New member, emerald on mahogany question!

Hi all. Bengt Vallhagen here, swedish guitar player and sometimes DIY-er (mostly in the world of electrons so far; guitar stompboxes). I found my way here through some googling - it shall be the place for wudtone questions, right? And also, i take for granted that its ok to ask questions, even though none of my parts are Pitbull stuff (my necks and bodies are from Warmoth, and i got my wudtone stuff from the european retailer). I have watched through the Pitbull videos on applying wudtone, very helpful!

So, we (me and the 13yo boy somehow supervised by me) just started the finnish work on two guitars, pics below. The red Telecaster body is wudtone cherry flamenco (two layers deep coat so far), looks very promising. The (SG-like) Diamondback body is in mahogany with a first layer of green emerald isles. And this combo - mahogany and emerald isles - makes me just a little doubtful. Maybe i didnt read up enough carefully before i started the project, or maybe (hopefully!) it will turn out all brilliant.

Maybe i can put the question like this: Will the emerald be more "light - pea-" green when i apply more and more layers? As it is right now, its more like mossgreen (the picture doesnt really say it all, its damm hard to take pics showing the real world color... but it gives you a hint) as the emerald mix with the original mahogany brown-red.

Also; Is there anyone out there who has applied emerald isles on mahogany and can tell about their experience?

...strange, i cant insert images? becouse its my 1st post ;) ? Anyway, here's links:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10190945/gitarrbygge/JulleBody2nd_1.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10190945/gitarrbygge/Bengtbody2nd_1.jpg

Cheers you all!
Bengt

...trying to show pics again:
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...success:) ?

G'day Bengt,
both builds looking good. I've attached wudtone suitability charts and it's saying emerald isles is highly suitable for mahogany. I think the green will deepen after more coats. It will take longer as mahogany is a much browner timber than most other types. I've generally used a brownish stain to go over mahogany bodies and haven't seen emerald isles on a mahogany body on our forum so can't comment.
Good luck and please post some pics after more coats.
The Tele in cherry flamenco looks fantastic !

hi Wokkaboy, and thanx for reply!

Good thinking to attach the compatibilty color/wood charts. By reading that i cant be all wrong after all ...

I actually e-mailed with Andy at wudtone as well, regarding the subject. he's reply is pretty much the same as yours, and he also hinted about a method to speed up the coloring process, a method more often used with solid colors. I'll see if i dare to try it, or just go on with many layers. Next painting time is this evening.

I will definately update here as the process goes on!

Cheers!

no worries Bengt, what was Andy's method to speed up the colouring process ?
if you live in a cold climate (sounds like it of you are Swedish) the curing process will take longer, so don't rush the colour coats. I'd guess minimum 2-3 days between coats. We usually give the body a light rub with super fine 0000 grade steel wool between coats

Yep, its indeed cold and dark November here up north! ... But I do the painting and drying indoors (no funny temperatures or humidity), so the climate shall not have too much influence on the curing.

The method mentioned is described on the wudtone forum, here: http://www.wudtone.com/forum/?topic=...id-colour-kits. And yes, Andy included the words "carefully try" when he gave me the link. So I am warned!

Cheerio!

thanks for posting that Bengt. I wouldn't recommend slapping on too much stain so I'd stick to what you are doing and be patient, the green will gradually darken with more coats.

If you mix the olympic white with the emerald isles, it should help give a more solid colour. Theoretically only, I've never tried it personally.

Indeed patience is a virtue, I read you.

Thanx for helpful posts wokkaboy!

Cheers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ultpanzi

If you mix the olympic white with the emerald isles, it should help give a more solid colour. Theoretically only, I've never tried it personally.

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Hmm. worth noticing. Thanx for the hint ultpanzi!

Cheerio

Awrite... after this days layer it actually feels pretty much more hopeful. Im not sure this picture makes the color justice either, but if you compare side-to-side with the pic in the earlier post there's absolutely a difference in the right direction. it strook me while applying this layer: i think i actually was a bit too restrictive with the first deep color layer (in the ambition of being careful); the wood really absorbs/wants much of the paint. And yes, this layer is rubbed in, no slapping technique this time.

