Build Your Own Clone Message Board

Hey y'all, got a very generous Christmas gift from a friend: a Precision Guitar Kits Double Cut Jr. kit! Now I want some advice, especially from people who have done it before, since this will be my first build.

Main topics I'm worried about are staining/finishing, shaping the headstock, and gluing the neck—basically the irreversible stuff. But I'd also accept hardware/electronics recommendations from you wise ones!

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Scott

My band, Austin Hollow

I have built a few so far, I went with staining mine. I bought some Wudtone stain kits and they are pretty awesome.


https://www.byoguitar.com/Guitars/Wudto ... FK-AL.aspx

Good choice. I've built two Precision Guitar kits, I love their stuff. If I do another it will be the one you got. Also second on the Wudtone wipe-on finishes, I used them on both. Ask away!







I built my first acoustic last winter. THAT was a trip! StewMac OM-28.

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Twisting and tinning is for chumps.

Here's the electronics on "Wolfish", it's wired Jerry Garcia style- three pickups, two different buffer/preamps, humbucker coil-split switch, "bus wire" grounding, a six-way switch, OBEL (on Board Effects Loop). The brown Jr. is wired plain vanilla (thank God!).

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Twisting and tinning is for chumps.

I woulda installed an entire Champlifier in that control cavity, but hey, that's just me....

P.S. That "Wolfish" guitar is KILLER!!

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“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2

From my experience, I would concentrate extra on these 3 things on any kit guitar:
1 - Neck angle. Check that puppy. Make sure the neck angle is right before even thinking about gluing it. Gibson style guitars where the neck angle is off are just the worst.
2 - Frets. I don't know if you have experience working on frets or if you have any friends that do, but a proper fret level and recrown at the start fixes a lot of playability issues and will make any budget guitar punch above its weight. And it's a lot easier to do properly before you glue on the neck.
3 - Nut. Same as above. Don't skimp. use good materials and do it right.

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MasterDelayer/Reverbrador/Ampaholic/TopJacker

See, that's the kind of thing I need to know—and also what scares me. Any advice on how to make sure it's right?

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Scott

My band, Austin Hollow

Lefty, beautiful work! Love those finishes. Wudtone it is. Leaning toward "cherry flamenco" so far.

Where did you guys who built PGK guitars get your other stuff, pickguards and knobs and pots and all that?

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Scott

My band, Austin Hollow

Morgan- excellent advice for guitar kits. However, my experience with my two Precision Guitar kits is that they are a step or two (or three, or...) above most "kit guitars". They are guitar guys who do all their work in-house. Both my Gibson-style neck angles were dead on and glove-fits in the pocket. They make the body and fit the neck to that particular body. The fretwork on mine was equal to or better than my Gibsons and Fenders (not that that's saying a lot these days...). Needed little or nothing.

When I had them build my "Wolfish", I found a body blank of purpleheart and sent it to them. They glued on a AAAA quilted maple top and cut the body from that, routed the "swimming pool" for the pickups, routed a larger than stock control cavity. Almost like having your own "Custom Shop"!

Precision is the real deal.

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Twisting and tinning is for chumps.

Here's a decent explainer: https://www.stewmac.com/video-and-ideas/online-resources/learn-about-guitar-bridge-and-tailpiece-installation-and-repair/tune-o-matic-setup-is-the-trouble-with-the-bridge-or-the-neck-angle.html

Really, you can just clamp the neck onto the body, dry fit the bridge (if possible), make sure the neck is adjusted straight, and use a straight edge to make sure that the bridge will be able to adjust the string height up and down as needed. Ideally, your straight edge will hit the bridge just below the middle of it's up/down adjustment range.

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MasterDelayer/Reverbrador/Ampaholic/TopJacker

Well that's great to hear - I'll have to check 'em out. Thanks Lefty!

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MasterDelayer/Reverbrador/Ampaholic/TopJacker

Cool, very helpful. Thanks. But hopefully the kit is solid so it's not an issue like Lefty said! It does have a very snug dry fit.

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Scott

My band, Austin Hollow

Same here, I’ve built 3 best I can remember. I really like wudtone.


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Pedal building is like the opposite of sex. All the fun stuff happens before you get in the box.

Same here. I used blue tape to Mark stuff, I used pencils to Mark stuff, I sweated a lot and was really paranoid. Crown and level is easy enough (for a decent amateur job), just make sure you have the right tool. I wouldn’t say mine looks professional, but it plays really well. Fret leveling bar is worth is super helpful.

I think it’s the Seymour Duncan site that has tons of wiring diagrams, but so does google. I try to make mine as complicated as possible, I really love the aggravation I get from it.....


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Pedal building is like the opposite of sex. All the fun stuff happens before you get in the box.

