G-Axe's First Build - ST-1M

Hey everyone,

A few weeks ago I had the brilliant idea to build a guitar for a mate as a going away present. He's an outstanding musician (pianist) who picked up a TV silver Epi Les Paul earlier in the year and is loving it. He's expressed some interest in trying out a Strat, so I figure, why not? I've never put a guitar together, never attempted any kind of paint finish that didn't involve a roller, so what could possibly go wrong? :D

The concept I'm going for is something atypical for a strat. In keeping with the TV silver LP, I'm going with silver as a base, but taking that a step further and trying a metallic silver (Dupli Color Metal Specks) and then I want to layer a smoky burst over that (Dupli Color Metalcast Smoke). Knowing my limitations, I'm not aiming for a super clean silverburst - I'm aiming for a "smokeburst", something a bit more organic and dirty. For hardware, I've gone for black across the board - but may consider a brushed metal pickguard. We'll see once the paint is done.

I originally wasn't going to do a build diary, but having lurked here for a few weeks, it seems like something I'd get a lot out of. It does mean I didn't take any pics during my mock up/filling/sanding/priming/etc - but since I'm doing a solid colour over basswood I don't think anyone is missing out.

So after a couple of weeks of raising grain, sanding, filling, sealing, priming, I sprayed a couple of layers of the sparkly silver. I'm pretty happy with the coverage - it was pretty fiddly work. The metal flecks clog the nozzle pretty frequently, so I ended up in a routine where I'd spray for 5-10 seconds, then dunk the nozzle in some metho, swirl it around, shake it off, and spray again.

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At this stage, it's looking super fabulous. Blindingly glittery. If it was a present for Taylor Swift, I'd be clear coating by now, but instead, it's ready for some smoke.

So to make sure the edges are nice and even, I've masked off the top and bottom ready for a spray. Note the use of elegant masking materials and techniques:
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The Metalcoat says to do two light coats followed by a medium one at 10 minute intervals, so I give it a crack. it all goes really well except for a small run on the underside of the top horn. Hopefully I can smooth it off with some sanding in a week or so once it's cured.

Looks great! My advice would be to try out your bursting technique on some scrap before attempting the real thing. It can be tricky with rattle cans and you might need to get your technique down. Other than that, a great concept and a great gift!

cheers,
Gav.

Once I've done my 3 coats on the edges, I whip off the masking, and get cracking on the burst. I'm keen to get it all done in one session so it can cure for a week. This is the most challenging bit so far - and pretty unforgiving. I've laid it on a bit heavy in places, and run out of paint well before I thought I would:

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I'm liking how the smoke texture is shaping up, but I really want to try and even up the bits where I've gone heavy. So it's off to Supercheap Auto to get another rattlecan.

looking awesome G-Axe and welcome to the forum. You have nailed the silver. I presume the smoke paint is black ? Should look unreal with a black burst edge, take your time and have a practice burst spray and it should turn out how you want it to.
Best of luck

EDIT just saw pics with the burst. Great first effort. Get some more smoky paint and go over the edge after a light wet sand to even it up

I manage to get in and out pretty quickly - the paint reckons I should spray additional coats within an hour, or wait until after it's cured. I'm still within that window so I press on. I get the coverage a bit more even, and darken it up over all. And then as I'm hanging it up to dry, I make the mistake of trying to brush off a bit of fluff with my fingertips, and leave a couple of finger shaped streaks behind the bridge. :(

With a bit of work, I manage to cover it up - but now I've overdone the bit that was going to show the most of the original silver. Once I've got the pickguard on, there will barely be any surface that isn't smoked. Not the end of the world, but not quite what I'd hoped for. Should I try sanding it back a bit? The difficulty is that the sparkle layer is pretty rough (like 180 grit sandpaper) so I'd be sanding back to an uneven surface - which probably won't work.

