JGTay

Hand built by robots for robots for Def Robot... The Def Robot Flying V Specs Sapele Neck though with Ash wings and a Panga Panga fretboard with a 10" radius, medium jumbo stainless steel frets and a Tusq XL Nut. 24 frets 646mm scale. Gotoh 510UB-C Wrap Around bridge Gotoh SG381-07 Machine Heads Seymour Duncan Distortion Mayhem neck and bridge set, with separate volume pots for each and a single tone pot with an orange drop cap. Stained with Crimson Guitars Black Stunning stain shots and finished in clear nitro Build thread -

Managed to get on with the wiring this morning. No issues with the soldering iron, everything now in place... not as tidy as some I have seen on here, but good enough. Next up was the machine heads. And then onto the stringing up. Made some adjustments to the nut and bridge, the action is really good. Nut glued in place and then it was plug in and test... it works, very nice sound. Those Seymour Duncan Distortion Mayhem pickups are really nice. Couple of pics with everything in place. And then onto some glamour shots... not got the weather for the outdoor pics, so had to do some indoor shots. Extremely pleased with the finished article, has been a really good project. Just waiting for it to be collected now, possibly this weekend.

Drill bits arrived late morning, so drilled for the bridge posts and then got on with putting in the shielding and the it was in with the pots and jack. Next up was the wiring, got the ground in first and then did the tone pot. Was just on with the neck pickup wiring, when my soldering iron decided to die.... Have been to my parents house and 'half inched' my dad's soldering iron, will finish the wiring in the morning. Bridge, pickups, pots and jack all in place.

While waiting for the drill bits required for the next stages I decided to make the hole for the 3 way switch the correct size. Drilled a block of wood with the correct size hole and lined it up over the top of the switch hole then drilled through 3 way switch in place, lots of dust still to clean up. Tested with the other hardware to see how it looks. Neck position... Bridge position... And central Hopefully can get the wiring done this week, so long as the drill bits arrive soon...

Cleaned up the fretboard last night and managed to get a coat of Danish oil on it. Took a pic first thing this morning before the next stage. Masked off the frets... Level, crown and buff done. First time on stainless frets, a bit more work but should be worth it. Also put the Tusq nut in place ready for the next bit, not glued in place yet as it may need some adjustment. Then it was measuring time, marked out the centre line and then triple checked my marking out before drilling pilot holes for the posts. Just waiting on the 11.3mm drill bit to arrive now... hopefully in the next day or so.

Thanks Scott, hadn't heard of DR strings before, so checked them out. They seem to get good reviews

Many thanks Andy. Really pleased with how it is looking. Here's a pic for @ScottR as promised

Whilst waiting for the neck to cure from oiling, I did some sanding on the body and gave it a bit of a buff. I have left the pores showing on the back as I like the effect it gives. Sorry @ScottR no trees yet, was going to try and get some on the front, but it clouded over and I lost the light hopefully these clouds on the back make up for it... The front is a lot smoother... Will probably do a bit more yet as it isn't totally smooth in some areas Next job though will be tidying the fretboard and then a coat of oil so I can get started on the frets.

I thought that as well, but it could be due to the extra tension due to the additional strings.

A couple of updates from today. Did a bit of tidy up on the headstock and tested the truss rod cover in place. Still a few marks near the nut that need tidying up. Also sanded the body back and tidied it up, the logo looks a lot better and is totally level with the body. Still needs going over with a rubbing compound and final polish. Very happy with how it is looking with the hardware. Still working on the neck, so haven't oiled the fretboard yet. Getting closer though...

Congrats on the GOTM Scott. Was a great month, all very good builds.

Excellent, thanks for that Scott. Very helpful. Have cleaned up the edge of the fretboard today, taped off the fretboard again, restained the neck and done a flood coat on the neck. Will get another coat on the neck later tonight and a few more tomorrow. Hopefully can do a quick coat on the fretboard Monday.

