4 Attachment(s)
Build No 8 SSCM-1E Les Paul Custom
Just got the SSCM-1E all mahogany kit with the view to make a black Les Paul Custom with gold hardware my version of the "Black Beauty". I even ordered the split diamond mother of pearl inlay from ebay. Significant upgrades seen in the photo below:
Tonerider Gold AC2 pickups
Gold Grover tuners
Gotoh Gold tunomatic bridge and tail piece.
CTS long neck pots
Sprague caps
US speed knobs for the CTS pots
Will grain fill with Z poxy resin and undercoat with filler acrylic lacquer rattle cans. Colour coat with black acrylic rattle cans and clear coat with clear acrylic. All the rattle cans came from a local car paint retailer and have the wide spray nozzles that make spraying a bit easier.
The body looks good the neck is a very good fit and the neck angle appears to very good for the future set up.
3 Attachment(s)
Headstock shape and grain fill
Headstock shaped roughly gibsonish and first coat of Z poxy applied. I usually use timbermate but since this is going to be painted I decided on Z poxy to ensure no shrinkage will occur after painting with acrylic lacquers. The coat will be lightly sanded after 24 hours and a second coat of Z poxy applied. Then its time to sand back to wood after the second coat is dry and hopefully all the grain or pores will be filled. I am painting the neck and body separately and will glue the neck on for the final addition of the clear coat.
2 Attachment(s)
Final sand of Z poxy and glue neck
Sanded back the second coat of z poxy back to the wood and was impressed by how smooth and flat the guitar now is. Should help to make that shiny black finish sparkle like a piano. I was not going to glue the neck on yet but watched a video of how gibson paint and finish guitars and so I attempted to duplicate their hanging rig. Chain clamped on to the rafter of the shed connected to the guitar by a removable connector and a eye bolt. I think finishing the guitar with the neck glued on will allow for a better transition at the neck join which of course will be covered by layers of paint and clear coats. Thats the theory anyway.
4 Attachment(s)
Binding scraped decals applied.
Too cold in Hobart to spray the clear coat today so final prep finished. Bindings scraped, fretboard retaped and decals added. The MSS decal was printed on white decal paper and the image reversed in colour ie the black text became white and the white background became black. The split diamond is actually a sticker not a decal. All ready for the final coat when the weather is warmer and above 10 deg !!. I hope the tuners do not cover too much of the sticker. Could not check as the gold grovers are on backorder.
4 Attachment(s)
Clear coat and backing plates
For johnwhitear here are some photos after clear coating (5 x3 wet coats 20 min between the coats aka Phrozin). Not much to see as orange peel present and the curved les paul body makes the front hard to photo, although a shine is apparent. Oh I ordered a epiphone black rear cover plate without checking and it does not fit!! It may be gibson but I think not so I sprayed the off white kit ones with 4 wet coats of undercoat and 3 x 3 wet coats of satin black. Was going well until some dust blew in ( I was spraying on the floor). I can sand it back later and spray again.
