Under the sealer cap of my Lazarus project I can detect a maple top with a slight tiger stripe to it.
I have been sanding the top from bout to neck cavity, but should I be sanding along this apparent grain instead?
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Under the sealer cap of my Lazarus project I can detect a maple top with a slight tiger stripe to it.
I have been sanding the top from bout to neck cavity, but should I be sanding along this apparent grain instead?
can you please post a pic Bass Guy ?
sounds like you may have struck gold with the tiger stripe
probably best DB or Gav advise you but I'd probably sand with the grain of the tiger stripe, which sounds like the grain goes perpendicular to the neck direction ?
Yes the stripe is latitudinal. Seems I may have a lot of sealer cap to get through first though....
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...e4ej-image.jpg
yes El, I'd sand the sealer cap off first, and then check with DB/Gav whether you sand with the stripes latitudinal which makes sense
Good luck sanding, you may have to look up the last step of DB's sanding mantra !
Better shot in better light.
I figure that as the guitar is still in three dimensions, I have a lot of sanding to do.... ;)
http://pitbullguitars.com/wp-content...um2z-image.jpg
Hey Bassguy, the grain actually runs opposite to to tiger stripe....
Sand sand sand and sand again. When you are tired of sanding.......... :)
But do be careful not to sand through the cap.
This may be the first and only time you will ever hear me say this.
Gulp, shudder, it may be best to sp..sp...spray, Wince, ni....ni..ni.. nope, I just can't bring myself to say it...
Might be time for t....tr....trAAAAAARG!
I am so going to be sent to sit in the corner for this...
That oil starting with T...Dammit.
I am now going to go and sit in the corner for the next hour and think about what I just said........ :(
Good man DB, self regulation is the way to go! You should be able to come out now....
Now that the corner is free, you need some Blue Boil on that ......or something that rhymes! My turn......
Yep.... Only fifteen minutes and you can come out of the naughty corner Gav....
Soooooo....sanding the way that I was originally, but don't sand through the sealing cap?
Yep. You need to take care as the flame top may only be 2-3mm thick.
Will do, o sensei of the sanding.... :P
...and possibly under 1mm at the edges!Quote:
/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from dingobass on August 16, 2013, 20:45
Yep. You need to take care as the flame top may only be 2-3mm thick.
Hey guys, I have ordered the LP-1m kit and just wanted to clarify how much I sand the top of the guitar (flame maple). To what grade and till when? and also, what are the best tips when doing binding, do I need to sand it, or tape over it to protect, or what?
If I was to get a bit of stain on the binding, what would be the best way to get this off?
And last question sorry, could I use tru-oil over the whole body as a lacquer and then buff the finish?
Thankyou very much for your time and relpy, I look forward to hearing from you guys,
LPBuild1 - DingoBass has put together a how to in keeping your binding pristine:
http://pitbullguitars.com/?page_id=4...wtopic&t=140.1
In terms of getting rid of the stain, a light steel wool (0000 grade) should do the trick.
In terms of Tru Oil, the answer is yes - look for guitars by Robin (couple of ST-1's and an IB-5)and see just how glossy it comes up.
Thanks very much Brendan for the quick reply really appreciated
Hi LP Build,
what Brendan said after 24 hours of curing give the binding a rub with fine steel wool each time you are putting on the next coat, if you keep doing this before each coat the job at the end will be easier and the binding will be nice and smooth.
Have a look and try and gauge the thickness of the cap looking side on at the pup cavities, but as said before beware the cap can be thin close to the outside edges. Be safer to slightly undersand the edges but the middle of the cap should be 2-3mm thick so you can sand that area smoother.
The sides and back of the body and neck you can sand thoroughly so it feels smooth when you run your hands over them
Ok great tanks wokkaboy so you would advise to steel wool after leaving the stain to cure for at least 24 hours?
Thanks very much the help is very much appreciated. I see your doing try oil on your srat, does tru oil work well I was planning on using that, any tips?
Thanks very much
when staining is it still good to put tape over the binding just to keep as much off as possible as well as the other tricks?
Thanks
Hi LPbuild, sure if you can tape up the binding, just be careful not to have any tape over the area you are staining.
Sure tru oil will go well on the spalted maple cap, I haven't tested tru oil over wudtone over a long period yet so wouldn't recommend that, although Robin has succeeded applying tru oil over other stains.
Good luck !
