Kit clinic-all brands- routine & fixes

[w666]

I used acetone.....brush some on the binding material, and let is sit for a minute or two. Do it again, and while it's sitting brush some acetone into the binding channel. Apply the binding to the wood and hold it with some tape 'til tomorrow. There are no doubt dozens of threads about this on this very board.

Acetone is dangerous and flammable....use plenty of ventilation, and no open flame or sparks. Wear eye protection. Have fun!

Originally Posted by jordans0nly

Thanks Rob. Going to try and send out the guitar this week man.

How does the binding stick to the body? Adhesive on the back or something?

[Sea Ranch]

Originally Posted by bossman302

. . . Seller bezdez has for a dollar. Thinking I will go with him.

FWIW, I have ordered bits and pieces from BEZDEZ and they were reliable, friendly, good comms, etc.

[jworle01]

Originally Posted by Sea Ranch

FWIW, I have ordered bits and pieces from BEZDEZ and they were reliable, friendly, good comms, etc.

+1 I actually need to dig out some binding I ordered from them to check out.

[bossman302]

Thanks guys. I placed my order.

[Sea Ranch]

I used their binding on that Ovation repair last spring . . . polishing an Ovation turd thread.

[shaun]

With my G kit, I was going to go with Gotoh vintage keystone tuners.
As it is, the headstock is about 1mm too thick for these tuners, and i will probably take off the sh!ty 2 piece ebony vaneer and put a flame maple one on. I also will probably not even go with a truss rod cover so the nut clearance isnt an issue as yet.
Do i sand the headstock face or the back, to reduce the thickness?
I would think the face.

[jordans0nly]

Originally Posted by bossman302

Thanks guys. I placed my order.

As did I Rob. 10-14 days though. Oh well..

[jworle01]

Originally Posted by jordans0nly

As did I Rob. 10-14 days though. Oh well..

Mine arrived quicker ymmv...

[bfcg]

Originally Posted by shaun

With my G kit, I was going to go with Gotoh vintage keystone tuners.
As it is, the headstock is about 1mm too thick for these tuners, and i will probably take off the sh!ty 2 piece ebony vaneer and put a flame maple one on. I also will probably not even go with a truss rod cover so the nut clearance isnt an issue as yet.
Do i sand the headstock face or the back, to reduce the thickness?
I would think the face.

Back. If you do the face you will move the break angle where the nut belongs to a shorter nut to bridge length.
You might wanna leave that "sh!ty" veneer on.

[shaun]

Bill, thanks for the reply.
After reading a few times i got what you meant.
I still want to take off the sh!t ebony vaneer and put a flame maple on, but yes the back side of the headstock will have to be sanded down.

[bfcg]

Sorry, I was trying to keep it short.

[w666]

I have news from the front! I think these kits can be made into acceptable instruments, in spite of their flaws. After weeks of sanding, scraping and fitting, I've managed to to get my neck set.

I used several pieces of thin mahogany veneer to build up the tenon, and then sanded and scraped to the final thickness. I sanded the maple top to correct the neck plane, and finally got the desired result. I didn't bother to measure the final angle, because it really didn't matter. Instead, I worried only about the bridge height. I quit obsessing about it when I could measure 5/8" from the bridge location to a straight edge laid across the center of the fingerboard:



This left me with an acceptable bridge height:





So I glued up the neck:



(Note: here you can see the new "ivory" body binding that I installed....pretty good match!)

Added some tuners:



(FYI, I decided to ignore the headstock shape and dimensions.....there isn't a single accurate dimension anywhere else, why should I worry over this? Also, the tuner holes were drilled too large for the vintage style bushings, so instead I just installed "Grover" style tuners....Gotoh, actually.)

And added some "E" strings so that I could set the bridge location using the intonation method (BTW, my kit arrived with the bridge holes already drilled. I had the good sense to plug them at once, and as it turns out the final bridge location was ~ 1/8" different than what was drilled).



So if I can do this I submit anyone can. Take your time, be patient, and don't settle for an inferior result.

[gothicfantasy7]

Originally Posted by Texas07R8

has anyone built one of the GM kits yet?? We were kicking out the Bulldog kits weekly last year. I feared those kits were way over sold, I figured at best they'd be on par with the Bulldog, hell it wouldn't surprise me if they were made from the same factory. The maple and mahogany looks exactly like the Bulldog wood. I seriously doubt it's western big leaf maple, more likely it's the same stuff Bulldog uses. Nothing wrong with it, seems like decent maple and nice figure and flame on most, just an observation...

Sounds like the QC isn't as good as Bulldog, granted, Bulldog had some crappy necks, most problems were warped necks or odd back bow that seemed more often than not down between the 7th fret and the nut.

So, I'll ask again, has anyone completed the new kits or at least assembled one?
How about weight? Can anyone predict the finished weight of their kits? Just curious, my finished Bulldog is right at 8lbs flat.

Still waiting to get the correct kit but when I do I will be using the pics I saved from your Bulldog build to get the color right. I love your finish.





___________________
gothic fantasy art
Fairy Fantasy Art

[tvr]

Question for anyone planning on a Bigsby on the builds?

