Gav's STA-1

nice one Gav, I'd be dangerous working from home, too much axe work and too much eating with a fridge nearby

Yep Wokks, you called it. That basically describes my day ;) .

cheers,
Gav.

please tell me that the guitar looks like the pic top left, that dark blue looks amazing!
Good to see you've gone for gold!

It sure does Stan!

Cheers,
Gav.


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then this is going to be one of your nicest builds yet, love that blue , Gav

Yeah I agree with Stan, this thing gets better with each coat! I might just have to get my arse down to NSW and steal it off ya.... :D

Thanks Stan :). Hopefully no disasters between now and the finishing line! Callum, if you can find me you're in with a chance!

cheers,
Gav.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

nice one Gav, I'd be dangerous working from home, too much axe work and too much eating with a fridge nearby

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If your game, and there are no kids or easily offended people around, get on Youtube and look up "Mitchell and Webb Working From Home" to find out what really happens when you work from home.

Classic fretty :). FYI, I've managed to get past that stage HA!

cheers,
Gav.

HAHA funny video Fretty !

I've watched a lot of Mitchell and Webb, but I hadn't seen that one. Almost fell off my chair.

very funny, Gav is either passed that or pretty quick - lots of guitar stuff seems to get done... dunno how much code he writes though...

hi guys,

More levelling and clear coating today. I took the clear back with 800 grit wet-sanding until I my shoulder was aching and I was stricken in terror lest I sand through to the dye. The top was *almost* level - just a few grain lines poking through - but I decided more clear wouldn't hurt.

Attachment 2191

After a good clean it was on with two more coats of acrylic gloss. Man, now she really shines - and the shinier she gets, the more the blue is enhanced and the grain pops. And it's just amazing how different this blue Colortone looks inside teh cave versus out in the sun! Anyway, here's the new shine:

Attachment 2192

Looking pretty good! After the two coats nearly all of the grain has been filled. You can see the small grain lines that remain:

Attachment 2193

One more round of 800 grit wet-sanding and a final coat of acrylic and I reckon I'll be ready for curing and polishing. It's gonna to take a week or so to cure fully under this heat lamp of mine - I'll wait until all the smell is gone from the surface. But that starts on friday! More sanding to do before then...

cheers,
Gav.

looks great Gav, I actually don't mind a touch of grain coming through

looking schweet Gav, good work indeed. Again I can't believe how quickly this build is coming along. You are a machine bro !

I agree with Stan on the grain, I purposely left a bit of grain poking out from the finish, really does look good and feels nice to my playing style!

Thanks @stan! After my black ash Tele I decided to get rid of the grain on this one. Sorry @callum, the grain is good, but shine is better!! :)
Thanks @wokks! I owe the speed to my Bunnings special outdoor heater. Just like the one DB has! What I am really happy with is the way the White Knight clear acrylic has performed. It is handling just like the auto scrylic I sprayed on my last few builds, but with none of the cleanup hassles! That's also having a big impact on the finishing time.

cheers,
Gav.

good stuff Gav, I've found white knight one of the better rattle cans.
Might try it on my mosrite when I pull my finger out.
Nice work dobbing in DB with his Bunnings heater hahahha

Go for it @wokks! It's about time this forum had another MK-2 finished. I might even beat you with my MKA-2! You can't let that happen ;).

cheers,
Gav.

haha nah don't want Gav's 2nd cricket bat to beat mine being built

You should donate it to the English cricket team!


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haha good one Andrew, all the Poms deserve is a wooden spoon and a flight home. A mosrite is too good to give to the Pommy cricket team ! (I'm sure DB would disagree !)

I've been keeping up with the play on FB with this one, it literally gets better every time I see it. I'll just get you to pop that one in the post for us when you're done Gav, cheers.

Thanks @Bargey. Yep, no problem at all! :P At the very least your playing will do it justice!

cheers,
Gav.

hi guys,

Well, I had a lucky escape yesterday. I leveled the clear coats completely with 800 grit (wet) and sprayed another coat of clear. Everything was looking beautiful, but then rather large bubbles appeared in the clear at several points on the front of the guitar. Of course these were NOT where the scratchplate goes, they were in the most prominent place possible. I think what happened was I put the body in front of the IR lamp too early (and too close) - before the clear had sufficient time for it's initial gas-off.

I waited for the clear to harden up sufficiently for sanding and sanded back with 800 grit again. Where each buble had been there was now a reasonably deep pock mark in the finish. I sprayed some acrylic into the lid of the can and used a tooth pick to place a glob of lacquer into each hole. After a day drying, I got the 800 out again and wet sanded the globs (now small clear mounds) flat. Presto - the surface was back to clear and flat. You can't see where the holes were - *phew* what a relief.

The moral of the story is not to get too hasty with the IR lamp. Give the finish it's time and don't rush things. Of course I knew this already, but now and again we forget even the most basic lessons!! Well, I do at least...

cheers,
Gav.

Great recovery Gav and a very good tip on fixing bubbles in the clear coat. Nothing beats a small (potential) disaster to get the creative juices flowing in finding a solution!

Of course, you have an IR lamp. I was wondering how you were smashing through this so fast.

This thing is looking so sweet, Gav. Loving it.

Thanks @andrew. I thought it was curtains for a while there!
Thanks @pabs - I wasn't sure to begin with but I'm really loving the colour and finish now. The IR lamp is just Bunnings special! It's actually just an outdoor bar heater:

Attachment 2210


cheers,
Gav.

Jeez Gavin great recovery from surface bubbles looking forward to next pics

Thanks @kimball. Just waiting to get another clear coat on before new pics. Damn rain has set in and I can't spray :( .

cheers,
Gav.

good save Gav, waiting to see some final pics

Here ya go @stan and @kimball!
Got the next clear coat on today after the leveling day before yesterday. Looking nice and flat ready for polishing!

Attachment 2231

Attachment 2232

cheers,
Gav.

Ye gads Gavin, I just blew up the pics and that body looks utterly amazing!
The depth & richness of the colour & finish damn near knocked my sox off.
This axe is gunna be poison in the GOTM arena . . .
As for the bar heater, when I went to school IR was really just the heat part of the electro-magnetic spectrum anyway.
Doesn't matter how it's generated?

Thanks Max - a huge compliment coming from the master!! Hopefully this build will all come out ok. In terms of IR - yeah exactly - any heater should be good for IR curing, surely?

cheers,
Gav.

Absolutely beautiful Gav.

Yes any heater will do the job, the IR is literally just the heat coming off the lamp.
Gav mate, that thing is stunning!

Awesome stuff Gav, another GOTM classic in the making

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@Nick, @Callum & @Andrew - thanks guys! Still waiting on the gold upgrade kit and cream / white pearloid scratchplate. Will see how these combos make her look! Fingers crossed it improves the look.

cheers,
Gav.

Hard to improve on this Gav it's already in the stratosphere, with gold and cream I reckon will be out of this world.

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@Andrew, here's all I have to say about what you said: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxPUSGdmbYg
I seriously laughed really hard at that one Andrew!