Yep, that's the site, but heck no man. One pickup, two knobs. Dead simple. That's the whole idea with this one! Can't wait.

Anyone got recommendations for affordable hardware? I'm thinking a wraparound bridge. Of course there's Guitarfetish, but I don’t know if their products are as good as their marketing. StewMac is pricey…

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Scott

My band, Austin Hollow

I've bought a lot of stuff at Guitarfetish and most of it has been good quality. And they have a ton of pre-wired harnesses that use their "Kwikplug" solderless connection system, along with similarly equipped pickups in a wide variety. AAMOF, I just watched a couple of videos by Darrell Braun where he built a T-type guitar using all GFS products, and he seemed very happy with the end product. Looked & sounded good, too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu_kP2IcG8g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VasjA-l4g8k

Here's a few other sellers, some of whom I've used and some I haven't:

The Stratosphere: https://stratosphereparts.com/

Warmoth: https://www.warmoth.com/

Allparts: https://www.allparts.com/

Guitar Parts Factory: https://www.guitarpartsresource.com/

Best Guitar Parts: https://www.bestguitarparts.com/

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“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2

I have built probably 3 guitars at least from guitar fetish. They have good pickups. Their parts are good too, but just like anywhere, they have cheap stuff and good stuff. TNT guitars has great pickups. BYOGuitar.com has great pickups and some good hardware and cheap hardware. I have also bought off of eBay from reputable dealers, not always the cheapest.

It’s a whole new world man. I’ve built a lot of guitars, it never gets old.


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Pedal building is like the opposite of sex. All the fun stuff happens before you get in the box.

What pickup you looking at? P-90? Humbucker?

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Twisting and tinning is for chumps.

Definitely a P90. On the cheap, the GFS. On the pricey side, Fralin. But I am open to any and all suggestions.

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Scott

My band, Austin Hollow

I started with a GFS on my Jr., upgraded to a Manlius P90. So important to get P90s shimmed up!

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Twisting and tinning is for chumps.

On reverb, look up Sunday handwound pickups. That Timbo over on Madbean. Superior winding. I’ve bought several sets, including a P90 set.


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Pedal building is like the opposite of sex. All the fun stuff happens before you get in the box.

Good advice. I bought a set of Sunday Handwound pickups for my "Tuxedo Tele" project, as described here: viewtopic.php?p=487810#p487810

They are great sounding pickups, the price was ultra-reasonable, and Tim is an absolute pleasure to deal with.

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“My favorite programming language is SOLDER” - Bob Pease (RIP)

My Website * My Musical Gear * My DIY Pedals: Pg.1 - Pg.2

Guitarfetish hardware is usually decent, I am not a huge fan of their pickups. I just got a set of P90s from Bootstrap. They are highly recommended on TDPRI and by the recording engineer I work with, he has their Pretzel pickups. Hand wound and really inexpensive. Building another Tele, walnut, semi-hollow body and PTB tone controls. For finishing help, https://www.tdpri.com/forums/finely-finished.47/ is very helpful. Have fun if you think pedal building is addictive, just wait.

I've been getting most of my electrical parts for guitar / amp work here (some pedals too):

https://www.amplifiedparts.com/

I don't know If I'd do any headstock shaping with yours? Precision sells their necks with "their" headstock (the one you have) or a "paddle" headstock that you can custom shape. If I do another I'll get a paddle and band saw it to a classic Gibson headstock traced from my '61 Reissue SG (wider- as with "wings").

What kind of shaping were you thinking of? You may want to get a piece of dark headstock veneer to glue on- ebony?

StewMac is expensive and you can find many knock-offs of their stuff on the marketplace, but it's high quality stuff. I've spent a small fortune on StewMac tools and supplies, rarely regretted it after the wallet pain wore off. If you've never made a nut you'll need some specialized tools for that- at least a set of nut files for the slots. They sell a set of polishing cloths that have about 5 grades of finer and finer grit that I swear by for nuts and fabricating custom wood pieces. The basic nut you can rough out from a blank using band (or hand) saw, rasps, files.

The way I look at it (for most- not all- tools), is that if I'm only going to use it once or a few times for a project I'll look on ebay or Harbor Freight. If it's something I think I'll be using for a long time, in the long run I'll pay for quality. I tend to be a tightwad, but frustration takes its toll.

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Twisting and tinning is for chumps.

This is what I was afraid of…


I may not shape the headstock after all. The shape isn't bad. I might consider making a little indent in the middle to be more Gibson-esque, and I have a woodworker friend who could potentially help with that.

Tell me more about how a veneer would work. Where would I get it, how would I cut it, etc. I am thinking about how to get a name on the headstock, too.

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Scott

My band, Austin Hollow