Hello Phil,
As promised, some pictures of my completed ’59 carved top double cut.
But first, let me say that I’ve never worked with woods or wood finishing, and I learned how to solder only a few months ago. So this project represented a “learning by doing” opportunity. I think I made almost every mistake in the book along the way, each time a valuable, if occasionally frustrating lesson. But I discovered that there’s almost no mistake you can’t back up from and redo it right. And the end result — while it might not look as pretty as some of your other customers’ work — is all my own. And I can say with pride that I built it. Not to mention . . . the guitar sounds fantastic!
Some stats:
- ’59 double cut carved top custom kit (plain maple cap on mahogany with 60’s profile neck and rosewood fingerboard)
- Bullseye amber shellac (1 pound cut) and Minwax paste wax finish
- Grover 18:1 vintage “milk bottle” tuners
- Graph Tech aged TUSQ XL nut
- TonePros LP Artisan locking Tunomatic bridge and tailpiece
- Custom-ordered, calibrated set of “Blue Note” spec, Bare Knuckle humbucker-sized P-90 pickups (thanks, Ben French in the UK)
- 500k CTS True Vintage Taper audio potentiometers
- .022 / .047 (neck/bridge) 100v Orange Drop tone capacitors
- Switchcraft short, 3-way toggle switch and mono jack
- Custom-ordered 0-11 amber top hat knobs
Thanks very much, Phil, for your support during my build. I’ll definitely be buying another kit from you soon. As much as I don’t need another guitar, I had way too much fun building this one not to try another kit.
Roy