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Anyway - trying not to get too down on the small mistakes, from here I have to try and resist the urge to do stuff to it of the next week while it cures. At some point I'll probably drop the pickguard onto it and see how it looks - as long as there's a bit of a contrast around it, and the sparkle is still visible under the smoke, I'll be happy.

One other thing - spraying in the great outdoors probably isn't my greatest idea - in places I'm seeing a roughness to the smoke layer that I assume is dust/pollen that's gotten into it. Given that my sparkle layer is in itself uneven, should I be stressing about levelling that stuff out with a high grit paper before I clear coat?

Ok, that looks AWESOME.

cheers,
Gav.

You nailed the "Smokey" part of the brief, how does the "Sparkle" come up in the light? it's a bit tough to see in the pics.

You could do a gentle wet sand on the worst affected bits (1500 paper, single passes at a time rinse paper and wipe down body every pass) but you don't want to knock your smokey burst back or go through your silver. You might find that improving those rough spots might raise other issues with the rest of the finish also.

Hi G-Axe, to me looks like you have rushed to get the 2nd smoke burst coat on. You should have had a practice run on paper or cardboard. I suggest you wait a few days for it to cure, masking tape up the smoky edges that you want to keep and spray more silver on the the unmasked areas.
Don't worry about the rough surface, enough clear coats over it and you will be able to sand it flat once the clear has cured

EDIT if it is windy where you are spray painting it will be very hard to get even and accurate application of the paint

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

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Originally Posted by gavinturner

Looks great! My advice would be to try out your bursting technique on some scrap before attempting the real thing. It can be tricky with rattle cans and you might need to get your technique down. Other than that, a great concept and a great gift!.

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I'm thinking that's probably why I ran out of smoky grey a bit prematurely. Lots of practice, not that it shows. :P

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

looking awesome G-Axe and welcome to the forum. You have nailed the silver. I presume the smoke paint is black ?

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The smoke paint is a semi-transparent grey - it's meant to be sprayed over a chrome/high-gloss to give it a smoky anodised paint effect. It's a bit of an experiment to paint it over metallic flecks, but it comes up as a kind of satin gunmetal. If I completely botch the burst, I'll go over the whole thing with it, as it looks pretty schmick in its own right.

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Originally Posted by FrankenWashie

You nailed the "Smokey" part of the brief, how does the "Sparkle" come up in the light? it's a bit tough to see in the pics.

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The sparkle is pretty full on, and looks like a christmas decoration. Very hard to catch in a photo, and a bit cheap looking on its own.

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Originally Posted by FrankenWashie

You could do a gentle wet sand on the worst affected bits (1500 paper, single passes at a time rinse paper and wipe down body every pass) but you don't want to knock your smokey burst back or go through your silver. You might find that improving those rough spots might raise other issues with the rest of the finish also

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I'll give that a go behind the bridge and see how it comes up. I've got just enough sparkle paint left to...

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

masking tape up the smoky edges that you want to keep and spray more silver on the the unmasked areas.

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...if it comes to that.

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Originally Posted by wokkaboy

Hi G-Axe, to me looks like you have rushed to get the 2nd smoke burst coat on. You should have had a practice run on paper or cardboard. I suggest you wait a few days for it to cure, masking tape up the smoky edges that you want to keep and spray more silver on the the unmasked areas.
Don't worry about the rough surface, enough clear coats over it and you will be able to sand it flat once the clear has cured

EDIT if it is windy where you are spray painting it will be very hard to get even and accurate application of the paint

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Yeah, I definitely rushed it a bit, and did a couple of silly things. Then I walked away for a bit, had a drink and calmed the f*** down. I'm coming to terms with that whole "work an hour, wait a week" thing that any wannabe guitar finisher comes up against. I'll probably end up touching it up, but I will try a bit of wet sanding first. I figure my first destination on this journey is learning how to recover from the mistakes along the way.

I'm in Canberra, and we're not windy as a rule, but it was coming up from time to time and stopping me from spraying. On the plus side, we have an average relative humidity of about 50% in December and some nice warm days, so perfect curing weather!

