Candlewood Strat Kit Build

The candlewood body and maple neck for this build were sourced online by the client himself. Coming to think of it, most of the components used were provided by him. Resourceful fellow he be. My job was simply putting it all together.

The project began with test-fitting all the components. Here, the rule is measure 10 times and cut once. No room for mistakes. Everything's got to be properly aligned before you commit yourself to drilling any holes. Yeah, that's what I kept reminding myself, but still ended up having to fill and re-drill the pickguard screw holes, shame on me! Fared much better with drilling the neck holes, strangely enough (used my drill press). 

Once everything was positioned as it should and the appropriate holes drilled, the body was sanded to 220 grit, pore-filled, re-sanded; and stained with white emulsion paint. At this point, I suddenly had the idea of shielding the pickup and control cavities with conductive paint before clear-coating as opposed to after. After the final coat of shielding paint had dried, I tested for continuity and was satisfied with the results. I then taped off the sections where the ground tab screw would be attached; as well as the strip of copper foil that would make contact with the pickguard foil shield.

The body was then clear-coated with a total of 12 coats of Samurai Flat Clear, with no more than 2 coats being applied per day. After the last coat, I hung the body to dry for more than a week. Finally, it was time to put everything back together again, string her up with 10s, take care of action, intonation and everything else a setup entails; and actually play the darn thing.

YouTube Video: Demo by yours truly