1Q22 Challenge Cano LP DC Kit Guitar Build

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Kicking off 2022 with a kit build was always my plan, so joining in the the challenge is a nice little bonus.

The intention is to build a Les Paul DC P90 with a few comfort carves and a bit more shape than the flat sided standard body. I've only made one kit before, so this time I'm getting all the parts from different sources. If you've seen my other thread you'll know that I'm already starting with some questionable quality parts from China so could be in for a rocky ride.

Body and Neck from a China based seller on eBay
Pickups - Monty's '54 P90s
Tuners - Gotoh Black Locking
Bridge - Gotoh 510UB Black Wraparound
Electronics - Monty's SG 50s Loom, made to fit a DC body

I figured the pre-made loom from Monty's is only £10 more than buying the components myself with their current Xmas discount so why not??  

The finish will be stain, but I'm not decided on the final finish yet. Oil, Wipe-on Poly or a spray can clear coat....probably will end up with a wipe-on solution.

Wish me luck!




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Comments

  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27345
    Cano said:

    Wish me luck!

    Good luck!

    There are fixes for *most* of the challenges created by those good old Chinese factory workers
    ;)
    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
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  • CanoCano Frets: 21
    TTony said:
    Cano said:

    Wish me luck!

    Good luck!

    There are fixes for *most* of the challenges created by those good old Chinese factory workers
    ;)
    I'm hoping the fret setter arriving shortly will be one of them as I've failed to get that fret end to reseat without one so far :lol: 
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  • paulnb57paulnb57 Frets: 3044
    Excellent! Good Luck!
    Stranger from another planet welcome to our hole - Just strap on your guitar and we'll play some rock 'n' roll

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  • CanoCano Frets: 21
    edited December 2021
    Hardware and tools arrived today

     and the Montys are sat here waiting patiently

    https://i.imgur.com/kbBGo2f.jpeg
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  • CanoCano Frets: 21
    I managed to get that 1st fret to budge with the fret setter but it's still not firmly seated. I think it's going to need glue. When looking down the neck I can still see that one is sitting taller than the rest.

    Having not done this work with frets before, can I ask what the best glue to use? It looks like I just need glue for one end one this one fret, all the others look to be ok.
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16546
    does the fret push into position and pop back up, or not push fully in?

    If its the first, you can run a bead of superglue in there before pushing it in.  Let it set up for a minute, then clean off the excess.  it should hold.

    If you can't push it fully in its likely something in the slot is stopping it.  In that scenario the fret needs to come out so the slot can be cleaned/deepened before its reinstalled
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  • CanoCano Frets: 21
    Now that I've used the fret setter it does push into the slot, but pops up when I take pressure off.

    It's not exposing anywhere near as much of the tang as before so I'm not intending to lift it up to get glue in the slot - I'll see what I've got to hand that's slim enough to get some superglue into the gap.

    Just out of interest, what's the pickup arrangement on the Yellow LP DC in your avatar? Is there a black 3rd pickup in the neck position?


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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16546
    that is good news, as long as it seats fully when pushed you should be fine to glue it in.

    The DC has a bridge and middle humbucker. 


    imagine it was an early 50's original with the inevitable neck joint failure.   Maybe it was rebuilt in the 70's with a John Birch style maple neck and upgraded to humbuckers and a badass bridge. That's the story that allows it to make sense in my head :D 
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  • PhilKingPhilKing Frets: 1473
    WezV said:
    that is good news, as long as it seats fully when pushed you should be fine to glue it in.

    The DC has a bridge and middle humbucker. 


    imagine it was an early 50's original with the inevitable neck joint failure.   Maybe it was rebuilt in the 70's with a John Birch style maple neck and upgraded to humbuckers and a badass bridge. That's the story that allows it to make sense in my head :D 
    @WezV is not too far off with his story.  I am the one who asked him to build the guitar and it is based on one I had in the late 70's.  The biggest differences are that the body had been stripped back to the mahogany, the neck had dot inlays and the pickups were 'Gibson' embossed T-Tops from 1972 (and were actually in the neck and bridge position).  
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  • CanoCano Frets: 21
    I haven't tried the glue yet, but this is how the fret currently looks:

    Definitely not as bad as when it arrived but still not 100% perfect and I reckon I've possibly done some damage to the rosewood binding, not that I can feel it, just see it in these close up shots.





    And just for a sanity, I figured I should probably check that that pickup routs are correct for my P90s  :+1: 


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  • andy_kandy_k Frets: 818
    This is just a suggestion, but if it was my project, at this point I would get one of those thin tipped bottles of superglue, and wick some along both sides of every fret. If done carefully, it should just get sucked into the fret slots by capilliary action.
    Let this set for a few days, and then you will have a good basis for a level and crown / polish. The frets look a bit gnarly, and they might be soft, I wouldn't do the superglue thing on an expensive instrument, but I'd guess you don't want to be changing the frets either at this point.
    You might want to check the neck angle to bridge height before it gets glued too, I'd guess it might need a bit of a shim (or you could alter the neck heel ), with the bridge you have chosen, easier to to it now, rather than find out you don't have enough angle.
    Looks like a nice cheap kit anyway.
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  • SteveRobinsonSteveRobinson Frets: 6914
    tFB Trader
    When my kit arrives I'm going to refret the neck as a matter of course. The fitted fret wire will be soft and not an ideal profile. 
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  • CanoCano Frets: 21
    andy_k said:
    Looks like a nice cheap kit anyway.
    Unfortunately, It wasn't that cheap. Not many options out there for a LP DC P90 kit
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  • CanoCano Frets: 21
    When my kit arrives I'm going to refret the neck as a matter of course. The fitted fret wire will be soft and not an ideal profile. 
    I'm considering that now too. Just need to find the fret pullers I bought last year
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  • RolandRoland Frets: 8590
    My experience is the same as Steve’s. The neck is very likely to need re-fretting. With a fixed neck like this will be easier to do that before assembly.
    Tree recycler, and guitarist with  https://www.undercoversband.com/.
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  • CanoCano Frets: 21
    I better practice fretting the squier strat neck that's been sat on my desk for 6 months then, make my mistakes there rather than my new kit
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  • CanoCano Frets: 21
    andy_k said:

    You might want to check the neck angle to bridge height before it gets glued too, I'd guess it might need a bit of a shim (or you could alter the neck heel ), with the bridge you have chosen, easier to to it now, rather than find out you don't have enough angle.
    I've just done that and I think it's okay. This is with the bridge on the body, there's plenty of upwards height adjustment in the bridge's mountings too so I don't think the neck angle is a concern. Thankfully.
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16546
    I would be lowering that if you are comfortable to do it.  although it will work as it is, so don't worry if not.

    The optimal position would be to have the ruler just about touching the bridge saddle whilst flat on the frets,
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  • CanoCano Frets: 21
    I have some stewmac neck pocket shims around here somewhere, would that be the way to go, rather than taking off any material from the neck heel?

    I'm assuming that the bridge will be sitting a couple of mm higher when installed than in this shot, which would get it up to the ruler I think. 
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16546
    i would be taking a little of the heel, it doesn't need much though.

    The bridge will sit slightly higher once installed, it will then need to rise up 3-4mm to get the right action, assuming 1.5-2mm action at the 12th fret.  it will sit a few mm higher than where your ruler is now
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