You'll get there mate, just takes some time and some patience. Its always a learning exercise.

Just take it easy, let it dry hard, then put the pickguard on and see what the finish looks like on the front after that.

I know from experience that it's basically impossible to sand back a burst so it looks right. You'll easily remove the single specs of dark paint, but where that paint is denser. it won't come off as easily and you end up with a hard paint line that doesn't look good.

If this were my build, I'd now concentrate more on darkening the edges of the body, maybe even switching to black, with quite a small feather area that follows the body outline quite closely.

I'd have to agree with Simon there. No experience with guitar bursts, but some painting custom bikes, and if a feathered edge isn't right you either live with it or do it again, I have found. Any trying to sort it generally ends up like trying to remove scratches from chrome plate, it makes it worse.
Mind you, I think it looks great as it is. The slight roughness should be taken out with proper clearcost application.
Nice job so far!

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

Just take it easy, let it dry hard, then put the pickguard on and see what the finish looks like on the front after that.

I know from experience that it's basically impossible to sand back a burst so it looks right. You'll easily remove the single specs of dark paint, but where that paint is denser. it won't come off as easily and you end up with a hard paint line that doesn't look good.

If this were my build, I'd now concentrate more on darkening the edges of the body, maybe even switching to black, with quite a small feather area that follows the body outline quite closely.

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Good tip Simon, will store that one in the data bank for later.

How did you keep the flies away as at this time of year Canberra is usually overrun with them and we all know how much they love wet paint?

Waz: As soon as I get a rattlecan in my hand I start sweating bullets, so my natural musk keeps them pretty busy.

So some progress today. After a few days of hanging in the tin shed in hot dry Canberra weather, it passed the sniff test so I grabbed some paper I had soaking and had a crack at wet sanding. I did a bit of test sanding on the bit of wood screwed into the neck pocket, and managed to get some silver showing through, so I gave the body a bit of work.

A little bit of effort took the smoke layer off the area behind the bridge - and fairly predictably, laid the metal flecks flat, and left a speckling of the smoke colour in the deeper crevices. It was hard to capture in a photo, but it has a really cool aged, pitted steel look to it. That's now my fallback. If everything else goes pear shaped with the burst, I'll take it back to flat, dirty silver:

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But as it stands, I want to have a go at saving what I'd planned, because the bit I've wet sanded stands out like a sore thumb:

Attachment 15472

I grab the last bit of silver fleck paint and give it some very careful and controlled bursts. It comes up pretty well - but with some overspray that I want to clean up before any more photos. :)

So from here, it's back into the shed to cure overnight, and tomorrow I'll sand back the overspray and give it a little more smoke to blend over the silver respray. I'm a lot happier with where it's at today, and if tomorrow goes well I'll be looking to start clear coats once it's cured for a few days.

Good to know you have a diversion plan to combat the winged critters that love crawling all over wet paint.

Good save so far and hope the next phase works equally as well for you.

What suburb are you in? I grew up in Watson and went to Dickson College before heading for Brisbane in 1980. Haven't been back too many times as I can't stand the cold, damp and foggy weather that make the winters seem like they last forever.

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Originally Posted by wazkelly

What suburb are you in? I grew up in Watson and went to Dickson College before heading for Brisbane in 1980. Haven't been back too many times as I can't stand the cold, damp and foggy weather that make the winters seem like they last forever.

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I'm in Kambah, which would have been deep, dirty south back in 1980. Funny, I don't really know too many Canberra natives. Seems like anyone who actually grew up here heads north, then lots of country kids come here to study/work and replace them.

Anyway, more progress today. I very gently sanded back the overspray, and then lightly sprayed a bit of the smoke colour to blend. I'm a lot happier with it - if you look closely (in person, from the right angle) you can see that some of the silver has gone on over the top to the smoke - but on the whole it's a much better result overall:

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I'll give it a few days, and then start clear coating. In the meantime, I'd better get cracking on the neck. I've roughly shaped the headstock - I haven't gone the traditional strat style, but it's certainly not original. Can anyone pick it?

