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Chapter 1. The Unboxening
My GF texted me this picture today:
Needless to say, I didn't waste any time opening them when I got home.
Neck:
Body:
Dry fit:
It's kind of hard to see in the pic, but they did an unbelievable job of bookmatching the koa. Looks really slick.
The neck is much darker than the back of the body, despite both being mahogany.
I guess I'll have to do a little dye on the back. But I'm not dying anything else. The wood looks fantastic as-is.
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12-08-2017 07:20 PM
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That's some lovely wood. This should be an interesting build thread!
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No extra charge for the insights into what's on the kitchen counter.
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Looks like a pretty typical counter to me.
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That is going to be a beautiful guitar! Warmouth did an great job matching the grain on mine too.
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Mmh tasty, this going to be really nice, keep us posted!
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So Koa on mahogany body and ebony (?) fretboard on mahogany neck? And these are two P90 routes? Or humbuckers?
i agree that the bookmatching is fabulous.
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Oh man, this is gonna be good.
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Rosewood fretboard. Just happens to be very dark rosewood.
Originally Posted by Frank67
P-90 routs.
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First setback: The bridge and ferrules I ordered from Armadillo Guitars are the wrong size, thanks to some confusion vis-a-vis the terminology used by Warmoth vs. Fender. Fortunately Mike from Armadillo is a great guy, and is currently making me a proper bridge while I get the old one boxed up to send back to him today.
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Surface prep and first finish coat done.
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kudos to armadillo..that's great customer service! Originally Posted by Boston Joe
why they've been a top outfit for quite a while now
cheers
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Yeah, I was all ready to be mad at him. Then he started explaining how Fender has had the same name for a bajillion different configurations, and how Warmoth is apparently not as precise as they could be, and then I was mad at Fender and Warmoth instead. But that passed quickly, and now I'm just amused by the whole thing. I'll have my new bridge by the time the finish is done, so no harm, no foul. Originally Posted by neatomic
Mike is a terrific guy and will do whatever he needs to to make you happy. The new bridge is going to cost me an extra $20 because he doesn't typically make them in that configuration, so it will be a one-off. But $20 is negligible, and I'm happy to pay it for such stellar service.
(Just FYI, if you're ever dealing with Armadillo and you need to get ahold of Mike quickly, find him on Facebook and send him a message. He's almost always on and answers pretty fast.)
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Nice -- whose P-90s? Originally Posted by Boston Joe
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Porter. "Smooth" model. Originally Posted by marcwhy
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The neck is basically done. It has a few coats of poly on it and when I felt it this morning, it had a perfect smooth satin feel along the back, so I decided I'm going to step away and not mess with it any further. I just need to mount the tuners and the logo plate.
I noticed the body had some places where the finish is quite uneven, so I'm going to have to sand it back a bit and get a few more coats on, which is just as well, since it's going to be a few days before my new bridge and ferrules get in from Armadillo.
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What kind of finish is this, and how are you applying it? [I realize it says "poly" above, but I'm curious as to to what kind -- "-ester"? "-urethane"?] I toy with the idea of doing some kind of kit build, but finishing scares me off. Originally Posted by Boston Joe
John
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I know exactly what you mean! Warmouth offers finished bodies and necks too... I got a swamp ash body (chambered) from them with a satin clear coat. Really beautiful result! Originally Posted by John A.
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I'm using Minwax wipe on polyurethane. I did a lot of experimenting/practicing on scrap wood while I was waiting for the parts to come in. Originally Posted by John A.
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I'm a little nervous about it myself, but I wanted to have a significant role in the final product, beyond just assembling it. If it ends up being imperfect, that's OK. Originally Posted by guido5
The Warmoth finishes are very nice, but not cheap.
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That's a great attitude. I was less focused on my participation than I was just having a nice instrument that met my needs. If I'd found a reasonably priced off the shelf 24.75" scale tele option I'd probably have gone with it. Being able to spec it as I want was a nice bonus...
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The most important thing to me is that it sounds good. Of course I want it to look good, but if I make a mistake, the likelihood is, I'm the only one who'll know. Originally Posted by guido5
(That said, if it comes out really good, I'd consider refinishing my Fender Tele.)
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Minor setback last night. Was trying to install the tuners and I managed to strip the threads on two of them. Four are on, and I'm ordering replacements for the other 2.
Continuing to work on finishing the body. I sanded the top and back to get rid of the uneven places. It seems to have gone well. I've put on a couple more coats and they're looking good. I need to sand the sides a bit to get rid of some unevenness, and I'll probably wet sand the whole thing tonight before doing a couple more coats.
For the moment, I don't see any reason not to keep putting coats on until I get my new hardware. Wipe-on poly goes on very thin, so building up a lot of coats isn't a bad thing. Hard to say after sanding, but I think I've got something like 8 coats on now.
I hit the neck with a little car polish, and it shined right up. Looks beautiful. Pics soon.
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As promised, pics:
Headstock with name plate:
Closeup of the figure on the neck:
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I changed my mind. I took a look at the body last night and said to myself, "I'm not going to improve it by doing any more, and I might degrade it." So I stopped. Originally Posted by Boston Joe
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