Day 63

All Done!!!!

Day 62

Got the guitar back from Mark. All wired up. Had to get new knobs cause the pots have course kneeling. Of course I had fine knurled knobs. So a quick trip to Guitar Center. Got what I needed 

Finished the new TRC with smaller screws. 

Decided to polish everything (except FB surface) with Beeswax and Orange Oil. Looks nice. In the future, I'll be doing this instead of the lemon oil treatment. I'll only use the lemon oil on the FB surface.

Day 61

Installed the pots. 

Strung it for the first time. Adjusted the rod for relief. Bridge height. Filed the saddle slots. Intonation. 

Now off to Mark Smith for wiring. 

Day 60

I didn't like the screws I used for the PG and TRC. They were too big. Looked awkward. So I switched out the fender screws I used for the PG and replaced them with the Gibson PG screws.  I'll make a note and use these smaller ones on all future builds. 

Since the TRC was already drilled out, I had to make a new one. I'll be using very small pan head screws. No countersink. 

Here's the new one with one coat of tru oil. 

Day 58

Installed some hardware and TRC. I don't like the TRC screws I used. Way too big. Next time I'll use the 3/8" long pick guard screws for Gibson PGs

Day 59

Locating the TonePros bridge. 

This pattern gets me the length from nut. 

 

Installed the bridge on the white jig and added the E strings to line it up from side to side.  Then clamped and drilled. 

Drilled from bridge post hole to pickup pocket and inserted grounding wire (the insulated braided one)

Place some superglue in the hole and insert bushing. Don't put glue on bushing before inserting. The glue will ooze out of the top and get on the finished surface. Just put glue on sides of the hole. 

The PUP ring that came with the Seymour Duncan pickup was cut for a Les Paul. I sanded it flat.  Before and After pic. 

With the strings attached to the bridge. I located the centered the pick up and used a punch to mark the holes. 

Traced the outside of the pup ring onto the PG and sanded to match. 

Marked screw locations and drilled through PG into body. Two holes missed the body and fell into the cavity. Had to add some scrap pieces to the inside cavity walls. I will have to make my pocket jig a little smaller for next guitar. 

I'm not liking these large screw heads. They just look too big on the PG and TRC. Next time I'll use the smaller 3/8" Gibson screws.

Day 57 PM

Slotted the nut. 

Broke the edges of the FB and scraped off any excess finish. Went over with scotchbrite and lemon oil. 

Day 57 AM

Used 3M Finesse It on top and head plate. It removes the wiping streaks. 

Then went over all surfaces with lemon oil. 

Reamed and installed tuners. 

Day 56

Final glaze coat. No pics. Now let it cure for 2 weeks

Day 55

Thinned the TO with mineral spirits 50/50

Poured some on the paper towel and went over all surfaces. Just to make it wet. A real quick "once over". No need to re-wipe with dry towel. It looked good. 

Day 54

10th coat of TO

No pics. 

Day 53

9th coat of TO

Day 52

Did the 8th coat of TO. No pics. 

Also did a test piece of mahogany. 

A couple coats of TO

Gray scotchbrite 

Grain filled. Didn't sand. Just wiped most off. Let dry overnight and went over it with wet paper towel. Then another coat of TO

Looked ok. It filled some of the grain. If I do a couple more filling sessions it probably would have completely filled the pores.  So it's an option in the future, but I'm leaving this one with open pores. 

Day 51

Scuffed all tru-oiled surfaces with gray scotchbrite. 

Day 50

Used a swiffer dust cloth to remove dust

7th coat of TO. 

Day 49 PM

6th coat of TO

Day 49 AM

5th coat of tru-oil. Wiped on with paper towel. No pics. 

Day 48

Knocked back with gray scotchbrite. 

Wiped on 4th coat.