First Build - DC Junior

PeteC

Just a quick pic as I just finished stringing up junior number 2 and doing the wiring to play it for a while    Picking up some materials this weekend so I can get round to staining and finishing finally !!  The neck and fretwork in number 2 have turned out really well - well chuffed ! Just hope I don’t balls up the finishes  ! 

greggreg66

Wow they look great! Shame about that ropey old gold thing in the middle 

Just kidding that PRS is lovely too

PeteC

that's my No1 - predates the "first batch" Ted McCarty signed run - 1994   Arrived the day my son was born - so quite a keeper. 
Seen a lot of gigs and frets pretty flat now ! 

greggreg66

Awesome. It's really nice. After building the two juniors, would you attempt a fret job on the PRS? My No1 is a 1995 LP Studio which I had from new and I love it, again the frets are very flat and pitted, but I wouldn't have the confidence to go near the frets yet I don't think! 

PeteC

Not Yet !!

Andyjr1515

Looking good, @PeteC  

PeteC

Thanks @Andyjr1515 ;

One issue I have had is that I bought pre slotted bone nuts for both of these builds and after quite a bit of "playing in" I think they are causing me intonation problems.  Both were very tall and I have had to sand the bottom of the nuts to get them somewhere near the right height. 

Barre chords on the first to third fret show up some slight tuning issues on the lower heavier strings.  Open G chord is the tell-tale one ! 

I haven't got round to buying nut files yet ( I'm on the search for a reasonable set right now ) but wondered whether there is a good/better way of getting the action right by progressively sanding down the base of the nut ? 

I am going to buy some nut blanks to have a go at filing before gluing either of the existing nuts in.   

Frustratingly - just went to collect my order of stains / spirits etc from the local merchants and my order wasn't ready - so finishing work has been postponed again !   Last item ( mains switch ) for my express amp build hasn't turned up either despite nearly a 2 week delay so can't divert my attention to getting the amp finished either ...!  I might just have to start measuring out some Idigbo for a Tele body.  

MLten80

Stunning so far!
 Lp double cut has gotta be one of my favourites 

Lol at phils hoard. Jealous is an understatement 

PeteC

me too  @MLten80 ;!

Andyjr1515

PeteC said:

Thanks @Andyjr1515 ;

One issue I have had is that I bought pre slotted bone nuts for both of these builds and after quite a bit of "playing in" I think they are causing me intonation problems.  Both were very tall and I have had to sand the bottom of the nuts to get them somewhere near the right height. 

Barre chords on the first to third fret show up some slight tuning issues on the lower heavier strings.  Open G chord is the tell-tale one ! 

I haven't got round to buying nut files yet ( I'm on the search for a reasonable set right now ) but wondered whether there is a good/better way of getting the action right by progressively sanding down the base of the nut ? 

Personally, if they are decent graphite compound ones, I do most of the adjustment by sanding the bottom.  You should be able to get pretty close to OK just with that way if you don't have nut files.  You want it so that there is a gap, but tiny (quite a bit less than a business card) at the first fret when you hold it down at the 3rd fret.  

If there is a large gap, then yes - the strings will tend to play sharp on the first few frets because, albeit vertically, you are basically bending the strings to get them down to the lower frets.

Roland

I sand the bottom too, or even cut it with a knife or saw if there’s a lot of material to be removed. It’s very controllable. You can draw a line that you want to get to, and easily see where you’re up to. The alternative of lowering the slot means that you might have to take material off the top of the nut avoid having slots which are too deep. If you’ve got a plastic nut there is often a void inside, and taking too much off the top will cut into this.

There’s no real substitute for a set of good nut files. Don’t waste money on the cheap ones, they are worse than emergency measures such as folding emery paper, or wrapping it around a feeler gauge.

PeteC

Thanks guys - So far I’ve been buying pre slotted bone nuts - are there any compound graphite nut sources you’d recommend trying ? 

Winny_Pooh

I'd consider an Earvana, certainly improved my Gibson.

Andyjr1515

PeteC said:

Thanks guys - So far I’ve been buying pre slotted bone nuts - are there any compound graphite nut sources you’d recommend trying ? 

Graphtec are the market leaders, but TBH I find that the Axesrus ones are pretty good too.  But bone ones are good too!

roberty

Tusq nuts are great, no tuning issues on either of my bigsby Gibsons. Much better than nylon and bone in my experience

PeteC

on order.... cheers people ! 

eSully

They look fantastic @PeteC - Nice work

PeteC

Thanks @eSully still got the finishes to do when I finally get my hands on materials I am waiting for! 

PeteC

Well  my order of stain and Danish oil and various other bits was finally ready today after 2 weeks on order from the local ( farcical) Builder merch/DIY place, but they had run out of White Spirit ( how?  ) which was the one thing I really needed to progress the DC builds to conclusion this week - bugger. 

So I have consoled myself by starting an Idigbo Tele build..and I am on the hunt for good quality used Tele hardware incidentally...( see classified ad ) 

I will probably start another build thread for this one as it something new to me and a chance to try some new things like body binding and a different neck construction 

body blank is being glued up as we speak after some serious edge planing and scraping...  I prefer to plane the faces after the edges are done ( I know that's technically wrong ! ) 

I love this wood. 

usedtobe

Them juniors!