Finally getting started on my first guitar build. Sanded the neck and body, grain filled with timber mate and stained.
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Finally getting started on my first guitar build. Sanded the neck and body, grain filled with timber mate and stained.
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Tried to dye the timber mate filler a dark grey. Looks not too bad comparing the unfilled neck to the body after sanding. I'm expecting it to be darker when finished.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1cfa311d43.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1ca923c49b.jpg
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Decided to stain the neck and body black / grey. Trying out Prooftint which is a spirit based stain. Mixed 1 part stain to 2 parts metho. Turned out not too bad but it might be a bit dark.
Unfortunately I found a few glue marks on the body. I had found them earlier and tried to sand them back and also tried some orange oil based cleaner but it seems I didn't do enough as the stain didn't absorb as much in those locations.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...fdb71d7c07.jpg
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The best thing to do is grab some glue remover, like goof off and spot treat the really noticeable bits. You’ll want to go easy starting out, until you see how things are going to react. It may be that you will need to give the really troublesome spots extra attention, or use a small headed, clean wire brush to scrub the bad bits.Quote:
Originally Posted by kuanjb
This may take your colour out, and you’ll probably need to reapply across these areas to get colour consistency back afterwards.
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Thanks. I got some acetone (the active ingredient in goof off) and gave that a try. Worked pretty well for most of the spots and could then reapply the stain.Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankenWashie
There are a couple of harder spots though. They look like they're actually a small hole which has been filled with glue. If that's what they end up being I might need to remove the glue plugs and refill.
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Quite often there are holes and cracks hidden under a filler that looks like glue. If you want a stain to 'take' over the top of these it may be a good idea to excavate a small amount and re-fill with natural timber mate as that will take up the stain colour once you reapply some more.Quote:
Originally Posted by kuanjb
Yep that's what I ended up doing.Quote:
Originally Posted by wazkelly
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On to staining the top. Trying to get a sort of burst from black to purple to blue. It kind of worked.
To had lots of glue that I didn't see earlier too. Especially around the f holes and binding around the edges. Took a lot of work to try and get rid of it all. Some places I think the glue has completely soaked through the veneer.
The stain mostly covered the areas though but they were still a bit more shiny than the raw wood. Hoping it's not going to be noticeable after finishing the guitar.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...51a782ea91.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...7225b816cb.jpg
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That looks better.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...26a5a6730d.jpg
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Certainly does.
Bit more colour adjustment and putting the neck on.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...fa9482200c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1ed3c3c57b.jpg
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Oh yes, and it's the right way up too!
Nice colour
And I now have a neck. Which finally let me see what the guitar looks like. And I wasn't that happy with the fret board. The colour didn't really match. An ebony fretboard would suit better
So I decided to stain that too, to darken it but still leave a bit of the grain showing through. Turned out ok I think. I can always make it darker later.
So I've finally finished staining. Pretty happy with the colours.
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Having finished staining I then started scraping the binding in preparation for doing the clear coat. This I must say has been the most difficult and tedious process.
Ran into some problems too.
First was a crack or hollow in the binding which had filled with stain. The more I scraped the more colour I could see.
Next was areas which appears that the binding is too wide. Like it had some of the plastic which had overflowed and hadn't been removed. It might be glue but really looks like plastic to me. I was thinking I'll need to cut out the extra bit of plastic.
And lastly, after spending ages going over the binding on the outside I then started on the f-holes. Only to find that they have even worse cracks in the binding.
At that point I stopped. Really not happy with how that went.
I'm now thinking I'll sand the binding and try and cover it completely with black stain. It certainly was covered quite well in places so I think it will work. Might even look better anyway.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e31c7c98d0.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...371bf6aafe.jpg
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Yeah this will happen. Depending on what stain you've used you may be able to very carefully bleach it with a cotton tip. Somebody on here carefully masked and painted the binding ivory before clears and it looked really good. Tedious extra step, but the results will be worth it. Hopefully someone will be along who remembers which build diary that is in.
The inconsistent width is annoying, I had this on a non Pitbull build, but I was doing a solid, so just taped and painted over it. You might be able to carefully tape and paint that sliver black and blend it into your stain. Once the clears go over you'll never see it.
