Carvin GK1 User Manual
Carvin Bolt-On Neck Guitar Kit Instructions
The components in this kit are the same as those used in Carvins high quality custom shop guitars. All holes are
drilled, making it a simple step by step process to assemble your Bolt guitar. Before you start assembling your
guitar, check the component check list to make sure that you got everything. It’s also a good idea to read the
complete instructions before getting started. Have fun!
KIT COMPONENT CHECK LIST:
BN bolt-on neck
C6C (or) Sperzel tuning keys
AB6 fixed bridge body (or) AB6T tremolo routed body
FT6 fixed bridge (or) CWC tremolo
AG1W assembled pickguard
JP6C jackplate
NP6C neckplate
E2C strap buttons
Copper foil shielding tape
Carvin strings: 1 set 942
TR1 truss rod adjusting wrench
TOOLS REQUIRED FOR ASSEMBLY
Screwdriver with a good quality #1 phillips tip
Screwdriver with a good quality #2 phillips tip
Small adjustable wrench for tightening tuning keys
Hammer for pounding in tremolo studs or string eyelet’s
for FT6 fixed bridge
Wire cutters for cutting strings
TUNG OIL (or) GLOSS FINISH
A tung oil finish is by far the easiest method for a novice to achieve
his own high quality finish with a minimum of equipment and experience. If you decide to go with a gloss finish, we recommend that you
use lacquer as opposed to polyurethane, because lacquer is easier to
spray, has faster drying time and reduces dust problems. Lacquer
also sands easier between coats and polishes easier. There are several
good books, including the “Guitar Player Repair Guide” available in the
Carvin catalog with instructions on how to do your own gloss finish.
although it won’t hurt it. If you apply the tung oil onto the fingerboard, wipe off as much of the excess as possible within 5 minutes
before it starts to dry. Wipe off the excess on the complete neck or
body within 10 minutes. Now let the neck or body dry for at least 5
hours before recoating with more tung oil. You can hang the neck up
to dry with a piece of wire through one of the tuning key holes. To
hang the body to dry, run a piece of wire or string through one of the
neck bolt holes. After the neck or body dries inspect it for sanding
imperfections before applying another coat. Sand any imperfections
out now with 320 grit sand paper. When applying your 2nd, 3rd,
and final 4th coat, it is not necessary to apply tung oil into the neck
cavity or control cavity. If you wish, you can also apply these coats
with a small rag instead of a brush. Apply these coats on fairly heavy,
so that they penetrate into the wood pores, but always wipe off the
excess within 10 minutes. It is best not to rush the tung oil process.
At Carvin, we apply 2 coats of tung oil the first day and 2 coats the
next day about 6 hours apart. On the 3rd day you can steel wool your
finish to perfection. Rub hard using 0000 grade steel wool on the top
and bottom of the body, but don’t rub too hard on the sharp edges
and corners, because you will rub through the tung oil finish. If you
do rub through, you can easily recoat this area and lightly rub it with
steel wool after the tung oil dries. After you have inspected your complete neck and body for imperfections, you can wipe on a thin film of
(Old English) furniture oil and wipe off the excess. The furniture oil
will bring out a nice sheen in the wood and give your guitar a smooth
sexy feel.
NOW LETS BOLT THIS THING TOGETHER
For proper guitar assembly, follow the steps in the order that they are
listed below.
MATERIALS FOR YOUR TUNG OIL FINISH
At Carvin we have used and experimented with most brands of tung
oil finishes and have found Minwax brand to be the best in every
respect. One pint is enough to do a couple of guitars and is available
at Home Depot or most home improvement type hardware stores for
under $10. You will also need about 6 sheets of extra fine sand paper
(between 220 and 320 grit), a 1” paint brush, about 4 pads of extra
fine steel wool (0000), a few small rags and a small bottle of furniture
oil (Old English red oil or lemon oil).
SANDING
Before you start applying the tung oil, you should first thoroughly
sand the rounded edges smooth on the top and bottom of the body,
so that there are no imperfections. You can do the same for the neck.
