kingston project "SUPER CHUNK"

[johnnyb]

hello vint axe forum,
this is the current project im working on these days. its going a bit slower than id like due to lack of time, but its going little by little. its an old 60's era kingston. once again i dont know what year or model it is, so if anyone knows, please fill me in. i affectionately refer to this one as "SUPER CHUNK". because that is what it is. it has the fattest neck ive ever put in my hands, and it just gets fatter as it goes up the neck. ive also selected the biggest frets i could find to slap on this sucker. giving it the "super" part.

as you can see, uhhh, yeah. can i still get my money back?


here you can see the hollowed out plywood boat. my plan is to fill in most of it and re-rout for the pickups. it will give it more weight and hopefully more tone.


the neck was totally flat, which i cant stand, so i gave it 12" radius like a lot of ibanez guitars use.



and last is my photoshop rendition of what it will probably end up looking like. but is always subject to change. im pretty sure that the sparkle red paint i have isnt as large of a flake as depicted here. but it will have all new electronics, 3 pups instead of 2, a white pickguard, new bridge and a teisco style vibrato. ill probably swap out the metal bridge pieces for bone and install a bone nut as well.


johnnyb

[Spud1950]

As with your other great projects, I'm looking forward to seeing how this one progresses!

[VintAxe]

Well, that is most definitely a "swimming pool" rout, in fact I'd say it's close to an Olympic sized pool

Please keep us posted on your progress. I'll try to figure out the model of the instrument shortly.

[johnnyb]

plugged up the gaping hole. now im marking where to rout for the pickups, i want them to be in there pretty tight. the block doubled the weight of the guitar and it feels good and solid. im also making sure everything is going to fit right. i need to fill a few more holes and sand the neck, to give it a bit of an angle, before i start finishing the body.




i like this photo because it shows the nice grain of the fretboard that wad hiding under all that grime.

[johnnyb]

everything filled in, routs cut, filler and first coat of sand and sealer. nitro lacquer is a pain in the butt, the prep can get a bit involved. the sanding.....uuuhh...the sanding. but its worth it, much nicer than poly.

frets in, still sniping ends.


ready for the next step. wait your turn...



this little thing is going to be really cool. its getting heavier and it full of chrome sticking out all over the place.

[johnnyb]

primed and ready for paint.



quick test to see if i like a black or white base. im not sure yet.

[Spud1950]

Yes sir,shaping up very nicely. It's going to be a beauty!

[johnnyb]

thanks spud, im pretty excited about this one. ive been pretty sick lately so i have been able to put a little time into this project. here is how i make a pickguard:

make an outline on mdf of the pickguard. i had the old one so this was easy. if you dont, make a template out of stiff paper and transfer that to the board. you can also mark the screw holes by poking through the paper with toothpicks. that way you dont need to make new ones. this one i dont care.



straighten up any bad spots.


cut a piece of pickguard material larger than the cutout and use double sided tape to stick it on.



use a straight bit with bearing on top for first cut. go slow.



then use a bevel bit and gradually raise until its where you want it. do a test on scrap if you need to.




another template for holes.


ta-da. holes ar made a bit small and will be straightened out by hand.



admire your work.

[Spud1950]

[johnnyb]

thanks spud, i shouldnt have procrastinated on getting the flu shot. at least i dont need to get it now..... . but, i think i might leave the neck on this one natural wood. im going to put a water slide kingston logo on there above the big chrome t-rod cover and thats about it. right now its drying and waiting for a 1000 grit wet sand before the last coat of clear. i also just finished the frets. thats a pain in the ass too, but soooo worth it. nothing like a set of brand new, level frets.

[johnnyb]

still pluggin away at this one. one last mockup before the final push. so far so good. the neck pocket is super tight now, it holds in without screws. im putting in a 6 way rotary for the pickups. i have the slider switches, but in that position they cause many problems when you have a heavy right hand. they flip on and off all the time. it will be set up like a 5 way strat switch but the 2nd position next to the neck pup it will be neck+bridge like a tele. i use those the most so ill put them next to each other. well here is my saturday night, cooking some pickups.



the mockup, the light in my basement blows. but its snowing like crazy outside so thats out. ill get better pics when its all done. and maybe an mp3 or 2.



the headstock. once again, bad pic. i contemplated about the logo on it, but the wife liked it so i went with it.

[Spud1950]

Looking great,as usual. I'm interested to know how well those trems work compared to a Bigsby. I would like to use one for a project and Guitar Fetish sells them for only $21.95. Beat's the heck out of paying for a Bigsby and I think they look way cooler! Also, how do you string them up? I assume you put the plain end of the string through the hole and then out under the bottom edge,correct?





Please do post an mp3!

[johnnyb]

spud,
these trems are great. this will be the 4th guitar ive put one on. its pretty much all ill use. they dont "dive bomb" but i dont do that anymore anyways. they can use a little tweaking when you get them. the high e string hole usually gets buffed out to get rid of any sharp edges. it can cause the string to break. the joint needs to be lubed to make it operate smoothly. but once its set up they stay in tune extremely well and rarely break strings. compared to bigsby? well you save $100. bigsbys look cooler though. to string it just go through the back, can be a bit hard to do, the only drawback of these. you cant do a quick restring while playing, you need a backup guitar.

here is yesterdays progress: a bit of shielding.

[johnnyb]

well shes all done!! i had the chance to play her at my weekly jam last night. its a pretty short scale (23 3/4") so it was a bit difficult at first. the muscle memory in my fingers caused me to keep overshooting and miss fretting notes. its got great balance and weighs in at 8.2 lbs. i eventually settled in with the size and had a blast with this thing. the extra work with the pickups really paid off. she is VERY responsive and has absolutely zero humm or feedback. the pickups have dramatically different tones when going through the 6 combinations. im VERY pleased with this one. definately a highly polished turd. but id stack it up against any pro manufactured guitar out there. it will also be fantastic in a studio setting.

[cheepaxes]

Simply gorgeous. :)

-Scott