G-Axe's First Build - ST-1M

[G-Axe]

Hey everyone,

A few weeks ago I had the brilliant idea to build a guitar for a mate as a going away present. He's an outstanding musician (pianist) who picked up a TV silver Epi Les Paul earlier in the year and is loving it. He's expressed some interest in trying out a Strat, so I figure, why not? I've never put a guitar together, never attempted any kind of paint finish that didn't involve a roller, so what could possibly go wrong?

The concept I'm going for is something atypical for a strat. In keeping with the TV silver LP, I'm going with silver as a base, but taking that a step further and trying a metallic silver (Dupli Color Metal Specks) and then I want to layer a smoky burst over that (Dupli Color Metalcast Smoke). Knowing my limitations, I'm not aiming for a super clean silverburst - I'm aiming for a "smokeburst", something a bit more organic and dirty. For hardware, I've gone for black across the board - but may consider a brushed metal pickguard. We'll see once the paint is done.

I originally wasn't going to do a build diary, but having lurked here for a few weeks, it seems like something I'd get a lot out of. It does mean I didn't take any pics during my mock up/filling/sanding/priming/etc - but since I'm doing a solid colour over basswood I don't think anyone is missing out.

So after a couple of weeks of raising grain, sanding, filling, sealing, priming, I sprayed a couple of layers of the sparkly silver. I'm pretty happy with the coverage - it was pretty fiddly work. The metal flecks clog the nozzle pretty frequently, so I ended up in a routine where I'd spray for 5-10 seconds, then dunk the nozzle in some metho, swirl it around, shake it off, and spray again.



At this stage, it's looking super fabulous. Blindingly glittery. If it was a present for Taylor Swift, I'd be clear coating by now, but instead, it's ready for some smoke.

[G-Axe]

So to make sure the edges are nice and even, I've masked off the top and bottom ready for a spray. Note the use of elegant masking materials and techniques:


The Metalcoat says to do two light coats followed by a medium one at 10 minute intervals, so I give it a crack. it all goes really well except for a small run on the underside of the top horn. Hopefully I can smooth it off with some sanding in a week or so once it's cured.

[gavinturner]

Looks great! My advice would be to try out your bursting technique on some scrap before attempting the real thing. It can be tricky with rattle cans and you might need to get your technique down. Other than that, a great concept and a great gift!

cheers,
Gav.

[G-Axe]

Once I've done my 3 coats on the edges, I whip off the masking, and get cracking on the burst. I'm keen to get it all done in one session so it can cure for a week. This is the most challenging bit so far - and pretty unforgiving. I've laid it on a bit heavy in places, and run out of paint well before I thought I would:



I'm liking how the smoke texture is shaping up, but I really want to try and even up the bits where I've gone heavy. So it's off to Supercheap Auto to get another rattlecan.

[wokkaboy]

looking awesome G-Axe and welcome to the forum. You have nailed the silver. I presume the smoke paint is black ? Should look unreal with a black burst edge, take your time and have a practice burst spray and it should turn out how you want it to.
Best of luck

EDIT just saw pics with the burst. Great first effort. Get some more smoky paint and go over the edge after a light wet sand to even it up

[G-Axe]

I manage to get in and out pretty quickly - the paint reckons I should spray additional coats within an hour, or wait until after it's cured. I'm still within that window so I press on. I get the coverage a bit more even, and darken it up over all. And then as I'm hanging it up to dry, I make the mistake of trying to brush off a bit of fluff with my fingertips, and leave a couple of finger shaped streaks behind the bridge.

With a bit of work, I manage to cover it up - but now I've overdone the bit that was going to show the most of the original silver. Once I've got the pickguard on, there will barely be any surface that isn't smoked. Not the end of the world, but not quite what I'd hoped for. Should I try sanding it back a bit? The difficulty is that the sparkle layer is pretty rough (like 180 grit sandpaper) so I'd be sanding back to an uneven surface - which probably won't work.



