-
Looking good.
You might want to put a few more coats on, though it partly depends on how shiny you want it to be. Each coat is very thin, so with 4 coats there isn't a very thick protective layer on the guitar. People here (I have no experience with TO yet but plan to later in the year) generally think that 20 coats is about right to be able to sand it down flat and then polish it for a really glassy finish. If you like a more satin finish without sanding, then maybe 10 would do. But it takes very little sanding with 1500 grit paper to get through 5 coats of finish.
So whilst it may look good now,the thinner the coating, the quicker it will rub away and parts will be back to bare wood. You can always re-apply the TO, especially if you leave it as a satin finish, but it's likely to start looking patchy if you do so as some dirt is bound to get rubbed into the wood once it becomes exposed unless you reapply some TO very quickly. Probably not a problem on the back of the neck, but less so on the body.
There's always a compromise on finish thickness between very little and letting the wood vibrate more, and a lot thicker protective finish that dampens some of those vibrations. It's your guitar, so the choice is up to you; but unless you just plan to play it a bit then hang it on the wall, I would keep going for a bit longer.
-
5 Attachment(s)
A flurry of activity today. I was happy with the results of four coats on the body, so I've assembled the whole thing.
Preparing the tube approach to installing the loom. A bit like building a ship in a bottle:
Attachment 21329
Half of the loom in place:
Attachment 21330
Attachment 21331
Nothing like pulling a loom through a small hole to show you your weak solder joints. Had to take time to re-solder four wires.
Attachment 21332
And starting again -
Attachment 21333
-
3 Attachment(s)
Success with the 2nd try on the loom, so on to attaching the hardware:
Attachment 21334
Hardware attached and ready for the neck:
Attachment 21336
Attaching the machine heads:
Attachment 21335
-
4 Attachment(s)
Gluing the neck (I used the controversial "put glue on both pieces" approach:
Attachment 21337
Glued, clamped, and if the fates are willing, I'll have a playable guitar in 24 hours:
Attachment 21338
Attachment 21339
Attachment 21340
-
I'm very happy with the way the 4 coats have gone on. The thing about Tru Oil is that it is what is says on the tin, an "oil." In this case, linseed oil. As with wood furniture finished with an oil, you expect to touch it up every so often. Linseed oil dries pretty hard, and is very durable - think of linoleum floors - they're made of linseed and cotton.
The four coats have given it a nice satin shine, and you can still see the texture of the grain. And it's easy enough to touch up.
-
Wow, you are going as a rocket! Looking good!
-
Since I chose to go with a natural finish, it made the process much faster. I've taken a look at the ambitious approach you took to your finish - that's a lot of painstaking work! It looks great!
-
-
5 Attachment(s)
And it's done! It was pretty easy to intonate, the neck and frets aren't too bad. The action is way too high - it plays more like an acoustic at the moment. I've "flossed" the slots in the nut a bit, but I'm not going to spend too much time on that because I plan to replace it with a bone nut. Does anyone have any recommendations for a source in the UK? Also what type of nut should I be looking for?
I was pleasantly surprised by the sound of the pickups - they're much better than I expected.
I'll post a video soundcheck soon - just have to figure out what I want to play.
Removing the clamps:
Attachment 21369
It didn't fall apart!
Attachment 21370
Stringing it:
Attachment 21371
My logo decal
Attachment 21372
The finished guitar:
Attachment 21373
-
Well done man! I think you broke the record in building a guitar!
