Thanks McCreed. I have a Parchment 'guard here, but also a pearled one on its way - I'll make that choice when it arrives. The Parchment one is looking pretty good though.Quote:
Originally Posted by McCreed
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Thanks McCreed. I have a Parchment 'guard here, but also a pearled one on its way - I'll make that choice when it arrives. The Parchment one is looking pretty good though.Quote:
Originally Posted by McCreed
I've now spayed a few coats of clear, and I think it's looking good. I think I'm going to stop there and leave it alone for a couple of weeks. I've still got some clear left, but I think I'll keep that in case I need to patch anything up. The surface isn't great - I'm working outside, so it's got some dust in it, but I'm hoping that'll all clear up when I sand it.
Attachment 38755
The neck is also progressing will, with four coats of Tru Oil on it now. The tiger stripe in this maple is really showing up nicely.
Attachment 38756
That's a lovely score with the figure in that neck, mate . Beauty
This is going to look amazing when finished. Well done
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Thanks guys.
I get the impression this is standard issue with this kit, i.e. they're supposed to have that figure. I am very happy with it, although I'm making a pigs ear of finishing it, but that's another matter.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bakersdozen
I have both my pick guards now, and I think I prefer the pearloid - good call McCreed.
Attachment 38883 Attachment 38884
How long do you think I should leave the nitro finish before final sand and polish? I've read anything from 2 weeks to a month. I had reserved some of my clear, but now I'm thinking I might be better off giving the body a light wet sand with 1200 grit to address any dust in it, and then applying the rest of the can. It won't help me with a sand through while it's still in the can.
Nice! Pearloid for me every time (well, nearly) :o.
A while a go I changed a couple of my pickguards because I noticed pearloid was "trending heavily" amongst my guitars!
As for doing more clear, I wouldn't wet sand, especially as fine as 1200.
If you've got enough clear to do 1 or 2 full coats, you could partially level what 's on there now before spaying the last of the clear.
It looks like you have some orange peel on there (the reflection on the lower bout in the photo). You could block sand that (dry) with 600 just to get some of that orange peel out before the next coats. Don't try to get it perfectly flat, just go for about 70% or so if you have concerns about sand-through.
This will do two things: give you a flatter surface for the next coat to lay on, and the abrading will help with the chemical bonding*.
You may be able to go as coarse as 400 on the orange peel, but I'd try the 600 and see how it feels.
*I know nitro will "melt into itself" (reactivate) but even with nitro, if it has set for a while it's a good idea to rough it up, IMO.
Thanks McCreed. Yes, there is a fair bit of orange peel, and I am resigned to the grain texture showing through, as I didn’t get that flat enough before starting with the nitro. Out of interest, why would you sand dry rather than wet?
I’m in a fairly same position. I have an ash strat body I didn’t grain fill enough. After spraying nitro the grain texture is still there (originally I wanted it smooth) I’m not sure how to get the orange peel out as I’m scared of dust from sanding and/or cutting compound getting into the grain and not being able to get rid of it. I did spray one flash coat to see if I can get away without sanding but it didn’t have much affect
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Wet sanding has more of a polishing effect than abrading of dry sanding.Quote:
...why would you sand dry rather than wet?
You can do a test on a piece of scrap that has finish on it: wet sand one area, then dry sand next to it. You can physically see the difference.
Grain filling by building up enough clear coat is difficult for two reasons. One, it takes a boot-load of clear to level out and getting a top coat that thick to cure will take two lifetimes (probably literally).Quote:
Originally Posted by Freakystyley
If you do sand the existing nitro, you should be able to clean it adequately with air (if you have a compressor) and thoroughly wiping down with naptha (shellite) or just naptha if air is not an option. I wouldn't recommend using cutting compound unless you know definitely it has no silicone or oil products in it.
Either of those will be problematic with adhesion of subsequent coats.
Cool. Thanks. I have learnt something today ;-)Quote:
Originally Posted by McCreed
Me too. ThanksQuote:
Originally Posted by jonwhitear
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So I lightly sanded back with 800 grit, and sprayed another coat of clear. Unfortunately this last coat has developed a bloom, presumably because it was a rather humid day. Bit of a silly mistake in retrospect, but there you go. I'll let it cure then sand it out. Is there anything else I can do?
