Happy accidents are what make art mate :)
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Happy accidents are what make art mate :)
I would keep going with this. I'm liking what I see from the pictures you have posted - to be honest the veneer is the eye catching feature for me.
@ Nick
lol mate, that would make most of my guitars "art" of some sort. ;)
@ Andrew
Thanks mate, yeah I do like the veneer, but I am a bit concerned at its deterioration.
Cheers guys
Pity about the splitting but I actually really like the finish its very custom shop" Matt black hardware and black pickup covers and that would be one sexy beast
Do you know what Robin people pay thousands for a relic' guitar yours looks like it's been around a few years . Once hardwares on it'll look a treat. Dont relic the hardware and it'll look fantastic . I'm kinda liking it
Hey Tony,Quote:
Originally Posted by vh2580
Thanks mate, unfortunately I have already bought a chrome Gotoh Bridge. I have also bought black and cream P90 covers, so I will decide which of those to use later.
cheers mate
@Kim
Thanks mate, hmmmm thousands of bucks huh? Couldn't do it again if I tried. lol.
It's nothing like I had planned but I am kinda digging the beat up look myself now.
cheers mate
Go steampunk or whatever the cool word is for guitar. Relic? I dunno. It looks interesting.
How did it happen exactly, I didn't quite get your posts (probably too tired)
Hi Mario,Quote:
Originally Posted by ihasmario
If you are wondering how it turned out like it did, I can tell you that it was a combination of not enough knowledge, bad workmanship and an incredible amount of blind good luck.
Not Enough Knowledge:
Probably chose the wrong veneer. I wanted a light blue guitar and I think the veneer I chose was too dark to give me that finish.
To keep the colour as light as possible I only used one coat of blue dye which gave me the colour concentration I wanted, but I guess that the natural colour of the veneer soaked through the dye and turned it an uneven blotchy browny/bluey/green colour. I think that a second coat of dye would have held the colour better but that would have given me a dark blue colour, which I was not after. By contrast the back of the guitar being a light basswood took the dye perfectly to give me the actual colour I originally wanted.
Bad Workmanship:
I had problems gluing the veneer to the body. That caused a gap in the two pieces of veneer. My efforts to try and draw the pieces together resulted in a few tears in the veneer.
The veneer bubbled (blistered) because of my bad gluing technique
After applying 4 coats of Poly I accidentally sanded through them in places and into the stain giving the uneven faded “stone washed” appearance.
Blind Good Luck: (and pig headedness)
That it has ended up looking like it does.
When it was all going wrong a sensible person would have given up on this one, it really was looking that bad. But I had put so much time and effort into it and I was too stubborn to give in and wanted to see how it would turn out. So I kept going.
I would still like to do a light blue/black burst sometime, and although nothing like I had originally planned I wouldn’t change this one for quids.
cheers mate
rob
without seeing it in person or close up, it looks really good! Black hardware would look killer on this
Thanks Stan, I think you are probably right about the black hardware, but unfortunately I have already lashed out on a chrome Gotoh bridge.
Cheers
rob
chrome is always classic and works with everything, so nice choice.
I like Gotoh stuff too, got some tuners to go onto current projects
Chrome will look great Rob.
cheers,
Gav.
Thanks Stan and Gav. I think chrome will look OK. The next decision will be cream or black pup covers. I've kept the maple fretboard as light as possible so I'm leaning towards cream.
Cheers guys.
Time for another quick update.
I don’t know why, and it’s most frustrating, but I still cannot capture the true colour of this guitar, but this is the best I’ve got so far. I have finished applying the Wipe on Poly, so now I have to wait a few days to let it harden a bit before I start to try and get a gloss on it. I made a mistake (yes, another one) by not grain filling the veneer so it will never be “glass” smooth, but will be slightly textured. But I think that will suit the general look of her.
I’ll use this time to cut and shape the nut and get the wiring ready. She will have one Master Volume and a 3 way switch.
Cheers guys
rob
Looking awesome Rob. Can't wait to see this beast finished
The back looks pretty good. I'm tempted to use wipe on poly with my build, but honestly I have no idea how it works.
I dunno what to do over the top of my blue since we used a similar dye.
wipe on poly is literally that: apply it to a rag and wipe it on, simple process.
I am finding though it attracts dust like nothing else and your rag needs to be perfectly lint free.
Easy to get shiny finish, hard to get a clean finish....
Yours is looking great though Robin, the blue looks like worn denim in the pics, cool.