So I sanded and stained it black. And honestly I think it looks better with the black anyway. Will have to di a couple more coats to completely cover some parts but it's generally worked pretty well.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...529eb301fc.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...c5f11b4f9c.jpg
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Yes that's a good look. You might consider painting the binding in with a fine brush or masking and spraying it black. The black looks great.
Sanding, staining, sanding, oh damn... huge splinter came off the headstock. Oh well I thought it was a tad too long anyway. Reshaping, sanding, staining..... and finally the first coat of wipe on poly. Oh that colour looks nice with the wet poly and the flash.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...bf7f26aa64.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f45471d2a8.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...060ef5a681.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...9aa968d80a.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...07c0aab385.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...29364f6233.jpg
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Oh yes, that looks good! I’m going to use wipe on poly myself for the first time and I’m curious to know how you intend to treat the back of the neck. Previously I’ve used Tru Oil but wasn’t happy until I rubbed it with steel wool. Did the stain ‘move’ at all when you applied the poly? Good job.
I've got a satin poly which I was going to use. The body and the front of the headstock I'm doing in gloss.Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkMark
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I was considering the same approach. Let’s us know how it feels when you’re finished.
Thanks.
I think the feel of a neck is very subjective and depends a lot on the climate you live in and your skin type, whether you get sweaty palms easily and if you have acidic skin oils.Quote:
Originally Posted by DarkMark
I have a number of guitars and have never really had a problem with any of their finishes. The guitar I play the most, a Gibson SG, has a gloss finish. I also have an Ibanez RG which has a satin finish. It feels great, but I prefer playing the Gibson.
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First coat of poly dried. The back looks great. In the front there were a few drip marks where it had run but otherwise looked ok. A bit dark maybe?
Instructions on the can said to lightly sand with 240 grit between coats, so that's what I start doing. This scuffed the finish quite a lot and particularly on the binding took it back to white on the edges. Changed to using steel wool instead which seems to be a bit gentler.
Really hard to tell whether the scuff marks on the front are going back to wood or just the top coat is scratched. Particularly in the areas where the drip marks are which I tried to sand out but had to stop as I was afraid I'd sand too much.
Either way, the black had come off some of the binding so I figured I'd try doing some touch up stain and see how I go with another coat of poly. Figured that would tell me whether I'm going through to wood or just scratching the surface. There was a bit of colour on the sand paper and steel wool so must have gone through in places.
And I'm glad to say it looks like I was mostly just scratching the surface. There were a couple of lighter patches where I might have gone a bit deeper. Problem is I followed the instructions with the veneer and didn't sand it (mostly) so in places it's not as smooth and level as I'd like.
Will have to see how it looks after it dries.
Just did the front and the headstock this time.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5d43f7f122.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...a67b838420.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...d7381c8587.jpg
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I've just finished a third coat of wipe on poly. But I have a problem as I think it's too dark. Before I put on the PU it looked ok but now it almost looks black unless it's lit up by a bright light.
So what should I do? Sand all the PU off, or maybe just in the centre, so I can remove a bit of colour and lighten it? Really not sure though because of the veneer and the PU seemed to soak in quite a bit on the first coat.
I'm kind of stuck as I don't know whether I can remedy the situation or should just accept the colour as is and keep adding more coats.
Photos are with and without flash.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...f50dc344a0.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...eb62716992.jpg
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It'll look a lot better after buffing, it will have a lot more depth. I think it might end up pretty cool.
Blue/black tones usually look good with lots of bright hardware. Maybe chrome pickup mounting rings would help lift it a bit together with all the other chrome bits.
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Looking great mate. Good progress!
What did you do inside the f holes with? Was it hard to get down in there and work?
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Thanks.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bakersdozen
I used the same black spirit based stain I used for the rest of the body. Used a 2cm wide foam brush. Couldn't do everything from the hole so actually put the whole brush inside and then moved it around with pointy nose pliers. Didn't cover everywhere inside, just the bits which could be easily seen.