I don't use nitro, but it does have some advantages over acrylic lacquer when it comes to repairs, and fixing bloom.Quote:
Originally Posted by jonwhitear
I've copied this from Rothko & Frost website:
"To cure blooming, key the bloomed lacquer to 600 grit, then apply a light coat of lacquer over the top. This will re-dissolve the existing lacquer allowing the moisture to escape. It should now dry to a clear finish. It is important that this process is performed in a dry, room-temperature environment."
That’s good to know, thanks McCreed. I shall wait for a Sydney day with low humidity, which might be a while!
Jonwhitear, I just picked up this thread. I too ended up with a slight orange peel while spraying with nitro (metallic blue), and decided that I didn't want to keep sanding and spraying and sanding and spraying. I finally got a coat that's evenly orange peeled, and decided I rather like it. Sanded the last clear coat lightly, polished with Meguires, and I'm going ahead with it. Don't know whether that is an option for you.
BTW, love the grain and the color!!
Thanks XP Rider. I'm hoping I'm going to address the orange peel when I get to the final sand / polish. I think/hope I've got a fairly thick layer of clear over the blue. The orange peel wasn't really too bad.
Fortunately, we've had a fairly low humidity day today, and I got a chance to key the bloom and respray. That seems to have done the job nicely, although I ran out of nitro before I had really got enough on the edges.
Did you at least get all the bloom?Quote:
That seems to have done the job nicely, although I ran out of nitro before I had really got enough on the edges.
Yes I think so. There may be traces left on the edges, but you’d have to look pretty hard to find them.Quote:
Originally Posted by McCreed
Good result! Look forward to seeing it all together.Quote:
Originally Posted by jonwhitear
Here are a couple of photos of where I'm up to. I wet sanded 1200 -> 1500 -> 2000, and then polished with Meguires.
Attachment 39255 Attachment 39256
I'm happy with the finish. It's not smooth by any means, but I quite like the grain texture coming through.
The pickup routes needed a bit of dremelition to get both the bridge and pick guard in the right spots. Next job is to drill the screw holes for the pick guard, and then trim the edges around the neck route so the neck fits. I'm planning on taping the 'guard in place and using a pin vice to drill the holes - any hints/tricks on how to make sure they're centred? As far as trimming the guard, I'm thinking of fixing it in place, using a piece of aluminium drink can to protect the wall of the neck route, and using the dremel with a sanding 'drum' attachment to run along the edge, hopefully without melting it.
Great word!!! I like it!Quote:
The pickup routes needed a bit of dremelition...
And that body looks great too.
Pin vise should be fine, but I don't know if tape will keep it stable enough. I'd fit a couple of the screws to hold it, then move on to the neck pocket contour, then go back and finish the screw holes. That's not SOP, just the way my brain works! I do small screw holes (like p/g, truss rod cover etc) with my old school "egg beater" hand drill.Quote:
I'm planning on taping the 'guard in place and using a pin vice to drill the holes - any hints/tricks on how to make sure they're centred?
re: centring - Just a good eyeball and an awl or prick punch is all you really need. If you want to be pedantic, an appropriately sized transfer punch will do it perfectly. Not everybody has a transfer punch set*, but I happen to, and use them for a number tasks. (they're absolutely great for marking neck holes in the heel from the body)
*NOTE: Brad Point Bits are just as handy for this too!
Personally I wouldn't go with a dremel. Even at minimum rpm's it can melt ABS/PVC etc and sanding drums are typically too coarse. I do all my p/g mods or alterations by hand. It really doesn't take any longer and I have much more control of how much material I'm taking off and where. Things can go sideways very quickly with a power tool (even just a dremel).Quote:
As far as trimming the guard, I'm thinking of fixing it in place, using a piece of aluminium drink can to protect the wall of the neck route, and using the dremel with a sanding 'drum' attachment to run along the edge, hopefully without melting it.
For just shaping the neck pocket contour, a round file, flat file and a stanley knife blade (as a scraper) will get you where you need to go. Scraping is often the best alternative for working with ABS/PVC. I even do my bevels this way.
