PDA

View Full Version : Gavin & Ebens BC-1



gavinturner
10-07-2013, 06:20 AM
hi all,

Kicked off our build a week ago and just getting around to starting our build diary...

For my 9 year old son's Winter school holidays I proposed that we start a guitar finishing project of his very own. After perusing the pitbull guitars website for a few minutes, he immediately zeroed in on the Avenge style kit. Ok, so it isn't my cup of tea, but is there any better guitar to spark the interest of a 9 year old boy? I don't think so!

In no time the kit was here, nicely boxed and having survived the journey without dents, marks or machining issues. Great job! Did a quick fit together and everything seems to be OK, although i didn't test alignment of neck, bridge and strings over pickups. Hopefully everything will be alright on the night - it's hard to take too much time with the little guys bouncing off the walls to get started!

We sanded the body from 260 through 360, 400 and 600 grits to 800. After the 400 grit sand we filled the pores with a slurry of Timbermate and re-sanded with 400 until most of the Timbermate was gone.

My son has requested a metallic paint finish with hot rod flames (sorry guys - no Wudtone this time around!), so next step will be to get the primer and paint on to the body and create a mask for the flames..

gavinturner
10-07-2013, 06:29 AM
Gahh! How do i submit images in posts? Can someone give me a quick pointer?

I have managed some success using images that i have hosted online somewhere else and embedding in the IMG tags. Is this the normal approach? The image uploads buttons at the bottom of the post editor aren't cooperating for me at the moment. oh well.. :(

gavinturner
10-07-2013, 06:36 AM
As posted previously, I used a slurry of Timbermate to fill the pores in the baswood before sanding to 600 and 800 grit and spraying primer..

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8O-zNBUKazI/UdX812AQAHI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/wQkTVYyF0Lc/s400/20130701_10-50-25.jpg

gavinturner
10-07-2013, 06:46 AM
Dove straight into creating a flame mask for the Avenge shape based on my son's concept art. Very excited to see how it turns out. I will be using artists frisket to trace the flame pattern so it can be layed over the enamel paint. The idea is to paint one colour (the flame colour) mask off, paint again with the 'background' colour and then remove the masking. Anyway this is the first stage completed. Hopefully i can successfully translate this onto the frisket and cut it out with some semblance of professionalism.. 8O

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-niZqZ7lXugM/UdPuMOWHUII/AAAAAAAAAFY/phM15QPvqOg/s400/IMG_0828.JPG

adam
10-07-2013, 07:02 AM
You need to use the "Reply" function, bottom right, instead of the Submit Quick Reply. You will then see three image buttons. So, you can only post three images per post.

gavinturner
10-07-2013, 07:15 AM
/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from adam on July 9, 2013, 16:02
You need to use the "Reply" function, bottom right, instead of the Submit Quick Reply. You will then see three image buttons. So, you can only post three images per post.

(Duh! Stupid brain) thanks heaps Adam.

gavinturner
11-07-2013, 08:46 AM
hi guys,

got the primer on today. 2 coats with 0000 steel wool in between. Nice and smooth. Unbelievably, even with a 9 year old aiming the spray can, we didnt get any runs. We're ready for colour coats tomorrow! School holidays are racing away and we want to get some serious clear coats on before it ends.

Gavin.
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/qnz58-20130705_10-03-39.jpg

Brendan
11-07-2013, 09:55 AM
Gavin, Looking good - was going to comment on masking of the heel of the neck, but on closer inspection it looks like you have... That said, have you checked to see what of the heel of the neck is visible above the body when it's all together? Hate to see a little 10mm strip of wood peeking through between the body and the fretboard after all that hard work.

Well done Eben!

gavinturner
11-07-2013, 08:52 PM
/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from Brendan on July 10, 2013, 18:55
Gavin, Looking good - was going to comment on masking of the heel of the neck, but on closer inspection it looks like you have... That said, have you checked to see what of the heel of the neck is visible above the body when it's all together? Hate to see a little 10mm strip of wood peeking through between the body and the fretboard after all that hard work.

