Ha. I've been trying to polish the front a bit further to get rid of the deeper scratches, when the polishing pad somehow caught a bit of poly near one of the f-holes and ripped a nice chunk out of it. Just F that DARN guitar!
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Ha. I've been trying to polish the front a bit further to get rid of the deeper scratches, when the polishing pad somehow caught a bit of poly near one of the f-holes and ripped a nice chunk out of it. Just F that DARN guitar!
I'm familiar with the scenario and the emotion.
:¬\
I have no words. :(
(except for the "f" one)
Do not lose faith!
All of these little problems can be fixed.
If you still have the chunk ripped off, it may be possible to superglue it back in place and then apply a little poly with a toothpick or similar.
Failing that, just apply a little coat of poly to the damaged area and repeat as often as required to bring it up to the same level as the rest of the finish. Days, I know but it will work.
I think this is a lesson not to use power polishers as this is the risk.
I always use manual power to polish. That way I can control the amount I take off and can also concentrate on the spots that need the most work. Just my view and my method.
As for the milky areas, as already said, it could be a small amount of delamination.
I had this on my scratch build when the pickup screw caught the lacquer and lifted it slightly. I took the screw out, countersunk the hole slightly and 'wicked' a bit of cyano into it. In your case it could be a little difficult as it is in the middle of a panel so in this case it may well be blushing.
If it is still noticeable then wait a month or two and apply a warm household iron over a tea towel to the area. This is what you do do cup rings on dining tables etc. Works a treat usually.
Right now your poly will be too soft to try that though.
Stay strong!
Cheers
Ricky
Have spent the last few days slowly building up the spots where the poly was damaged.
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Also, while I was at it, I sanded down the complete face again and added a few more coats of poly. I hoped to get rid of the deep scratches, which actually worked, but I have still about a million fine scratches that won't budge.
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Not sure which step I am doing wrong. But I currently suspect it's the polishing phase.
It's true that I'm using an attachment for my drill, as I just haven't been able to get any decent results by hand polishing. It's either because I'm a weakling or because my technique is poor. Or probably both. But I have been researching a bit and I'm giving it another try.
I have bravely used the "Autosol" metal polish on the guitar as it's the strongest stuff I have, and still the guitar has millions of fine scratches. So as the Autosol is very abrasive (made for restoring old metal), and it barely polishes the guitar, I'm using either the wrong pads, or doing it otherwise wrong. Will need to make a few tests maybe.
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The headstock is now finished. I... don't know.... It's an E for effort, I guess. It looks better from a few feet away, but it's too rough to be pretty. Not sure yet how I can get better results next time. The shell is very brittle and not a pleasure to cut. Also, it's way too hard for my vinyl cutter which I first hoped to use. The knife just barely scratches the surface even at max pressure. So maybe only use edgy and geometrical shapes from now on :rolleyes:
I changed my mind about the tuners and used some Grover(?) ones that can be screwed in, as the other ones I had need to be hammered in and the insets were too small for 10mm holes. My husband thinks they look dumb but I like these more than the kit tuners. Haven't drilled any holes yet but I think these also go well with the MOP "design".
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On a side note, the milky areas were neither delamination nor blushing. I had blushing on the headstock poly when the weather suddenly changed from hot and dry to cold and wet. However, it completely cleared by itself (I lightly sanded the top layer to help evaporation).
The milky areas didn't change, neither on the front nor on the back. So I sanded them and added new poly. This *seems* to have fixed it, but I let's wait a few days if it comes back.
Attachment 37156
Drying outside aka waiting for some bird poop.
That guitar is looking good, mate. Don't worry about the small scratches. I've found it difficult to get a flawless finish by wet sanding and hand or power polishing too. There is always some little flaw or blemish with these sorts of finishes. In the end, I set them up as players to my liking. What it sounds and feels like in my hands is more important than a few scratches or a tiny chip here and there. Set it up and get playing it - It's a good feeling when you find yourself totally immersed in the instrument and the sounds it conjures.....only to be brought back to reality as the drool drips from your lip. We've all been there!
Glad to see you're persevering.
Re: headstock ornamentation - FWIW I recently used "inlay" stickers for the first time on my Les Tele build and was quite happy with the result. I would certainly use them again. I have neither the skill or tooling (or patience) to do real inlay. I am envious of those that can.
They are available in some pretty intricate designs (one or two I could see matching your theme). I went with a rather plain bold design as it suited my guitar best. They're quite thin, but still require a fair bit of bedding-in (even spraying).
Here'e a close up of mine:
Attachment 37163
IRL it has a definite MOP look, but it didn't photograph very well.
Also note, if you zoom in, the little white specs are just dust particles on the surface I didn't blow off. They're not in the finish.
It's not perfect but overall looks pretty good to me.