Thanks to early posts from Bossman/W666/Lefty I was able to successfully change the original 6.1 degree neck angle to a more managable 4.8 degree angle, and rough mockup shows bridge saddle height of about 5/8 inch...so far so good.....until I set the B7 on to look at rough spacing and found barely enough room for it! Basically it almost touches the bridge.
I just measured my Custom Black Beauty with a factory Bigsby, and the kit body is 3/8 inch shorterin length..anyone else find this? Wouldn't likely be problem for a tailpiece as some latitude in placement provided bridge set accurately for intonation, but looks like even if I can fit it spacewise and even with reasonable bridge height I have, strings will come off Bigbsy and hit back of bridge before saddles? Anyone else running into this, or am I having a "seniors moment":-)

[jordans0nly]

Got the binding yesterday, but, will not even be able to try to attempt to touch it until tomorrow sometime. This is the 2nd week of working 56 hours and I only get one day, so trying to fit 'everything' into one day.

Any ideas on glue for the binding other than Acetone?

[bossman302]

super glue

[abfackeln]

Duco cement (from Walmart) works really well, and is super cheap.

[jordans0nly]

Ok. Wal Mart was a miss on the Duco Cement. Turns out, they dont carry it anymore, neither does Lowes. Thanks to Google, found out that Family Dollar carries it for $0.99 for a tube. I bought three.

I tried to get the binding off, but, I clearly seem to be missing something. I read the thread that Bossman started, but, the razor blades (alone) arent getting the job done.

Where am I goofing up at?

[abfackeln]

Originally Posted by jordans0nly

I tried to get the binding off, but, I clearly seem to be missing something. I read the thread that Bossman started, but, the razor blades (alone) arent getting the job done.

Where am I goofing up at?

I don't think you're goofing up.... from what I've seen, and read in the threads, it looks like the factory used different types of glue. My neck binding came straight off in less than 2 minutes with no tears or pull-outs. The body binding took several slow, painful days with a combination of a heat gun, razor blades, a small (sharp) chisel and some sand paper. The end result was worth the effort though. Just take your time and be patient, as you want to end up with a nice clean channel for the new binding.

[w666]

I had the best result with a heat gun, and a curved chisel like the one in the picture. It takes forever! Be patient, and you'll get a great result.

Originally Posted by jordans0nly

I tried to get the binding off, but, I clearly seem to be missing something. I read the thread that Bossman started, but, the razor blades (alone) arent getting the job done.

Where am I goofing up at?

[jordans0nly]

Chisel made like that? Call a curved chisel? I'll have to buy me one.

Think a blow dryer will work? Closest thing I've got to a heat gun.

[jworle01]

Find your nearest harbor freight a heat gun is like 8 or 10 bucks!

[bfcg]

Originally Posted by jordans0nly

Chisel made like that? Call a curved chisel? I'll have to buy me one.

Think a blow dryer will work? Closest thing I've got to a heat gun.

The tip of a clothes iron and a damp cloth will work. Careful if your top is a thin veneer.

[jordans0nly]

Thanks Jworle, I'll have to get one.

It's a solid top..

[jworle01]

Originally Posted by bfcg

The tip of a clothes iron and a damp cloth will work. Careful if your top is a thin veneer.

Hmm this reminds me of my first finish removal for some reason

[sixstrings]

any suggestions on fixing the neck angle on a veneer top?

mine had about 1" fret level gap off the body at the bridge. also had about a 1/8" gap between the mortise and tenon at the heel of the body.

i added 1/8" mahogony to the bottom of the tenon and angle sanded towards the tip of the tenon at the p/u cavity.

my problem is a veneer top so i really cant sand down the body at the p/u because it has to go lower than the veneer.

any ideas on reducing the gap or am i screwed?

[w666]

A challenge, to say the least! So with the neck set the way we see it in the picture, what is the bridge height measurement? And what is the measurement of the gap between the fingerboard and the body at the heel?

Originally Posted by sixstrings

any suggestions on fixing the neck angle on a veneer top?

mine had about 1" fret level gap off the body at the bridge. also had about a 1/8" gap between the mortise and tenon at the heal of the body?

i added 1/8" mahogony to the bottom of the tenon and angle sanded towards the tip of the tenon at the p/u cavity.

my problem is a veneer top so i really cant sand down the body at the p/u because it has to go lower than the veneer.

any ideas on reducing the gap or am i screwed?

[sixstrings]

Originally Posted by w666

A challenge, to say the least! So with the neck set the way we see it in the picture, what is the bridge height measurement? And what is the measurement of the gap between the fingerboard and the body at the heel?

the fret level bridge height measurement is just over 5/8".

the gap between the fingerboard and the body at the heel is 1/8".

the veneer is about 1/16" thick.

thanks

[bossman302]

Check out my tread.

Bossman's kit build

Should be a good way to change the angle with a veneer top.

[w666]

Yep, that's just what I was thinking....use a knife to scribe the veneer along the fingerboard, and keep sanding as required 'til you're done



I'm wondering, however.....if your mortise was deeper than the tenon by 1/8", and you added 1/8" to the tenon, then there should be no gap now at the heel. I'd start there first, and not remove any material from the top until it's the last resort (and it will be).

Originally Posted by bossman302

Check out my tread.

Bossman's kit build

Should be a good way to change the angle with a veneer top.