Hi Brendan, yeah with the neck fitted I traced the profile with a pencil and masked it off before painting (hard to see covered in spray). It's a funny shape at the back of the neck pocket, so hopefully I didn't make a hash of it!

Brendan
11-07-2013, 10:52 PM
Naaah - I think if you've gone to that level of detail, you should be right. Looking good - dead keen to see how the flames end up looking!

gavinturner
12-07-2013, 08:21 AM
Today we got the base colour coats on both the neck and the body. Both colours look great - very well chosen by my young assistant. We had a couple of lumps to contend with between coats (a result of uneven pressure on the nozzle from small fingers) but these were easily sanded off with 800 grit. Final coats look great.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q87ZQOuPj8A/UdpSJsE-RcI/AAAAAAAAAKA/6djbAMzLaY0/s400/IMG_1814.JPG

After the first colour was dry on the body (this light colour will become the colour of the hot rod flames) it was time to cut out our frisket sheet and mask off our flame pattern.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jugEQ2Lfa5o/UdpSOfo6B8I/AAAAAAAAAKI/bVi_Sh6IGTg/s400/IMG_1819.JPG

The mask went on easily (not sure how easily it's going to come off however) and we re-sprayed over the top with our dark blue base colour. Remarkably, this coat went on without incident and looks like we'll have a nice single coat of paint from which to extract the frisket. I've used frisket before to mask off inlay, and let me tell you, after 4 layers of paint, the frisket becomes all but irretrievable!

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-U-VupPKtA1c/UdpSHzz7XrI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/8vScfRR88Ic/s400/IMG_1824.jpg

I have very high hopes for how this bad boy is going to turn out. My son can't wait to start wiping on the Minwax poly!

Brendan
12-07-2013, 08:27 AM
Sounds great! Good luck extracting the frisket...

Gavin1393
12-07-2013, 09:55 AM
Watching with interest at how this project is developing.

gavinturner
12-07-2013, 10:16 AM
/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from Brendan on July 11, 2013, 17:27
Sounds great! Good luck extracting the frisket...

Thanks Brendan. Fingers crossed! Tomorrow will reveal all.

gavinturner
14-07-2013, 05:51 AM
The frisket came off today to reveal the flames underneath. The front came away without incident and the little fella was punching the air and doing a victory dance in celebration. Unfortunately, when we pulled frisket off the back we found a small sliver of dark blue paint where the frisket sheets didnt quite meet. 8O :x

Totally my fault - on the front I taped up the join between frisket sheets to make sure there was no problem. On the back I forgot. Gaaaaah! I tried to fix the mistake with a little light blue paint but the fix looks awful. I explained to Eben that we would have an issue at some stage, but unfortunately it was at the very last stage! Anyway, I gotta bite the bullet and repair the problem correctly with more spray cans. Might mean a total re-spray, but if that's what it takes..

It would be nice, just once, to have a project with no do-overs! ;)

You can see the offending issue on the back of the guitar below. Will now take a couple of days to get the paint back to this stage (and looking good).

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DZJq7ANPTYc/Ud5p2A0bwRI/AAAAAAAAAKs/N8e8vpTfyvU/s1600/20130711_18-06-03.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9FItP75Ydq0/Ud5p2r7es2I/AAAAAAAAAK0/wnLaWI3fdTQ/s1600/20130711_18-05-11.jpg

Brendan
14-07-2013, 06:57 AM
Can see why the young'n was punching the air - you've done a great job on it and it looks great. Sorry to hear about where the sheets join. Good news is nothing's broke - guitar just needs some more 'loving'!