Cheers folks!

Attachment 723

Spot on! Colour is now getting a nice depth to it. I've discovered through trial and error the first coat really is make or break and sets the foundation for all subsequent coats.

nice one Bengt, the colour will continue to get deeper after each coat

Hi Bengt and son, the bodies seem to be coming up pretty well, welcome

Thats looking good. The colour's really becoming quite deep and will probs continue to as you add more coats.

Thanx for encouraging words guys:)

I also should add ... DAMM, this is FUN! Anyone who wants to experience the meaning of fun, should really handpaint a guitarbody:p

Cheerio!

Nice one. Dig on that body shape.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pablopepper

Nice one. Dig on that body shape.

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I'm with Pabs. Love the Diamondback shape. Do want.

It's a bit like the ESP Viper, which I am also quite partial to.

http://cdn.growassets.net/user_files...png?1389982200

Quote:

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Originally Posted by west0288

I'm with Pabs. Love the Diamondback shape. Do want.

It's a bit like the ESP Viper, which I am also quite partial to.

...

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Thanx guys. I really fell in luv with the model as well. So i allready envy the young owner :cool: (it's the 13yo's guitar, the Tele is mine)... I find this "skewed SG" very cool. Hagström has also some models (both vintage and new) that looks a bit this way, but that Viper^^ is more spot on Diamondback.

New painting session this evening:)

Cheers

still semi-crappy pics; but i keep the same position and light to make it possible to follow the progression. The green is greener:)

Result after todays paintjob:

Attachment 757
Attachment 758

Cheers!

Those colours look great! Nice work on the paintjob!

Thanx ultpanzi:)

im all convinced now, that i will be more than happy with the end result.

... i feel like im spamming with new pics each and every day here... heres this days result on the Diamondback, its hard to see difference between this and yesterdays pic. But in this real life it is a nuance-shift:

Attachment 773

...

I have one more question. Im not there yet, but after applying the very last topcoat layer, what do you do then? I mean, between every coat before the last one, there's a light 0000 steel wool rubbing. But i cant do that on the last layer, right? Is it ready? Polish?

...maybe the answer is right here on the forum, i will browse a bit.
EDIT: yep, there were and answer: http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...ead.php?t=1812 . Great forum:). So... 8 coats and then photopaper huh. ok. I should say that i aim for high gloss.

Cheers!
/Bengt

Hey again forum!

...been awhile since i posted on here, but here's how it going: The diamondback greeenie is just fully assembled; adjustments (intonation, string height) remains, though the whole thing is surprisingly well playable without any adjustments at all. Hopefully the picture quality is "good enough" this time. And to write it out: the proud one is the 13yo boy here, he did most of the drilljob and assembly himself, though i kept an eye on him.

Repeating myself: The finnish is Wudtone Emerald Isles with gold topping (was it called "topping"?) and high gloss topcoat

Cheers
Attachment 1373
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Lopsided SGs always make me think of Kim Thayill. I'd be wanting to crank out Spoonman on that baby. It looks great!

Thanx fretworn too!

I had to take a few weeks off to recover from ... well - stuff ... but now im back:) I did the final assembly and adjustments on the telecaster as late as last sunday. And... here it is! Some details again:

Body: One-piece solid Black limba, Finnished with Wudtone Cherry Flamenco
Neck: Canary with ebony fretboard. Unfinnished (but sanded down to 1200... extremely smooth!) allover but the peghead, where some wudtone neck finnish is applied - mostly just to hold the waterslide decal (with original artwork by the family youngest; i e the little brother to the owner of that Green allready presented guitar^^!). Graphtech nut.
Wilkinson Tremolo
Handwired pickups from Oil City Pickups (UK), the model is Scrapyard Dog Plus
Alpha pots, Neutrik jack.

Thats about it... so, pics:
Attachment 1907Attachment 1908Attachment 1909Attachment 1910Attachment 1911

wow Bengt, you have built a couple of great guitars there!

