pics please Brian
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pics please Brian
Hi all,
Here are a quick couple pics I took of the body after the third light spray of clear. Sorry for the bad lighting but I have to get some new bulbs for my stand light.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...ear-coat-3.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...ear-coat-3.jpg
Well I might have messed up the finish a bit on the back. I found a bit of a run so I thought I would be smart. I let it dry then used some 800 grit wet paper and wet it down and tried to gently sand out the drip. Problem is now it's dry and the area is really noticeable now, not shiny at all. How do I fix it? Will it just buff out when I cut and polish the back? Should I put another light coat of clear on it? Will the scratches show through? Should I do both, polish the area then put some more clear on it? I'm kinda lost with this. I don't want to mess it up any more than I have.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...308_190620.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...308_190547.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...308_190523.jpg
I'll let the spray painting experts handle this one, but me thinks it has a lot to do with the paint not being cured that has produced the disaster. I'd be guessing that you may have to do a wet sand and/or steel wool application to get the surface nicely level again and then do another coat to get the colour consistency right throughout if you breached into the colour layers. Only then should you proceed to the clear coats.
I just took a close up look and it appears that I didn't penetrate the colour layers. I think it's just the top layer of clear. I think you may be right about the curing though.
A further light sand with 1500 should improve it, then the cut and polish should give you the shine. The thing I look out for is getting colour on the paper during wet sand. If you can see blue on the paper, you've gone through the clear coats.
My last spray job, I did get colour on the paper, but only a small tad so continued to the cut and polish and it came up fine and consistent shine (it did have quite a few layers of colour over the primer).
Cheers
Darren
Ok lets see what we can do.
If you have not penetrated the paint underneath then there is no problems. First before you apply another coat make sure you rub the whole back of guitar down lightly with say a 400 grit and then give it another coat of clear and all should be well. Nice colours by the way.
Thanks for the advice guys, I was getting worried that I mucked it up. I'm not real experienced with spray painting. I will keep you updated as to the fix.
Cheers,
Brian
Hi all,
Does anybody have some suggestions on clamping the neck down to cut the headstock design? I have been looking at it on and off all afternoon and can't come up with a way to do it without damaging the neck in some way.
Thanks,
Brian
Hi Brian,
I usually clamp to one end of a saw horse. Something that's not very wide is ideal as the headstock sits flat and the neck heel sits off the edge.
Cheers,
Gav
Thanks for the tip Gav. I will try that.
So I finally got home from work last night and today I took Dream Catcher and used some rubbing compound made for clear coats on the little spot I was concerned about. After a couple minutes of work the spot disappeared. Just like it had never been there in the first place. My smile must have reached my ears. Very happy indeed. Next cutting the headstock.
I also found some blank water transfer decal paper so I'm now trying to design a head stock logo.
Cheers.
Brian
That's excellent news, Brian. I can understand your relief. And go for it making a decal. It's a great way to personalise your guitar.
Well, after some thinking and looking around in the garage I found some lumber that I wasn't using. Gav's suggestion about clamping to a saw horse led me down a track and I made a jig to clamp my headstock to. I now have a cut headstock and I'm really happy with it. I know the design won't be everyone's cup of tea but I sure like it.
Here are some pics
Cheers,
Brian
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...314_175936.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...r25b-Jig-2.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...t39z-Jig-3.jpg
first pic didn't show for some reason, I'll try again.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...4ib4-jig-1.jpg
Headstock shape looks cool Brian!
cheers,
Gav.
Yeah. That's a great shape. Even by itself it has attitude.
I thought of doing something like that for my RC-1 but, I wussed out, yours looks really cool.
Just a little teaser pic. I've been polishing the body today and will be starting to paint the neck today.
Cheers
Brian
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...317_151735.jpg
Hi all, when installing the bridge and saddle is there a ground wire that should be soldered to the post during installation? I just want to make sure before I go headlong into putting the posts in the body.
Cheers,
Brian
Yes, there should be a ground wire. You won't need to solder it to the post, but when you need to make sure it is in contact with the bridge post "socket" when you push it in. I had to strip an extra section of the wire on my Bigsby Thinline TL-1 to ensure contact.
Hi all,
I just started shielding the pickup cavities on my lp. I was wondering where the shielding would have the greatest effect as it appears I might not have enough tape to do both pickup cavities and the control cavity. I have completed the bridge pickup cavity so the choice is do the neck cavity after the neck is installed or do the control cavity and wait for some more tape.
Cheers,
Brian
Oh and I just thought of another possibly silly question. I'm making my own headstock decal by printing onto waterslide decal paper. Should it be attached to the bare wood then clear over, or put a coat of clear on first then the decal then the rest of the clear?
Thanks
Brian,
Oh and got the colour done on the neck today, so next step is clear coating. Very excited.
Sorry that was rude to not put a picture up, so here it is. Sorry for the poor lighting but it is in the basement.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...318_173408.jpg
Just found the answer to the decal question, amazing what you can find on this site.
Cheers,
Brian
hey Brian,
The colour on the neck looks great! Personally I would wait for more shielding tape and do all the cavities.