Attachment 15517

Finding the maple a lot tougher to work with than what I'm used to. My scroll saw really wanted to twist, so I ended up chopping out some rough chunks and then using the rounded end of a belt sander to get the concave line. I will whip up some homemade drums with a hole saw one day, but no rush.

So quick question - is there anything I should tape up before I start clear coats on the neck? I assume the heel and truss rod hole - but what about tuner holes/nut/etc? My plan was to spray over the frets and scrape them back afterwards, or is there a more sensible way to coat the fretboard?

Looks rather like a Peavey-shaped headstock to me.

It's normal to spray/finish the whole of an all-maple neck. You really want to seal the wood to stop it being affected by moisture/humidity changes. I'd cover up the truss rod nut itself, but certainly spray some clear into the visible part of the channel itself. It's standard to spray over the frets and then scrape them back. You can make a cheap scraper by taking a large nail with a round head, then using a suitable needle file to create a round notch in it to match the fret radius. The finish won't stick well to metal, so it's easy to scrape off.

I wouldn't worry about the tuner holes, as again it's best if the wood is sealed. You won't get much in there, any build-up will be mainly at the edges, which you can sand down if necessary.

If you can, spray a couple of thinned clear coats first, then wet sand down, apply any decals you want to fit, then spray three more standard strength clear coats. After drying for a while, so that touching it doesn't leave any marks, then scrape off the finish from the frets and nut. Then wait a couple of weeks, or until until fully cured - whichever is longest - then wet-sand down again and polish.

Personally I always mask off the fretboard during spraying rather than scraping.

cheers,
Gav.

But if it's a maple fretboard and you are going to lacquer spray it, then masking off would be pointless. Or did you just mean the frets, Gav?

Sorry man, didn't realise that a laquered FB was the target. Typically for my builds I don't lacquer the FB itself, but use dingotone wax to seal it (if I've applied a stain to the FB). If I'm going for a natural FB colour then I don't even seal it (same with rosewood), just use some AxeWax, Lemon Oil or similar.

cheers,
Gav.

I was just assuming that's what G-Axe is doing as that's what I'm used to. I could well be wrong. I'd have thought you'd need more than lemon oil for long lasting protection, or do you just apply on a regular basis?

Yeah just regular application. DB could/should correct me, but I believe the general consensus around the forum is that lacquer on fretboards is undesirable. I can't remember the exact reason but I'm sure there is one ;). The guys who do fretless basses use coats of superglue to harden and protect them, but that's the only case I've seen where its de rigueur. That being said, each to his own depending on the playing experience and look you are going for.

cheers,
Gav.

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

Looks rather like a Peavey-shaped headstock to me.

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Spot on. I love the sleek, sharkish (totally not a word) lines of it. It's the antithesis of the ugly little stump they put on the Wolfgang.

So Simon and Gavin - I'm going for a clear coated maple board. My personal preference is for unfinished rosewood or ebony, but this will be a second guitar for the mate I'm building it for. His first is a Les Paul (set neck, humbuckers, rosewood fretboard) and so I'm trying to go for the "opposite" of that (bolt on, single coils, maple fretboard). Beyond the very un-Fender finish I'm shooting for, I want it to feel very much like a traditional Strat.

Will definitely try out some oils on subsequent builds (provided this one doesn't turn on me at some point and burst my happy little kit building bubble.)

I'm not a great fan of lacquered maple necks myself, and do prefer the feel of rosewood or ebony boards. I have tried a couple of friends' home-assembled guitars where they've oiled the necks (not sure of the details as it was some time ago before I was less interested in the finishes) and I didn't like the feel that much. But how well they finished and oiled the necks and whether that was some of the problem I had with them - again I just don't know.