-
Hi all,
This is my introduction for now.
So, my partner bought a few second-hand guitar bodies from eBay - both impressively bright. See his,"Hello", post. http://www.pitbullguitars.com/commun...iewtopic&t=943
He began the massive task of sanding it off, but between other musical projects, just hasn't had the time to do anything major with it. So, I've taken over one of them. (Before pic on the link).
The first pic is sanded back as much as possible so as not to damage the veneer too much and with a coat of white timbermate applied and sanded - as you can see, the green was *VERY* hard to remove. A pity, it did have a lovely grain.
Second and third are with a coat of white primer. When this dried I sanded back the neck to 800 and gave it and the fretboard an oil (had to remove black spray paint and tool chatter from the neck).
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...901_211050.jpg
-
-
Aaaaand giving a quick prime to the front (the f-hole in particular). Green just rises to the top though. :S So I'll concentrate on the fhole and give the rest a quick sand and re-coat.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...902_160024.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...902_162844.jpg
-
Looking good Sophie! What colour finish are you planning? A solid colour?
cheers,
Gav.
-
Fabric covered - like one of the original Jems.
It'll be a type of dark purple paisley.
-
Nice! I will be very interested in how you get there.
cheers,
Gav.
-
it's looking better already. Fabric covering sounds interesting
-
Yes, that sounds cool as. Very interested to see how this goes.
-
Hey guys!
Probably triple part update because I'm being too lazy to resize photos
.................................................. .....................................
So I've primed/painted the back and sides. Here's a photo of it still wet. As it was drying this evening it started to have that piano black gloss. There'll maybe be one more coat after all the fabric and etc. for any touch ups.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...922_150447.jpg
-
Pt 2.
And here's the fabric covering process. I've only done the neck today as I put that final layer of black on the body when I saw that the sides weren't quite as well covered as I'd like.
For those interested:
Glue: Aquadhere PVA wood glue (weather resistant)
1. White Timbermate + white primer, lightly sand.
2. Apply a fairly generous layer of glue and evenly cover surface.
3. Place fabric and gently pate down into the glue so that it soaks into the material.
4. Meticulously position the fabric so that the pattern is even and the weft and warp of the fabric are correct.
5. Apply more glue and spread evenly to ensure the fabric is fully soaked with glue
6. Again, position fabric because you forgot about having to do it again later.
7. Scrape excess glue with a popsicle stick.
8. Meticulously position the fabric again.
9. Get someone to check your fabric positioning
10. Touch fabric and change the positioning.
11. Reposition fabric.
12. Walk away.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...927_165729.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...927_170403.jpg
-
Pt. 3
A few hours later the headstock is dry so I grabbed my scalpel and went to town on the tuning peg holes & truss rod hole. So in poor light, it looks like this (it'll lighten up when the epoxy is on).
So now I have questions:
How do you rate airbrush guns?
and,
Headstock decals.... please tell me the ways, oh wise ones, because I don't have a clue right now.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...927_201427.jpg
-
looks amazing!
dont know if waterslide decals will work, but I suppose there would be no issues if the headstock is smooth and flat. Finding a colour that stands out might be a challenge - if white is the go, they are difficult to do, so you may need to source them overseas via ebay etc...
Vinyl cut logos might work well, they are what I use and member Andyport (Andy) makes them at a reasonable cost. Easy to get white as well. They are a little more raised, so you will either need more clear, or not worry. I dont worry.
-
Thank you! ^.^
I think either silver, or white. The finish over the top will be a bit thicker and really glossy so if it's underneath it shouldn't show for a decal...?
Has anyone tried a stencil or hand painting?
-
I'd LOVE to try this with a Paisley design. Really cool idea.
Stencils will have to be made well to work properly.
Hand painting is fine if you're adept but I find a lot of them look quite amateur if not done well.
-
Thank you :)
I though I should make good and show the next part.
The body has been considerably harder to finish than the headstock.
Exactly the same process, but it was a two person job to hand more popsicle sticks over. There was A LOT of glue.
We've ordered an airbrush, so next weekend will be airbrushing the outside gently to hide the fabric edges. It'll be 'sunburst', i.e. maybe about 2-3cm from dark to light.
Nickosaurus, have you seen the Fender paisleys? If you decide to do a paisley, check out the womens section of the op shops for the fabric, satin or polyester satin (no stretch or super thick material). It's also easier to make sure it doesn't have an embossed pattern on it. It makes the finishing a pain. We've done a test on something I'll show off when the guitar's all done!
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...929_155450.jpg
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...929_161725.jpg
-
This is very interesting concept, IM keen to see the final product.
-
Looking great! Very interested in this technique, and the more detail you can share the happier I will be :) ! Could you show some close ups of the edges around the top of the headstock? I'm guessing they will finish up nicely with the epoxy and the black edge burst? Awesome work so far!
Cheers,
Gav.
-
this is going to turn out a real treat by looks so far
-
Could you explain the epoxy thing? How does it work?
-
what a cool idea Sophie, its the first axe I've seen with fabric coverings.Should be a cool axe when its finished
-
What a crazy technique, I can honestly say I've never seen this executed before, wicked stuff.
Love the print too, looks kinda Yellow Submarine-ish.
-
Thanks :) I'd never thought about the Yellow Submarine look. Maybe that'll be the demo song ;)
Nickosaurus and Gav - if you have any specific questions (or really, suggestions, I'm just guessing here!),let me know,otherwise, extra info:
Iron the fabric before you put it on, any creases or seams (if you're using reclaimed fabric like I am) will show in the finish.
Watch out for tiny air bubbles on a bigger surface. I found some after the body had half dried and I had to use 1x super sharp pit to create a tiny hole and 1x glass head pin (the coloured bobble on top) for pushing out the extra air. Luckily with such a busy pattern, it won't show bubbles... but *I'll* know...