You probably know this but just in case...Don't forget to solder a wire between the shielding on all the cavities (so they are electrically connected) and then one of them to ground so that they are all grounded. Oh, and shield the back of your control cavity cover and make sure it connects electrically to the cavity shielding in as many places as possible (eg. around the entire lip of the cavity). The key is to create as complete a faraday cage as you can around the "hot" wires with as few slits or holes as possible.
cheers,
Gav.
Brian - hard to tell what's been masked on the heel of the neck, but you may want to double check that there's no paint on the bit that needs to be glued. They don't tend to like each other and it may also slightly affect the neck angle. Otherwise looking good! On the other issue - go with Gav - it's a whole lot easier to wait a couple of days than have to pull everything apart to stick some copper tape down then put it all together and find yourself one small chrome screw spare (variant of Murphy's law). :)
Hi all,
Well I found some more shielding tape and finished off all the shielding, including the backs of the covers, and tackled the wiring. I watched Adams excellent video's on wiring a couple of times and downloaded the wiring diagram. I then took it one wire at a time. It's not a neat as I was hoping but for my first time I'm happy with it. I'm even happier that it seems to work properly. I then finished installing the hardware on the body, leaving the pickups loose for adjustment purposes while attaching the neck.
I just have a couple of clear coats to do on the neck and it will be ready for hardware in gluing in. Kinda nervous about that part, but I've been watching Adams video on that as well.
Here are some pics of the wiring and such.
Oh I want to thank Adam for the excellent videos. They are great for confidence building and reference as the project goes.
Cheers,
Brian
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...-2-800x600.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...ck-800x600.jpg
Great job on the shielding Brian! Looks top notch. Your whole build is really coming together - love how you've popped the flamed maple top! Don't sweat the set neck - I was nervous to begin with too, but there's nothing to it in the end. What kind of glue are you planning on using? I recommend titebond. Just check the string height one more time before gluing and clamping in case you need a shim. Looking forward to seeing this baby finished and to hear what she sounds like!
cheers,
Gav.
Thanks Gavin,
I picked up some Titebond glue for the neck. Took a little time to locate but when I found it I snapped it up. Thanks for the compliments. I'm really enjoying this new hobby, although I found myself looking at the kit page wondering what guitar should I start saving for next, no no finish the one your on first Brian.
Cheers,
Brian
Yes Brian that's how it starts! Sounds like the addiction is setting in - most of us have an acute case. In 6 months time you'll have 4 different builds on the go at the one time even though you promised yourself that you wouldn't start the next one until the current one is done....
cheers,
Gav.
wow Brian, I haven't seen this diary for a while but love how its turning out, that blue on the cap and body/neck looks fantastic and cool headstock shape. Wiring/shielding looks neat too,I think this is your first build so you must be stoked and hanging to plug it in.
Don't stress about glueing the neck, as others have said put both E strings on to check string height on fingerboard and use plenty of glue, can always wipe the excess off after its clamped.
Can't wait to see this strung up and a sound demo !
I am very stoked to plug it in. I Just finished the clear coat on the neck and am trying to wait patiently for it to dry. I think I have done everything else I can do prior to gluing in the neck. I'll post some more pics when it's all clamped up.
Cheers,
Brian
Drying time is inversely proportional to how quickly you want it to dry. I think you may be waiting a while :-)
Sure felt like a long time waiting for the paint to dry.
Well I took the plunge today. I re read the excellent article on gluing in the neck and then I re watched Adams video on how to glue in a neck. I went to the workshop, aka the garage, and measured and lined up strings about half a dozen times, then I liberally coated the surfaces with Titebond glue and clamped the neck and body together. I then re measured all of my measurements a couple of more times, wiped up any excess glue I found and figured I can't do anything else except wait 24 hrs until it all dries. :?
Cheers,
Brian
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...ck-800x600.jpg
Looking great!
Drool. From where I'm standing it looks bloody awesome Brian. Good job!
cheers,
Gav.
I finally got a couple of hours to work on my Dream Catcher.
I screwed in the pickups, attached the strap buttons, and strung it up. I quickly learned that I put the string on the wrong side of the bottom 3 tuners and had to restring those. Oops.
I then adjusted the truss rod, bridge and pickup height and intonation. I have to file down the nut height a little but I'm waiting until the neck gets settled and I restring it.
I then plugged it into my amp and noodled around a bit. I don't think I've had a smile on my face as big as that for a long time. I mean ear to ear. I still can't belive that I built this guitar. I really can't believe my wiring worked out. All the pots do what they are suppose to do and the pickups sound nice.
So there are a couple of little things, the nut height and the saddle on the D string seems to wobble back and forth a bit. All the others are rock solid. Can that be fixed?
I'm still waiting for my truss rod cover to come in the mail and I need to find a recorder that I can record the guitar with to post it.
Some how I think I will be busy the rest of the day :)
Cheers,
Brian.
Thanks for all the help, advice and motivation from all the forum members.
Now what to build next. Hmmmmm I do like the SG......
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...up-600x800.jpg
That looks ace! It's really come together as a great package. Well done.
Nice deep blue - it's great to see some less traditional colour schemes, but that blue really works with the vintage cream and gold, and I do like your "Harry Potter" headstock cut. :-)
I've always loved a blue Les Paul.
You should put an orange pickup switch tip on there ;) I think that little orange highlight on the blue would look great!