rob's TL--1 - Lyn #10

here's some ideas, including Callum's:

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/73...38230a269d.jpg

http://www.rod-neep.com/rod/instrume...0100412-01.jpg

http://images51.fotki.com/v747/photo...finish8-vi.jpg

@Kim & Stan
Thanks guys. Got up early this morning, to make an early start on the "gap". Trimmed a thin piece of veneer and glued it in. Went over it with TimberMate and the result is not too bad. I actually like the idea of making a highlight of it but I took the easy option. My pc died this morning so can't post a picture, but will do as soon as I can.

Thanks again guys
rob

One power supply later and the pc is up and running again.Whew!!

Here's the end result, I am hopeless at trying to match TM with the wood, and although it looks OK dry, I will have to see how it turns out when stained.

cheers
rob


Before and after photos

that's a nice job Rob, there is so much figure in that wood, that any difference with the Timbermate will be unnoticeable IMO

Thanks Stan, I hope you're right.

If other people's results with it are anything to go by, then you'll be fine

Man, this build is awesome. That veneer job sent it into the er... telesphere

Mario wins word of the month: Telesphere!

@Stan
Thanks mate for the encouragement.

@Mario
Thanks mate, but don't get too excited, still plenty of opportunities for me to screw it up.

Cheers guys
rob

Robin - immaculate... Nicely done. Can't see you stuffing this one up - after all it's #10 and the other 9 have been pretty special.

Awesome work Robin. Love the veneer. Had seen the iron method for fine furniture but never on a guitar so in the data bank for future builds now.

@Brendan
Thanks mate, I can only do the best that I can do, hey?

@vh2580
Thanks Tony.

One word of warning. I dampened the veneer to raise the grain and the day after I had a bubble/blister in the veneer. Not sure if it was related or not but I was a bit over exuberant with the water as the grain looked amazing when wet. So I might have overdone the water a bit. lol. The glue recommended is Titebond Original which is the least waterproof of all the TB versions. I used the iron again to flatten it out and reactivate the glue and then clamped it for 24 hours. its now been 48 hours with no sign of it lifting again.

Today I am going to bite the bullet and try staining it. I am hoping that the stain doesn't seep through the .6mm of veneer and react with the glue. Finger crossed.

See, I said there was plenty of opportunities for things things to go wrong. ;)

cheers guys
rob

amazing job on the veneer Rob, I missed your update last week. The timbermate filled the gap nicely, you won't even notice it.
Love the iron method. My next tele build I'm going to do something similar and mod the control cavity like yours and veneer on the top. I'm hoping my veneers are wide enough for one piece so I don't have the joining dramas you had.
Can't wait to see some stain on this cap. What colour you got planned ? photos please !

Hey Warren,
After seeing the veneer wet I was very tempted to keep it a natural colour, it would have looked outrageous. But this one has to be a bit special. In a few weeks it will be the 3rd anniversary of the passing of my beloved Lyn and as blue was Lyn's favourite colour I promised myself that at least one of my guitars should be blue. I figured it might as well be this one.

Unfortunately I think it may have been the wrong decision as the dark blue has covered up much of the subtle areas of grain, but it too late now!

I used blue and black Stamp Pad Ink. My original plan was to do a 3 colour burst of blue, blue/black and black But the blue is much darker than I expected so I had to just do blue with a black burst near the edge. Not quite the affect I was going for but I have only just finished the first coat so it and it may lighten up when it dries.

Here's a quick pic, its a bit blotchy but that's because its still wet. At least I hope that's the reason. lol.

cheers
rob

love the colour blue Rob, but agree a little dark to really show off that lovely veneer. I think after clear coats the grain should be more obvious and as you say the blue may dry a bit lighter.
So is the back going to be blue/black burst same as the front and maybe dark edges ?
either way its going to be a slick looking axe.
Might want to re-think the headstock to natural, the headstock has the best grain in it

The blue burst looks great Rob. Yes, sure there is some nice veneer under there which is being occluded, but what you can see looks good all the same! Great job I say!

cheers,
Gav.

Yeah Warren the back is the same as the front, but being basswood it is much lighter and more to the colour I wanted.

And you are definitely right about leaving the headstock natural, unfortunately I stained that first. Hahaha.

Hey mate, it is what it is. We live and learn. If it plays well and sounds OK I'll be happy.

rob

Thanks for the encouragement Gav, I'll be wiser next time.

rob

no worries Rob, can we please see a pic of the headstock ? Sure it looks awesome.
so maybe natural neck then if that hasn't been stained yet

Rob - seem to remember DB saying something about natural sunlight fading stamp pad inks - maybe an option? I like the colour, but it does seem to occlude the grain a little.

You could always sand back the stain and mix a lighter colour/apply less on the applicator? That is if the veneer is thick enough.

nice idea Nicko but Rob said the veneer is only about 0.6mm thick. It may fade over time.
Shouldn't be an issue I reckon once the clear coats go on the grain will become more obvious, should look sensational and I won't be entering GOTM the same month as this axe ! Also being a tele gets an instant extra half to one mark from Ads LOL

@Woks
I’ll take a photo of the headstock tomoz Warren.

@Brendan
Thanks for that Brendan, on the clothes line tomorrow then.

@Nick
Thanks mate, I had thought of that, but just not too sure. It’s not how I want it, but it looks OK. If I stuff around with it now I could make it worse.

Thanks guys
rob

@Woks
Here you go mate, just for you. ;).
I found it really hard to capture the actual colour, but that's about as close as I could get.

I am going to leave the neck unstained and just apply the usual oil to give it a nice slick EBMM'ish slickness.

