Gibson ES-335 Kit Guitar Build

[Tom Niemi]

I mentioned earlier in a post that I am going to build a guitar kit, I've found it to be fun and challenging. The kit is a Stu Mac ES-335 and I am only using the body and neck, all else is upgraded from the kit, bit by bit have been working on this, nice kit, decent veneer, so far so good.

 

[Brent Dowell]

Woo hoo! Awesome!

 

[Tom Niemi]

I found a stain combination that I liked and made a figured maple mockup to test making it, starting with black, sanded back then, turquoise, then, YES Vaughn Purple! Love the look, but just a little over the top for me.

 

[Tom Niemi]

OK, just one more step, then I will follow up in a bit, OK I went with alcohol and Stu Mac dies, nope!!! then I used alcohol and leather die!!! YUP, Black, sanded back and only turquoise, Just what I wanted!

 

[Tom Niemi]

I have chose to keep the sides and back natural maple, just like the looks to the face more to come.

 

[glenn bradley]

Lovin' it. Just lovin' it.

 

[Jonathan Shively]

I did not know you played Tom.

 

[Tom Niemi]

I did not know you played Tom.

If that’s what you want to call it , on and off for 55 years, more off than on.

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

Looks like a great kit, and you made a great choice on the color, Tom. As much as I like purple, I've never been fond of Gibson's blueberry burst finish. I like transparent purple over figured maple, but the blue/purple combo is too much for my tastes. I also like your choice to keep the neck, back and sides natural. My latest PRS follows the same color scheme. (It's also the lightest mahogany I've ever seen.)



What pickups are you planning to install?

 

[Tom Niemi]

Vaughn, here is what I’m using.
Grover machine heads, Mojo Sound solder-less electronics, and Stumac standard humbuckers, and a bone nut. Hopefully they will sound good.
Love that PRS!

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

Those should be great pickups in a 335, Tom. I have no doubt they'll sound good. And the Mojo Sound setup should make pickup installation a lot easier. I think wiring is my least favorite part of working on guitars. I know how to do it and it's not rocket surgery, but when it's all finished it's never as neat as I'd like it to be. (And I've done enough of them over the years that I should be good at it by now, lol.) I have a set of Seymour Duncans that I want to put in the new PRS, but I keep procrastinating because it's such a pain in the butt.

 

[Tom Niemi]

Here's a few more:
Dry fit the neck and install the bridge, saddle and low and high E tuners to check for straightness and action


Looks good and straight, action on 12th fret .050, so plenty of room for adjusting, noticed that the bushings needed to be set a bit more, did that, so time to glue the neck on permanently using titebond Hide Glue.


Starting to look like a guitar now


Didn't take pictures of leveling the frets, but this is polishing them


Last for now is putting on Tru-Oil, loving it so far, 2 coats as shown, it has 9 coats now, one more to go then start assembly

 

[Jim Niemi]

Sorry I haven’t been over to see it yet. But looking forward to it.

 

[Toni Ciuraneta]

That’s something for change Tom! It is coming out really beautiful. On my to do list there is an acoustic ukulele, so maybe you are spurring me with this project.

 

[Tom Niemi]

OK, 10 coats in, Ive heard folks doing anywhere from 4 to 20 coats of Tru-Oil, I'm not sure if I should go further, since I have time, maybe a few coats more, looking deeper with every coat, slight cast of green as Tru-oil has a amber cast to it, but not bad, still mostly turquoise overall, I have to rework the electronics a bit, so time is not the issue, decisions, decisions, decisions

 

[Tom Niemi]

That’s something for change Tom! It is coming out really beautiful. On my to do list there is an acoustic ukulele, so maybe you are spurring me with this project.

Go for it Toni, I've made 2 ukulele kits, they are fun, you need to build one from scratch, my next guitar will be a scratch build Telecaster, have at it my friend!

 

[Tom Niemi]

I have got a bit further on this, All complete less the electronics, really liking the looks of it, working on the controls now, pics to follow later

 

[David Johnson]

That is a very pretty instrument. Nice job!!!!
David

 

[Mike Stafford]

I know nothing about guitars or guitar building. But that looks great!

I am partial to the color in IMG 6406. I am not sure what your dye manufacturer calls it but I have a container of dye in my inventory that is named seafoam blue.

 

[Vaughn McMillan]

...All complete less the electronics, really liking the looks of it, working in the controls now...

It's all over except the hard part. I did a complete rewiring of a 335-style guitar once and it was quite a wrestling match getting everything in place. That axe is going to be sweet when it's all done, though!