This is how any DASUT guitar begins its't journey:
- have fun, you'll do the most horrible things to a guitar, using methods that will make people cringe
- buy the cheapest new or second-hand guitar you can find (in this particular case, it's a Harley Benton SC-200 BK Student Series guitar)
- "single cut" style guitar, 22 frets, 24.75 inch scale, fixed bridge
- bolt-on neck (it's easier to do scalloping if you remove it from the body)
- remove all hardware
- cut & sand the body and neck using whatever tools you have on hand
- scallop the neck
- repaint with whatever horrible colour is available in you local store, using the most innapropiate technique for a guitar
- reassemble the guitar using second-hand pickups and better tuners
- test the sound
- if you like the sound > all is OK
- if you do not like the sound - change electronics
Tips for disassembly
- make sure you do not lose any bits, you won't find replacements easily
- each part has its own size of wood screws - separate each screw size and keep them organized
- take photos before each part is removed
Fret work
- I usually do fret work on every guitar I own, I like to setup my guitars to suit my playing style
- this particular guitar was bought new and had a very good fretboard, all frets leveled and polished (it wasn't really a need to do this, but for second-hand guitars, it is a must)
- you can find a lot of videos on how to do this this, just search for "guitar fret work", "how to level frets", "fret crowning", "fret dressing"
Preparations for "the cut" - basically, this is where the fun begins
- use masking tape to cover all areas you will cut
- use a marker to draw the cuts, you do not need to be precise
- locate the cuts on both sides of the guitar, make sure you do not cut into the electronics cavity
Cutting & sanding
- cutting at an angle to the grain is difficult, please make sure you don't "dig" into the wood too much (I've almost made that mistake here, I had to sand it a lot more to level it)
- use 60 > 120 > 300 grit sandpaper to smooth out the surfaces
Wood filler
- use whatever type of wood-filler you can find
- apply it as a very thin layer and let it dry
- sand everything using 120 > 300 grit sandpaper
Stand back and admire your work!
- congratulations! - you've just completely ruined a perfectly good guitar
- in preparations for paint, sand all surfaces with 300 grit sandpaper
- clean all surfaces
Scallop the fretboard
- I like to play on scalloped necks - so much so, I simply can't play on a guitar that doesn't have a scalloped neck
- I also like an "uneven" scallop - it is flat at the thicker strings and goes deeper into the fretboard towards the thinner strings
- if you like to feel the fretboard under your fingertips, skip this and let it be
- if you would like to experiment with a scallped neck, just find a round rasp and dig in (I've modified 12 necks, the first one took me one week, the last one, about one day - take your time, be patient, don't ruin the frets in the process)
Paint
- if you are one of those guitarists that belives an instrument sound is affected by the thickness of the paint, this will make you cry
- I just used a simple roller to apply 3 layers of paint (use whatever method you like, including spray cans)
- in my case, I had to wait 12 hours between layers, to let the paint dry
- after the first layer, I've used wet 2000 grit sandpaper to smooth out the surface
Final assembly
- this is the part where you wished you kept your wood screws organized (if you dint't do it at disassembly, as advised)
- start with the neck: add the nut and tuners
- continue with the body but keep both components separate, it is much easier to work on electronics without the neck attached
- on the body, attach the components in this order:
- insert the ground wire into its location and make sure the exposed copper touches the metal of the bridge post
- use a hammer and a piece of hard wood to hammer the bridge posts into the body of the guitar (do not strike the bridge posts directly with the hammer)
- add the neck pickup
- add the bridge pickup
- solder all conections
- mount the pots - in my case I've also added markers for pots position
- mount the neck
- add strings & complete the guitar setup: neck ajustments via trussrod, string action, tuning & intonation, etc...
- test the guitar
Congratulations, your work is done!
- or, in my case, I didn't like the sound I was getting
- I've changed the capacitor on the tone pot with one at half its original value
- the capacitor change was not enough, so I've decided to change the pickups
Change the pickups
- make sure you do not scratch the surface when you remove the old pickups (like I did)
- insert the new pickups and solder everything again
- test the guitar
Now I'm happy, the different pickups gave me exactly the sound I was looking for!
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