Barnseys ES1TL

Just received my ES1TL kit. I've been comparing it to my epiphone 333 and you would swear they came out of the same factory. Icant believe how good the body and neck are, the Dave grohl diamond cut outs look awsome i hope i can get the finish right and do it justice. Hoping to do dingotone bondi blue on the top with a racing strip in natural and the back sides and neck all natural,it is my first go at building a kit so it should be interesting, super stoked about how good the kit is. Any tips on how to get the blue stain right would be greatly appreciated
Thanks
Adam Barnes

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Welcome mate, cool project.
The trick with stain will be getting it to not bleed over where you want it , unlike paint which you could just mask off...
DB might have some advice about the dingotone

Thamks stan
I thought that might be the case, might be able to do a thin pin stripe to cover it with some kind of permanent marker if thers is one compatible with the dingotone

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Drawing of the planed head stock, ive got the machine heads at 25.4mm centres and 127mm ovee all. I lined up the sides of the neck so that the strings are straight through the nut. Wanted to make sure im on the right page before i go cutting and drilling holes.
Cheers

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Machine heads in place

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Sanded at 240,400,600 grits its as smooth as a babies bum, ready for the dingotone tomorrow if it bleeds to much it will have to rethink the stripes

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2 stain coats of bondi blue, not sure weather to do another coat. It is looking good so far

It doesn't look like the stain is taking very well. It's looking quite 'washed-out' at the moment to me, certainly compared to your original artist's impression. I've never used DT (and am unlikely to get the chance to) but the general feedback I've seen is that the surface needs to be rougher to absorb it. Normally 240 or 320 grit maximum. You may have over-smoothed it by going to 600. It's actually a nice finish as it stands, though the stripes aren't going to stand out as much as I think you intended.

It all depends on whether you want to improvise as you go along - or stick to your original plan. I'd be tempted to certainly give it another coat of the DT blue. I have no idea how much the intensifier coats will deepen the colour, though they certainly will to some extent.

Have you checked the bleed at all under the tape? Would be interesting to see. Personally I would go for more colour, but as Simon said the 600 grit might mean that the dye doesn't take as well. Love the concept though dude - It is reminiscent of Tom Delonge signature 335.

cheers,
Gav.

Thanks simon
Its more the look i i was after the drawing was just a highlight texta i had lying around ive given it onother coat and im happy with it
A

Thanks gav
Ive checked under some of the tape it seems to have held ok i may have to do a thin pin stripe to define the line. Ive got the tom delonge epiphone so yes ive tried to get that look. I do have a question, to do the natural finish on the rest of the guitar do i need the dingotone natural finish kit or can just use the finish coat over the rest of it
Thanks for the help

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Head stock

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Third coat that will do im happy with it

Interesting build this one.

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Im happy with the look

Barnsey, has that bondi blue got the instensifying coat on it? or just stain coats?

Just 3 coats of stain so far

Ok, it will go bluer (if thats a word)

Great Only 1 intensified coat then

Good. I think it's going to look very nice indeed.

Has enyone had issues with humidity and the neck joint i had i fitting perfect 2 noghts ago now its super tight i know it will go back once the humidity drops .is it best not to glue a neck in high humidity

When my ES-3 kit first came, the neck didn't fit at all well into the pocket. But after a week of resting in the house, it fitted perfectly. All that air transport and changes in temperature and humidity had certainly affected the wood.

Yes, I'd avoid gluing in high humidity as with that tight neck joint, you are only going to get a very thin layer of glue in there, which could then be pulled apart as the wood contracts with lower humidity conditions (though the fact that it's now a sealed surface will reduce the rate of change). Better to have a thicker layer of glue that's simply being squashed as the wood expands slightly when the humidity rises again, than a thinner layer that's being pulled apart as the humidity falls.

Thanks simon

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1st intensified coat done stoked with the colour and didnt want to leave the tape on any longer, there is only one little run under the tape that should sand out. Looks a lot better than i thougjt it would.
Time let that dry for a few days and then start the natural finish on the rest.might have to go away for the weekend so i leave it alone and dont try to do more

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The blue looks better than the photos are showing

Looking great, Adam. Very tasteful. The striping blends in well and doesn't shout out for all the attention.

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In some sunlight

Yeah man! That looks killer. The blue/natural contrast is really, really nice. Great job. I'm looking forward to seeing the clear coats really bring the colour out. Are you planning chrome or gold hardware?

cheers,
Gav.

Thanks gav
Crome will look best with the blue i think. Some crome tone and vol knobs would look good. If i can find some?

EBay is your friend....

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2coats of natural stain and 1 coat of intensify on the rest of body all looks good. Thinking about a thin blue pin stripe to define the two colours before doing the finishing coats. but dont know if a permanent marker would react to the dingotone, has anyone used a texta or marker under the finish coat

Wow Adam , this looks great. Cant help with the blue line and possible reactions, but i think it would make a nice sharp border

Thanks stan

Hi Adam that's looking very cool. With the marker pen I would test it on a small area and see if the blue darkens and it soaks in, or stain some scrap blue, let it cure and try it out.
Otherwise send DB an email or PM he may or may not recommend it.
Can you try another coat of blue stain ?

I'm confused with the kit model having an 'L' usually means left hand but this is a righty !

Its a righty, youd have to ask the boss man about the model name.

yeah thought it was a righty unless you mirrored your images. All good.

I just checked and you are correct with the model - usually L means left but not in this case !

https://www.pitbullguitars.com/shop/...ic-guitar-kit/

So after reading through the forums, for hrs, dingotone is oil based. An oil based marker should be a compatible.

L stands for Lopez :)

Oh man, looks even better all mocked up! Personally I would leave it as-is, but just my 2c ;). That being said, I am looking forward to being proved wrong! Such a nice build man.

cheers,
Gav.