As mentioned, in between doing the clear coats I made a truss rod cover and put a few coats of clear on it. I uncovered the neck and fret board, todays job was to do the side dots. Needed the neck to stay level while the glue dried, so using my stand for painting/staining guitar bodies I screwed on a block the same size as the pickup cavity and then clamped it in place. With a block of MDF on the back to keep it from marking the body. Easy access to the neck Will need a good clean up once the glue has dried and the neck will need a bit of the black stain again where I have been sanding everything level. Overall very happy with how it is looking. Needs a couple of weeks for the clear coats to cure before I can do the final sand and buff, so will concentrate on getting the neck tidied up and get a few coats of oil on there.

I am leaning towards using danish oil as Andy mentioned. Should give it a better level of protection.

I am just going off what they say on the forums that they come unfinished other than 'lemon oil' . The Ibanez info just states natural finish Panga Panga fretboard, so no help there...

I did read about that online, after I had already done the radius and sanding through the grades, luckily I was wearing a suitable mask during the process Ibanez use Panga Panga for a lot of their fretboards, and as far as I know they don't treat it, looks like they just use lemon oil before it leaves the factory. I was just unsure as it is quite an open grain so expect it will need cleaning regularly if left untreated.

Yes, it is supposedly very similar to Wengé.

Okay, thanks Andy. I may do a light application of Danish oil on it. Will make a decision tomorrow when I uncover the fretboard.

Thanks Andy. Made the truss rod cover yesterday in between doing some more coats of clear. Got a couple more coats of clear on this morning, which unless there are any issues with the final sanding should be the last coats. This afternoon I uncovered the neck and the first lot of danish oil was applied. Quick question @Andyjr1515 I think you have used Panga Panga for fretboards before, did you seal it with anything or just use lemon oil?

Thanks Norris. I had been looking online and some people mentioned it can cause white spots if it hasn't evaporated fully, but I was sure it had. The only other thing is sanding dust and I guess that there is a possibility that using a micro fibre cloth didn't get all the dust out of the pores. The good news is that a small amount of sanding with 800 grit has cleared them up, so whatever it was it hadn't gone too deep. After the 800 grit all over I decided to go up through the grades to 5000 grit with just a few passes of each and it is looking really good, the decal edges had still been slightly visible after the nitro had been drying for a few days, but they have completely gone after todays work. I will hit it again with a couple more coats of clear and then give it time to cure before final sand and buff of the body and headstock. Still need to oil the neck, but have kept it covered while sorting out the clear coats, once the next coats are applied I will remove the covering so the next stages can be done.

Totally agree, makes a huge difference and feels like good progress is being made. Looking good, liking the layout of the fretboard markers.

Good to know it isn't just me. Had sanded the previous coat and cleaned it fully before this coat, made sure all sanding dust was removed. The only thing it could be is not giving enough time for the white spirit to dry off. I will give it some time to harden before sanding again. That's the only thing with rattle cans... takes longer to cure.

A couple of close ups of the white spots...

Thanks for that, really happy with how the volute came out.

The control knobs have arrived and I am very happy with the look. They will really help finish it off. Managed to get a few good coats of clear on yesterday, went lightly at first and slowly built it up. The decal edges were still visible, but knew it would require a small amount of sanding to get it right. And so spent some this morning carefully wet sanding the decals level, took it easy and kept drying off the areas to see the progress. The headstock was first and it didn't take too long to get them level. The main logo took a while longer and I was extremely careful to make sure I didn't sand through, last thing I want is to have to redo that one... Once it was level and I was happy with the result, I cleaned it all off, dried it and wiped with a micro fibre cloth to ensure there was no sanding dust and a final wipe down with white spirit and left it to dry. Then I hit it again with a couple more coats of clear, which was looking really good, but then as it dried a small disaster... Have got a few white spots in the finish, just to the left of the pickups and a couple around the main logo. They are only small and I am hoping when I do the final sand they will go, but have never had them before so unsure if they will go. I think I may not have allowed enough time for the white spirit to fully dry off and some must have been trapped in the pores. Has anyone had this before that can offer advice?