Strings are on

I have heard it! The strings are on!

The nut and saddle are miles to high and I snapped a tendon on my ring finger trying to fret a note but it is now officially a guitar - an instrument for playing music. I now have a few weeks of trial and error in setting the actions and playablility.

Now I get to play the lower = buzz.

I think I left the saddle a little too tight in the slot, I splintered the end trying to pull it out with a pair of pliers however, taking into account that it is so high, the surface will be smooth again by the time I have sanded it down.

I also learnt another great lesson - don't use the buffing wheel on a Dremel in an attempt to clean up the fret board. The metal fret stains the buffer, which in turn stains the fret board - keeping in mind that mine is pau ferro and not ebony - Also one little slip and that buffer makes a hugh burn mark on your new finish.

My glue tidy up on the bridge was a bit sloppy, I have some delicate work to do during the final clean up stage.

The Grover tuners were easy to install with a little touch up from the reamer. Having said that, there is so much to be said about keeping that centre line - there is a good reason why everyone goes on and on about it. Obviously my peg head centre line was a little out as well. I keen eye will notice that the tuners are not 'balanced'. I am not really happy with the way that the strings seem to be cramped up on each other around the tuners.