How are you going to add the final gloss to yours?
@Woks
Thanks Warren, nearing the home stretch.
@Mario
Thanks Mario. Wipe on Poly is almost fool proof. Exactly as Stan has described. If you have used Tru-Oil its pretty much the same procedure. I think the key is lots of really thin coats. I sand down with fine wet and dry between every 3rd coat so end up removing a fair bit of what I've put on.
I didn't use enough blue dye on mine and should have gone slightly darker as it has just got the slightest hint of green starting in the places where the dye is the lightest. That's the reason I didn't use my usual finish of TO to avoid turning it green.
@Stan
Thanks Stan, the worn denim look is a very lucky accident, but I have ended up really liking it.
Not used WoP before so not sure how to do the final finish yet. Been trolling the web and the general consensus seems to be to hit it with ever finer wet and dry paper (lubricated with water and a drop or two of detergent) through to 2,000. I would usually then use Brasso/Silvo for final cut and polish but I am concerned that when B/S dries it turns powdery white and will lodge in the grain and mar the finish. So a bit more research is needed. Will probably end up using a good quality non silicon car scratch remover.
cheers guys
rob
Jeez, how did I miss this build, have I been out of the loop for that long!! What an absolute work of art. Love all the custom touches here Robin looks amazing.
sure is Barge, Robin has got me motivated to modify my next tele build a similar way with a nice veneer cap and control cavity from the rear with the tummy and elbow cuts
Yeah man, inspiring stuff.Quote:
Originally Posted by wokkaboy
sure is Barge, shall we thread jack this one or lets move over to yours ? haha
I'm under 200 posts to the big 5k !
Sacrilege! You should know better Wokka. You will get moved out of the naughty room in to the very naughty room!Quote:
Originally Posted by wokkaboy
Hey Fretty, is it sacrilege to put a tummy and elbow cut on a tele ? Makes sense to me to make it more comfortable to play. I presume the VNR - very naughty room has no luxuries like pizza, beer and wifi ?Quote:
Originally Posted by Fretworn
That's a furphy. Leo Fender added the tummy & elbow cuts because his favourite guitarists (who were overweight Western Swing guys) needed room for their paunch. The none carved Tele hangs in a better position ergonomically when you play standing up than any other guitar. Leo got it right the first time.Quote:
Originally Posted by wokkaboy
And yes the VNR is the equivalent of solitary confinement - no contact, no luxuries, mouldy food. Like "The SHU" in Orange is the New Black.
(This, of course, all my own opinion. It's just the older I get the more important ergonomics is to me.)
In line with the “full disclosure” of this thread here is my first attempt at a Wipe-On Poly finish.
I have never used a gloss poly before so didn’t know quite know what to expect, but thought it would behave similar to Tru-Oil. It turned out to be similar but not the same. I think that the poly has hardened more than the TO so getting a good gloss was a bit more problematic for me.
The final finish after “lots” of coats seemed to be a bit better than TO but getting rid of the wipe marks and the dust nibs turned out a little more difficult.
I didn’t want to start on the body so fortunately I decided to do a trial run on the headstock, which was a better piece of veneer and had a better finish than the body to start with. The wise chat on the web said wet sand up to 2000 then polish. Sounds simple enough. So I started with 1200, soaked in soapy water, which scuffed up the finish. Expected. Then up to 1500 and the finish was still very scuffed. Not so expected. Bravely on to the 2000, and still badly scuffed. Totally unexpected!
Out with my secret weapon (Brasso) and I could still not cut it back to the state of the original “untouched” finish. I hated doing it but I had to resort to Meguiars Scratch-X 2.0. Now I know it contains silicone but I was being very careful not to mix polishing rags. I know the dangers of cross-contamination but it was all I had and I was very disappointed in the finish as it was so I had to try something. The Meguiars did the job, but at what future cost I don’t know. I believe that silicone only becomes a problem if you have to re-finish the guitar, so I will worry about that if/when that happens.
So today, for the body, I decided not to sand first and go straight to Brasso, my usual method with TO. The result was much more how I expected. Because I didn’t grain fill the front of the guitar and all the problems I had applying the veneer, it is quite uneven so getting a good finish was always going to be difficult. So after over 2 hours of hand polishing here is the result. I think that the uneven finish might suit the general look of the guitar. No, scrap that. I love the finish on the guitar. Rather quirky and beat up, but somewhat appealing.