I have given the back another coat of blue and black to see how it goes. It looks darker now but may dry lighter, I will have to see. I left a small section under the neck plate with only one coat so I should be able to compare. I will decide what to do with the front when the back is fully dry. If it does dry darker I will leave the blue on the front alone and just massage the black a bit.

I might try and experiment with sanding the headstock down a bit. I think I will have to do something so that Lyn's name can be seen on it. I'll keep you posted.

cheers mate
rob

Man that headstock looks nice. Love how the black figure of the wood cuts the blue. Same on the body - subtle but effective.

Thanks Nick, I'd love to take the credit, but it's all the wood. Lol.

Cheers mate
rob

that's nice Rob, can't wait to see this glossed up

Rob, love the colours! Headstock looks great too and the veneer is still pretty eye catching, they are kinda like the grain version of F holes if you look at the placement of them which I think makes it look even cooler!

@Stan
Thanks mate, I just need to touch up a few places where the stain didn't take properly and the gloss will go on.

@Callum
Thanks mate, I could say I planned the grain that way........ but I'd be lying lol.

cheers guys
rob

Rob, nice job. Veneer with the blue looks sensational.

Sent from my GT-I9506 using Tapatalk

@Andrew
Thanks mate, but read my next post lol.

Quick update time.

But no photos this time as I think the overcast conditions combined with a camera phone and my total lack of photography skills are making it impossible to capture the true colour. I’ve tried with several different background colours but none can actually capture the true magnificence of the nondescript colour of this guitar! Lol.

I know that TO will naturally “amber up”, so I am trying a clear Minwax Wipe-on-Poly this time. Which reminds me, how is the Naughty Room going these days? Room for a repeat offender?

What I have learnt is that, especially with blue dyes, the wood (or in this case the veneer) has to be as light as possible. Basswood is excellent and obviously flame/quilted Maple also works very well. The veneer top has turned quite dark and taken on a slight brownish/green tinge whereas the basswood back is the lovely blue colour I was hoping for. I should have gone with my gut feeling and just gone for a natural wood finish. It would have looked amazing. Meh, 20/20 hindsight etc. :\

I have decided to persevere with more coats of MW hoping that it might darken enough to be less noticeable, but right now to say that I am a bit disappointed is an understatement.

But it’s no big deal, I’ve been lucky with all my builds so far, so I can’t complain. I have spent more money on hardware upgrades than the cost of the original kit so worst case scenario is buy a “bare-bones” kit and start again. No big deal.

Compared to most of the rest of the world my “1^st World” problems seem slightly insignificant. I have to keep reminding myself how blessed we are living in OZ.

I’ll keep you posted as I will probably have some more what NOT to do tips before this build is over.

Cheers guys
rob.

fight on Rob. Early building adventures are 90% what not to do and 10% blind luck....

You know what they say about one man's trash... Maybe sell it onwards for a profit/cost after it's all done?

Thanks Stan and Nick for the encouragement. I have not given up yet, blind luck may still pull me through. As always my guitars stand or fall on how well they play not on their looks, so I may still have a winner yet. ;)

cheers guys
rob

A quick update.

This build continues to test and frustrate me.

I finally managed to get a photo that somewhat resembles the colour. I have no idea why the colour changed so much with the clear Poly. Maybe that particular veneer is not suitable for dyeing or I stuffed it up in some way. I would really like to know, but will probably never find out. At first I really HATED it but funnily enough I am now starting to like it a bit (well, not hate it so much). It is certainly unique.

After 4 coats of Poly I tried to cut it back a wee bit with some 800 grit that I had soaked in soapy water. I applied no pressure and just let the paper do the work. Being soapy water, as I sanded it lathered up a bit, and to my horror when I wiped it off in places I had cut through the poly and into the dye!! It now sort of looks like those brand new jeans you could buy that looked dirty, grungy, ripped and faded, before you even put them on.

More of a problem is after a few coats of Poly the veneer has cracked and split open in places. From day one the veneer was very brittle and fragile, maybe that’s how veneer is, or the hot iron was the wrong method for gluing, I don’t know enough to say. Also the blister has re-appeared, so obviously my glue application was pretty rubbish. It’s got several coats of Poly already so it’s too late to re-apply some heat to it, so I might have to end up splitting the blister and re-apply some glue.

I figure I only have a few options right now. Relic it, paint it, scrap it, or just keep going. I have decided on the last.

I am intrigued to see how this one turns out. What I had hoped would be a pretty blue guitar has ended up being a rough, butt-ugly brute. But it might just end up being that ugly shirt/car/puppy that you end up loving. Time will tell.

The journey continues.

Cheers guys
rob

What a pain. I am scared to death of final wet sanding. I have never pulled it off without a small disaster. And guess what I've got lined up for myself on the weekend....

It's definitely a unique looking finish you've got there. How does it compare to the sides/back? I know its not what you planned for, but I think it looks great.

That looks great! I know it's not a lot of people's cuppa but blue/greys are some of my favourite mixes. The bit of purple hinting through the headstock looks really nice too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pablopepper

What a pain. I am scared to death of final wet sanding. I have never pulled it off without a small disaster. And guess what I've got lined up for myself on the weekend....

It's definitely a unique looking finish you've got there. How does it compare to the sides/back? I know its not what you planned for, but I think it looks great.

---

Thanks Pabs,
My research on the interwebs said wet sand 800 after 3 or 4 coats. I will probably double that next time and start with 1000/1200. Don't apply any pressure.

The back and the sides (being basswood) look OK. The sides are black and the back is the blue I was shooting for, so I know the ink can work as a dye, just not with that veneer.

Good luck with your sanding mate,
rob

@Nick
Thanks mate, it does have that "wartie" grow on you affect. Lol.

Cheers mate.