I realize that I am "a day late and a dollar short with this" but I just discovered a useful trick. I did the same thing on a maple fingerboard near a fret. I built up the finish with Aqua coat clear. It dries MUCH quicker than the water based poly that I finished with. Sanded and polished nicely.Quote:
Originally Posted by ThatCluelessGerman
That flipping piece of $§%$%§$%§$ of a guitar!
The bridge bushings won't get in, won't get out! Fffffff :mad:
I tried it gently, I tried it with wax, I tried it with blunt force, and now these little f*ckers are stuck half ways in.
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This thing is really killing me, I can't remember enjoying even one minute of this build.
I ordered a tool to pull windshield wipers, hope it will work with the bushings. If not, this thing is going go be an eternal wall hanger, because I'm really angry right now and not willing to get any gray hair over it. It would be intensely satisfying to just smash it to pieces...... It better sounds freaking awesome because I'm really contemplating :eek::p
It won't be too hard to make a puller for the bushings. Just a bit of nuisance. The main thing is to ensure that it doesn't damage the finish, but plenty of padding will help with this. Cork floor tile might be good.
Here's how I'd do it.
You need to find a long bolt that will thread into the bushes, hopefully its standard metric, a matching nut, and a very large washer - much bigger than the post. If no washer any bit of metal with the right size hole will do.
Firstly just try using the bolt and washer to pull the post out, you never know, it might work!
If it doesn't then time to make a puller. Get a piece of wood, about say 100mm square and deeper than the post is long, and drill a hole through it that is generously wider than the post. Put a couple of layers of cork floor tile on the bottom as padding. Remove the pickup, and locate the piece of wood with the hole round the post.
Thread the nut onto the bolt, all the way up, then the washer, and then thread the bolt into the post, (through the hole in the bit of wood). Wind it all the way down into the post, but just by hand, no reason to use force. Now wind the nut down so that the washer is hand tight against the wood block. Now its time to be very sensitive and listen and check. With a spanner wind the nut down very slowly, but don't let the bolt turn. This should gently pull the post up and out. Just be very careful to listen for ominous creaking noises (other than the post coming out) and check that nothing is marring the finish. Note you will be putting load on the surface, so I would wait a couple of weeks at least for all paint to really cure thoroughly because any trace of softness in the finish means it will mark.
Looking at those windshield wiper pullers, unless it's very different to the ones' I've seen, they won't work as there's nothing for the central pin to push against.
I'd search for "Elmer guitar knob and bushing puller" if you can get one locally in Germany. They are available at a couple of places in the UK, or certainly on eBay if you can wait for shipping from the US or China if you can't find them anywhere else. It's about the cheapest commercially-made puller I know that will work (I have one). The 'Schatten guitar knob and bushing puller" is almost identical but a bit more expensive. However, it is a useful tool if you are going to make or modify more guitars.
Jim's puller could work, but you are reliant of the splines on the side of the bushing stopping the bushing from rotating. As the splines are at the top of the bushing, you don't want the bushing rotating and the splines widening the hole so it's loose when you re-insert the bushing. Ideally you'd really need to have a cut-out in the side of the wooden block big enough to fit some thin-nose pliers in (you'll need an assistant to do this) to grip the bushing to prevent any turning whilst the bushing is being pulled upwards.
You may find the hole isn't deep enough for the bushing or it's full of finish and smaller than it should be. I had to get an 11.5mm drill to slightly enlarge/clean out and deepen the bridge holes on the GSJ as the bushings for the replacement bridge I used were about 3mm deeper than the kit ones and the existing hole was slightly too short. That 11.5mm hole still gave enough grip for the bushings to hold firmly whilst being easy to insert.
Have you got any MicroMesh pads or sheets? I find those useful for tacking small areas with a scratch on. You can use them dry, and it doesn't take long to sand away a scratch with a 1500 pad and then work up until you've got a near-shine with the 12000 grit pad. You'll know about halfway through whether you can still see any scratch remaining. If so, go back to the coarsest grit and start again.
But I've been thinking that some of your scratches may possibly be in the wood itself under the clearcoat. So hold the scratch up to a light at a shallow angle to see if the surface is scratched, or whether it's smooth and the scratch is underneath on the wood, which would be why polishing isn't removing it.
That's why the bolt needs to be kept from turning. If the bolt doesn't turn there shouldn't be any significant turning force on the bush.Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
That Elmer puller looks fine to me - works in exactly the same way, and does have the advantage of coming with a selection of bolts with different threads, so no messing around finding the right bolt. The contact base might be a bit narrow for my taste, need to be rather wary with new finish.
It was fine on all the guitars I’ve used it on, but yes, you could put it in a wider base (some MDF with a hole in it) if the finish is fresh. But with the arched top, it won’t touch in many places.
