Jaden Rose kit build (thanks, Royal Mail....)

ICBM

Kittyfrisk said:

Not the same as your experience, but I once had a guitar delivered via RM/ParcelForce with 'Musical Instrument" and Fragile" tape all over it.
 The box had two perfectly marked oily large boot prints on the top... luckily there was a hard case inside. Bastards 

I’ve mentioned this before, but a friend received a vintage Rickenbacker via UPS - there were *multiple* heavy bootprints all over the box, and although well-packed, the moulded plastic hard case was cracked... as was the neck of the guitar.

digitalscream

Aye. Apparently they don't insure musical instruments, because "they're too easily damaged".

Yep, it's funny how that happens with people jumping on them.

Kittyfrisk

Not really tried to stain a guitar headstock face before, but I might need to in the future, so I had a look.
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/staining-one-surface-of-a-headstock.892567/
Hope this helps.

impmann

Parcelwankers have ruined too many guitars for me.
And the lying-bastards-in-red-vans stole a guitar from me. Denied it. Then when I told them that my road is 100% camera’d and I had proof no delivery had been attempted, strangely they ‘found’ it. When I suggested that the postie should lose his job for at best fraud or worst theft (and fraud), I was told it was a “misunderstanding” and he’d apologised... not to me, mind. 

Genuinely, never use them. They are arseholes.

Glad you got it fixed.

digitalscream

Kittyfrisk said:

Not really tried to stain a guitar headstock face before, but I might need to in the future, so I had a look.
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/staining-one-surface-of-a-headstock.892567/
Hope this helps.

Yeah, I'm using a water-based stain. To be honest, I'm now thinking to just leave it and not stain the headstock at all - it's too fraught with risk, and the body's come up well enough that I really don't want to fuck the guitar up.

Thinking about it aesthetically, the neck's a really lovely piece of sapele anyway (as is the body), so it should come up lovely with just the Danish oil. Better to get a good finish with the oil than an obviously-average finish with a stain.

Might fancy sanding the rosewood fretboard a bit finer; I've spent a very long time playing ebony, pistachio and maple fretboards that were sanded properly fine. I just don't want to screw up the frets.

Of course, the next choice after that is whether to drill out the side dots and install the spare stick of Luminlay I've got sat on my desk. That can be done any time, mind.

Decisions, decisions.

poopot

digitalscream said:

Once the body's done, I'll start on the neck. Probably just sand the back of the neck to 400/600, then stain and oil the headstock face. I'm a little unsure of how to do that without getting seepage to the sides - obviously I can mask it off, but the whole point of the stain is that it penetrates the wood, which seems to me like it's going to leave an indistinct line on the side.

Any pointers, anyone?

Stain a veneer and glue it to the front of the headstock... could even get one made with an inlayed logo... not gibson tho’

Andyjr1515

digitalscream said:

So...my Crimson finishing oil had gone all goopy and crystallised. New plan required...ended up getting some natural Danish oil from Homebase down the road.

Seems to be working out OK so far...pics after the first couple of coats...

Once the body's done, I'll start on the neck. Probably just sand the back of the neck to 400/600, then stain and oil the headstock face. I'm a little unsure of how to do that without getting seepage to the sides - obviously I can mask it off, but the whole point of the stain is that it penetrates the wood, which seems to me like it's going to leave an indistinct line on the side.

Any pointers, anyone?

It won't need a lot of stain, and it doesn't penetrate particularly deeply.

Personally, I would :  apply the veneer; sand the veneer and the joint line to get rid of any glue; mask the sides; stain the veneer, applied with a cloth so not over-wetting it; repeat stain if necessary; take the masking tape off the sides; sand the sides to remove any stain creep; apply the final finish

digitalscream

Thanks, guys - I've abandoned the idea of staining it, though, because the neck wood's come up so nicely:

digitalscream

Also...I've got to say that the Colson Danish Oil from Homebase is cheaper than Crimson's Finishing Oil, and a damn sight easier to deal with too. Definitely happier with this than my previous effort!

EDIT: By the way, the stain on the body is much more even than those photos would suggest - HDR mode isn't so good for this sort of thing!

digitalscream

I think it was the right decision not to stain the headstock...quite happy with it.

digitalscream

Worth noting that I'm not really going for a "perfect" finish on the body. I'm going to buff it with wax still, but the idea is to end up looking a bit like old furniture, and a touch weathered.

hollywoodrox

NEVER use parcel force for musical instruments for precisely this reason , I am surprised at how many people on eBay quote delivery by parcelforce , I assume they do not know they won’t pay out on musical instruments . If you go to the post office to post it  if the person behind the counter doesn’t know this (which is most. Likely ) they will still charge you for insurance. 

I have sent lots of guitars via UPS and never had any trouble . Interparcel is good for booking them .  Also you can buy outer guitar packing cartons for about 16 to 20 quid on eBay .

that capacitor looks like it’s been through the mill. Don’t know how they cracked that body 
it must have took some serious force

hollywoodrox

It’s looking good since the fix. I wouldn’t be able to tell it was there. The neck access looks superb  

Funkfingers

This Discussion has reminded me that I have a Jaden RG-inspired body stashed away. I ought to order a neck to fit it.

paulnb57

I thnk you made the right decision on the headstock, looks great!

digitalscream

hollywoodrox said:

It’s looking good since the fix. I wouldn’t be able to tell it was there. The neck access looks superb  

Cheers - and yes, Jaden's low-profile heels make for insane upper-fret access. Even on the 22-fret Teles I've got, you wouldn't know there was any wood there at all.

digitalscream

Funkfingers said:

This Discussion has reminded me that I have a Jaden RG-inspired body stashed away. I ought to order a neck to fit it.

Give him a shout - he might have a spare neck lying around, you never know.

randella

That's going to be a nice looking guitar.

And another upvote for the crack repair, I genuinely had to look twice at the 'after' photo to see where it was.  Did you have to force the crack wider to get some glue in there?

digitalscream

randella said:

That's going to be a nice looking guitar.

And another upvote for the crack repair, I genuinely had to look twice at the 'after' photo to see where it was.  Did you have to force the crack wider to get some glue in there?

Yes, which was extremely nerve-wracking, not least because it's a really thin body. I cut a 5mm x 50mm strip of thin plastic from the packaging of some glue sticks, splodged some wood glue across the crack, applied some elbow grease to open it up a bit and then pushed the glue into the crack as far as it would go from all angles.

Then stuck a block of wood either side and clamped it overnight. If I'd thought about it a bit more, I'd have put some greaseproof paper between the back of the body and the wood block, because it stuck to it a bit when the glue squeezed out of the rear crack (fnar); nothing particularly bad, though, and easily cleaned up once removed.

JMP220478

good save despite PF's  bast  efforts .. whats your hardware of choice ? and will you add the logo ?