Bardens LP-1S Build

I bought the guitar a couple weeks ago, got it about 6 days later (Quick shipping to the US) But I've just now started the actual build since I've been too tired from work. I bought the spalted maple top, but I've decided to buck the stain and just paint the guitar to save time and money (Not really, I'll just spend it other places) I'm a bit worried about sanding through the maple veneer too, probably not really a problem though.

Well today I went out and bought my paint and sandpaper, sanded down my guitar even though I'll have to go back over it once I drill all my holes. Just when I went to install the tuning machines I realized I was missing one. Not sure if I just misplaced it somewhere or QC from the factory missed it, but I went ahead and ordered some new Gotoh's from Stew-Mac rather than bothering Adam. Time to get ready for work now, I'll do some more work tomorrow, hopefully get all the holes drilled and most of the painting done. Going with a white body/ black neck theme.

Barden
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[wokkaboy]

nice looking spalted top there Barden, email Adam about the missing tuning peg but first check everywhere you pulled the parts bag apart maybe it fell under a couch cushion, I've bought about 25 Pit Bull kits and touch wood haven't missed a single part yet !

[Brendan]

Nice spalted top Barden - you thought of something like Tru Oil - should be available at all sorts of places in the US. May bring out the spalty top nicely and be relatively easy to apply - check Rob's TL-1 build.

Yeah, I'm not really a fan of plain stained wood guitars. I was planning on a black/blue sunburst on the body before, but I'll save that for the next axe.
Yup, I checked all over the house where I've taken the guitar parts out. Still couldn't find it. Like I said, I already ordered some Gotohs, they should be here next week with the bone nut and Les Paul pick guard.

[dingobass]

It would be a shame to cover that spalt with paint...
Our friends at BYO Guitars in the good ole' USA sell Wudtone.
Check out the colours available...

[stui]

Why buy a salted top if you're going to paint it? That just baffles me...

[Brendan]

What about Olympic Girl / BMW sunburst? That way you could use the BMW for the neck / headstock and the Olympic Girl for the body?

I bought the spalted to because I did intend on color staining this when I bought it. Finding the colors here in the US isn't too much of a problem, I just don't feel like doing it anymore lol. And I bought this kit to spend some time with my dad, he wasn't all that thrilled about color staining the body, don't ask me why. He just thinks it's obscene for me to spend as much time and money as I would like into building a relatively cheap guitar I guess?

Anyways, just woke up... overnights at work are a killer. Just cancelled the order of Gotohs from StewMac. Time to go do some drilling.

Still out in the garage, about to start painting. Ran into a couple hiccups. Got everything drilled and tested all the screws, found out I need a couple new drivers, I just can't torque some of the screws down enough. Then when I was screwing the top strap button in, my drill slipped and gouged the wood. That's the last two pics. If your gouges and scratches aren't that deep, you can usually fix them using a wet cloth or paper towel and an iron. I'll show that in the next post. This saves you an extra trip to the store buying filler.
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This isn't real great if you're using a light stain, but if you're using a dark stain or paint, it shouldn't hardly show through at all.

Just take a damp cloth and put it over the area you need to raise up, and go over it with the iron. Make sure you're moving the iron around so you dont burn the cloth. Keep checking on the wood until the gouge has raised back up. You're going to need to sand the whole area after, the steam really makes the wood grain pop up. Finished pic will be in the next post. (Really Adam, 3 pics max per post?) lol
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First pic, as I said is the gouge after I steamed it. You can see its just a dark mark now, and since I'm painting over it, it doesn't matter. Second pic, found my tuning machine! Third pic. You know all those little scratches or wormholes or whatever they are in the top of the maple veneer? Yeah, went over that with the iron too. I didn't spend much time because I didn't want to melt the glue underneath. I just raised them up a little bit and sanded the maple down again after.
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