Before applying the tung oil, blow the fine sanding dust off of the
body and neck or use a tack rag to remove the dust.
APPLYING THE TUNG OIL
Pour a small portion of the tung oil into a small clean container.
Immediately replace the cap on the can of tung oil so that the tung
oil does not go bad. Take a 1” wide paint brush and apply the tung
oil into all of the interior routed holes on the body, including the neck
pocket. Now brush the tung oil onto the entire remaining surface of
the body and neck. It is not necessary to coat the ebony fingerboard,
CARVIN TUNING KEYS
The large tuning key holes going through the headstock are 13/32” and
the little holes on the rear on the headstock are drilled 1/16”. To install
the Carvin tuners, place one tuner into one of the 13/32” holes on the
rear of the headstock and finger tighten a washer and nut on the top of
the tuning key. Finish installing the 5 remaining tuners. Now line up
the small holes in the tuners with the 1/16” drilled holes on the rear of
the headstock. Screw in the small #2 x 3/8” long wood screws into the
1/16” holes using a #1 phillips head screw driver. Finish by tightening
the nuts with a 10mm socket or small adjustable wrench.
SPERZEL LOCKING TUNING KEYS
As with the Carvin tuners the large holes going through the headstock
are 13/32”, but the little holes on the rear of the headstock are drilled
7/64” for the Sperzel alignment pins. Assemble the tuners onto the
neck. Slip the alignment pin on the tuning key housing into the drilled
7/64” hole on the back of the headstock. Install the washer and nut
on top of the headstock and tighten the nuts with a 7/16” socket or
small adjustable Crescent type wrench. Do the same for the rest of
the Sperzel tuners.
STRAP BUTTONS
Use a #2 phillips head screwdriver to install the 2 strap buttons to the
body. Make sure that you start the screws straight into the 7/64” drilled
holes. Do not over tighten the screws. Just snug them up to the
body.
COPPER FOIL SHIELDING
Line the control portion of the pickguard cavity with the self adhesive
copper foil. Be careful that you do not cut your fingers with the edges
of the copper foil. Stick the large contoured piece of copper foil on
the bottom of the control area first. Then adhere the 1 1/2” wide x
11” long foil onto the sides of the control area. Fold a portion of the
side wall foil onto the top of the body. This will make contact with
the aluminum foil underneath the pickguard. Make sure that you
press the foil tightly onto the wood. At Carvin we use the end of a
piece of 3/8” wooden dowel to press the copper down. If the foil peels
away from the wood and contacts the componants, it may cause a
short in your guitar.
TREMOLO STUD & SPRING CLAW INSTALLATION
(for GK1T tremolo guitars)
To install the tremolo studs, leave the threaded stainless steel studs
screwed into the brass inserts while you pound them into the two
predrilled holes on top of the body. Tape the head of the hammer to
protect the top of the stainless steel studs and gently pound them
in until the top of the brass insert is slightly below the surface of the
body. Adjust the stainless steel posts so that they are sticking out
of the body 3/8” high. Now you can install the spring claw. Turn
the body upside down. The claw hooks must face up toward you.
Feed the black colored ground wire that’s attached to the spring claw
through the drilled hole that goes from the rear tremolo spring cavity
into the control cavity. Feed it through the copper shielding foil that
lines the control cavity after you have pierced the copper foil with a
sharp object. Using the #2 phillips head screw driver, screw the two
#8 x 1 5/8” phillips head screws into the two angle drilled holes in
the upper portion of the rear tremolo cavity. Screw the screws into
the wood, leaving 3/4” of the screws sticking out of the body.
NECK & NECK PLATE INSTALLATION
Install the neck onto the body. Gently slide the neck into the neck
pocket of the body. Do not force the neck into the neck pocket or you
can actually break the wood on the treble side of the neck pocket. If
you painted your body, you may have excess paint build up in your
neck pocket. If so take a file or medium grit piece of sand paper and
wrap it around a small flat piece of wood. Now carefully remove
some of the paint or wood from the inside edges of the neck pocket.
