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Hi guys,
So I'm building one of the JM-1 kits, and the design is going to be a tribute to one of my favourite bands; 'La Dispute'.
I decided on the JM-1 as my band plays emo/punk music and the shape ties in nicely with the music scene. I also already have a Vintage custom tele and an Epiphone Les Paul Custom Pro, so the JM was a nice change.
I decided on a satin white finish, with custom decal, engravings and decoupaged sticker all to be featured somewhere on the guitar.
The decal I'm putting on the headstock is a play on the shape of guitar (Jaguar) and the band the guitar is a tribute to (La Dispute); Jag Dispute. I thought it to be quite humorous, yet suitable.
I'm sticking with all the stock hardware for now, as I don't have enough cash to warrant pickup upgrades or anything of the like.
So far, I have applied the primer/base coat to both the body and front of the headstock, and 3 coats of top coat. I'm aiming for about 6 layers of topcoat all up, and then a nice clear satin finish.
I've also engraved the neck plate with a lotus that is the symbol for La Dispute, which came out quite nicely.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...78558445_n.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...47629154_n.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...82981203_n.jpg
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excellent work Mike, this is coming along really well. Love the engraving, nicely done and a cool custom touch
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coming along nicely Mike, love the personal touches and the engraving. Should look a treat with red pearloid guard on white
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Cheers guys. It's my first build, and I'm awful at hands on stuff, so I'm pleasantly surprised at how well it's come out so far.
I applied two more top coats today (totaling 5 now) and will let that set for a while. Going to see how much more I can get out of my spray can, but I'm thinking I only have enough for maybe one more coat before I start putting on the clear.
Still waiting on my decal to arrive from the US as well (the wait is killing me!) so I can actually start the clear coats.
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I'd be letting each coat cure for at least a day or 2 in cool Melbourne Mike. If you got no paint runs you are doing very well. Probably need a light wet sand between coats. Look forward to updated pics. You can probably stain the back of the neck or are you going clear satin coats ?
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Yeah, I've been sanding between coats, and so far only one tiny run, so doing pretty well. I've been bringing the guitar inside into the warm after leaving it for half an hour or so outside to be touch dry, so it's speeding things up a bit.
I'm going to go with clear satin on the neck as my vintage tele has that, and the neck looks and plays like a dream, and I don't think a yellow stain would suit the colour scheme haha. So yeah, clear satin all round. But I won't be applying that til next week by the looks of things. Want the paint to cure for a week, and I'm moving out of home this weekend, so I won't have time to do any and it will force me not to rush it!!
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sounds good Mike, probably a good thing to let the top coats cure. Clear neck will look great on the white body.
Rushing a build increases the risk of mistakes so take your time. Each build you will learn a bit more.
I guarantee you it won't be your last build, its a highly addictive hobby !
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Yeah absolutely. I'm thinking now I might buy another can of spray to give it a couple more coats, as my can is running a bit lower than I first thought!
I'm terrible at rushing things, it's hard to keep myself patient! But I know the wait will be worth it, and I've already decided on my next build, which will be a JR-1. Just gotta leave a little extra cash aside so I can grab it after this one!
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yer don't skimp on coats, get another spray can for sure.
JR-1 looks like a cool kit to build, simple 1 humbucker
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I was telling my mate (who doesn't play music, let alone build instruments) that I'd already done 2 primers and 5 top coats and he was shocked haha. He seriously thought you only needed one of each. When I told him I'm going to use 2 cans he thought I was mad haha.
Yeah, I used to own an epi les paul jr, loved it, but traded it towards a bass stack. But I love them so much (Big Green Day fan) especially with the P90 that I decided I need to build one.
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Mike - x2 on Wokka's comments - welcome along and don't rush things - if you're anything like most of the people here, you'll be hanging onto this axe for a while, so you might as well take your time to get things just right. Any reason for more top coats - if it's white enough - just go with your clear coats. Remember, however you're treating the guitar - thin coats and as few as you can get away with are really the way to go. With more, at best you're increasing the chances of a run / worse...
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Thanks Brendan.
Yeah, I've learnt to slow things down somewhat. If I would've started this like, 3 months ago, I probably would've tried to do the whole thing in a weekend haha. I've told my dad to be firm and tell me not to do stuff when he knows I haven't let it set for long enough, so that's helping things! I used some wire wool between coats 4 and 5 and the finish has come up beautifully now. Just going to do maybe one or two more just to get it to the right colour then I'll start on the clear. Thanks for the words of wisdom on keeping the coats to a minimum. I was going to go all out and do as many coats as the can let me! But now you've said that, I've realised it will probably create more issues than anything else, and it probably won't give me the finish I'm looking for!
Will upload a picture of the finish later today when there's a bit more natural light, so I get a nice picture to show off how nicely it's come out.