The back turned out how I originally wanted the guitar to look. It doesn’t match the front in any of the important features of colour, texture or finish, but hey, it’s the back, so who cares!
I really wanted the guitar to be finished on the 13th but as I missed that date there is now no hurry to get it done. So over the next week or so I’ll do the shielding, wiring, nut and assembly and final setup.
Cheers
Rob
The Pics
#’s 1 & 2 – Showing how uneven the finished veneer is. Looks like crap but I love it.
# 3 – The back – Subtitled, this is how the top should have looked. ;)
that looks awesome Rob, I love the look of the uneven veneer. How many coats of wipe on poly has the body got ?
Next build would you use WOP or TO ?
can't wait to see this beauty assembled and strung up, will it have chrome hardware ? should look an absolute treat
Thanks Warren,
Totally NOT the look I was going for, but the more I see it the more I am liking it. The finish is perfect for the faded blue jean colour. If only I could say that either one of those things were intentional. lol.
I ended up laying down 22 coats of Poly. Which sounds a lot but I was knocking it back with 000 Steel wool between every coat and wet sanding with 800 grit after every 3rd coat. So I imagine that I ended up with nothing like the amount I put on.
Not sure what I will use next time. I only use WOP this time because I wanted to keep the guitar blue. They are much of a muchness really. When this one is finished I will see how it "feels" to play. Seeing as I only play for my own sanity that's probably more important than tone to me. I've got to WANT to play a guitar.
All the hardware will be chrome except for the output jack which I decided early on would be black to go with the black edges.
The only decision now will be black or cream P90 covers. I will decide when she is together but I am leaning towards cream to match the maple fretboard and for a more vintage look.
Cheers for the encouragement mate, always appreciated.
rob
wow 22 coats, but as you say, you have rubbed a fair bit off. Is the 000 steel wool much harsher than 0000 super fine ? Think the cream pup covers will look good, could be worth posting a pic of cream and black and the forum will have a vote.
Its always a pleasure to follow your build diaries Rob, you always end up with a beautiful axe and love some of the mod ideas you do. I can't wait to start a tele build with a veneer and reverse the control cavity.
Keep up the good work mate !
looks good Robin, really like the colors and the finish fits the faded denim look. .
@ Tony and Nick
Thanks guys, much appreciated.
@Woks
22 coats sounds a lot but if I start early enough I can put on 3 coats in a day. Not much diff between 0000 and 000 its just that I wanted to knock back the wipe marks and dust nibs before the WOP started to build up around them. That's why I wet sand at the beginning of each day and also to give the next coat a good chance of bonding with the previous coat. Don't forget to give it a good wipe down after the steel wool to get rid of any bits of the steel. I usually use an old vacuum cleaner first and then a wipe over with a paper towel and Shellite.
cheers guys
I like the finish Robin, even the uneven one - it is timber after all.
Thanks Stan,
I am not particularly proud of the finish, but having said that, it suits the guitar a treat and now I wouldn't change it even if I could.
cheers mate
Oops. double post!!
It looks sick as now. Great top coat work as well.
Dude, keep up the awesome work, that axe looks killer!
Lyn #10 is finally finished.
True to form she fought me to the bitter end. Her last defiant act was to stuff up the Pup covers. I had bought the ToneRider Hot P90’s with cream covers and also bought a set of black covers from China just in case I preferred black. In the 3 months that I had the black covers every time I had grabbed a cover for measurements, dimensions and cavity depth etc, I had unknowingly grabbed the same black cover each time. So when it came time to decide which covers to use I thought that black would look best. So imagine my surprise that when trying to fit them over the pups one did not fit properly. I had ordered two E-e 50mm spacing covers but got one 50mm and the other was 52mm. I actually did laugh out loud.
So as with every other aspect of this guitar I have had to make concessions. And as for every other concession I have had to make I really like how it turned out. I have ordered some more black 50mm covers, but as they won’t be here for a month or so I have a feeling that the cream ones are here to stay. I think they really suit the retro style of the guitar anyway.
Although I missed completing her on a very special anniversary she is still a very special guitar for me as it in my beloved Lyn’s favourite colour. Probably not quite the shade of blue she would have picked, but a kind of blue none the less.
Although nothing like I had originally planned, I am almost tempted so say that she turned out exactly how she was supposed to.
The pics still don’t catch the true colour but they are the best I can do with the iPhone camera.
Cheers guys
rob
And a few more.