Helping with a Build your own Guitar project - Cheapcaster // Telecaster style kit - PART 3

As promised from PART 2 of the "Helping to Build a Guitar PROJECT"..

Here are some quick photographs of the FINISHED guitar.  (I'll upload some better pictures once I get them!).  In the 'flesh' - the wood tone looks different to these pictures.  The photos don't really do it justice.

Finished guitar

Ash Burl Veneer TOP with BLACK binding
to compliment the black 3-ply Pickguard (sits flush with Control Plate)

Wilkinson Ashtray Style bridge with BRASS Compensated Saddles
(3 x 2 string pairs - a'la Fender Vintage)

Liberon Finishing Oil
With 'donor' machine heads / tuners from my
Yamaha

Helping with a Build your own Guitar project - Cheapcaster // Telecaster style kit - PART 2

OK.......... you've seen the kit as shown in PART 1, right?

I won't go into the woodworking / finishing details (unless relevant);  it is EXPECTED that you will need to spend a LOT of time on sanding, colouring and finishing.  

For this particular build - my dad decided to avoid the Nitro / Poly finishes - and go down the route of wood dyes, stains and varnishes.  If you have ever used aerosol based lacquers / varnishes - you'll know that a) it gets everywhere - and b) you need a decent face mask so you don't breath the stuff in.  

For the bulk of the woodwork - he used Liberon Finishing Oil.  This is available easily in the UK and offers a natural finish with a good level of protection.  Liberon Finishing Oil seems to be a firm favourite of luthiers and guitar builders in Europe.  

Oils / varnishes are generally easier to apply - as you can put them on with a brush or rag.  No MASKS or spraying booths were required !

Kit Quality - Good and Bad

Woodworking aside - let's examine the good points and the bad points... of this kit.

• Neck / Body Matched Components
• GOOD - The neck / body have factory numbers to ensure that the body and neck have been matched to each other - during the final QA process.
• BAD - In reality - this did not guarantee that the 'fit' was a good one.
• Neck
• GOOD - The Maple Neck is actually not too bad - the fretwork is already pre-done - and on the whole - they've made a fairly decent job of it.  No sharp fret-ends, no overcut fret slots in the Rosewood fingerboard. 
• BAD - the supplied nut is plastic
• Headstock
• GOOD - allows for you to cut your own headstock profile / shape.
• BAD - nothing really
• Body
• GOOD - In this case - the body was 3 piece basswood body with the Ash Burl Veneer.  The veneer was quite thin....  but allowed for a nicer overall top.
• BAD - at some point in the manufacturing process - a knot was likely removed in a section of the basswood - and a 'wood plug' had been inserted back in.  (This was on the side on the guitar).  UNFORTUNATELY - they did not orientate the grain of the plug - so it was obvious that a piece had been put in.  Not a problem if you were going down a Nitro / Poly finish - as this could be hidden....  but a bigger problem with translucent oil / varnish finish.

The 'dry-fit'

• On the first dry-fit - it was observed that the neck pocket was routed slightly too large - making for a looser neck to body joint.  As the neck was bolt-on - this was not a huge issue and could be easily corrected.
• The supplied BRIDGE pre-drilled holes in the body were not square with the neck / nut alignment.  The bridge would have been askew if the original holes had been used.  This is NOT GOOD and had to be corrected. *See bridge / saddle replacement
• Fretboard Radius - measured at 10" (More common for a Gibson than Fender)
• Scale Length - measured and checked at 25.5" (Fender Standard)
• Marked on guitar body to help with rough saddle positioning

Supplied Hardware

Overall, the quality of the supplied hardware was quite poor.  The three worst items supplied were a) the tuners, b) the ashtray style bridge with 3 x saddles [steel], and c) a dodgy set of strings.  Everything else was of a reasonable quality to be used initially.

Ch-ch-ch-changes........

• TUNERS - The supplied Tuners were ditched.
•  I donated my old Yamaha Pacifica tuners to the project  that I removed when I fitted the Grover Locking Tuners.   (Additional cost £ FREE)
  
• BRIDGE / SADDLES - there were a number of issues with the bridge saddles on the supplied kit.  The saddles were a 3x2 string pair - Vintage Fender Look-a-likey saddles - but were made of steel.  The biggest problem here is stability, and trying to intonate the instrument was almost impossible to get it right.  The supplied bridge was ditched, and a new replacement was purchased.  
• New Bridge / Saddles - Wilkinson Ashtray Style Telecaster Bridge (WTBCR) with 3x2 Brass Compensated Saddles.   MUCH BETTER without compromising the Telecaster look-a-likey aesthetics or TONE ! (Additional cost £20 GBP)
  
• STRINGS - supplied Strings
• Used initially for bridge alignment - and to check string spacing on neck.  
• REPLACED with Ernie Ball REGULAR SLINKY (10 gauge) for final setup and fit.(Additional cost around £5 GBP per set)

Wiring the pickups, output jack and grounding

In this kit - a lot of the wiring is pre-done for you.  HOWEVER - the biggest problem is that they DO NOT INCLUDE A WIRING DIAGRAM for the 3-way / 3-position switch.

Typically - Fender Telecaster style 3-way switches have EIGHT terminals for a 3-way switch.  However, with this kit / switch - you have 7 x terminals....and NO WIRING DIAGRAM.

I spent a large amount looking for a diagram - but couldn't find one....  