Anyway - trying not to get too down on the small mistakes, from here I have to try and resist the urge to do stuff to it of the next week while it cures. At some point I'll probably drop the pickguard onto it and see how it looks - as long as there's a bit of a contrast around it, and the sparkle is still visible under the smoke, I'll be happy.

One other thing - spraying in the great outdoors probably isn't my greatest idea - in places I'm seeing a roughness to the smoke layer that I assume is dust/pollen that's gotten into it. Given that my sparkle layer is in itself uneven, should I be stressing about levelling that stuff out with a high grit paper before I clear coat?

[gavinturner]

Ok, that looks AWESOME.

cheers,
Gav.

[FrankenWashie]

You nailed the "Smokey" part of the brief, how does the "Sparkle" come up in the light? it's a bit tough to see in the pics.

You could do a gentle wet sand on the worst affected bits (1500 paper, single passes at a time rinse paper and wipe down body every pass) but you don't want to knock your smokey burst back or go through your silver. You might find that improving those rough spots might raise other issues with the rest of the finish also.

[wokkaboy]

Hi G-Axe, to me looks like you have rushed to get the 2nd smoke burst coat on. You should have had a practice run on paper or cardboard. I suggest you wait a few days for it to cure, masking tape up the smoky edges that you want to keep and spray more silver on the the unmasked areas.
Don't worry about the rough surface, enough clear coats over it and you will be able to sand it flat once the clear has cured

EDIT if it is windy where you are spray painting it will be very hard to get even and accurate application of the paint

[G-Axe]

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

Looks great! My advice would be to try out your bursting technique on some scrap before attempting the real thing. It can be tricky with rattle cans and you might need to get your technique down. Other than that, a great concept and a great gift!.

I'm thinking that's probably why I ran out of smoky grey a bit prematurely. Lots of practice, not that it shows. :P

looking awesome G-Axe and welcome to the forum. You have nailed the silver. I presume the smoke paint is black ?

The smoke paint is a semi-transparent grey - it's meant to be sprayed over a chrome/high-gloss to give it a smoky anodised paint effect. It's a bit of an experiment to paint it over metallic flecks, but it comes up as a kind of satin gunmetal. If I completely botch the burst, I'll go over the whole thing with it, as it looks pretty schmick in its own right.

You nailed the "Smokey" part of the brief, how does the "Sparkle" come up in the light? it's a bit tough to see in the pics.

The sparkle is pretty full on, and looks like a christmas decoration. Very hard to catch in a photo, and a bit cheap looking on its own.

You could do a gentle wet sand on the worst affected bits (1500 paper, single passes at a time rinse paper and wipe down body every pass) but you don't want to knock your smokey burst back or go through your silver. You might find that improving those rough spots might raise other issues with the rest of the finish also

I'll give that a go behind the bridge and see how it comes up. I've got just enough sparkle paint left to...

masking tape up the smoky edges that you want to keep and spray more silver on the the unmasked areas.

...if it comes to that.

Hi G-Axe, to me looks like you have rushed to get the 2nd smoke burst coat on. You should have had a practice run on paper or cardboard. I suggest you wait a few days for it to cure, masking tape up the smoky edges that you want to keep and spray more silver on the the unmasked areas.
Don't worry about the rough surface, enough clear coats over it and you will be able to sand it flat once the clear has cured

EDIT if it is windy where you are spray painting it will be very hard to get even and accurate application of the paint

Yeah, I definitely rushed it a bit, and did a couple of silly things. Then I walked away for a bit, had a drink and calmed the f*** down. I'm coming to terms with that whole "work an hour, wait a week" thing that any wannabe guitar finisher comes up against. I'll probably end up touching it up, but I will try a bit of wet sanding first. I figure my first destination on this journey is learning how to recover from the mistakes along the way.

I'm in Canberra, and we're not windy as a rule, but it was coming up from time to time and stopping me from spraying. On the plus side, we have an average relative humidity of about 50% in December and some nice warm days, so perfect curing weather!