What you see here is the result of just two days work... breaking all the "rules and traditions" (ie. no rule of threes, no wetsanding between coats, no waiting period between colors, no grainfill (which is very obvious without the clearcoat).
Here is the aftermarket CBS head B&D neck from Flexguitars.com in Singapore. They are easy to deal with and ship quickly, its not a scam. The neck is said to MIJ and carries the same part # configuration as Allparts necks (also MIJ). When I ordered, it was displayed as STR65B but now, only a few weeks later, its advertised as NSTR65B... and the pics look finished. If the numbering scheme is indeed the same as Allparts, the N would stand for nitro. I wish I had waited! Anyway, it appears to be of reasonable quality and I'm happy with it.
I'll let the pics do the talking:
I got started on the neck right away:
Then turned my attention to the body. As I want this project to look realistic, I had to do something about the Allparts stamp. I decided to fill it.
(Note the crappy neck pocket, not a big deal to fix but disappointing):
One coat:
Then two:
I wasnt sure how the filler would take the yellow dye, more on that later. Other pics of the body:
I have mixed feelings on the body. It was made in USA, but there was alot of fuzz from the router left over and the neck pocket shape needed alot of filing and sanding to be correct at the lower edge. The good news is... the bridge pickup route lines up with the pickguard UNLIKE a previous Allparts body I had. The other body was ash, this one is alder. I dont know if that was the difference, or if they've switched vendors. At any rate, the ash body with incorrect routing did NOT have Made in USA stamped on it like this one does.
I put some grain filler only on two knots:
Paint. This is ReRanch Coral. It doesn't look like Coral to me. It looks like Fiesta Red. Their Fiesta looks way too dark for my eyes. This looks more like the FR that I've known and loved. I'm glad it went with it. Another thing to note, it doesn't shine like most nitro I've used. It will definitely HAVE to be clearcoated. Even though I'm building a well-worn '65, I want to start out with a decent job. So what you see here is NOT yet clearcoated. I'm going to try to keep my mitts off it for a week or so and let it cure.
Tinting the neck. I taped off the heel for two reasons, one.. so it looks untinted where it sits in the body and two.. so I can put it in the vise and paint all sides.
While that was drying, I sanded the body and put it in a tub of yellow dye:
The neck pocket came out OK. Anyway, half of it will be painted over.
A few markings for historical sake, including the infamous "screwdriver mark"...
And the stick...
Finally the primer:
And finally the Coral... er, I mean Fiesta:
I like the look of the neck pocket:
And I couldn't resist a few neck-on shots this morning:
Other parts on hand include a silkscreen logo, AVRI Gotoh tuners, pickup covers, repro bridge cover with bent ends and rusty, vintage bridge, string tree, switch, and strap buttons, a piece of brass shielding, NOS witch hats, TUSQ nut, and bridge cups. I also want a white guard I can age myself (dont like the RI mint green), the rest of the shielding, and some quality new pickups and pots.
Not bad for two days of work. I can get alot done when I call in sick to work!
Stay tuned!
