Saga PRS Guitar Kit

Here is the finished guitar (outside in January -- I love San Diego).




This was a very rewarding project. I learned a lot that I couldn't have learned by just reading about it. The guitar doesn't play like an expensive guitar, but it was certainly worth my time. Besides, it'll make a nice conversation piece hanging over my fireplace.

For those of you following this project from the start you may have noticed a lack of updates for the past couple of months. After finishing the project my enthusiasm to update this page waned. It wasn't until I got an enthusiastic e-mail from a guy named Paul who was just about to start the same kit that I finally got it in gear and finished this page. Thanks, Paul.

This project is finished. Now I'm searching for another...

No more painting! No more sanding! No more waiting for things to dry! Smooth sailing from here! Yeah, right.

Bolting on the neck seems like a trivial task. Technically, it should be. Either the wood had swelled or the finish inside the neck pocket built up too much. In either case this was not an exercise in finesse. In hind sight I should have sanded down the sides of the neck pocket until the neck went in snugly, but easily. As it was I pretty much jammed it in there and used to neck screws to snug it down. I'm lucky I didn't break anything. I really wanted a black neck plate but I couldn't find one before I decided to mount the neck. Now it's never coming off! Notice the reflection of the light reveals an uneven surface. This is what happens when you don't use enough sanding sealer.



Well, at least the big stuff is done. Now I'll just hook up some wires and start playing! As if.

It turns out that the pockets for the pickups don't fit the pickups (why didn't I test this earlier?). The neck pickup fit particularly poorly but there was little I could do about that one. I just use a rat tail file to open up the corners of the pockets a bit and managed to get the pickups in. This would have been a lot easier before the body was finished.



My enthusiasm still intact I installed the bridge and tuners. Remarkably, this went extremely smoothly despite the fact that installing the studs for the bridge required using a hammer (I wasn't forcing it, that's just the way you do it!). I test-fit the tuners and marked where to drill pilot holes for the set screws. At first I tried it without the holes but those tiny screws are difficult to get into that very hard wood.



Installing the rest of the wiring and various bits and pieces was trivial. There were two screws missing for the back cover, but it fit snugly enough to not worry about it. However, I did notice that the holes didn't line up correctly -- something else I should have fixed earlier. After that I put on the strings, tuned it up and started to jam...

Hindsight:

• Test fit everything first. Trimming the neck and pickup pockets would have been easier if I didn't have to worry about the finish.
• Be very careful when installing hardware. One slip of a screwdriver can gouge that beautiful finish (not mine fortunately).
• Don't be stingy with the sanding sealer. Not only will it look better at this point but it'll minimize the chance of sanding through.

Ok, the spraying is done. I used three cans of gloss clear coat and a bit of satin clear coat for the back of the headstock. Now it's time for the final sanding (Ugh).

I soaked several grits of wet sandpaper in water for several hours. The idea is to spend as much time as possible with the coarse grits to save time with the finer grits. However, I went the cautious route and spent most of my time (and effort) with the finer grits. At first the finish became cloudy but the finer grades started to bring out the shine. I rinsed the paper often and tried to keep the water out of the unpainted holes where it could swell the wood and crack the finish.



Rubbing out is just the insiders way of saying polishing. As per the suggestions at the Guitar ReRanch I used 3M Finesse-It II for rubbing out. It recommends using a machine, but Mark Power would have to do. Now I'll be able to see if all of this effort has paid off.



After another half hour or so of rubbing (my arms were aching at this point) the body and headstock were shining like a mirror. I know it just looks like an orange guitar in the pictures but they can't convey the subtlety of the way the light plays with the grain. There is even more depth and glow than I had expected.



Tips:

• Take your time. Rushing here would only mess up weeks of work.
• Sanding is just to get the finish ready for polishing -- don't worry about shine until the last step.
• Be wary of sanding the edges! Even very fine grits can get through all those clear coats (trust me).

This step is easy: Spray on a whole bunch of clear lacquer and BAM! you've got a beautiful guitar. Ok, perhaps it's not that simple. To prove this fact I launched a few large droplets of clear coat onto the face of the body to mar an otherwise beautiful finish. This happened after I'd already applied a couple of coats of clear so it's not as bad as it could have been. I let it dry overnight because I knew there was only one way to fix it and I wasn't looking forward to it.



