very nice, the blue and gold look great together
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very nice, the blue and gold look great together
Hey guys,
Haven't posted anything for a couple weeks, but I've been steadily working on the guitar.
Last weekend, as I had a fair bit of gloss on, I sanded the whole guitar flat. Took me a fair bit of sanding at 600-800 wet.
I then sprayed again and let that cure all week.
Same deal this weekend, I still had too much grain showing for my liking, so I sanded flat again.
And sprayed again...
I'm pretty happy with the result now:
Attachment 6909
Attachment 6910
Attachment 6911
Attachment 6912
I had that idea of adding gold highlight to the blue, so this morning I mixed some mica powder with clear gloss for one of the coats.
Not the best results... I reckon I put way too much mica powder and it was showing too much in some areas.
So I ended up sanding most of it and re-spraying clear on top.
No photos yet, we'll see next week!
Anyway, one last final touch up spray tomorrow morning, and then I'll leave this one alone for a couple weeks while it cures.
On the neck side, I wasn't too happy with the finish. I used Dingotone clear but must have been too heavy-handed and didn't squeeze the excess enough before wiping for the final coat as I had some waxy looking areas...
So I sanded it with 600 dry to remove all these waxy area until I was happy.
I then wiped a new top coat on. This time I barely had any product on the applicator and it does look better.I'll wipe a 'last final' coat next weekend and that should be it for the neck!
In the meantime I got myself a nice IB-5 kit...
I'm waiting for golden parts I ordered from eBay, and for some custom Dingotone before I really get started. I'll created a build diary for that one too.
Cheers
Fred that looks pretty smick really nice shade of blue and you have brought out the grain beautifully.
I agree, that's a nice shade of blue! Probably why I chose the same colours for my build! The black and blue work well with the grain, and the gold is a nice touch in the knobs and hardware. But I picked gold hardware, so I'm a bit biased!
Thanks guys.
@Swanny: I've been keeping an eye on your build diary for your ES-12G and it is beautiful! I reckon an ES-12G is the next in line... I mean next after the IB-5 :-)
Thanks, Fred! My son is already planning to order an IB-1 for me to help him with after Christmas.
Wow Fred that's looking amazing!!!! That color with gold hardware pops! I love it!
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coming along really nicely Fred that colour scheme looks excellent and can still see the lovely ash grain
Nice photos as well man, the colour and tones are really nice.... gotta love natural light shots :)
Looking really good there, Fred.
Thanks guys!
I used the 'real camera' for these ones. Phone cameras are good but can't compete with 500g of glass! :-)
Wow Fred, this is turning into a real stunner.
rob
Looking amazing Fred!
cheers,
Gav.
Hey guys,
So this weekend was back on the STA1. It had 2 weeks for the final coat of gloss to cure and it looked ready to cut and polish.
I followed advice I found on this forum and the video: started by wet sanding it with 1500 and then 2000 until it was all flat.
I then polished it with the Meguiar Ultimate Compound, followed by Scratch X2.0.
It's all glossy now and I'm very happy with the level of gloss and how it makes the colour pops.
So a few photos:
Front:
Attachment 7099
Back:
Attachment 7100
And some close ups:
Attachment 7101
Attachment 7102
Attachment 7103
It's great how it changes colour depending on the light!
I wasn't too happy with the results of my attempt to add gold mica powder in the spray a couple weeks ago, so I ended up sanding a fair bit of it. But I didn't remove it all, so it shows areas with some gold dust which I actually like on the darker parts (the edges).
It's hard to show on photos as it is quite subtle, but it can be seen on the photos below:
Attachment 7104
Attachment 7105
Attachment 7106
Now, all is not perfect...
I had an issue with a small crack at the bottom of the body.
I tried to fill it by filling it up with gloss acrylic by hand, and I thought I had it, but after the flat sanding I could see it was still going to be visible.
I've still gone ahead and polished the guitar, and it is visible:
Attachment 7107
Attachment 7108
Attachment 7109
And now I'm in two mind: leave it as is (at the end of the day the default gives it a 'handmade touch'), or try and fix it...
But I'm not sure how I could fix it.
Anyone with a good idea?
Cheers
looking awesome
Love those Pure Vintage Tonerider pickups, they are gonna sound sweet.
Looks like some movement where wood is joined? I'd be tempted to leave as is. I think most of my axes have some sort of cracking /distress 'feature' that appears overtime anyhow.
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@andrewdosborne: yep exactly. I think I'll try and see it as a feature... 😁
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That's looking fantastic, Fred! I like the touches of gold showing through, as well. I'm with Andrew, leave it as it is, it's not a flaw, it's part of the guitar's character.
I've got a question for the Meguiars experts here: the body is very shinny now, but it seems to be quite soft and it can easily be scratched.
Is that going to dry harder?
And should I finish the body with wax? I've got some Dingotone Wax, does it work over Acrylic?
Cheers
hey Fred this is looking very nice, love the level of gloss you got. I'd leave that crack, it's a feature that shows it's been hand made.
If the gloss seems a bit soft then I'd let it cure a bit longer. I'd continue with your polish and wax the fingerboard
Thanks guys. I'm sold, the crack will stay as a proof that I made this guitar! :-)
I'm going to let it cure a bit more as suggested.
The neck got it's final final coat of dingotone Sat, so i'm going to leave it alone for a few days too.
I've got to start the electronics anyway. Swapping the standard pickups for the toneriders, changing the jack and maybe changing the wires with proper one too.
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Looks great! I am not game to try a burst for my first one, you have done a great job.