Maybe you could sketch up your puller design, Jim, as a picture would make things clearer (I’m struggling with it and I know what’s supposed to happen).
Attachment 37169
Does that help?
It helps me at least! Thanks.
The long bolt should be a standard M8 thread. That's the norm for metric/Chinese/standard kit bridge bushing threads.
Guys, thanks so much for your help and for kindly ignoring my swearing :-)
I got one of the bushings out by gently wiggling it out a while, but the other one is not budging. So I'm waiting for the wiper puller to show up to test and/or modify, and if this won't work, I'll build the tool that Jim drew - thanks so much for this btw!
I was pretty cautious not to get any finish into the bridge holes, it looks like the holes were just drilled the wrong size. The bushings barely even fit in. Next time, I won't try to hammer them if I see it's a too tight fit.
I used a rounded file to carefully expand the holes. So one bridge bushing is now in and looking good, but the other one is not out yet.
Also, I think I solved the "riddle" of the scratches and the "blooming"... I switched poly's in between, and it looks like these are places where I sanded through into the layer of the other poly. Now, these are BOTH Minwax gloss poly - my inital can of fast drying polyurethane was empty someway along the way, so until the new one was here, I used Minwax wipe on poly in between. I was actually pretty sure it's the same thing, just differing how much it was thinned down - but, apparently not?
It's now very visible on the headstock, where I used the wipe on poly to "bury" the headstock MOP sticker, and then finished it off with the new can of fast drying polyurethane.
Another possibility is of course the temperature, it was incredibly hot for 2 weeks when I did most of the poly. I don't know if this made it dry too fast so it's not properly bonding to the next layer, or if this is not a concern.
However, it appears as if the scratches are IN the poly, but then covered with new poly which filled the scratches, but left a visible difference between the layers. Hard to describe but that almost looks like it's true.
I think if there is anything I've learnt from this build, then it's to NEVER switch clear coat in between, EVEN if it's supposed to be the same stuff.
Good luck. If you do need to source a bolt for the bushing note that M8 threads come in coarse and fine pitch, and you need the right one. I'd be surprised if it were fine pitch though, IME at M8 its unusual outside of specialist engineering applications.
I've just used standard M8 bolts you get from the main DIY stores or Amazon.
The wiper puller worked, hooray! Well, sort of. The bolt it came with was a tad too short, so I screwed it out to take it to the hardware store as a template. As I had it out, out of curiosity, I screwed it in to the bushing, carefully trying to wiggle a bit. It started to wiggle. I wiggled a while and had it out!
Will still get a new bolt for the puller, because it actually seems like it could come handy again.
So, everything was good for a few minutes, until I noticed that the bridge holes seems to be too close together. MEH! The bridge does not fit!
Neither does my replacement roller bridge :(
However, the roller bridge holes can be opened up more easily than the stock bridge, I just need to file away one millimeter of metal. My smartwatch is happy, it thinks I've been exercising. LOL.
It plays! Yeeees, finally!
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I must say, even though it didn't turn out the way I hoped it would, it plays pretty damn well. The action is quite low, no fretbuzz at all, the neck is slim and smooth, and the one pickup that's working (LOL ;D) is amazing, considering I paid 20 bucks for them ;)
Talking about the pickups, the switch is acting up again. I resoldered it yesterday after installing and it all worked well (tap tested), but I guess tightening the screws and turning it a bit broke the solder joint AGAIN. So currently, only the neck pickup works.
But as the switch is pretty crappy and wiggly anyway, I have ordered a replacement. Hope I will have the "rhythm/treble" washer (or whatever I'm gonna write on it) ready until then.
Another thing I messed up is how the wiring is visible through the f-hole. I should have made the ground and pickup wires a bit longer. I have tied them together and could probably get them a bit further out of the way, let's see. I will MAYBE fix this if it bothers me too much. Right now, I think I can live with it.
Now, I wish that thing was made of tone wood instead of cheap plywood. I would LOVE to have an acoustic guitar with such a neck!
Tomorrow, I need to make the pickguard and trussrod cover. Sawing 3mm brass, I'm mentally crying already ;-)
Well done on bringing it all together at the end. At least you now know that it's worth fixing. Looks great as well.
You do know that the strings are supposed to go under the round bar at the front of the Bigsby? It's there to give you a decent break angle for the strings over the saddle.
Attachment 37177
Have fun cutting the brass!
Having done a bit of work with 3mm brass...yeah have fun, at least you aren't making tentacles :P
Great looking guitar you've put together there.
I've found that as long as the angle is enough to keep the strings in the saddles (bridge height will come into play here). You are better going over that bar for tuning stability. Less break angle = less pressure on the bridge sadles and more free movement.
Roller saddle, over bar stringing and graphtech nut go has done wonders for my tuning stability.
