Allen Eden Seafoam Green Body

[bobio]

Well, impulse bought a T-Style body on eBay. This is my first Non-Fender body.

Did some searching and it appears in the past they had some shipping/packaging issues.
Looks like they solved that as my body arrived quickly and was packed really well and the paint looks flawless.



While the paint looks flawless, it covers a multitude of sins The neck pocket has a ton of wood filler in it, looks like chip out repair. The neck sits wonky in the pocket. I had to do quite a bit of massaging of the neck pocket to get the neck to sit straight. Haven't checked the holes yet, hopefully they still line up. I reaaaaallllyyy don't want to have to plug and re-drill them



Next frustration is the output jack hole. It is smaller than Fender spec. I definitely won't be able to use my Rutters cups as I would have to widen the hole quite a bit and I don't want to risk damaging the paint. Fortunately I found an OEM jack cup that I think came out of one of my Squiers that drops right in. A standard jack will fit this cup, problem solved.

Next, the string through holes on the back are, again, smaller than Fender spec. I know others have widened them, I would probably go that route if I had a drill press. Again, I don't want to ruin the paint or wind up with holes that are off so I did some browsing on eBay and I think I found a set of Ferrules that will fit these holes. Fingers crossed

The bridge pickup cavity looks like it goes almost all the way through the body. I cannot fathom why they did that

Anyway, the neck I am using is a Fender replacement neck, 21 frets and a 9.5" radius
I will be using a spare set of Fender CS Texas Special pickups with a 4 way switch and Toneshaper electrics.
I will be using a light mint green pickguard, a Fender Highway One bridge and Rutters straight compensated saddles and a set of Fender Vintage locking tuners.

I have been running D'Addario Balanced 9s on all of my Teles for months now and really like them.



I ordered a few sets of D'Addario 8s and am going to try a set of them on this Partscaster.

 

[bobio]

Arrrrg, started thinking about the Output Jack and realized that even though I can get a cup and jack in there, is there enough room for the tang to move when you put a plug in there.....NOPE

I think maybe I can get around this by switching to a Pure Tone multi contact output jack. It does not appear they need as much room to seat the jack. Just ordered a few from Stewmac.

 

[Ronkirn]

Just curious.. are you certain it's an Allen Eden product?

r

 

[Timbresmith1]

Omg... so many work-arounds.

That would drive me nuts.

 

[bobio]

Just curious.. are you certain it's an Allen Eden product?

r

Yes, they have an eBay store.

aeguitars on eBay

.

 

[bobio]

Omg... so many work-arounds.

That would drive me nuts.

Fortunately I like puzzles and this feels like a 1000 piece puzzle

.

 

[Timbresmith1]

Fortunately I like puzzles and this feels like a 1000 piece puzzle

.

Hahaha!

 

[Killing Floor]

It’s a really cool color. The small stuff you can iron out, it will look fantastic when it gets dressed. Post pics.

 

[jfgesquire]

If you need larger holes and you're afraid of chipping out the finish, look into sanding bits to chamfer the holes a little. I found something similar in my hardware store the did the trick nicely.

HiSun Abrasive Mounted Stone Grinding Wheel Head Rotary Tool Kit with 1/4 Inch Shank https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09B6PKM1K/?tag=tdpri-20

 

[Ron C]

A few years ago I bought two Allen Eden paulownia bodies, and still own one. Take my comments with a grain of salt because they may have changed producers and QA since then.

Each needed a little massaging at the output jack and the bridge pickup route, but the neck pocket, neck mounting holes, bridge mounting and string through holes were fine. Using Fender necks with them, I liked the neck angle best with a thin shim at the front (headstock end) of the pocket, but I suspect that's more of a preference than an issue.

Omg... so many work-arounds.

That would drive me nuts.

This is NOTHING compared to dealing with GFS bodies. The Allen Eden's I've used aren't like my old USACG bodies, but it's all relatively easy stuff to work if you take your time.

 

[4pickupguy]

I have a paulownia Allen Eden strat body in shoreline gold that is surprisingly nice. Super tight and accurate neck pocket and aligns well. The chip out thing wouldn’t bother me much unless it’s poorly done. That area shown is very prone to damage.
I hope it works out for you!!! Post finished pics!!

 

[bobio]

Thanks for the input guys, so far all the problems seem solvable without too much effort.

I think it is going to be a great guitar once I get it together.

Crazy week coming up so I probably won't be able to work on it until the end of the week, I should have updates by then.

 

[bobio]

Well, solved just about every problem I had with this body from the neck pocket to the jack hole, but these string ferrule holes are peeving me off.

I don't know much about Allen Eden, but the dimensions of the holes seem to correspond to a lot of hardware that seems abundantly available in China. Nothing against products manufactured in China, I have always believed in the quote that: "Quality has to do more with effort than geography". Just seems like not a lot of effort was made here...

