The Project Begins

I've been studying guitar for about a year and a half and I had gotten up to six different guitars. Two steel string acoustics (a Dean and a Cort), an Ibanez Artcore, a Dean Evo electric, a Martin Backpacker, and the one I started with, a $40 blue ebay special. It had been a while since my last purchase, so, about a month ago I was getting itchy for a new guitar. Those of you with GAS (Guitar Acquisition Syndrome) know the symptoms. You start cruisin' the local guitar shops, see what deals are on ebay, and try to come up with a good reason to add to your collection.

Well, being that my birthday was coming up, I came up with a reasonable (to me anyway) excuse. I spoke to my guitar teacher and he recommended a Carvin kit from www.carvin.com. So after looking at reviews around the net, I couldn't find anything particularly bad about Carvin's products and lots of good info. Even some sound clips and lots of pictures, both on the company website and at the Carvin museum www.carvinmuseum.com. Carvin also sponsors a BBS www.carvinbbs.com where the Carvinites hang out, swap info, and drool over each others gear. Check it out.

25 December I pulled the trigger. I decided on a Bolt kit, which is basically a Strat copy, although lots of folks say they're much better, at least than the Strats you can get now. I don't have a Strat, so I'm just going off what I've read. YMMV. Anyway, the options I got on the Bolt kit were as follows:

Swamp Ash body
AP11 neck and middle pickups (standard)
C22B humbucker bridge pickup (most folks apparently choose this option)
Sperzel locking tuners
Black perloid pickguard
Tweed case

You can also get a Bolt kit with a tremolo, if you're into that kind of thing. So today, the UPS man brought my very own Bolt kit. It was carefully packed and looked great. Here's the body. I'm going to finish it with Minwax white pickling stain and Tung oil.

And the neck. Nice ebony fretboard. I'm going to do the headstock in Minwax white pickling stain to match the body with Tung oil on the back. It's going to have a laser printed clear decal as well.

I'm not sure whether I'll go with the stock black perloid pickguard or figure out a way to move all the electronics over to this blue one I bought.


So, here's the first round of sanding and grain raising. Grain raising involves getting the wood damp so the fibers torn in the sanding & cutting process raise up. Once dry, you sand it smooth and repeat as necessary. I love the grain in this wood.


That's about it for tonight. Tomorrow, more sanding and grain raising, which will continue until everything's as smooth as possible.