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!
Comments
There are fixes for *most* of the challenges created by those good old Chinese factory workers
and the Montys are sat here waiting patiently
https://i.imgur.com/kbBGo2f.jpeg
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.
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
Instagram
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?
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
Instagram
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
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.
The optimal position would be to have the ruler just about touching the bridge saddle whilst flat on the frets,
Instagram
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.
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
Instagram