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So it way too cold and wet to do anything today, so decided to just put the pickguard, bridge and neck in place (not screwed in) to see how it will look. Gotta say, thinking it looks mighty fine right now. Loving the contrast between the red tortoise shell and the satin white body. Also really happy with how the headstock has turned out.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...n-DSC_0819.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...7-DSC_0817.jpg
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looks awesome Mike, how I pictured it in my head. Might be worth seeing how white control knobs and switch tip look like, but black is a nice contrast
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Cheers Wokka,
Yeah I'm thinking of switching out the control knobs at the very least. Want something a little smaller. Not overly keen on the huge Gibson-esque knobs so close together in a small space. Thinking some steel ones that you'd usually see on a tele, in either white or black. Leaning towards black for the contrast though.
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Alternatively - the straight chrome ones knobs be great for it - picks up the chrome in the bridge, pup and control plate. Overall looking great though!
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Wow Mike, the white looks stunning against the red pickguard. Just awesome! Sometimes you forget how amazing the clean lines of a simple solid colour can look. The white is awesome!
cheers,
Gav.
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Man, the starkness of the white with the red pick guard makes a fantastic contrast. I didn't think it was going to be so vivid. Very impressed. Pure going to end up in a fairly exclusive club when this is finished, Mike. Not many have made this axe. It won't be too long and you'll be gigging with it.
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Lookin' Killer, mate! Simple and sweet.
I see in the photos you used Rustoleum primer. Is Rustoleum what you used for your colour coats too? Really nice result from the can by the looks. I need to try and work out what brand to do my MB with, and if it is Rustoleum you've used, I might need to give it a go. ;)
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I love the shape of these and the classic white look you've gone with... once I finish my ES a JM will be my next project.
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good luck with the ES Mick, you do know after you've done the wiring you need weeks of counselling ?
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Hey guys, sorry for the inactivity this past week. Moved out last weekend and only got internet yesterday morning, so had a fair bit of catching up to do!
Thanks for all the compliments! Really happy with how it's turned out thus far. I spent the day today building a spraying booth with my dad so I can actually spray at my new place! The tenancy agreement said no spray painting, so I should be able to get away with it in a booth in the backyard I'm hoping!
West, I used Rustoleum top coat as well. Absolutely love the finish of it! I went into Bunnings and asked for the most expensive satin white top coat spray they had and rustoleum is what I got haha. Definitely recommend it and apparently it "covers twice the area compared to other spray paints", so I guess you get a little more bang for your buck haha.
Hoping to get back into it tomorrow night and spray what should be my last or second last top coat. Then I can finally add my decal (which finally arrived!) and get onto those lovely clear sealing top coats.
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Hey guys, so BIG update!
It's finished! Finally. Sorry I haven't posted anything about it. I took it in to have the bridge set up for me by a professional, seeing as I had no idea how floating tremolos work. Got it back yesterday, so I took up to my parents' place to get dad to help me with the electrical side of things. He's an electronics engineer, and he asked if I'd let him do it (he likes tinkering every so often) and bloody hell, now I know why he's paid so much haha. We used some super expensive cable that he had laying around from years ago that he never used, and used basically none of the wiring that came with the kit. The result is one AMAZING sounding guitar!
I then took it home, touched some stuff in, restrung, plugged it in, tuned it and BAM, done.
So incredibly stoked to have finished my first build. Taking it to a gig I'm playing tonight, so I'm hoping it turns a few heads haha.
Thanks to everyone who gave me advice throughout the whole build, it has been invaluable :)
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...f-DSC_1135.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...q-DSC_1136.jpg
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Looks amazing Mike. Any chance of a sound demo? Would love to hear how she sounds.
Cheers,
Gav.
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Thanks Gav!
I just finished tracking something just now. It's just a guitar cover of 'Sugar We're Going Down' by Fall Out Boy. Nothing technically amazing, but should give you a feel for the tone of it! I used the Avid Eleven Rack, with a Mesa amp head model going into a 4x12 Greenback. Each guitar track used a different pickup setting. Pretty happy with the tone I got considering I put no thought into my settings!
https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/sugar...oTUU9AnQGTluwg
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looks excellent Mike well done.
When I click on the dropbox link it comes up with error 403 and asks me to sign in, which just shows my dropbox folders.
Have you got any sound demo's on soundcloud ?
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Woops, thanks for letting me know Wokka. Forgot that linking like that doesn't work haha.
Here's a soundcloud link https://soundcloud.com/modern-demo-r...-custom-guitar
And cheers for the compliment :)
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sounds excellent Mike, that track sounds alot like Smashing Pumpkins, is it an original ?
was it played with the bridge pup ? sounds pretty chunky
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Sick guitar, sick song, sick sound. Very stoked for you.
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very clean and nice, looks great
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That's a great clip, Mike. Is the rhythm and lead both the JM? Congrats!
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Sounds so rad! fuzz and riffs, is there anything better?
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Nicely done - how'd you etch the neck plate?
