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Should I document my kit builds here?

Markshan

Markshan

Apr 19, 2023
1,352
2,402
Pittsburgh PA USA
#1
I've documented some repair work that I've been doing up in the hardware and setup section of the board. My plan is to keep doing those and to assemble these two kits in order to get a little experience under my belt before I attempt my first scratch build. One is a headless Steinberger style four string copy and the other is a Tele guitar copy. I wasn't sure especially if I should document the guitar or not because this is a bass board, but like I said I'm just using these as learning experiences toward building my own. I'd love to document them so I could get input from people who actually know what they're doing. Thanks.
 
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#3
I know that everyone says that Telecasters are a great first project because they're very flat. However I decided to commit heresy and carve belly and wrist cutouts into this blank. I looked up lots of Tele copy pictures on Google and it took me a long time to find that somebody else does put cutaways into their builds. Some of the Schecter Pete Townsend Teles have belly and wrist scoops. I felt great about that because it was actually the Schecter Tele that Pete played on the first farewell tour back in 82 that first got me interested in that body shape. I don't currently own any electric guitars, only one acoustic, so this seemed like a no-brainer that I had to do this.

So tonight I started the project by taking the body and holding it up against myself in a playing position. I figure the thing about building your own guitar is that you get to personalize it how you are comfortable. Given the fact that I've never used a scraper tool before and that I never even heard of a Shinto saw rasp before 3 days ago I feel like I did a pretty fair job roughing out this scoop. Again, I'm wide open to critique from people here who know what they're doing.

IMG_20230807_223957.jpg
 
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#5
I wish I could claim that I planned it this way or that I was smart enough to see what was coming, but that would be complete BS. When I finished the second curve and held it up against my body to see how it felt, I was stricken by the grain pattern on the side. I just think it's beautiful the way that it runs right with these curves in the cutouts. It's almost like the wood wanted to be carved that way.
IMG_20230808_000137.jpg
 
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#6
This body was made from Okoume, which I was completely unfamiliar with. I have in mind to do an emerald green translucent finish. I thought I was going to have to bleach the wood when I was done shaping it. I didn't realize how much of the red color was in whatever sealant they used. I feel like if I just sand off all of that sealer at the same time that I sand the work I just did, then I should be able to apply and sand off some black grain filler and it should take a green stain pretty well afterwards. I was afraid the red was going to turn the green into brown. I'd love the opinion of someone who is well versed in finishing wood as I am not. Is this wood light enough to take a green translucent stain or do I need to bleach it?
 
#7
By the way, I know that wood shaping on your footstool in front of your TV is probably at least a little bit unorthodox, but my stupid cat already ruined the footstool anyway sharpening his claws on it and I watch my grandkids three or four days a week and they are forever dropping dried Cheerios and walking on them and grinding them into the carpet so I just honestly thought how much different will sawdust be from that? When I'm actually using the orbital sander I will definitely do that outside. That will throw enough that it could clog up my TV and stereo which I don't want.
 
#8
Looking good! That’s a really nice piece of Okume! The shavings will vacuum up easily enough as long as the kids aren’t getting into that area or eating off the sawdust lol. I think the kids are more likely to experience the possible skin, eye and respiratory irritation than you are.
Look forward to the rest of the build!
 
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#11
cool, i real homemade bass instead of yet another part's build....I wanna work up the courage for this oneday, but you need a shop or workroom, sanding and carving on an ottoman in livingroom carpet might be a bit dusty:smug:
 
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#12
Markshan said:
I've documented some repair work that I've been doing up in the hardware and setup section of the board. My plan is to keep doing those and to assemble these two kits in order to get a little experience under my belt before I attempt my first scratch build. One is a headless Steinberger style four string copy and the other is a Tele guitar copy. I wasn't sure especially if I should document the guitar or not because this is a bass board, but like I said I'm just using these as learning experiences toward building my own. I'd love to document them so I could get input from people who actually know what they're doing. Thanks.
Click to expand...
I'd say please do document it here. I've always been curious how much work these kits really are, and I also see a Telecaster build in my future. :)
 
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#13
definenredefine said:
I have no experience (still working up the nerve) but I'm here to see your progress.

Also, since it was your first time using the Shinto, would you mind explaining the process? You seemed to have done quite well with it...
Click to expand...
Honestly the process isn't really any different than using a file except that it moves much quicker. When I wanted to take large amounts I went against the grain and when I wanted to smooth it up I went with the grain. The Shinto has a coarse and a fine side. I did 90% of it with the coarse side then once I had it basically where I wanted it I flipped it over and smoothed out the work with the fine side. The thing that surprised me was how quickly I was able to do that. I was under the impression that hand carving a relief like that would take a dozen hours or more. I spent maybe an hour and a half on the back and an hour on the front. Already this experience is proving to me if you want to do something just try to do it and see what happens.

Oh, and the most important part actually came before I used the Shinto. I held the guitar in playing position and watched how my wrist swept across it. Then I drew that line on with a pencil. Then I looked at my arm angle and Drew the line on the side to try to match that. Same thing with the belly contour. I held the instrument against my big fat self and looked at where the contact points were. I drew those out with a pencil. Then when I started with the Shinto, I started carving right in the middle of those pockets and feathered my way out to the ends. I don't think I could have visualized The contours just nebulously. The whole time I was rasping I had the pencil lines as a Target. I think that was very important. But I've literally never done this before so maybe I just got lucky.
 
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#14
NKBassman said:
I'd say please do document it here. I've always been curious how much work these kits really are, and I also see a Telecaster build in my future. :)
Click to expand...
Honestly I think the kits are as little or as much work as you decide they are. They seal the body and they do some finishing work on the frets. You could buy one of these and literally bolt it together in an hour and start playing. But like I said above my goal was to build these kits as a educational tool for myself. So I am going to do lots of things to them that perhaps most people may not. I'm trying to be a little more creative than simply connect the dots. Same thing with dressing the frets. It's playable right now but my goal is to bring it up to another level. Since you asked how long this will take I will try to remember to document the amount of time I spend on each step as I post.

It seems a lot of people look at these kids as a cheap route to a guitar. My mindset is very different. I went into this looking at them as puzzles. Some people kill hours putting together a thousand piece jigsaw puzzle, I'm going to kill hours working on wood. A lot of people tell me how problematic the kits are, and it's definitely true for the bass kit that I bought. But I'm not looking at problems as problems. I'm looking at them as educational opportunities and a positive. As I figure out how to fix each thing that will be a positive learning experience.
 
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#17
So this morning, after the initial euphoria of carving my first shapes into a guitar wore off, I picked up the body again and reinspected my work. I'm going to call it beginners luck but man the wrist scoop just feels right. I don't know how else to explain it it just seems like that's how it's supposed to be. I'm pretty tickled about it.
The belly scoop however I noticed that the graduation is too steep. I guess the reason the line on the edge jumped out at me is because it's actually standing about 3/4 of an inch off my body. I'm not going to mess with that edge at all, it's just too darn sexy to screw it up. But what I think I am going to do is start working from about an inch into the existing carve and bring the scoop a couple inches further toward the center, making it more gradual as I go. I'm thinking about this step less like a technician working on a piece of equipment and more like a tailor working on fabric.
 
#18
Looks like a good start. No rules apply, really. For custom builds, I usually build whatever the player wants.
You should see the wishlist I had for a recent jazz player's "Wine Wood" GretschCaster build.

And sometimes the player is you. In that case, you can really experiment (the best part of building, for me).

Can't help with the green question...
So I guess there is -one- rule.

Rick
 
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