

Well, Yodel seem to be giving the wood a couple days more to season in Manchester.
In the meantime, one of these is on the way.

I may, or may not, get using it this weekend.

imalone

imalone said:

I may, or may not, get using it this weekend.

...not. Currently out for delivery about 500 miles away. This is going to be fun to sort out.
The fabric wont arrive till next week anyway, but was hoping to do a triage on the kit this weekend.
In the meantime I'm passing the time by augmenting the tone of some capacitors. Pictures later.

imalone

Well, Yodel have been helpful so far, think I've persuaded them to send this back to Gear4Music (though was talking to their call centre, not the depot).

imalone

So as this guitar kit continues its UK tour, I've been improving a couple of capacitors.

These are sprague metal film, so it's quite appropriate to convert them to colour coded versions, though I doubt anyone would confuse them with the originals.
Edit: I always find mixing orange a pain. The green stripe took maybe a minute to mix up, getting a vaguely correct orange took maybe ten and I had enough by the end of it to do a whole production run of capacitors.

TTony

So, stripey ones sound better?

imalone

TTony said:

So, stripey ones sound better?

Indeed, I had the idea a while ago. http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/16677/#Comment_249117
Obviously the paint bands act as a dielectric array which helps to stabilise and condition the signal as it passes through the capacitor...

imalone

imalone said:

Well, Yodel have been helpful so far, think I've persuaded them to send this back to Gear4Music (though was talking to their call centre, not the depot).

It turns out this was needlessly optimistic. Yodel have continued to attempt to deliver Friday, Saturday, Monday. There was no-one in either, so I expect their driver is unaware of the fool's errand he's on.

imalone

Well, G4M have been pretty helpful and sent out another one while we try to get this one on its way back to them. Can't fault them for effort.
Fingers crossed this one makes it:

01 Jul 2014 16:48

York

We have your parcel and it's on its way to you

Edit: Arrived! Will see if I have time to give it a look over this evening. (If I can get it home, box is pretty big. Well packed at least.)
Edit edit: in the absence of a bounce smiley

imalone

Ta da!

Yes, it's an SG. This is with most of the packaging removed, neck, body and bits were each separated into their own compartment and seems to have protected it quite well.

One or two edges on the frets, and the nut is maybe stuck on a bit skew (first time I've really looked at a gibson style nut though).
Body

Finishing seems pretty good, rougher in cavities (fairly normal I think) and one or two little dark marks which may or may not be in the wood. Contouring seems okay, haven't looked over too closely yet.
I was going to think a bit more about whether I really want to go with the fabric or a more normal finish. It's a four piece, so a very transparent finish isn't going to work (you can see piece #2 is contrasts with its neighbours). I'm still wondering whether I should just go for a dark red.
Obligatory kisekae test:

Have been mulling over pickups, wont know what I want to do till I've tried putting everything together, but I've not had a P90 guitar yet, so may try a humbucker sized p90 in the neck.
To-do list: measure control cavity and see if a standard push-pull will fit.

Andyjr1515

That looks good, @imalone

They are quite impressive kits, aren't they!

imalone

Yes, was almost hoping to find more problems to work on. The only holes that aren't drilled are the scratch plate, which is probably for people who don't want one. A couple of the tuner posts are a bit loose, but that's not unexpected.
Edit:
Ah, bridge and saddle pins. If I put these in to check it assembled, how hard is it going to be to take them out to work on the finish? Was just about to try bolting everything together.
Edit 2:
Think I've got it, small flat head screw or bolt dropped head-first down the middle of the insert, then screw in the post and it pulls the insert out. Stewmac do a tool, but looks like it's for threaded inserts while these have ridges. There is some suggestion that might not be wise on an SG thickness body though. More measuring...