Ok great thanks, i probaly wasnt planning on using wudtone anyway but thanks for the quick reply
Hi LP,Quote:
/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from LPBuild1 on August 29, 2013, 17:51
Thanks very much the help is very much appreciated. I see your doing try oil on your srat, does tru oil work well I was planning on using that, any tips?
Thanks very much
Although I have not had much experience with Tru-Oil I did do heaps of research on the net. The general concensus of opinion is to not use an oil based stain under Tru-Oil as the solvents in TO may dissolve the stain and cause it to run.
As Wudtone by itself can be buffed to a high gloss finish and as it is oil based I would proceed with caution before applying TO over Wudtone.
I applied 20 coats of TO to achieve the best results so far, this may be a bit excessive, but it is what works for me.
Hope this helps.
rob
Ok great thanks, i was planning on using ColorTone from america but buying it in Australia, its dye water based so i should be fine. Can i also just use tru oil straight over the binding on my lp kit?
Thanks
I used Tru-Oil on my TL-TH kit which has white binding. I didn't steel wool the binding between coats and it has turned it slightly yellow. It suits the natural finish of the guitar so its no big deal, but worth keeping in mind.Quote:
/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from LPBuild1 on August 30, 2013, 13:49
Ok great thanks, i was planning on using ColorTone from america but buying it in Australia, its dye water based so i should be fine. Can i also just use tru oil straight over the binding on my lp kit?
Thanks
rob
ok great thanks, how should i sand i have a flamed maple top which way do i sand it so i dont scratch the top? thanks
Sand in the direction as you would with a straight grain body. With the grain from top to bottom of the guitar.Quote:
/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from LPBuild1 on August 30, 2013, 20:01
ok great thanks, how should i sand i have a flamed maple top which way do i sand it so i dont scratch the top? thanks
A flamed top's grain direction looks like it goes across the body, but it actually runs opposite the flame, lengthways along the body.
Hope this makes sense.
Ok cool so sand from where the neck cavity is downwards in that direction?
Thanks
Hey,
Was trying so hard to not sand thru the cap, especially after all the warnings!! but of course i f*#ked up... bout 5mm diameter has been exposed on the carve of the top horn. Any cheeky fixes or do i just suck it up and live with it. es-1g first build - happened cause i attempted to pop the flame, worked a treat on the rest of the body except for the obvious bloody mistake. i applied the first coat of dingo, which really accentuated it! I'm a bit of a perfectionist and i just can't let it go... can anyone help?
post a pic up sam and we can see what the suggestions are
Sam, bummer, thats a tough one to fix sanding through the cap. Did you pre-sand the top before the black coat went on ? I always skip the pre-sanding for the reason of not sanding through the cap.
I'd suggest try and get some black stain over it and try and make it blend in. That light ring around it makes it pretty obvious.
I'd also try and steel wool off the stain on the top binding and it will be easier to clean next coat
Thanks wokka, no I went straight on with the black stain knowing I may run in to this problem. Weird s#*t i actually just finished everything you suggested, except gave it a light hit with a maple wax stick. Blended that horrible ring, but obviously not perfectly... Lesson learnt. I'm not too fussed now, of course I expected a flawless first build but who am I kidding... Thanks for ya help dude,
I'll post a pic when she's complete.
no worries Sam, thats why we stress how thin the caps are. Touch wood (parden the pun !) I haven't done it yet but seen many on the forum do it. My mate sanded through a cap on a FV kit but he used an orbital sander with 240 grit paper but I'd only hand sand a thin veneer cap.
Not many have built a perfect 1st build so if you blended that light ring you will be surprised at how many people may not notice it. You will always notice it as you know about it !
Yeah spot on man, one of those things that'll only bug me! At the end of the day I'm all about the sound the thing makes, all my other guitars are dinged up but they all sound killa! I'm more into the electronics, I've modded all my guitars trying all kinds of different electronic set ups, and I recently fixed up my mates epiphone 335 (complete electronics overhaul) that's what inspired me to pick up a PB kit... And for the price... I'm already thinking what to buy next!
Cheers,
Sam.
that's bad luck...
other ways to hide it:
leave it, don't worry
add to it - relic
painted top
one of those dark teardrop bursts:
http://www.themusiczoo.com/images/2-...t_A06322_1.jpg
http://www.seymourduncan.com/forum/a...1&d=1254397816
Hey Stan,
That was my only other thought of hiding it. I love that tear drop burst, how would i achieve that?? I've only done one initial dingo stain and messed around with the bloody hole in the cap, nothing else.
Thanks,
Sam.