My First Build: A Bolt Guitars Thunder Road (T-Style)

SteveF · June 2023

thermionic said:

For a non-sprayed finish that looks excellent.

Ah thanks.

I’m scared to open the garage to see it now

SteveF · June 2023

Got a load of progress today. First up was polishing up the neck. I had found a few bits of oil that were thicker than I would have liked so I gave the fretboard a little bit of a sand with the 800 grit just to smooth it out slightly and then gave a fine final coat of oil. This was a couple of days ago. Today, I gave it a buff with a microfibre cloth as per the video. I felt that the frets were looking a bit dull - probably from me having got oil on them during the finishing process. I gave them a good rub down and then used some of my Music Nomad fret polish just to give them the best finish I could.

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/3ead5c49d32ef0909069c6260b79a056b40355d5f2361033fa

Seemed to work well. And then that was the neck finished.

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/2d717a72067e7b825c9b77ed8c36546b018adbd0c34738beb0

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/c2c7c9a2d424d56507f60bd29c2402caaa07945aea934bf52e

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/f2616779a4df7b0d7436f2c81eb4d2221c58bc896dd087a50b

SteveF · June 2023

Next up was giving the body a polish.

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/00bbe1ee792346c04b681c49dc0f0b642da39b0ba95eefb0e4

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/6b2db8a88810a61859bac46fd88c0bbd37907e641ed0d92ede

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/a1fecbdfc673317a481b888d61059c79bffcbcd27ea3bb2229

SteveF · June 2023

Now, finally, time to build the guitar. First up string ferrules.

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/89305824d3ef5c7e972fa355bb8a8524322d034860c12429f9

Then I thought I would mark the occasion:

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/36958945749752f7b0b0f3861c40af5f072edeaf6f03c2ac66

Then it's time to get the bridge attached.

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/bb4c3d07ff7e730d14d0ec3178e88ad5430dd91f756e3596e8

Next up, the tuner ferrules and then drilling the holes for the tuner retaining screws.

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/8ca100e6820231404c5248435c81dd0b712f57f0d243a6923a

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/214147095ccd602bc0c588d65672694a52ea5d2179360e27a8

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/91b342b619b851477ad8e45b37670dbdccf39fb149fdfc9b60

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/33ae3c0e7cd90db08906e152ce88c055711be658d131ecd44a

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/afc1040ceaa4714626c5adf3bc301db3ee77562b206a8fe8c0

SteveF · June 2023

Then dry fitting the neck and stringing the top and bottom string to check the neck alignment - all good.

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/5246d090afdbec9880b8a8957c0bcaed612b3e0177f2785065

Then mark and drill the holes in the heel.

Then fit the scratch plate and neck pickup:

Spot of wiring (mostly pre-wired. Just needed a few connections made. I found it touch getting the push-back wire through the hole to ground the bridge, so I desoldered it from the plate and pushed it in from the top before reattaching. Then soldered the bridge and neck connections and the output jack:

Aaaaaaand, basically DONE. Just testing the output, strap buttons and string trees to attach and we're complete. I ran out of time before heading out for the evening so gong to have to do that tomorrow. BUUUUUUT, it looks like a guitar now!

SteveF · June 2023

And... it lives!

Image: https://tfb-user-images.eu-central-1.linodeobjects.com/93f8d0721175692666754d0f7bafde94022450f6dc96e51381

Really pleased with how it turned out and really impressed with the guitar in general. The neck is a great profile, I would say it was a comfortable C but on the thicker end of that scale. All plays well and the pickups sound really good. The neck pickup in particular is really nice.

I had been keen to try a kit to take the first step into building guitars. This has surpassed my expectations on how it would turn out. I think I am really keen to do another build - maybe with a body and neck from guitar build or GSPbasses and try a spray finish. After that who knows, maybe something with a bit more technical stuff involved - actually doing the woodwork and fretting from scratch. Although I will need to do a lot of reading first - no idea where to start with that.

SteveF · June 2023

For anyone thinking of taking the plunge into building a kit, I would highly recommend Bolt.

The stuff all coming together with everything you need (I think other than what was supplied, I needed a drill and a few bits, a couple of screwdrivers, a hammer and a few cut up t-shirts) and the video guide to follow along with made it really straightforward. The Facebook group means that any issues can be discussed easily and the team are on hand to guide and encourage as you go along.

Chris.B · June 2023

Looks like you did a great job of the build. I enjoyed following the process, thanks for documenting it.

SteveF · June 2023

Thank you

I’m now looking into my next project. Really enjoyed this but thinking I might try something with a little more required from me next.

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My First Build: A Bolt Guitars Thunder Road (T-Style)

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