My best Frankenstein imitation...
So, my first guitar build is complete! And I'm so glad I learned as much as I did.
Pic 33 shows the control cavity all wired up. I haven't made a cover for it yet, but I intend on making a paper stencil of the cavity, then cutting out the cover from the flat side of a rubber wastepaper basket. 4 screws should hold it just fine.
I've also made a few mistakes, and learned from them. I'll also be going back to fix them.
Pic 34 shows the completed guitar. Is it playable? best I can tell is yes it will be. The action is good, about like my Squier strat. I do however have a grounding problem, or a shielding problem. There is a humming noise when I turn on the overdrive pedal. It gets worse when I touch the strings so I think it's the ground.
Lessons learned....
1. Hand held power tools will work. It's best to use jigs whenever possible, and a proper drill press is indespensable.
2. Do your sanding correctly the first time. I HATE sanding, so I probably rushed it and said "good enough" when it wasn't. Also, I used a cheap sanding sealer. Now I have a visible grain texture in my paint. Gonna have to redo the finish. Would have been cheaper and easier to use better materials and spend the time to do it right the first time. Perhaps I can hire out the sanding....hehe.
3. Acrylic lacquer just isn't up to the task. Just assembling the guitar I dinged and gouged the finish several times. It's just not good enough. Next time I will use nitrocelulose or polyurathane. Long curing time, but will be worth it. Also, a cloth won't protect the finish, it's not enough even against a rubber mallet and such. I took my steel drill guage (basically a steel plate) and wrapped it in cloth, then laid it on the guitar to protect the finish, that worked much better than just the cloth.
4. A 25 watt soldering iron isn't hot enough for good solder connections. All the other recommendations I've heard is a 40 watt so I will try to find one this week.
5. Pre drilling your screw holes for every single screw is just as important as the screws themselves. My 1/16th bit broke during the build, so the last few holes I drilled with a broken bit. I drilled only about 1/4 inch deep because drilling with a broken bit is difficult. I figured the 1/4 inch would be enough, and the screw would auger itself in the rest of the way. That works about 40% of the time, three screws, including both on the jack plate, twisted their heads off and left the screw body inside the wood. This is gonna be fun to fix. Good thing I'm refinishing the guitar anyway.....
6. Wiring diagrams are more intimidating than they should be. If you can solder, you can do a good wire up.
Even with all the things that need fixing, I consider my first guitar build a success. It will play, it will tune, it feels good. Fixing the finish and screw problems, plus tracing down the grounding noise is just a learning experience, and that's what I built this guitar for in the first place.
Thanks to everyone for their advice, links, and encouragement. I already have ideas for a tele and a destroyer. First I'm gonna fix this one.
GG
