Nice work - as DB says ...
Quote:
There is always a work around to solve problems, mistakes and other guitar building gremlins.....
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Nice work - as DB says ...
Quote:
There is always a work around to solve problems, mistakes and other guitar building gremlins.....
Cheers Gav. Shaping headstocks is actually pretty high on my favourite jobs list.Quote:
Quote from Gavin1393 on June 4, 2013, 16:45
Nice work Ray!
I think this one will come up quite well, once I've finished it.
If you have a cat and , like mine, he/she/it has access to the workshop; don't forget to feed it before trying to do anything fiddly.
This is Ringo, named after 'that' Ringo - because this one is scared of the drums. He will happily sit on top of the stack at any volume, but bolts as soon as the drums start. Pussy!
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...t0on-Ringo.JPG
Yep, know it all to well.
Our cat, Miss Pi, likes to come into the Man Cave and sit on the Axe I am working on.... I dare anyone to try and move her.... damn cat is likely to go psycho! :)
Now there's a funny coincidence. Don't have a set of drums here but we do have a cat called Ringo. To say he is motivated by food is an understatement and he too is only too willing to get in the road until fed. Strange beast! Our last cat had a real issue with my wife's violin playing, taking particular offence at high notes to the point of biting her in an attempt to stop the noise. Didn't work for the cat or me. 8-)
I have decided to use some Heritage Tuners on this build, often known as Split Tuners, they are available in sizes to suit an 8mm (5/16") or 10mm (3/8") hole.
The tuner holes on this head are (nominally) 10mm, however the 10mm would not have been a snug fit and I would prefer to use the 5/16 anyway - they are more authentic for a pre-CBS strat.
As you can see from the first picture the collar will only just cover the hole. Rather than risk is slipping and to ensure the tuner stem is secure I have decided to part-fill the hole. This will provide me with some structure to drill the right size hole. It will also provide a mask if the collar does not quite cover the original hole.
The process;
1/. Tape off the back of each hole.
2/. Pack the lower part of each hole with paper. This allows me to lessen the amount of filler required, which shortens the drying time and removes the risk of having a wet-core (which can happen on large fills).
3/. Fill with a basic neutral wood-tone filler. I am a bit old-school and still often use Agnew's, a powdered mix-it-yourself water putty*.
Once this is dry I will sand it off and then go on with the final finish-sanding.
Don't be tempted to put your fill or paint in front of the heater - even if in cold old Vic or Tassy. My workshop is about 10 deg. at the moment and a simple fan is already drying the bog, as the 3rd pic shows. The old maxim used to be "heat the room not the job", in other words; put the project somewhere warm, but don't apply heat directly.
* When I was a "boy" we were actually taught how to make this sort of filler using sanding dust....and make shellac from flake...and set and sharpen handsaws (not just buy a new one).....and how to feed the bosses dinosaur.....and listen to old b*stards rant about how good the good old days were.......they weren't.....
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...hole-mod-1.JPG
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...hole-mod-2.JPG
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...hole-mod-3.JPG
Back on track.
Neck sanded and stained. This "yellow" heritage stain will lighten when I run the pad over it, prior to the first coat of clear. I will actually lighten the face of the headstock even further with a quick hit from harsher pad first.
The fills are pretty rough in the tuner holes, however they are just there to support the collars and will be covered once the machine heads are fitted.
The skim coat of primer always looks terrible, especially when it has just begun to dry. The fill is poking through and also some glue clouds can be seen. The up-side of using solid colour is that by the time I apply the first top coat all this stuff will have just disappeared. Covered by thick layers of primer.
Many people will advise you to use light primer under light colours, however I have never had a problem with bleed-through.
My apologies to all those who can see the grain weeping through, then shake their heads and sigh..... ;)
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...ained-neck.JPG
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...-skim-coat.JPG
Sanded back the first priming and the skim priming has done it's work, revealing a few pits and dips.
Quick fill with some poly (AKA builders bog) then more sanding and a couple more coats of primer.
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...-skim-fill.JPG
Precious little shed time right now, bugger it, so I doubt this will be ready for the July GOTM.
Meanwhile I have stolen a moment to mount the tuner bezels....one small step.
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...ead_bezels.JPG
Another quick job done, hotrail in the bridge position.
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...9g-hotrail.JPG