Fixing wrong sized pick up cavity on crap kit guitar

thecolourbox

My lovely girlfriend (under my guidance I'm sorry to say) bought me an SG guitar kit for my birthday past year and it's fair to say I've cocked it up right the way through. However nothing that couldn't be stripped back and fixed, and I've learnt a lot.

However the stupid fools that made it have made the bridge pick up cavity about a third to a half of a centimetre too small for the pickup to fit in when you screw the pickguard in, so when I put it in the guard was on a squiff and in the process I've ruined my paint job.

The manufacturer is called Stretton Payne and the shop was Rockstar Academy http://www.rockstaracademy.co.uk/electric-guitar-sg---diy-kit---build-your-own-guitar-165-p.asp and they've not even bothered to reply to my emails which suggests they know their product is shit. Avoid them like the plague. EDIT: They have since proven themselves to be helpful in generously sending me a new body, so credit to them for resolving

Anyway, apart from advertising in the classifieds asking if anybody happens to have a stripped SG body, I was wondering how I can fix the pickup cavity problem. It's the scree on the side of the pickup that's causing the problem. Can it be done?

I've bought a wudtone finishing kit thing now so would like to get this one stripped back again and sorted but can't help feeling the pile of junk can't be worked into anything any good.

The girlfriend doesn't know I'm having trouble with it, if is bought it myself I'd Chuck it in the garden rubbish and just get a decent one. But in tied now to finishing it.

Thanks

TTony

Can you post a pic of the problem area - be easier to understand the problem and suggest the easiest fix.

And it is bound to be fixable.

thecolourbox

Not sure what to show you but heres a picture of the hole that isn't big enough

http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a639/matthew_goodwin1/Mobile Uploads/IMG_20160118_204416_zpshgdgglem.jpg

And the pick guard on the wonk:
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a639/matthew_goodwin1/Mobile Uploads/IMG_20160118_204353_zpsr6igdpny.jpg

thecolourbox

You can kind of see the marks on the left hand side of the hole in the first picture where I've tried to smack the screw in place

TTony

thecolourbox said:

I've tried to smack the screw in place

Normally works ...

But all you need to do is enlarge the cavity a little bit.  I'm guessing that you've not got a router to hand, so a chisel will do the job just fine.

thecolourbox

The other option is I talk nicely to @Wezv and ask him to strip down his Danelectro dc59 for me to buy that off him when I take my other kit up to him to make for me, and finish that in the nice wudtone stuff. It looks roughly close enough to an sg body for the good Lady not to notice and I'd get a nice guitar too

thecolourbox

TTony;939466" said:

thecolourbox said:

I've tried to smack the screw in place





Normally works ...

But all you need to do is enlarge the cavity a little bit.  I'm guessing that you've not got a router to hand, so a chisel will do the job just fine.

That's the problem I don't really have these tools, and the amount I've spent on it plus the time waste on it this far I may as week have bought an Epiphone and beaten it up a bit

TTony

Take the SG body with you when you pay your visit, and he'll maybe help you sort it.  It's a 5min job.  Then you can finish that kit.

Wudtone tends to work best of completely bare wood.  If you're going to apply it on a body that's already had a finish applied, you'll have to make sure that you clean off every last trace of that previous finish - even invisible traces that you can't see, but have been absorbed into the wood.

thecolourbox

Yeah true re wudtone, that's why I'd like to just dump it to be honest as I also suspect it is too cold in my garage to leave it stripping and the varnish drying. I have pretty low hopes for the rest of the guitar to be honest, not tried the neck, tuners, bridge nor electrics so I suspect they are just as shitty.

Hence my thought of secretly replacing it so I'm stuck with a nice guitar not a crap one

thecolourbox

TTony said:

Wudtone tends to work best of completely bare wood.  If you're going to apply it on a body that's already had a finish applied, you'll have to make sure that you clean off every last trace of that previous finish - even invisible traces that you can't see, but have been absorbed into the wood.

Thinking about it, I couldn't strip it all properly before on the 5 other occasions I've had to strip it, so really this is a wasted point isn't it

ICBM

The other solution is to intentionally relic the guitar in other places... Don't overdo it - as almost everyone does! - just enough to make it not completely obvious the damage round the guard is the only bit. It could look pretty cool actually.

thecolourbox

I'm sure it could but I don't want one that looks like that

WezV

I doubt the dano will work with wudtone since its not solid wood. Although that's normally the point Andy turns up to tell me wudtone works on everything so it is worth checking with him I he thinks it will work on hardboard before considering that.

I am happy to take a look at the SG for you

thecolourbox

Thanks @wezv, good point re Wudtone, and thank you for the kind offer to help me with the SG

Thankfully though my little paddy attack seems to have paid off, I have finally got the shop to respond today and they have (unexpectedly) offered to send me a completely new body, that they have checked fits perfectly which is a bonus. Now I will only have to sand the thing down rather than having to strip the old one, in order to apply the Wudtone stuff.

Credit to them for finally responding, I shall hopefully now be in a much better position to finish it, which is of course the best outcome.

Apologies for my little strop guys

impmann

Result. :-)

thecolourbox

And now the replacement body doesn't fit either, got one of the bridge bolt things in but the other is not going in, have been trying with a metal bodger thing to make the hole bigger through the pick guard but the bolt is just sitting there how ever hard I smack it and I can just pick it up out the hole

http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a639/matthew_goodwin1/Mobile Uploads/IMG_20160206_215932_zpsmg7ihpav.jpg

Any ideas how I can do it?

ICBM

Ream out the hole in the pickguard quite a lot larger so it clears the insert - it doesn't need to be a tight fit.

You should be fitting the insert with the pickguard off anyway - if you don't and the insert has a rim, you'll never get the guard off if you need to.

More science, less violence... as my dad would say .

thecolourbox

Thanks, a reamer is what I meant by a bodger lol I put the guard on first as that's what the instructions told me to do but also the bolt didn't fit through the hole. However as the other bolt is successfully in place now I'm pretty stuck with the guard in place aren't I

Shall I just get one of those cheap Gibson SG ones in guitar guitar and pretend to the missus its the same thing?

ICBM

thecolourbox said:

However as the other bolt is successfully in place now I'm pretty stuck with the guard in place aren't I

Oh. That could be tricky…

Stupid instructions - that's definitely the wrong way to do it even if both of them had fitted. How tight was it into the wood? Could you get it out again (without breaking the pickguard) by sliding something like a knife blade under the guard?

If not you may have to get more creative. Pulling the insert out is possible even if it's very tight using the bridge post (if you don't have a suitable bolt of the right thread handy), a crowbar or claw hammer, and a piece of wood to protect the body - be very careful and go slowly.

thecolourbox said:

Shall I just get one of those cheap Gibson SG ones in guitar guitar and pretend to the missus its the same thing?

That would work .

thecolourbox

You Sir are a genius

http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a639/matthew_goodwin1/Mobile Uploads/IMG_20160206_230428_zpsp2vhesjg.jpg

I've managed to get it out and do it the easy you say, much better than the instructions. I'm thinking of sending them an annotated got of the manual when I've finished it correcting all of their errors as there have been a fair few instances of them being wrong!

Those Gibsons will have to wait....

Andyjr1515

That's looking good @thecolourbox . It can be a very frustrating business, building and modding guitars, but you are learning the tips and tricks at every step. And there's nothing quite like playing one you've built yourself