Hi everyone,
Here is a photo of my next build which I will start soon:
Cheers,
Alkay.
Hi everyone,
Here is a photo of my next build which I will start soon:
Cheers,
Alkay.
Hi Alkay, kit looks great, is this the same kit you were querying the scale length and sanding or another build ?
hard to keep up with all the build diaries !
Current Builds and status
scratch end grain pine tele - first clear coat on !
JBA-4 - assembled - final tweaks
Telemonster double scale tele - finish tobacco burst on body and sand neck
Completed builds
scratch oak.rose gum Jazzmaster - assembled needs setup
MK-2 Mosrite - assembled - play in
Ash tele with Baritone neck - neck pup wiring tweaks and play in
Hey mate,Originally Posted by wokkaboy
No this is a new build which I haven't started yet.
I don't think I'll try to pop the grain on this one. On my current build I put too much timbermate with black ink on and ruined the spalted look.
http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ighlight=alkay
Cheers,
Alkay.
Hi Alkay, forget the dark grain popping on this one.
One thing I successfully experimented with on my blue non PBG tele was through applying a good soaking 1st stain coat and then 24 hours later wiped as much off as possible before applying a 2nd coat. This helped to double up in certain areas to provide a darker highlighting effect of the same colour on the flamed maple top, a bit like grain popping from within the same colour tones of the stain.
Also only lightly sanded the top with 180 or 240 from memory just to knock down any rough bits as it looked far too easy to sand through if not careful and if you paid extra for the top you want to make the most of it.
Wishing you better luck with this one.
Hi wazkelly,
I'm so glad to hear that. That's really helpful for me, thank you WazKelly. My sanding is getting better now after some great advice I got on my other current build(the ruined spalted one with too much black ink in the timbermate).
Thanks to wokkaboy for the link and gavin1393 for making the videos. They were so helpful.
*For future reference I would really appreciate a pic of how timbermate and black ink should look after its applied before taking the cap off. If that's the right word. Eg. Trying to get the grain to stand out. I hope that makes sense haha.
I'm not sure what colours to go for but I'm going to do some tests on the pine I have to try and get an idea. I have some left over ink here to try. After reading through these forums I have seen it's good to try different colours on a test piece of wood to get an idea. There are so many good builds on here. I want to get to that stage.
Cheers,
Alkay.
Spalts can be a challenge to pop mainly due to the extreme porosity of the timber.
In my experience, there is already enough going on with spalts and popping can be be detrimental.
Usually you will find a lot more figure will come out when you apply the finish.
IMHO, the best course of action is to make a slurry (consistancy of thickened cream) of timbermate and use a rubber squeegee to force it into the pores before sanding..
Let it dry overnight. Timbermate does need some time to harden, it may feel and look dry but it still needs some time to cure.
Then give it a light sand with 320 grit to flatten out the surface.
Check it to see if there are any spots you missed and apply a second coat of timbermate if needs be.
Then sand the top carefully with 320, remember spalts dont require a lot of sanding.....
There is always a workaround for glitches, mistakes and other Guitar building gremlins.....
Hi Alkay, here are some shots of my Ash J Bass around the time I did the ebony timber mate.....
Now add some timber mate....
Then sand it back....
Then add some colour.....
End result.....
As your spalt already has highly defined dark grain don't think you need to bother with timber mate on the top at all as if using a bright colour it should turn out something like the last shot above.
Thats great advice DB and wazkelly,
Thank you so much, that looks sweet as. A really nice finish that's shiny is what I'm aiming for too like the photo's above.
I still don't know what colour yet but I will do DB's advice and give an update soon. I think I'm better at sanding now. I'm really impressed with the other build I'm doing and I'll update that soon with some photos.
Cheers,
Alkay.
Hi again,
So I started with the timbermate and made a slurry as suggested.
I may have made a slight mistake. The timbermate slurry has slightly gone into the pickup cavities and it's about 1mm thick on a couple of edges. Yes I used a squeegee, applied to much I think. What should I do?
It's been drying for a few days.
Cheers,
Alkay.
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