So, for those of you POOR SOULS - who have purchased this ROCKTILE KIT, or a similar one from another manufacturer - and you are faced with wiring a 3-way 7 terminal switch - I've created a nice wiring diagram for you.  YOU ARE WELCOME !

This 7 terminal switch seems to be used a lot on the Chinese made guitars, it's not the best quality switch - but once wired correctly it works OK !

FINAL SETUP

• New set of Ernie Ball REGULAR SLINKY (10's) fitted
• Truss Rod adjusted to add a small amount of neck relief
• String Height set for 'comfort' play-ability.
• Intonation checked and set (MUCH EASIER to intonate with the COMPENSATED SADDLES and a lot more stability) - plus the BRASS SADDLES make for a nice tone.

Still-to-do

• The plastic NUT will be replaced with a Graphtech TUSQ nut at the next strip-down // string change.

Well that's about it for the BUILD.   I'll get some finished pictures from Dad - and upload them for you all to enjoy !   

..and FINALLY one more thing.............   In many ways - building a guitar is a good way to understand how guitars *truly* work, and how to get the best from them (once they are setup correctly).

If you found this useful - feel free to comment below.  We'd love to hear from you.

Helping with a Build your own Guitar project - Cheapcaster // Telecaster style kit - PART 1

Looking to build your own Electric Guitar from a Kit?  Here is my experience of it....

INTRO / BACKGROUND

A while back, my dad mentioned to me he was looking to take on a small project of building his own guitar.   As he is an OAP (old age pensioner) now, and doesn't have a lot of spare income to splash out whenever he gets G.A.S. 

In his youth - my father had built his own guitar from scratch and had enjoyed doing it.  Now older, wiser and more experienced - he really wanted to have a go at building a guitar from a Kit. Something for him to do as a bit of fun, but wasn't going to "cost the earth" - and would give him a satisfactory end result.

There are a large number of build-your-own (BYO) guitar kits available - with mixed reviews being posted about the kit quality etc.

One BYO Guitar kit that seemed to have fairly good reviews was the ROCKTILE Telecaster Style Kit from a company in Germany (Europe).  Musikhaus Kirstein.

Here is how they describe the kit.

Your shape - your design - your instrument!

With the Rocktile "do-it-yourself" TL Style (Bausätzen) You'll be your own custom shop.

Search out your favorite shape and you build your individual unique instrument.

In this kit you can find all the parts that you need only a few tools and a certain amount of technical skill to complete the project.

All wooden parts are pre-milled and are untreated.

You have a lot of creative freedom in the design: go for a natural satin finish or metallic high-gloss / colourful finish.  ..or keep it simple - black / white or vintage / aged moderately worked with a hammer and file ... just like you want.

"Do-it-yourself" Electric Guitar Kit

TL-Style,

>> Body: Basswood (with Ash Burl Veneer)

>> Neck: Maple screwed

>> Fingerboard: Rosewood

>> Pickups: 2x Single Coil

>> including all necessary parts

>> a certain degree of craftsmanship is required<<

Features

========

Die-Cast Machine Heads

Color : Natural // Unfinished // Untreated

Pickup placement S / S

Short Scale No

Tremolo No

Price EURO 79€

I SHALL CALL IT "CHEAPCASTER"

So for around 80 EUROS - you get an electric guitar in kit form.  

So you are probably thinking - Is it ANY GOOD? 

Check out PART 2 to find out.

Behringer UMC1820 - Rumoured September 2014 release?

Greetingz.................

Way back in February 2014 - around the time of NAMM 2014 - I mentioned a new interface that seemed too good to be true !

The Behringer U-Phoria UMC1820..  18 IN / 20 OUT - USB interface.

Sweetwater in the US of A have updated their order page for the UMC1820 - and it estimates a September 2014 release date.  Oooooooooooh !

Looking at my BLOG STATS for SIXSTRINGZUK - I've seen a lot of traffic / visitors in the past few months who are searching for information, reviews and pricing on the UMC1820 - so, it must be an interface that has grabbed people's attention.

It certainly did mine.................

The only outstanding question I have is about the Mixer / Routing and standalone capabilities within the software elements.....  How versatile will it really be?

Software / Firmware will either MAKE it or BREAK it...............

Let's hope they stand true on firmware upgradable to 192kHz also.

Released anytime now then? *fingers crossed*  

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Here is a snippet from my post - back in February.....

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...

BEHRINGER UMC1820 - Too good to be true?

The U-PHORIA UMC1820 from Behringer which was announced at NAMM 2014.

RRP $299 US DOLLARS - rumoured to be around £200 GBP

Currently pre-order ONLY - US stockist - and released around mid-March 2014 (March 15 according to one web store!)

Type	USB 2.0
Converter	24-bit, internal clock
Sample Rates	Up to 96 kHz *Rumoured to be upgradeble via FIRMWARE to 192kHz near to launch !
Connections	2 x XLR/TRS combo Input (front) 6 x XLR/TRS combo Input (rear) 2 x 1/4" TRS main Out 8 x 1/4" TRS Out 2 x 1/4" TRS headphone 2 x RCA coaxial S/PDIF I/O 2 x TOSLink ADAT I/O (switchable to S/PDIF) 2 x 5-pin DIN MIDI I/O 1 x USB Type B
Dimensions	19" 1U rackmount

>> FULL POST - CLICK HERE <<