Fretworn
15-07-2013, 01:53 AM
Awesome job!

gavinturner
15-07-2013, 09:55 AM
Thanks guys. The respray is in progress!
Hopefully will be even better the second time around ;).

cheers,
Gavin.

gavinturner
24-07-2013, 05:57 AM
OK. 2 weeks and a complete respray later (from primer up) we are now in a better position. Everything is back to how it was, without the evil little line between frisket sheets on the guitar back. Alot of time and hassle (not to mention money) for such a little touch up! Not to worry.

This time around I even overcame my fear of the airbrush to create black drop shadows behind the light blue flames. Both Eben and I are very happy with the result!

Now it's time to start with the wipe-on poly. I know that poly is the death if tone, but I wanted a finish that Eben could apply himself. I don't think subtle tone is Eben's goal anyway with this metal shredding rockabilly beast.
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/wl64h-IMG_0873.JPG
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/088ci-IMG_0874.JPG

phloggy
24-07-2013, 06:33 AM
That's an extraordinarily tasteful pointer shredder. I like it!

MetalMatt
24-07-2013, 07:49 AM
Top effort guys, looks mint!

Brendan
24-07-2013, 11:01 AM
Nice job guys!

gavinturner
24-07-2013, 11:58 AM
Thanks guys. Maybe now we can get on and finish this thing!
cheers, Gavin.

gavinturner
03-08-2013, 05:55 AM
Still getting the layers of poly onto the BC Rich rockabilly death metal thrashmeister. The poly is taking roughtly 24 hours for each coat to dry, so it's a long plodding process with few results to report. Thankfully, at least, this Minwax wipe-on poly is completely idiot-proof and Eben is able to do it all himself.

With only a few coats of poly on the headsock, the little guy could not wait to apply his custom decal. So, executive decision made, we went ahead and applied the sucker! The result looks pretty awesome and it was high-fives (sic) all round. We managed to *just* fit the decal between the top tuning pegs.

A few more coats of poly over the top of the decal and the headstock will be ready for a rough wet-sand and polish.
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/bqk36-20130802_16-19-49.jpg

Bass Guy
03-08-2013, 06:00 AM
\\m/ >< \\m/

gavinturner
03-08-2013, 06:03 AM
LOL you said it bass guy!

pablopepper
03-08-2013, 07:30 AM
That logo is killer. Great stuff.

Tim
03-08-2013, 09:03 AM
Awesome stuff

deano1990
03-08-2013, 10:06 AM
thats one wicked design! good stuff

adam
03-08-2013, 10:55 AM
Loving this build diary..

gavinturner
03-08-2013, 11:13 AM
Thanks guys. We are in the home straight now. We'll see how well the young fella does with the soldering iron. If he's anything like me at his age I'll keep the burn cream handy and his mother as far away as possible ;).

Cheers,
Gavin.

sfkhooper
06-08-2013, 01:28 AM
With only a few coats of poly on the headsock, the little guy could not wait to apply his custom decal. So, executive decision made, we went ahead and applied the sucker! The result looks pretty awesome and it was high-fives (sic) all round. We managed to *just* fit the decal between the top tuning pegs.

That decal is really good! Can I ask how/where you got it made? Great build so far, by the way. That is one lucky kid!

gavinturner
06-08-2013, 02:38 AM
That decal is really good! Can I ask how/where you got it made? Great build so far, by the way. That is one lucky kid!

Thanks Hoops! We got the decal made at 'Best Decals' - their 'Custom Headstock Decal' offering:

http://www.best-decals.com/

Eben went for the silver option. I've also used white and been very happy. The decals they make aren't water-slide, they stick on, and I have had good experiences with them. Saying that, I always cover all decals, including these, in as many coats of clear as I can.

cheers,
Gavin.

sfkhooper
06-08-2013, 03:12 AM
Cheers, Gavin. I've been hunting around for a decent vendor. These guys look like they could be the goods!

