Hi Phil, first I’d like to say thanks for making these kits available. The quality is top notch and on par with custom shop models costing much, much more. I have built about almost a dozen other bolt on partscaster guitars but this was my first set neck guitar as well as my first sunburst finish. I was fairly nervous about the gluing in the neck, only because once it is set there is no going back, but the neck glued in nice and tight with no slop or play in the joint. I used a laser level just to check that all was well, but it may have been overkill because everything lined up with no adjustments needed.
The finish was a new process to me as well, as this was my first attempt at a burst. After filling the grain with some dark colored timbermate and sealing the guitar with sand and sealer I started mixing the lacquer toner. I mixed the lacquer tones using various transtint dyes mixed into clear lacquer. I used 2 cheap spray guns hooked up to my air compressor to shoot the finish. I used a “touch up” spray gun for the burst colors and a larger hvlp gun for the clear coats. I practiced on a bunch of scrap and once I had my colors mixed correctly and a feel for the spray guns I jumped right into finishing the guitar. The whole finishing process was a lot easier than I imagined at first and I just love how the guitar cane out. The guitar plays fantastic and would put the quality of this guitar up against guitars costing thousands. I really can’t wait to start my next Precision Guitar project!
For those interested here are some of the specs on the guitar components:
- Novak custom wound p90 pickup
- Flamed koa control and truss rod cover
- Grover tuners
- Bone Nut
- Pigtail wraparound bridge
- Dakaware knobs
- Cts potentiometers
- Sozo tone capacitor
- Switchcraft jack