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Magic! Thanks mateQuote:
Originally Posted by kuanjb
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So I thought I'd see how I go with lightening the centre by gradually sanding back with a bit of steel wool. The problem with the PU coat though is that it scratches and dulls pretty easily so it's really hard to tell how much you've knocked off.
So I decided to just live with the colour and not sand back. So after finishing off going over the rest of the body with the steel wool I added another coat of the PU.
Still looks really dark but I had a bit more of a look in the light and it does have quite a bit of colour. I'm really hoping that after buffing that will show up some more once I have a more even and glossy finish.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6f55068b3b.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...35b908a68b.jpg
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Finally getting back into this build.
Started on finishing the neck which up until now had been masked off near the body join as I wanted a satin finish on the neck, not a gloss like the body. But I then read somewhere that it was better to use multiple gloss layers first and then just do the satin for the final one or two coats otherwise it was possible for the finish to become cloudy.
Off came the masking tape and some of the stain with it. So had to sand and restain the neck. Decided to do a sort of burst for this too so it's black where it joins the body, which is also black on the sides, lightens in the middle and then darkens for the headstock.
Once it was stained I then put a coat of sanding sealer and sanded that once it was dry. According to the can I probably should have done the sanding sealer first before staining. I did have to touch up the stain in a few places on edges but seems ok.
So now I've put on a couple more coats of poly over the whole body and neck. I'm really liking the colour of the back and neck especially with the black flecks in the grain from the timbermate I originally put on.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...27b2256546.jpg
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Looks mint dude! Can't wait to see this getting closer
Done a couple coats of wipe on poly. Bit frustrating as each coat seems to have something wrong with it. Either have fluff or something else stuck to it while drying or a drip which has formed.
Previously I'd tried sanding the spots out but that would often lead to sanding too much in the surrounding areas. I was also having problems with sanding between coats. I tried sand paper with the grit specified for the PU but I must have sanded too much as the white binding would sometimes show through on the edges requiring me to spot stain. Went to steel wool instead but that then had problems with small metal flakes.
So I'm now mostly leaving the imperfections, hoping that they'll come out when I wet sand and buff. I do remove some of the spots though but instead use a craft knife to scrape the small spots flat. For sanding between coats I switched to a sanding pad and even tried a scourer pad too, the later being a bit too rough.
Anyway I think I'm almost ready to start wet sanding. I have 10+ coats on the body (I lost count a while ago) and 4 coats on the neck. The neck I'll put maybe one or two coats of satin PU. Not sure if that needs wet sanding. It will need some sort of sanding but obviously not buffing.
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Almost forgot that I'll need to do the frets too. I didn't do it earlier as I was waiting for tools and things to arrive by post. I'll do the frets before doing anymore on the neck just in case I make a mistake and so I can get the edges of the fret board nice. There's not not much more which needs to be done on the edges though as I've already sanded the fret ends and fretboard edge to give it a comfortable rounded worn feel.
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Nice work. Can't wait to see further progress on this one dude.
Couple more pictures of the front, with and without flash to show the colour when it catches the light.
Was going to put another coat on tonight but it's still a little too sticky so I'll wait until the morning before I go to work.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...da91fc5602.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...23876df925.jpg
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Nice nice! I still love playing mine. Although working thru some minor saddle rattle/buzz here and there that is intermittent. Nothing major, but could be simply string guage etc. You going stock electronics?
Thanks man. It's very dark but you can see the colour a bit even without the flash when you see it in person.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bakersdozen
I got a replacement wraparound bridge with individual intonation, selector switch and pickups. The pickups are Dragonfire H90 pickups (humbucker sized P90s) which apparently sound pretty good. Being two single coils that keeps the electronics pretty basic with no need for additional switches.
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Ooohhhh that's exciting! Great choice will be keen to see/hear how the 90's work [emoji3] keep rolling mateQuote:
Originally Posted by kuanjb
Realised I hadn't actually put up a picture of a mock build. So here a photo showing the hardware. Still need to drill holes for the screws and shape / sand the pickup rings so they fit better.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...1dc3e635df.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...57d905c3f6.jpg
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