Love the SG shape and the green turned out fantastic, and the zebra pickups were a great choice.

That Tele is very nice as well, very classic, would love to hear how it sounds, nice work

Nice work, lovely finish on both guitars and the Tele looks simply awesome!

wow Vallhagen both guitars look excellent, the finish and mods look unreal. Both look the part.
Interested to hear how those hand wound pups sound on the tele. I like the pickguard shape did you shape that or its a custom shape you bought ? Only minor thing is the bridge pup may need a surround to hide the pup mounting ears, but other than that they are both brilliant builds.
Does the tele have a strat like tremelo cavity in the rear ? Don't see too many tele's with whammy bars - very cool touch

Thank you guys! Glad to read cheering comments!

Some good questions there wokkaboy:
yes, this telecaster turned out to be a bit of an unusual - yet obvious hybrid; looks like a tele, plays like a strat and sounds like a les paul... with the basic shape of a telecaster, stratocasterish cutouts for tummy and forearm and yes, typical strat tremolo through-routing. A picture showing the rear side:
Attachment 1914

The pickguard was custom orderred, and the idea of a setup with one pickup woodmounted and one pickguardmounted is something i "borrowed" from some Suhr guitar, i think its cool, without ring for the bridge pickup, just a matching cutout on the pickguard: http://www.suhr.com/suhr-guitar-of-t...c-t-43010.html.

I have yet to play it at LOUD volume (it will happen this week though!), i have only played it at home through a small practice amp. But acoustically it sings with a sweet sustain, and the overall amplified sound is very full/fat, without loss in dynamics. I look for a heavy sound somewhere in the AC/DC--early Accept range, but im not interested in a modern over-the-top highgain sound, and i really think i am pretty close to that with this guitar:). Its a bit of a gamble to choose pickups for a specific guitar, but this woodparts-n-hardware--pickups marriage seems a good one:) ... So; if i will design/build/assemble more guitars in the upcoming future, i will most likely come back to Oil City Pickups:). Not the cheapest obviously, but not the most expensive either, and the guy who runs the business (Ash) gives good personal service.

I should be able to come up with some sort of recorded soundclip.

...did i say i was happy:)?

Cheers guys!

nice Vallhagen, the grain on the back is something hey. Did you route the tremelo cavity and do the tummy cuts etc ?
I'm very interested to hear a sound demo, look forward to that !

Quote:

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

nice Vallhagen, the grain on the back is something hey. Did you route the tremelo cavity and do the tummy cuts etc ?
I'm very interested to hear a sound demo, look forward to that !

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Yea, its a bit ironic, the backside grain is more spectacular and nice than the top!

No, i didn't route any of the cavities or cuts myself. Put it this way: I generally concider myself confident and "good" with tools and design, but many moments in this project were new to me; i have never really done any qualified woodwork on exclusive wood before. Also, i dont have any really good workspace for too dustcreating works (read: sawdust). So to keep the risks of first-time-failure at minimum i orderred the stuff all pre-drilled and pre-routed, just leaving the finnish, assembly and adjustment work to myself. The only drill-job i had to do was for the pickguard, the woodmounted pickup, strap holders and jack screws. Confident and convenient... maybe a bit cowardly but... for this time it felt right. This is also the reason why i chose guitar(s) with bolt-on necks, not glue-in. Less risk of f"""kin things up. But i love to do my homework and get the feeling for new stuff. I have never polished anything with steel wool before, now i have:). For next project - if there will be one - i guess i will take things a step further and start with a more raw platform.

Cheers!

... just for fun, i took a round to weigh my guitars, i havent done that before. It turned out that this telecaster is the heaviest instrument around here:). If anyone is interested, from light to heavy, and the instruments mentioned in this thread is the Diamondback and the Telecaster:

kg lbs
Xaviere LP: 3,1 6,8
Amistar res. 3,35 7,4
Ibanez RG505 3,45 7,6
Diamondback 3,65 8,05
Stratocaster 3,85 8,5
Telecaster 4,05 8,9

Edit: Funny to try insert a table.. well it IS readable with some creativity!