gavinturner
26-08-2013, 11:12 AM
hi guys,

a little more progress on our build this weekend. We managed to get the top and back wet sanded and buffed (although not as nicely as I would have liked - this poly is not behaving itself, and patience is not a 9 year old's virtue) and also got the pickup cavities shielded. After shielding, we grounded the bridge and installed the pickups with their chrome surrounds. The pickups are Entwistle HVX's (http://www.entwistlepickups.com/pickup.php?puid=HVX) which I have read rave reviews about. I was looking at some Entwistle soapbars for another project a few weeks ago, and my son saw the HVX's and had to have them (go figure). Anyway they look great and I'm sure will sound awesome. I would have preferred Entwistle Darkstar's on this particular project (given the thrasher motif) but I was overruled.

http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/8718i-eben_small.jpg

Anyway, things are nearing completion. Just the neck to go on and the control cavity to do. We have already had plenty of fun soldering up the wiring harness, so that can just drop in now.

cheers,
Gavin.

Brendan
26-08-2013, 11:23 AM
Gavin - keen to hear how the Entwistles go - seem to be a nice price point and lots seem to think they're pretty hot.
Oh - and the guitar looks great!

Tim
27-08-2013, 06:17 AM
VERY METAL \\m/ awesum

stan
27-08-2013, 08:48 AM
great work, Eben looks ready to rock

gavinturner
15-09-2013, 01:20 AM
hi guys,

Well, we finally finished the rockabilly thrashmeister today. She's all strung up and the Entwistle HVX pickups sound awesome. Eben is really happy with the way it turned out, and so am I.

http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/w1q40-20130914_10-59-39_small.jpg

I gotta be honest, this wasnt my favourite pick for a guitar shape, but it looks amazing hanging on the wall with my others. The colours Eben picked suit the design perfectly and the flame paint job has come up well.

http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/tw10o-20130914_11-07-16_small.jpg

We had a few issues with the Minwax wipe-on poly. Any little bump seems to take it off, and it didn't buff up as well as I expected. These issues are probably to do with us not allowing the appropriate curing time, but I'm not sure. I'm thinking i'll do some more test pieces before trying it as a finish again. It did serve its intended purpose however - allowing Eben to do the finishing himself, and this was the most importnt aspect of the build.

Here's a picture of the headstock (nothing has really changed there!)

http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/1f0l2-20130914_11-07-49_small.jpg


Anyone who is considering building a kit with their kid(s) I would recommend it whole heartedly. Eben has had a blast putting this together, and I have gotten to scratch my favourite itch with another kit. It's win:win all the way! A great bonding experience for father and son.

gavinturner
15-09-2013, 01:32 AM
Here are pictures of the front and back of the body.

http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/07758-20130914_11-07-07_small.jpg

I picked chrome humbucker rings for this build so as to offset the large amounts of blue. I gotta say though, these chrome humbucker surrounds are my favourite no matter what the build.

http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/3u15b-20130914_11-08-47_small.jpg

kt101
15-09-2013, 01:35 AM
Looks really good mate! I noticed you have painted the front and back of the neck, how does it play like that? Looks like he loves it!

Bass Guy
15-09-2013, 01:50 AM
That is a knockout!! Horns all the way up!

\\m/ >.< \\m/

gavinturner
15-09-2013, 01:58 AM
/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from kt101 on September 14, 2013, 10:35
Looks really good mate! I noticed you have painted the front and back of the neck, how does it play like that? Looks like he loves it!

Thanks KT. With the paint and poly the neck is not as slick as could be. It plays OK like this for Eb so I'm not too concerned at the moment. However, if very fast playing is ever called for, I would personally matt the back of the neck using steel wool or 2000 grit paper.

Have fun with yours!

cheers,
Gavin.

stan
15-09-2013, 02:34 AM
it came up a treat Gav, young man looks happy, and that's all it needed to do - well done both of you

gavinturner
16-09-2013, 11:07 AM
@Bass Guy, @Stan - thanks guys, appreciate the kind words. We are both pretty stoked with how it came out. And to be honest it sounds and plays really, really nicely. I can't put it down.

cheers,
Gavin.