P / L-1000 kit bitsa build

[80Hz]

A few months ago I moved to a house with a cellar, so I finally have a space where I can use some tools that's not a) my work desk, or b) the kitchen 😆

 

This gives me an opportunity to try some of those DIY things I've always wanted to have a go at, and I decided to start with learning to prep and oil finish a guitar body. I figured a good way would be to get a cheapy body to mess around with and worst case it's firewood.

 

Gear4Music had a sale on natural precision bodies for about £35, so I bought one - keeping my expectations low!

 

Although listed as "finished" I assumed it would be finish sanded or some kind of light sealer coat for that money, anyway turns out it's got a poly coat 😳 In case anyone has looked at these, I can say that nothing looks like it lines up, the blank was cut at an angle, and it may be an optical illusion but I don't think the neck pocket and pickup route are on the same plane!! Still, it was £35. And it's not a bad colour.

 

I have no desire to sand off the poly but I'm keeping the body to try out another idea:

 

For a while I've been thinking about a cheap hybrid Fender/G&L bitsa. There's something about trying to cross-pollinate the two that appeals. I snagged some MFD humbuckers recently so this seems like a good opportunity. Basically I want to try L-1000 electronics in a P body, implementing the parallel/single coil/OMG switching. A poor man's Wunkay, if you like. I have two MFDs so I could try a different arrangement if I felt more ambitious - perhaps add a bridge bucker in the L-1500 (i.e. roughly Stingray) position, rather than the conventional J position in the L-2000.

 

To source a neck I may just buy a Harley Benton P kit. That would give me another body I can have a swing at an oil finish, and also attempt to carve an early 80s G&L headstock 🙂 These fellas on YouTube make it look so easy 🫣

 

I was measuring string spacing on the MFD today and as best as I can tell the poles are 23/32 apart (18.25mm), so 2" 5/32 from E to G. So something to ponder will be an inexpensive 18mm spaced bridge. (I think a genuine Saddle Lock bridge is out of scope for this budget!!) Or maybe it will be okay to fudge it with a standard 19mm bridge. 

 

Anyway, this is probably a bad idea for reasons I have yet to realise, but we'll see.. what have I missed? Why will this be doomed? Experienced builders please look away now!

Edited 1 hour ago by 80Hz
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