Purfling bound. Happy with it so far. Needs a tidy up and it will be ready for staining.
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Purfling bound. Happy with it so far. Needs a tidy up and it will be ready for staining.
Now you're just showing off! :)
This is going to look superb.
Perhaps I should post a photo of the mess I made of the headstock to even things up. The plate cleaned up really well and the perfling was really easy to do. Staining it tomorrow.Quote:
Originally Posted by blinddrew
Question.
If I want to upgrade the wiring to pushback cloth wire, should I be looking at the solid core or non-solid core wire? I see a Chinese seller advertising non-solid as being easier to solder to pots. It’s an area I have no knowledge of.
I don't find much difference when soldering.
Solid core is probably best for when you have access to a control cavity or everything's on a scratchplate. You can bend the wire and it will stay in shape, and you can make a very neat looking job.
Multi-strand wire is more flexible, so probably better for use in hollow-bodied guitars than solid core, especially when you have to feed the electrics through an F-hole or pickup hole.
Ideally you'd probably use both, with solid core being used between pots (where you've used a template to create the harness and have minimised wire lengths) and multi-strand for the longer runs off to jack sockets and switches. But both will do a good job, and both types of push-back are much stiffer than the standard kit wire.
Ok, thanks Simon.
Oh Funk! The guitar binding must of been cream! Let’s smear some golden teak into the white scratch plate binding to take the edge off the white and match the colour up a bit.
That's the spirit! It's amazing how different whites can be and still be 'white'.
Tru-oil adds a bit of creamishness to binding as well I've discovered.
I wrongly assumed the yellowish hue of the binding was completely due to the Tru Oil. After a couple of coats on the plate and comparing against the guitar, the difference was obvious. Hopefully some weak stain and the Tru Oil will do the trick. It’s looking better already but I’m looking forward to Tru oiling it tomorrow.
Have to say that it's really nice to have someone else doing the same build at the same time (even if the approach is very different).
Though I couldn't explain why!
Hi folks, what kind of finish are I trying to achieve with my first wet sand at 1200 grit on Tru Oil? Should I continue until a uniform cloudiness is achieved?
Hi mate, looks about right however it is more how smooth it feels whilst wet that matters most. If you felt any slightly rough bits you may need to delicately go back over them again. Be careful as 1200 strips lots of finish off very quickly and you can easily end up stripping stain coats too.
You now have a good base to apply next 3 or 4 full strength coats before doing same with 1500 grit.
On my latest ES1 build i have done 1 x 1200 & 2 x 1500 wet sandings and will probably do the first of a few at 2000 tonight.
The aim is to smooth things off and not strip too much off. Obvious blemishes such as runs need to be sanded out otherwise they will be visible later on.
Cheers,Waz
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Ok, I’ve sandpapered a little more and it’s looking much better and I dare not go any further. I’ve seen too many examples of people taking off stain.
Thanks Wazkelly.
Wise move.
I will take some progress shots after doing a 2000 wet sand tonight to see if that provides any useful indicators for you to work with.
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Please do. How do I achieve a satin finish? Do I 0000 steel wool as the final step?
Good question as i have only ever done gloss.
Other forum members may drop by and clarify that for you.
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Righty-o, I look forward to seeing how you’ve progressed tonight. Satin/gloss, I could go either way, but feeling the body in it’s current state tips it in favour of satin...at the moment. However, I love the way the golden teak seems to ‘glow’ like a fire in the right angle of light and I guess that may not happen without the gloss finish. Decisions decisions.
I have another guitar on order. I’m going to natural finish it, perhaps I’ll Satan (no auto correct, ‘satin’) that one. I might Satan it.
I love a good satan finish but having to get the WHOLE coven together to properly consecrate a guitar. And then you've got to find the Virgins and the Satyrs...those Satyrs are just terrible at keeping appointments y'know?Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkMark
It's just easier to do it in a gloss finish,
Thanks for the heads up. I’ll pack away the ouija board...for now.Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankenWashie
For a good even finish, even with satin, you will eventually need to build up enough finish so that you can sand it so that everything is flat with no glossy pits or dips. It's what separates an OK finish from a great one. I'd go for at least a near gloss polish before sanding with steel wool. I do think that it gives a better more random looking satin finish than a high grit-number Micromesh gives, though that itself isn't bad.
Ok, I’ll keep laying it on.
Five more layers of Tru Oil and the first 1500 wet sand complete. I’ve decided to keep the body gloss finish.
I think it's the easier option in a lot of ways.
Well, I tried to match up the colour of the white scratch plate purfling with the cream purfling of the guitar with some golden teak. It looked ok under artificial light, but in daylight the difference was obvious. I couldn’t live with myself as it was so I ordered cream purfling and rebuilt the plate. The original plate was only stained with black rather than the golden teak/cedar/black of the guitar body, which showed up in the lighter section of the wood...not as big a deal as the purfling colour mismatch, but corrected that in the new plate. As you can see (or maybe not) the new plate is looking a better match. New plate is the top one.
Have to agree that gloss is easy to achieve with TO.
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Second 1500 wet sand complete. Gloss it shall be.
Doh!! I was looking forward to satan.Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkMark
never mind .
cheers, Mark.
Ol’ Sootyfoot might like them glossy too.Quote:
Originally Posted by king casey
20 coats of Tru Oil and first 2000 sand complete (personal record keeping).
When it comes to polishing I have some things I could use. First I intent to use 4000, 6000, 8000 and 12000 micro mesh pads. I also have a three piece polishing kit with drill pads including;
1) initial cleaning of metal- firm cleaning pad with regular cleaning compound.
2) initial polishing or light cleaning of precious metal- medium pad, light polishing compound.
3) high gloss polishing of precious metals- high quality buffing pad with high gloss polishing compound.
Would anyone recommend/discourage the use of these polishes?
Following 12000 micro mesh pad could I skip any of the polishing steps, eg straigh to 3) high gloss polish?
Should I hand polish instead?
Please leave your thoughts.
Haven't got round to doing the final polish on mine. Did up to 3000 grit on sandpaper and then going to go straight to the meguiars stuff and see how that works.
I sand to 2000 with wet and dry, then use machine cutting compound and an electric buffer, then SCA polish with no cut and finish with Meguires Scratch X. The Relliecaster and Black Cherry in my builds below show these results pretty well.
On the Sonicaster cutting didn't work very well with the poly, so I sanded to 2000 and then did some very careful clear top coats and left it. It was a bit orange peely initially but has since settled down to be pretty flat.
People get great results using various techniques so it might be a case of suck it and see to work out what you prefer.
Thanks for your methods, folks. 25 Tru Oil coats and second 2000 wet sand (personal record keeping).
29 coats of Tru Oil and it’s looking rather flat. Also, my second bottle of Tru Oil is nearly empty and starting to leave ‘dry bits’ on the surface. Third and final 2000 wet sand tonight. Tested the micro mesh and polish on the scratch plate. Polishing....so much polishing ahead of me.
Chin up DarkMark, it'll be worth it. :)
Yeah, I’ll take my time. No rush.
Oh my! It’s shiny.
Gotta love that look.
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