Shielding is Believing!

[David Martin]

Although it's more expensive, proper shielding tape is also conductive on the sticky side which makes achieving continuity much easier...

[GuitarPhil]

Stephen, that's a beauty. It must be the best £89 ever spent on a guitar!

[stephen]

Stephen, that's a beauty. It must be the best £89 ever spent on a guitar!

Thanks, Phil. I was pleased with the end result of my first kit-build, but unfortunately thanks to my son, I didn't have much chance to enjoy it, hence my latest attempt at a Telecaster that I might actually be able to keep. Trouble is, I'm hooked on this guitar 'building' thing now and I really don't need any more guitars......
I've got two more (!)Telecaster projects in the pipeline that should keep me occupied during the winter months, as well as a Strat for my Telecaster-stealing eldest's birthday in April. At the moment I'm experimenting with finishing one 'natural' ash body with Tru-Oil instead of my usual acrylic aerosol spraying. My wife's always complaining about the lacquer smell (and overspray in the passageway!) so I thought that I'd try the oil finish technique this time. I've applied 15 'coats' so far, one each day with a light rub-down with 0000 steel wool between them. Pleased to say that it's looking good at this stage. I'll reserve judgement until I've flatted it off & buffed it. Fingers crossed that I'll have a viable alternative to those aerosols!
Stephen.

[Ryan]

Glad you like the guitar Ryan. Although Noel is right in a way about the main point of putting your own guitar together is for it to be about it being to YOUR specs. and not someone else's, in order to gain some experience and not be frightened off at the first attempt, putting together a guitar from a complete kit is a good starting point. My first bit of tinkering was the replica Hendrix Flying V for my middle son. Mind you, that mainly involved reproducing the psychedelic artwork and replacing the pickups on a ready made guitar. In point of fact, my first assembly job was a kit guitar. I think it cost £89 from Axes'rus about 5 years ago. Hope you agree after viewing the attached photos., that it doesn't look like an £89 home assembled job. There was room for a bit of personalisation as the supplied neck had just a 'paddle' shaped headstock. I very creatively (not!) gave mine Stratocaster contours. Just after I finished it, my eldest boy called around, tried it out and that's the last I've seen of it! He hasn't swapped the pickups out or anything............
I'd certainly recommend the complete kit way as the best place to start. It's relatively inexpensive (£100-£150 approx.) and if at the end of it, you come to the conclusion that guitar 'building' is not for you, you will not have wasted that much cash and whatever the outcome, you'll definitely have learned something along the way. The good thing about these kits for a beginner is that you're not going to have to perform any major surgery to get the parts to fit. With my latest guitar, I bought the body and neck from different sources, they were both pre-lacquered and required some very careful & time-consuming work to enable a satisfactory fit. I successfully achieved it in the end, but I've learnt lessons from it.
You're fortunate in having access to the Hankies club. Although I've never met him, Ecca seems to be a most helpful & knowledgeable chap, who I'm sure would help you get started as I've noted in the past that he's a fan and exponent of self-build/assembly guitars. He's something of a whizz with the old electronics as well, so definitely someone to go to for advice in that area if you get stuck. I envy you there as I'm rubbish at soldering and am just grateful that my efforts are hidden away from criticism beneath a scratchplate!
I hope that I've persuaded you to have a go at putting a guitar together yourself. Quite frankly, I now get as much (or more) pleasure from that aspect as actually playing.
Stephen.

Hi Stephen,
Thanks for the info, i did think the kit thing would be the best place to start. As i mentioned earlier i haven't got the tools or the knowledge to make these things fit
Mostly i'd like to experiment with staining or spraying the body, i even thought about wood burning a nice pattern into it, then clear lacquering it. I also would probably have a go at changing the pick-ups, if the 1's that came with it were rubbish, as long as it was easy to do. I'll have to try and persuade my missus that we have room for another guitar, as i already have 8 in a 1 bedroom flat (space is becoming a problem) Maybe i can treat myself as a xmas present, or even drum it into her head that it would make a good prezzie for me I might even be able paint it to match the furniture in the living room and persuade her it would make a lovely ornament hanging on the wall Failing that i could lock her in the loft or send her back to her bloody mothers
I saw the pictures of your Hendrix flying V on a previous post, thought you made a very good job on it. That telecaster looks lovely too, finish is really nice.
I'll let you know if i manage to make 1
Cheers
Ryan

[stephen]

That made me smile, Ryan! 8 guitars in a one bedroomed flat.................I don't feel quite as bad now at subjecting my family to a similar number of guitars in a 3 bed. semi. I shall use you as an example the next time I come in for criticism! From past experience, I doubt whether it will cut me much slack though.
Good luck with persuading your wife that making a kit is a good idea. You could try telling her how much money you'll save over a ready-made one by doing so. I always find that a thoughtfully chosen present for my wife tends to (sometimes) smooth the path to another guitar acquisition, although it's best to be upfront about your motives in doing so. I bet we could all cumulatively write a book about the different scenarios we encounter when contemplating adding another guitar to the household without having our b***s cut off..........metaphorically or otherwise!
Stephen.