Andyjr1515

imalone said:

Yes, was almost hoping to find more problems to work on. The only holes that aren't drilled are the scratch plate, which is probably for people who don't want one. A couple of the tuner posts are a bit loose, but that's not unexpected.
Edit:
Ah, bridge and saddle pins. If I put these in to check it assembled, how hard is it going to be to take them out to work on the finish? Was just about to try bolting everything together.
Edit 2:
Think I've got it, small flat head screw or bolt dropped head-first down the middle of the insert, then screw in the post and it pulls the insert out. Stewmac do a tool, but looks like it's for threaded inserts while these have ridges. There is some suggestion that might not be wise on an SG thickness body though. More measuring...

My approach is that once they're in they're in. I will be doing all my finishing and putting in the inserts last (and not forgetting the earth wire!)

WezV

depends how much you care.... On particularly stuck in inserts I have grabbed a claw hammer and levered them out.   totally the wrong thing to do, really risk of damage and the studs are useless afterwards

 

Usually i use a peice of rod in the holes and screw the insert down but I agree its not the best thing to do on a thinner bodied guitar.   the stew-mac knob and bushing puller works well for any insert.  it grabs the stud/height wheel, not the bushing itself.  You can make your own fairly easily

 

or mock up a simpler version like this

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-remove-Tune-o-Matic-bushings-from-Les-Paul-/

imalone

Andyjr1515 said:
My approach is that once they're in they're in. I will be doing all my finishing and putting in the inserts last (and not forgetting the earth wire!)

Yes, that's a classic. Might have to get a decent soldering iron to do it actually.

WezV said:

depends how much you care.... On particularly stuck in inserts I have grabbed a claw hammer and levered them out.   totally the wrong thing to do, really risk of damage and the studs are useless afterwards

 

Usually i use a peice of rod in the holes and screw the insert down but I agree its not the best thing to do on a thinner bodied guitar.   the stew-mac knob and bushing puller works well for any insert.  it grabs the stud/height wheel, not the bushing itself.  You can make your own fairly easily

 

or mock up a simpler version like this

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-remove-Tune-o-Matic-bushings-from-Les-Paul-/

Thanks. Will maybe try mocking things up first before getting into finishing then. Look forward to a post on how it's all gone horribly wrong...

Electronics - obviously no idea how it sounds yet, but measured the pickups and one is 16k (bridge I suppose, haven't unwrapped to check labels), the other 12.3k. Surprisingly high. Pots are pre-soldered to wires and capacitors, so you wouldn't have to solder to pots unless you planned to change them or the wiring. Capacitors are green mylar, which is good, but 47nF, which is surprising given the pickups, so my "customized" bumble-bees are almost certainly going in.
Was surprised to find a 8ft cable included, it's pretty thin, doubt anyone would use it long term, but interesting dedication to providing everything you might need. The truss rod allen key was hiding with it. I've tried shaking the bag just in case they hid a practice amp away in there too.

Andyjr1515

imalone said:

Andyjr1515 said:
My approach is that once they're in they're in. I will be doing all my finishing and putting in the inserts last (and not forgetting the earth wire!)

Yes, that's a classic. Might have to get a decent soldering iron to do it actually.

You don't need to solder that end.  Feed the wire through from the control chamber to the insert hole (it should be already pre-drilled, Strip 1/2" of the insulation off, fold the bare wire down into the insert hole then put the insert in.  The interference-fit contact will create a perfectly good earth.

Andy

imalone

Andyjr1515 said:

You don't need to solder that end.  Feed the wire through from the control chamber to the insert hole (it should be already pre-drilled, Strip 1/2" of the insulation off, fold the bare wire down into the insert hole then put the insert in.  The interference-fit contact will create a perfectly good earth.

Good point, hadn't really checked height of the earth wire hole, but you're right, it's high enough to do that.
Since I don't have the right bits around to make an improvised insert puller I've decide to start on the finishing rather than spend time putting things together just to take them apart again...
Just before last coat of mod podge:

Contemplating using the back of the fabric for the back of the guitar (this will give me twice as much, right?    ):


Still thinking about this bridge... the posts and inserts are not tightly machined, there's wobble when not screwed right down. Don't know if that's a sign I should just replace them before starting.

Andyjr1515

The fabric looks like its on nice and tight, @imalone.