That is really a gorgeous outcome, planned or unplanned.
Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk
Serious congratulations, Clueless!
That is one sweet looking guitar and the fact it plays so well completes the package!
Well done.
Cheers
Ricky
Love the finish. I never consider brown stain but it always looks good (Mental note for the future). Do a sound demo when it’s all sorted.
Hey guys, I'm glad you like it (from afar :D )!
I spent the last two days adding the final touches, polishing metal and playing her for sure!
Truss rod cover and pickguard were cut from 3mm brass and etched with ferrous chloride. Then, I made a washer for the new switch and a little badge for the bigsby clone where I want to add some kind of serial no... It's currently only attached with sticky tape until I get my number punches ready so I can punch the number on the badge.
Resoldering the switch was surprisingly easy, I am so lucky my hands fully fit through the pickup holes :p
Now, everything is working as intended. The pickups are Gretsch Broadt'rons, the cheapest Gretsch pickups and people seem to bash them a lot, but I think they sound pretty awesome.
I have taken like a million crappy pictures of the guitar, so be prepared I'm going to dump a few of them here...
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Haha, I was so BUSY with the bridge, this didn't even occur to me. But of course you are right, I don't know why I didn't notice it myself.Quote:
Originally Posted by Simon Barden
Interesting! I have restrung it as I got some really bad ghost notes and bridge noise while the strings went over the bar.Quote:
Originally Posted by AMG-Kazoo
LOL, now if I could only play guitar :DQuote:
Originally Posted by DarkMark
No, seriously... I am not sure if you could call it a sound demo.. more a noise demo probably.
More pictures. Ignore dust and fingerprints please :D
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More pictures, more dust and more fingerprints!
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Ooops, I forgot the headstock. So here it is!
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The MOP is sadly hard to photograph. I know there are nice and clean cut "fake" MOP stickers from Jackomo etc... but.. I wanted the REAL SPARKLE :-)
From a few feet away it doesn't look that bad, aaaaaand it sparkles! :-)
Edit: Yeah, one screw on the truss rod cover is totally off. The drill slipped :(
More edit:
So, it looks like the guitar finally got some kind of "theme" with the guns and the shotgun shell knobs. I had initially planned to use the knobs on my second build (the "Walking dead's Lucille") but the husband veto'ed. Then, I wanted to put it on the third build, but the husband.. you know. So, I can fiiinally use my darn knobs :D
After trying to figure what I would etch onto the metal parts, I searched for something that goes with guns, except for skulls. So, it's guns and roses flowers!
The guitar would actually deserve it to be taken to the studio and take proper photos, but I'm kinda lazy.......
Ignoring any small finish blemishes, that looks absolutely great! Your little extra touches really lift it into another league. Very well done.
It looks stunning, I love the color and the custom work you did. The hardware also looks great with the body and theme. Very impressive!
That's a really nice piece of work there. You definitely need to change your signature line! ;)
Great customising with the brass parts, and the label inside is a nice touch!
Congrats!
Beautiful looking build there! Should be proud of how it turned out. Can I suggest submitting your build to the September GOTM?
I just got a very similar kit and I'm looking at how I'm going to finish it. Dark brown is fairly high on my list.
What pickups are those? They look like Filtertrons of some type but maybe they're full humbucker sized? I was thinking of getting a set of the new GFS GF'Tron pickups for my build. They are supposed to be quite good.
That looks brilliant. Great work.
I'm in love with your guitar. Really well done.
Much too much praise! But thank you all :-)
Oh, not sure it's good enough for GOTM contest... next build maybe :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by kuanjb
I think these are Gretsch Broad'tron's. They came off a Streamliner if I remember correctly. I ebay'd them for 20 bucks or so. Full humbucker size, yes. The Broad'tron's got much flack in various reviews, but I like them. They don't sound great with much distortion, but imho, they are made to sound great clean or with medium gain. I think they sound good on my 15w tube amp but I need to "explore" the sound a bit more to find the sweet spot for me and the guitar. We're currently just getting to know each other :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by kuanjb
However, on a side note, I noticed a very faint hum when plugged in that goes away when I touch anything on the guitar. My logical thinking is immediately screaming "grounding issue!", but I'm pretty sure all the ground cables are properly soldered and installed. I also didn't forget to ground the bridge :-)
Is there any way to find out WHERE the grounding issue comes from (if it is even one!) without pulling out all the electronics again?
It's also very faint, I had a ripped ground cable once in another guitar and it was VERY loud.
Also, it goes away if I touch ANYTHING metal on the guitar, like the shaft top of a pot or even the pickguard (brass). So I'm not sure if this is maybe normal for a hollow body?
It's by no means loud enough to bother me, but I really want to know if it's something I need to fix or not.