Building a kit guitar

[Citroënbender]

You don't need to hit the knurled inserts in - do you have a drill press?

Set the body on a soft cloth, on the press table, and wind the chuck fully open. Use a small "pad" of hardwood between the chuck and insert as you turn the handwheel and bring the (non-turning) chuck down directly above it.

Where did you run the earth wire - to the bridge studs or tailpiece bracket?

Good to see a less ordinary guitar build, especially coming to fruition.

[Captain Stubing]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

You don't need to hit the knurled inserts in - do you have a drill press?

Set the body on a soft cloth, on the press table, and wind the chuck fully open. Use a small "pad" of hardwood between the chuck and insert as you turn the handwheel and bring the (non-turning) chuck down directly above it.

Where did you run the earth wire - to the bridge studs or tailpiece bracket?

Good to see a less ordinary guitar build, especially coming to fruition.

Good tip about the drill press, the body wouldn't have fit in the frame of the hydraulic press though

I ran the earth to one of the bridge studs, and was very careful. On my last build, the earth didn't stay in place, so I ran it to the tailpiece instead. Both work well, though.

I had my sons visit this morning, and one of them has taken up axe-wielding, and tried it out. He started falling in love with it. I played with the bridge height settings today, and wore out my fingertips, thoroughly enjoyed it!

This was my last build, with the unseen tailpiece earth

[Citroënbender]

That one looks fun, like a White Falcon dallied with a 6120.

[Captain Stubing]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

That one looks fun, like a White Falcon dallied with a 6120.

Pretty much, it was adapted from the Gretsch design. I fitted that one with a magnetic brace in the body, to attach a Tonewood amp to the back https://www.tonewoodamp.com/. It makes acoustic playing SOOOO MUCH more fun! Being a full sized hollow body, I can introduce reverb, delay, chorus, and a few more effects without using an amplifier.

[Citroënbender]

Have you been tempted by any pickups like the T-Armonds? That sort of thing is right up on my wish list. Really like the dynamic range of the originals, got that early twang like Duane Eddy or Chet Atkins, even George Harrison’s Duo-Jet stood out tonally.

[Captain Stubing]

Originally Posted by Citroënbender

Have you been tempted by any pickups like the T-Armonds? That sort of thing is right up on my wish list. Really like the dynamic range of the originals, got that early twang like Duane Eddy or Chet Atkins, even George Harrison’s Duo-Jet stood out tonally.

The pickups in the red beast are nothing fancy, I don't get the chance to plug it in very often, but I've heard of these from a mate who plays in a rockabilly band. I'd also like to try out the P90.

[Citroënbender]

They’re alright IMO but quite removed from the DeArmond sound. You wouldn’t feel you simply doubled up if you had both.

Heaps of fat bobbin single coils to try; toaster-tops, DeArmonds, P90, Jazzmaster, even the loosely wound early Höfner single coils. Many of these require narrow string spacing, though.