So, I'm on leave and the weather is just rubbish here in Sydney, so I thought I'd finally get started on the electronics for the STA1M.
I removed everything from the pickguard first, and applied copper tape everywhere:
Attachment 7416
I used a mix of tape I got from PBG and a roll of snail and slug barrier from the green shed.
The snail and slug barrier is actually a roll of copper tape, and it's narrower than the PBG tape so was good to get in corners and small spots.
Once installed I tested continuity with the multimeter and all good, even without any soldering. Pretty happy with that.
Next I installed the tonerider pure vintage and re-installed the pots and the switch.
I had ordered gold screws for the pickups and the switch as I didn't want to have a few chrome screw heads next to the pickguard golden screw heads.
No issues with the pickup screws, but the switch is a problem...
The gold screws I got are slightly bigger than the one that came with the kit... and they don't fit in the switch holes. I thought I could just enlarge the switch holes with the drill. I did one, but it didn't work... and because I've drilled it, the original screw is too small now... bummer...
So for now I've installed the switch with one original screw, and I've soldered the golden screw in place... pretty 'ghetto' and it's not tight enough.
So I've just ordered online a new switch (I used that as an excuse to upgrade to a good one), and a new set of gold screws as I think I messed up one...
Anyway, I still soldered it all together so I can test it while I wait for the new switch.
Talking of soldering, I had not touched a soldering iron since I left uni... 18 years ago... and I struggled big time... pretty ordinary considering I've got a master in electrical engineering!
I managed to solder the pickups grounds to the back of the pots where I removed the old ones from... but I was scared I'd cook the pot...
Looks like I'd better watch a few 'soldering for dummies' youtube videos!!! :)
Here are a few pics of the pickguard completed:
Attachment 7417
Attachment 7418
The switch with different screws:
Attachment 7419
And because I still had some time, I also shielded the body cavities:
Attachment 7420
I should get started putting it together, but I the acrylic gloss finish still feel 'softish'. It's harder to scratch than before (I've been trying to scratch it with my nail where the pickguard will cover), but I'm still scared I'm going to make a big scratch...
For the guys who are using White Knight Acrylic Gloss and then buff with the Meguiar products, have you had any issue with the finish taking a long time to cure?
Do you add any way or anything to protect it?
Cheers
Hey guys,
So I received the new 5 way switch (CRL 5 Way Switch) and I replaced the one that came with the kit with this one:
Attachment 7524
I had to bend the connectors and wires as this switch is a bit deeper than the initial one and I was concerned it would make contact with the cavity shielding.
Attachment 7525
Attachment 7526
And then it was time to put it all together!
Attachment 7527
Pretty happy with the result I have to admit! There's a few small defects but I can live with them and I'll put that on the lack of experience for the first build.
I then started to intonate, etc. and I was struggling with buzzing frets.
I lowered the bone nut, checked that the neck was straight and added some bow. I got it working, but the saddles were very high and the action wasn't great at all.
Then I realised I still had the cheap loose strings that came with the kit (not the PitBull guitars ones, the ones that are not even packed). I used them to check alignment etc. and when I was playing with the nut height. I had buzzing issues before on my Ibanez because the strings were too old, so I swapped the crappy strings with the PBG ones.
While the strings were off I reversed most of the corrections I did, straightened the neck again, lowered saddles and I saw on Gavin Turner's blog that he lowered the six last frets to help lower the action, so I did that:
Attachment 7528
I retuned the guitar, played with the saddles a fair bit, and now the action is much much better!
I'm going to see how it settles after a few days/weeks before I call it finished.
Anyway, I plugged it in, and I love the sound!
The Tonerider Pure Vintage sound very nice! And I now have a guitar with single coil pickups to complement my HH Ibanez. Pretty happy!
And now that the guitar finally looks like a complete job, I took it out in the sun and had a bit of a photo shoot session, looks pretty nice!
Attachment 7529 Attachment 7530
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And a few more:
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Fred that has come up a treat. very nice guitar
Great job, Fred! Looks beautiful!
Fred, that looks superb! how come your CLR switch doesn't short on the copper shielding? I had to cut the shielding away from mine as the cavity wasn't deep enough.
PS how good are those Tonerider pure Vintage pups!!!!
Now to move over to the GOTM pages and enter! This has come up really well Fred.
Very nice indeed. Love the blue black burst.
@Andy40: I brought the wires from the top of the switch (top when soldering), I heat shielded the pups ones (not the other ones as I forgot to add the heatshield before I soldered them... and I was happy with how they looked), and I bent the metal connectors downward. I made sure that if anything touches the shielding it would be the heat shield first. Seems to be okay, I've got all 3x pickups working and the grounding seems good.
@Gavin1393: I'll lodge the photos on GOTM this month, but I want to clean them up a bit, got to present the beast as well as possible! :-)
Forgot to add: Thanks for the nice comments guys!
It's been invaluable having access to this forum!
Seems that degree came in handy after all those years....lol...nice workQuote:
@Andy40: I brought the wires from the top of the switch (top when soldering), I heat shielded the pups ones (not the other ones as I forgot to add the heatshield before I soldered them... and I was happy with how they looked), and I bent the metal connectors downward. I made sure that if anything touches the shielding it would be the heat shield first. Seems to be okay, I've got all 3x pickups working and the grounding seems good.
That burst looks awesome, and the gold hardware really sets it off. Nice work with the photography too, the soft colours really show off the guitar. Any chance of a sound clip?
Thanks.
I'll try to record something clean and post it somehow.
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beautiful build Fred well done it's a stunner