Wow, Jon, that is one flashy guitar body!! Kinda puts my metallic blue in the shade, but we will see how both turn out in the end.
Love the grain and the blue colour. Looking good.
Thanks guys.
I went with the punch and pin vice, and that worked fine, thanks.Quote:
Originally Posted by McCreed
Good advice. I used a stanley knife blade, and just scraped away the excess. Took a while, but delivered a good result.Quote:
Originally Posted by McCreed
That’s really nice Jon, love the colour!
Just curious, do you have transfer punches, or did you just use a standard centre punch?Quote:
I went with the punch and pin vice, and that worked fine, thanks.
That's great. Depending on how material I need to remove, I'll tackle the bulk of it with the files, then use the blade/scraper to finish it off and get nice clean lines. A fresh, sharp blade is best so you get "chatter".Quote:
Good advice. I used a stanley knife blade, and just scraped away the excess. Took a while, but delivered a good result.
Centre punch and a steady hand ;-)Quote:
Originally Posted by McCreed
I didn't have much to trim off. I did get a bit of chatter with my old blade, but it's still a pretty good result.Quote:
Originally Posted by McCreed
Here are a few photos of the finished guitar. I've also put some in the March GOTM thread. It plays really nicely - after an initial setup it has a good low action and I love these Tonerider pickups. I'll let it settle for a while and then fine tune it. Being a solid piece of ash, it's also really quite heavy, though most of the time it's on my knee, so that doesn't matter so much.
I had a bit of a nightmare with the headstock logo - the first attempt was all going well until I sanded through the Tru-oil and through the logo, so had to start again. The logo is a reverse printed waterslide decal, coloured in with blue ink. The bone nut is slightly narrower than the slot, so I've shimmed it with a couple of pieces of veneer for the time being.
Attachment 39549
Attachment 39550 Attachment 39551 Attachment 39552 Attachment 39553
I've also adjusted the ferrule holes slightly with the dremel and more veneer shims to get the ferrules to line up nicely, following a post elsewhere by McCreed.
I upgraded the switch to a 4-way Oak Grigsby, wired as neck - parallel - serial - bridge, and they really are four quite different sounds. The parallel sound is something else - presumably typical telecaster middle position sound that I'm just not used to. The bridge pickup is rather bright, and does benefit from rolling the tone off a little. I am amazed at how different this guitar sounds to my '80s Fender strat.
Overall I'm really happy with how this has turned out, especially given that this is my third build, and my first with a sprayed finish. The nitro was surprisingly forgiving, although rather expensive - my lack of experience meant a fair amount of lacquer ended up as overspray, rather than on the guitar.
Now.... what's next? ;-)
That's beautiful mate! Nicely done!
I hadn't noticed the tiger stripe in the neck before. That is a lovely feature.
I'm not having a go at you, but curious why you didn't just do a single veneer shim the whole length of the nut and be done with it?
BTW, I like the look of that little cedar weatherboard shed you got there too!
Edit to add:
Have you ever tried doing a reverse control plate on a tele?
It may or may not require any mods if the wire length inside the cavity is long enough. Reversing the controls puts the volume knob close enough to middle that you can control it with your pinky and even do volume swells.
Just a thought...
Thanks McCreed.
Yes, the neck is very nice - the photos don't really do it justice.
I'll shim the nut properly when I do the full set up. For the time being I was just getting it playing while it settles in, so just put in enough veneer to stop the nut falling out.
I haven't tried the reverse control plate yet, though I've read about it. There's length in the wires o I may give it a go in future. This is my first tele, so for the time being, I'm sticking with tradition, more or less.
Which Toneriders did you put it?
I've had a couple sets of the Hot Classic (still have one on hand) and they sound great. The neck p/u isn't my fave, but it very authentic/traditional sounding.
I recently switched my teles to Fender Gen 4 Noiseless which I really like. The Gen 4 neck is awesome IMO. I also have them in 2 strats as well. Love em'!
I've got Hot Classics. Those Fender Gen4s sound good - bit of a step up in terms of budget though ;-)
Yeah, they ain't cheap, that's for sure!Quote:
Originally Posted by jonwhitear