The main hole is 6mm and the cut for the flange seems to be just a bit larger than 8mm. I found ferrules with a 6.5mm body and an 8mm flange.
They fit the hole, but leave just a bit too much of a gap around the flange. Looks like I am going to have to drill out the holes to accommodate standard vintage ferrules.
I am going to seat the flange of the ferrules on the surface rather than trying to counter sink them as the holes are inconsistent and I am certain the paint will crack.
I have done this on a couple of my other projects and I do like the look.

 

[Midgetje94]

Well, impulse bought a T-Style body on eBay. This is my first Non-Fender body.

Did some searching and it appears in the past they had some shipping/packaging issues.
Looks like they solved that as my body arrived quickly and was packed really well and the paint looks flawless.

View attachment 888984 View attachment 888983 View attachment 888982

While the paint looks flawless, it covers a multitude of sins The neck pocket has a ton of wood filler in it, looks like chip out repair. The neck sits wonky in the pocket. I had to do quite a bit of massaging of the neck pocket to get the neck to sit straight. Haven't checked the holes yet, hopefully they still line up. I reaaaaallllyyy don't want to have to plug and re-drill them

View attachment 888985 View attachment 888986

Next frustration is the output jack hole. It is smaller than Fender spec. I definitely won't be able to use my Rutters cups as I would have to widen the hole quite a bit and I don't want to risk damaging the paint. Fortunately I found an OEM jack cup that I think came out of one of my Squiers that drops right in. A standard jack will fit this cup, problem solved.

Next, the string through holes on the back are, again, smaller than Fender spec. I know others have widened them, I would probably go that route if I had a drill press. Again, I don't want to ruin the paint or wind up with holes that are off so I did some browsing on eBay and I think I found a set of Ferrules that will fit these holes. Fingers crossed

The bridge pickup cavity looks like it goes almost all the way through the body. I cannot fathom why they did that

Anyway, the neck I am using is a Fender replacement neck, 21 frets and a 9.5" radius
I will be using a spare set of Fender CS Texas Special pickups with a 4 way switch and Toneshaper electrics.
I will be using a light mint green pickguard, a Fender Highway One bridge and Rutters straight compensated saddles and a set of Fender Vintage locking tuners.

I have been running D'Addario Balanced 9s on all of my Teles for months now and really like them.

View attachment 888996

I ordered a few sets of D'Addario 8s and am going to try a set of them on this Partscaster.

View attachment 888991

hey! Just got my eBay body!! The ferrule holes are definitely smaller. Most ferrules are 8mm. Can’t speak for you. But my holes measured 7mm. I ordered a set of 6.5mm ferrules off eBay. And wrapped about 2 layers of painters tape to hold tight. Trimmed the extra tape off. Just an idea. I’d hate to try to expand the holes without a drill press and ruin either paint or body.

 

[Midgetje94]

My body and ferrules FWIT.

 

[bobio]

hey! Just got my eBay body!! The ferrule holes are definitely smaller. Most ferrules are 8mm. Can’t speak for you. But my holes measured 7mm. I ordered a set of 6.5mm ferrules off eBay. And wrapped about 2 layers of painters tape to hold tight. Trimmed the extra tape off. Just an idea. I’d hate to try to expand the holes without a drill press and ruin either paint or body.

Mine are definitely smaller than 7mm. I also ordered a set of 6.5mm ferrules and they would have to be pressed in. The problem is that the cut for the flange is larger than 8mm and the flange on the ferrules is 8mm so there would be a gap around the flanges.

I do have a drill guide that I am going to use. I am pretty confident I can keep them centered.

 

[Midgetje94]

Mine are definitely smaller than 7mm. I also ordered a set of 6.5mm ferrules and they would have to be pressed in. The problem is that the cut for the flange is larger than 8mm and the flange on the ferrules is 8mm so there would be a gap around the flanges.

I do have a drill guide that I am going to use. I am pretty confident I can keep them centered.

right on. Mine have the tiniest gap around the lip. But not enough to worry. I can barely slip a razor blade or small screwdriver in. So I think it will work. Best of luck man

 

[ben smith]

his stuff and that company are a nightmare I've had one good body from him out of 4, never again! but the body I did get was usable in the end.

 

[Sax-son]

It's always a crap shoot with these bodies and these companies. I'm sick of ******** of having to return a body because it is either way too heavy, it doesn't spec out to established Fender routes, etc. I research out the customer service, the reputation or the builders, and reviews. Any spec of dissatisfaction and I will pass.

Buy from North American builders and stay away from these import slave labor retailers. They haven't a clue of what building a guitar is all about.

 

[bobio]

right on. Mine have the tiniest gap around the lip. But not enough to worry. I can barely slip a razor blade or small screwdriver in. So I think it will work. Best of luck man

Too much of a gap for my OCD

I already pressed one of them in and immediately popped it out and worked out plan b...

Going to drill out the holes to just under 5/16 so I can press in a set of Callaham ferrules.

Once I drill out the holes, the stepped hole for the flange will be gone. Not going to try and re-drill it.

Going to seat them proud of the surface similar to my last project...