The only way to fix this involved my arch-nemesis: sanding. I used a finer grade of sandpaper than I'd used in the sanding sealer fiasco. I wrapped it around a 9-volt battery and *gently* sanded the area around the droplets. For good measure (and to tempt the Fates) I decided to scuff sand the entire body.



The sanding went much better than it had before but I did manage once again to sand off a bit of color. This time it shows as a yellow spot on the face of the guitar. I used my full-strength dye mixture to patch the spot. You may have trouble seeing the flaw in the small picture but it jumps out to my eye. By the way, I really should be wearing gloves here...



The patch was fairly successful. I may be the only one who still thinks it's flawed. The first few coats I added were very thin. I've started slowing down my spray passes to build the thickness. After a few coats of clear the finish is really looking good!



Things to remember:

• I can't sand over color to save my life. Avoid this at all cost on future projects.
• Using a finer grade of sand paper was a good idea.
• Add clear coat in slow, smooth motions. Not enough lacquer builds up with fast passes.

One day while inspecting the headstock I noticed that the pre-drilled holes for the truss rod cover were not centered. This will not do! I applied some wood filler and let it dry for a few hours.



In the mean time I masked off the face of the headstock and sealed the edges with a couple coats of clear. Since I'm only dying the front of the headstock I wanted to make sure it would be easy to scrape off any dye that got onto the sides.



After the clear coat dried overnight I removed the masking, drilled the new holes for the truss rod cover (rather poorly I might add) and masked the edges in preparation for the dye.



I layered the yellow and orange dye in the same manner as I had for the body. After it dried I removing the masking and scraped the edges with an X-Acto knife to keep them nice and clean. Since the headstock is made of different wood than the body the color is slightly different. It looks bland to me, but I'm sure it'll work after the clear coats and all the black hardware is installed.



In the same weekend the lengthy task of clear coating began. Since I get home too late to work in the evenings this is turning into a three weekend task. Also, not to let any job be too simple I've decided to use clear gloss on the face and clear satin on the back and sides.



Lessons:

• Wood filler is softer than wood so be careful drilling on seams of filler and wood.
• Make sure to sand off the sealer all the way to the nut. I left a little and it shows when dyeing.

I needed a way to hold the guitar while spraying the sealer. My Stack-O-Wood wouldn't work here since I would be spraying all sides at once. After a quick trip to Home Depot I fashioned a handle from some PVC and a couple of screws. Following the walkthrough I added a shim under the handle to allow the sealer to get into the neck cavity.



The spraying was pretty uneventful. Two coats per day for two days. I soaked the tip of the spray can in lacquer thinner between coats to keep it flowing smoothly.



I sanded down the body by wrapping 220 grit sandpaper around a 9 volt battery. Unfortunately I was a bit overzealous and sanded through the paint in several places. Gah! This is how wisdom is earned.



I thinned out the orange dye I'd used for the body and used a cotton swab to repair the damage. This worked well in some places and not so well in others. Notice I'm wearing gloves -- I'm also wearing goggles.



Wisdom earned:

• Get a portable workbench. Seriously.
  
• The handle works well (and 10 ft of 3/4" PVC only costs $1).
  
• Check the sandpaper for signs of color. Often. Extra minutes spent here will save you hours later.
  
• Roll the cotton swab, don't rub. The dye contains thinner which is very effective for removing dye.
  
• Layered dyes don't patch well when sanded through. Grrr.

A nice feature of the Saga kit is that the headstock comes as a simple paddle giving me the opportunity to customize it. I cut out a cardboard template and cut out a few designs. After much deliberation I decided on one and traced the pattern onto the headstock.



After a futile attempt to file down the wood I cut off the majority with a small hand saw. Filing down the shape from there was much easier. I carefully filed the bevel onto one side of the pattern per my drawing. The blue tape is to prevent the non-beveled side from getting marred.



The file pulled off a few small chips which I filled with wood putty.



I'm pretty pleased with the results. I'll be dyeing the face of the headstock to match the body leaving the edges (including the bevel) natural like the cutouts in the body. Oh good. More masking.



