Pablos IB-1

Lots of steel wooling this afternoon has been a mixed bag. The edges didn't get broken up at all really, but evened out the colours enough to not be so dramatic.


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After much agonising, I decided to go over the entire top with a mix. 5 drops of dark onyx into about 10ml of azure lagoon. Pretty happy with the result. The line is still there, I can live with it. The colour, on the other hand, is great, but a bit hard to photograph under the fluoro lights .
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The colour looks great to me. Have you considered adding some Wudtone to the back part of the bridge recess, so that when the FR tilts you don't get any glimpses of wood?

I plan on blacking that part out altogether. I haven't quite decided how though yet, but I'll probably use ink to get it solid black rather than the dark onyx I have.

looking sweet Pablo, I forgot these IB-1 had a flame top, once it gets gloss coats on will look sensational. Great idea to paint the bridge recess in solid black/dye

That flame top is looking sensational Pablo. I just love the colour. The clear coats are going to deepen the effect even more. Great job! I think the lines around the burst look perfect.

cheers,
Gav.

Cheers gents, but the colour isn't quite finished yet. This is only the deep colour, I'm going to put one or two coats of the azure lagoon base colour on and see how that goes.

Blacked out the trem cavity with ink. Much better. Then got a bit carried away and did the back bits too. Neatens things up a bit.
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looking choice there Pablo, so is that dark onyx on the back ? its quite a dark black. I still haven't used that colour.
With 2 more coats of azure base coat this top will be popping big time and thats before the highlights/clear coats.
Keep up the good work Pablo !

Yep, dark onyx. It goes on quite blue, but seems to dry black. Not as intense black as BMW though. I like it a lot.

That looks great Plablo. Knowing how subtle that top is you have done a great job of coaxing out that grain. Loving it.

rob

Thanks Rob, I'm also loving it. Two coats of base colour down and I think I'm ready to move on to clear.
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looking good Pablo

Second coat of clear is on, hopefully there's enough left for 2 more.


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Ended up sanding the finish off the headstock and trying again. I wasn't happy with the result I got from dark onyx alone, so I tried a 50/50 mix with the azure. Much darker, more what I was after.



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Finally got around to tidying up the fretboard. Nice and smooth and no more excess glue. Still needs a bit more fine sanding and a buff, but it's looking a lot more presentable.

:D
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looking stunning Pablo, can't believe the dragon on the fingerboard. What clear are you using, extra gloss non aging or aging ?

Now I can see how that lovely flamed-aquamarine body and the charcoal headstock colours tie in with the shell f/b inlay.
Looking very cool already, but it will look just fantastic when it's all in one piece.
Betcha can't wait . . .

Cheers guys.

@Wokka, that dragon is ridiculously over the top, but after spending a few hours with it over the weekend I'm starting to like it more than I thought I could. Stockholm syndrome maybe. I'm using extra gloss no aging clear.

@Max, you're right, I can't wait. Probably gonna have to though, I'm still trying to sort out the pickups for this one. Waiting to hear back from the manufacturers about component details before I pull the trigger. Fingers crossed.

After 2 coats of the azure base I've got a colour I'm pretty happy with. There was a few spots where the finish had bled past the mask, easily fixed up with a razor.

Pickups and electronics ordered today from guitar fetish. Now the painful wait. I still have to fret dress, shield cavities and clear the neck so that should keep me busy in the meantime.
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looking excellent Pablo, can't wait to see it buttoned up, should be a ripper with your upgrades

Looks great Pablo. Which GFS pickups did you go with?

Cheers,
Gav.

Crunchy pats with a Lil killer in the middle. I only just checked out gfs last weekend and I've become a bit obsessed with them since. They seem great for the price.

Third clear coat has come up well and the pickup cavities are shielded now. I really don't like using the shielding paint, but a necessary evil for this one.

First top coat coat on the neck today too. I am starting to run out of things to do. :(
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Drool. that looks awesome Pablo. You should be happy with the pickups. I used the Retrotron Nashville's on my hollow-body and they sound awesome, especially overdriven. I'm using the dream 180's on my florentine, so will be great to hear how they all sound.

cheers,
Gav.

I put a pair of the GFS Power Rails in my old Epiphone Les Paul and they are great sounding pickups.

Really happy with the quality of parts from GFS. Sure you will be happy with the Crunchy Pats (I contemplated those too).

Cheers

Darren

Had a neat (Ormsby inspired) idea for my headstock logo today and gave it a bash. Slightly raised lettering. It worked out okay, but I think I might mess around with the font and make it a bit smaller. Work in progress.
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cool effect Pablo, how are you making the raised lettering, you got something to cut it out of a blank ?

Nice Pablo! I dont know *how* you cut it out, or what you cut it out *of*, but you've done a bloody brilliant job!

cheers,
Gav.

It's a composite material called gravograph, a thin veneer of brushed stainless steel on about 2mm of plastic (polypropylene I think) which I laser cut. Pretty simple with the right gear. I'm not sure if I'll use this method, it was a test really and it doesn't look as good as I'd hoped. I'll try a few different designs tomorrow. Gotta keep busy until the electronics get here.

Yeah. That's neat. I can see a bit of the blank you cut it out of in the background but can't work out the material or method. So it's time to come clean.

Pablo, make sure you get a shallow 5 way switch for this thing! It is so thin that the cavity is not deep enough for the supplied switch.....

Hey Gavin, this is the one I ordered http://www.guitarfetish.com/USA-Spec...h-_p_1463.html. Do you think that will work?

Another question for the wudtone experts, I know i'm supposed to wait a month after the last clear coat to buff, but can I use regular guitar polish? My last clear coat has been on for a week and a half and I would like to give it a once over before I assemble it for the first time.

On the Wudtone, it does need time to cure. The issue is if it has not cured and the polish you use has the same solvent in it , it will stuff up your finish. The swirch you showed me looks like a standard switch which will be too deep . You need to measure the depth of the cavity and then go looking for your switch. I strongly suspect the switch you have bought will prevent you from putting the back cover on by a good few mm's. :(

Ah, balls. According to the tracking my package hit Australia yesterday, so I might have it by the weekend in which case I'll test it out, but otherwise the only smaller switch I have been able to find is http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electron...h_S-Model.html and almost $45 including postage seems a bit rich. Thanks for the input Gav.

Check it out first. Dont do what i did which was to connect and solder everything up, then excitedly position and fasten everything to the body, test it all out, works!!!!! Great,,, put on the back cover, AAAAAAAARRRRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
I eventually found one on e-bay......

Pablo, my mates the hancock brothers sell a low profile Gotoh switch on ebay for 22 bucks including postage .....check Luthiersupplies on ebay.

Oh sweet, thanks for the tip. ALS has one for $16 + $6 postage and they're in Queensland, last time I ordered from them I got it the day after, so that's how I'll do it. From the look of it I might have to mount it from the front though. There goes my plan for no screw holes on the face of the guitar. Poop. :(

Just bit the bullet and ordered that low profile switch from ALS, I can use both either way as the Davocaster's switch has stopped working properly and needs to be replaced. I needed some straplocks as well, two birds one stone and all that jazz.

A little box of goodies showed up at my back door today. :D

And guess what? The switch is too big.
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