Check the fit of the neck frequently so that you don’t remove to much
material. When the neck fits perfectly into the neck pocket, carefully
turn the guitar and neck upside down on a table with a soft towel on
it. Take the NP6 neck plate and set it on the body. Carvin waxes the
threads of the Four #8 x 1 3/4” wood screws so that they are easier
to screw into the hard maple neck. Its important to use a #2 phillips
head screw driver with a good tip to prevent rounding out the phillips head screws. Press down hard on the screwdriver while you are
securely screwing the screws down. Turn the guitar over and check
the fit of the neck. If the neck is not snug against the bass side of
the pocket, you can slightly loosen the four neck screws and pull the
neck over to one side or the other to get the proper alignment. Now
tighten the four neck screws while you are pulling the neck to one
side or the other.
FT6 FIXED BRIDGE (for GK1 fixed bridge guitars)
First turn the guitar upside down onto the soft towel to install the 6
press in string eyelet’s into the rear of the guitar. Pound one eyelet
in at a time with a heavy plastic headed hammer or use a metal
hammer, but first put a piece of masking tape on the head of the
hammer to prevent scratching or damaging the eyelets. Just pound
the eyelets in so that the collar of the eyelet is flush with the surface.
Now you can turn the guitar over to install the bridge. Before installing the bridge, run the extra 8” long piece of black colored ground
wire through the angled hole leading to the control cavity. Before
feeding the ground wire, first take a sharp object and pierce the
cooper shielding foil that lines the control cavity. The bare end of the
ground wire should lay on top of the guitar body. Now lay the bridge
carefully onto the end of the bare wire and screw the bridge firmly
onto the body with a #2 tip phillips head screw driver. Use the five #5
x 5/8” long wood screws.
JACK PLATE
Feed the jack wires through the 1/4” hole running from the jack
cavity to the main control cavity. Before feeding the two jack wires
to the main control cavity, take a sharp object and pierce the cooper
shielding foil lining the control cavity, so that you can feed the wires
through. Screw in the two #4 x 1/2” wood screws until the plate is
snug to the body. Use the #1 tip phillips head screwdriver for this.
PICKGUARD WIRING & INSTALLATION
See Diagram 1. AG1 assembly for 3 single coil.
See Diagram 2. AG2 assembly for two single coils & 1 humbucker.
TREMOLO (for GK1T tremolo guitars)
Set the tremolo into the tremolo cavity and place the tremolo knife
edges into the notched area toward the top of the 2 threaded stainless steel pivot posts. Now turn the guitar upside down while you
are holding the tremolo in place. Install the 3 tremolo springs one
at a time by hooking the loop end of the spring onto the center claw.
Stretch the spring with your fingers and insert the other end of the
spring into the center hole in the tremolo block. Now insert the 2
remaining springs onto the outside spring claws and into the outside
tremolo block holes. Some players using lighter guage strings prefer
to use only two tremolo springs instead of three. In this case remove
the middle spring.
STRING IT UP
Feed your low E string through the rear of the guitar until the ball end
of the string comes to a stop. Feed the string through the tuning key
hole and use a wire cutter to cut off the excess. Cut the string about
2” longer than the string post for standard Carvin tuners and 1” longer
for Sperzel locking tuners. See your maintenance instruction sheet for
other tips on stringing your guitar up and making final neck and fixed
bridge adjustments. See the Wilkenson tremolo instructions for more
information on stringing up and adjusting your tremolo equipped
guitar. After you have made the proper adjustments, you can install
the rear tremolo cover plate.
CHECKING THE ELECTRONICS
Plug your newly assembled guitar into an amp and make sure that
everything is working properly. Now you can adjust the height of your
pickups with a phillips head screw driver. Depending on how loud you
want your pickups to sound you should adjust your pickups so that
the top of the coils are between 1/8’ AND 3/16” away from the strings.
At Carvin we generally adjust the neck pickup 3/16” away from the
strings, the middle pickup a little closer at 5/32” away and the bridge
pickup closer yet at 1/8” for single coil pickups or 5/32” away for
humbucking pickups. See you in Riffsville!
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