Scraping the glue off: razor blade was recommended, but not on hand. Be super careful with the blades for obvious reasons.
Because we did it with popsicle sticks, I'll be giving it a light sand to clear any extra glue.
Cutting the fabric off: I did it in stages, 1 mostly close to the edge, 1 right on the edge, 1 at a 45 degree angle to the body. Then sand very gently around the edge to remove excess dried glue and uneven material bits.
On the headstock, I did a very light black line around the edge of the fabric.Because it's so small I'm not airbrushing the headstock, but I will go around with a paint brush and a light sand one more time.
Epoxy:we still have to do our test, but the single coats of lacquer have been pleasing,but because this fabric has an embossed surface it needs many, many coats. We're going to be using the Feast and Watson Glass Finish epoxy ( http://www.feastwatson.com.au/consum...t-details/1536 ), which is the equivalent of 60 coats of varnish with one application.
I've seen it as a finished surface and it looks amazing and will be very tough, which it great because I'm clumsy. It'll also fill in the embossed pattern with very little fuss. Doing around the f-hole is going to be a bit of a challenge though.....
Airbrushing this weekend.
Oh,gear run down:
P/ups: tone Rider Rebel 90's
Tuners: Grover locking rotomatics
Bridge: Warman Tuneomatic Roller bridge <---- I really considered a rosewood bridge, but I could only find them available for archtops
Everything else is China-tastic, but I may (will) replace the pots on the control panel.
-
Thanks for the details Sophie! Definitely gonna give this a try when I find the right design :) . Looking forward to seeing yours come together. More photos after the epoxy?
Cheers,
Gav.
-
So about that black sunburst....
Yeah, I decided after using the gun and looking at the black with dismay that I'd 're-bind' the guitar and the f-hole.
Process:
1. Figure out what size the original binding used to be using calipers and the neck pocket (2mmWx5mmD)
2. Paint with white paint pen.
3. Go over again using white decanted spray pen.
4. Give VERY LIGHT sand to the white paint once dried.
5. Apply Gold-teak Feast & Watson stain to give it an authentic bone colouring. The light sand on the paint pen helps with this too. You don't want it to be fully level (that what the epoxy is for), otherwise the stain will take to everything a little too well.
6. For the love of Slash, Jeff Buckley and Steve Vai, leave it alone to fully dry.
The photo is pre-epoxy, hence the tissue paper and tape. The epoxy is on now, and our lounge has been commandeered by all sorts of things that have been impulse lacquered.
Pro-Tip: I used 3shots:2shots of the Feast & Watson Glass Finish. That did the guitar top and sides + one smallish amp chassis.
About 1 shot:1 1/2 shots did 2 stomp pedals and the headstock with left overs...... It's thick, but a lot more economical than I first thought.
http://www.pitbullguitars.com/wp-con...2-IMG_8557.JPG
-
Looks beautiful. Can't wait to see it completed. Great job.
-
Wow Sophie, looking amazing! Can't wait to see it with the epoxy on. This is just the coolest finish ever, and you're just killing it...
cheers,
Gav.
-
this is so good Sophie, I have checked out the FW epoxy myself, so very interested to see the result.
-
That Material overlay reminds me of my Surfboard building days. Well more that a surf mate had a blue combi van and he got his old mothers lace table cloth and taped it to the front of the van then went to town with a pile of different colours. when it was done he pealed the table cloth off to leave a fantastic psychodelic image ion the front of his Van.
Cheersd PK
-
-
-
That looks really cool, finished that will be spectacular.
-
Thanks so much, everybody!
The first layer of epoxy is on now. So in about another 24 hours it should be cured enough for me to do the back (and sides again).
So, as long as the neck plate and etc get here soon, I should be done in a week or two!
-
Very, very cool. Can't wait to see more.
-
Paisley reminds me of my Nanna's old lounge suite, or if you wanta be modern - Mandelbrot sets.
Either way, if the epoxy works out as hoped you will finish up with something truly extraordinary.
Dying to see this axe all assembled.
-
2 Attachment(s)
So I did the whole thing in resin, but low tack tape let to much resin through. So I sanded down the offending bits (using wet & dry 400 on the worst and 1200 on the rest).
Something to note: 1200 wet & dry is still super agressive on the resin.
Here's the sanded down photos:
P.s. I took a few weeks off while I was trying to sort out such things as my stolen car... :S
-
2 Attachment(s)
Annnd a couple of quick pre-finishing ones + bonus extra projects in shot.
-
3 Attachment(s)
Last one for the day to give y'all a heads up on the difficulties with the epoxy.
It reaaaaallly likes to get underneath tape. Fortunately, if you do the pour in the evening the next morning you take off the tape and you can scrape off the unwanted extras with a fingernail and a little perserverance. For this to work it is absolutely imperitive that you've been patient and let your previous coat of epoxy fully cure (i.e. at least 3 days between flipping your guitar over for the other side).
To do the side initially, I did the whole way around it with epoxy and sat around flipping the guitar every 20mins or so until it had hardened enough to give a good coat. each time you flip you should give it a quick go over with the mini blow torch.
Also, get the small epoxy. The big one has done 4 amp chassis and three guitars. There's still about 1/5 to 1/6 left.
The last photo shows the working area/our lounge. We did those four all at once. I'd suggest a maximum of 2 items at a time. And yes, I also have a matching amp like the white guitar body.
-
Sorry to hear about your car. :( Guitars are looking fantastic. A matching amp is a great idea.
-
Love how the material is highlighted by the light binding. Should be fantastic once it's finished!
-
cannot wait to see this when its done, really did a great job recovering the body from its previous condition, its looking stunning now. binding on the f hole is a great touch as well