Notes to self:

• Cardboard template was a good idea.
• Get a portable workbench and a vice.
• Sawing is faster than filing.
• Slow down that filing mister! Chips can be avoided.

The body of the guitar is basswood. I considered just painting it black but in the end (because I didn't have any black paint) decided to use the same layering technique I had on the front. I wouldn't use a pre-dye though.

After one aborted attempt at masking off the top I started over using a paper cut out to cover the top first. Masking is more important this time since it has to protect the color on the top. I masked the top and the natural binding. This was a lot more work than making the sides.



After setting up my paint booth again (a week has past and I wasn't going to keep parking in the driveway) I was ready to dye again. This time I set up a variant of the Stack-O-Wood called the Pile-O-Wood specifically engineered for painting the sides of the body.



Here is the body in the early stages of dyeing and after it's done. I waited a minimum of five minutes between coats. Even though I used a lot of yellow the basswood dyed darker than the maple. It was hard to compare the colors since the top was masked off.



Peeling off the masking revealed a beautifully contrasting natural binding. And in a time-consuming but entertaining effort I got the entire masking off in one piece.



I applied my engineering background to construct a drying mechanism from available furniture and a wire coat hanger.



Here is the final color on the body. This is turning out so well I'm already starting to think of my next project...



Here are some time consuming lessons I'll keep in mind.

• Don't build a wall of masking tape around the sides of the body then try to fill it in. Just make a paper cut out of the top and tape it down.
• Do not spray in upward strokes. This causes droplets to splatter on the newly dyed surface. Lightly rubbing with a rag slightly damp with lacquer thinner blended in the drops. Act fast though, it evaporates quickly.
• I should have marked the bottom of the binding before masking the natural binding. I over masked the binding making it slightly larger and allowing some dye to bleed onto bare wood. Lots of extra scraping and the line isn't as sharp.
• Wait until the dye is really dry before wiping off the tape residue with Naphtha. Otherwise it will cause the dye to bleed and smudge an otherwise sharp natural binding. More scraping.

PRS uses alcohol soluble wood dyes, so I did too. The forums suggested that lacquer thinner could be used in place of alcohol so I did that to avoid yet another purchase. I picked up a couple of disposable Preval spray units from Home Depot. I cleaned out a couple of glass jars (salsa and Snapple) to hold the mixed dyes and fashioned a funnel from a soda bottle.



I masked off the sides of the body completely including the natural binding leaving nothing but the top exposed. I built a new, standing paint boot from some cinder blocks and plywood. Those lessons are already paying off. I have a patent pending on the device used to support the body of the guitar which I like to call the Stack-O-Wood.



In order to enhance the grain of the maple top to give it a deeper look I decided to pre-dye using dark orange. The idea is to get a dark color into the grain of the wood (hence the need to strip off the sealer) then sand back to the bare wood leaving the color in the grain. From there I figure I'll finish it off with yellow for a sort of zebra-stripe look. After many coats of dye I had a decidedly orange guitar.



I let it dry overnight and began to sand back the color. I started to go for a sunburst type finish sanding more in the middle and less toward the edges. This didn't look like a sunburst fade so much as a half-sanded guitar body. From there I decided just to sand the whole thing.



It would seem that the grain didn't get all that much color. I feared that would happen since there is probably still plenty of sealer in the grain. Oh well, so much for my zebra-stripe finish. Another lesson learned.

Back to the paint booth, this time armed with both yellow and orange. Since not much orange remained after the pre-dye I figured I'd just layer yellow and orange and see what happens. It was difficult to see the color in my garage so I kept taking it outside until I liked the results.



After it dried I removed the masking tape to find some minor bleeding onto the natural binding. Good thing it's protected by the clear coat! I used an X-Acto knife to scrape away the extra color.



According to the Guitar ReRanch the dye would appear blotchy and dull until the clear coats are added. So far the finish is pretty vibrant. I can't wait to see it with clear coats!

The lessons learned this time aren't just from mistakes.

• Sanding off Saga sealer doesn't get it out of the grain.
• Layering dyes seems to make a nice iridescent finish.
• Including the beveled cut outs in the natural binding was a good idea!