DrNomis_44's Gold Standard STA-1M Build.

[DrNomis_44]

Doc by looks of the photo the colour looks great to me. See how it looks in 2-3 days and make a decision then, it's really your decision whether you are happy with the shade of gold.

No worries, and cheers mate, I'll give it 2 to 3 days to dry and see how we go, to be honest I'm really liking the shade of gold where it's at now so maybe this coming Friday I might just go ahead and start applying the final coats, that means the guitar may be finished in a couple of fortnight's time, assuming no serious setbacks, next Tuesday is when I'll be ordering the new ASN57 pickups and also the stuff from Realtone Music, I didn't end up doing the orders last time because of the debacle I had with my bank, but everything's all sorted out now so i'll be able to go ahead with the orders.


I've decided that my next kit build is going to be the new TL-51 ash Body Telecaster kit since I've always wanted a Telecaster.

[wokkaboy]

sounds good Doc it's all coming together nicely.

Were there any gold highlights to put on or have you already done so ?

I'm helping you catch Shazz's build diary so now you are 2 pages behind !

think by Friday the gold may darken slightly as it cures should be ready for clear coats.

so no headstock logo ?

[DrNomis_44]

sounds good Doc it's all coming together nicely.

Were there any gold highlights to put on or have you already done so ?

I'm helping you catch Shazz's build diary so now you are 2 pages behind !

think by Friday the gold may darken slightly as it cures should be ready for clear coats.

so no headstock logo ?

Actually no, as far as I can tell I didn't get any Gold Highlights in my finishing kits to put on, that's actually not a problem since I'm very happy with the results I've gotten so far, I've decided to leave doing the headstock logo till last, since it'll probably take me a while to get it sorted to the point where I can print it out (might work on that while the final coat on the body is drying), I still need to buy a couple of new ink cartridges for my printer which I might buy next fortnight along with the decal paper, I have plenty of final coat for the neck so that I can apply some over the headstock decal once it's on the headstock.


When I go to do all the wiring up of the pickguard, I'm going to throw in a little mini-tutorial on soldering, and show everyone who's interested how I go about it, since I've got my new Nikon camera, there will be step-by-step pics included and I'll try and make them really clear so you can see what the results should look like, stay tuned for it.

[DrNomis_44]

Update:


I ran my fingers along the bottom of the Strat body and the second coat of intensifier seems to be drying pretty well, it feels slightly tacky to the touch, if all goes well the body should be dry by Friday, I've got the body hanging on a hook, which I made out of a coat hanger, next to my 42 inch Plasma Screen TV,very happy with the results I've gotten with the Ebony timbermate and DT Coolangatta Gold even though the guitar looks a lot different to how it was going to look with the solid gold spray paint I was originally going to go for, it just goes to show that when you go to make plans for what kind of finish you're going to go for in your kit build, you should leave your options open and adopt an open-mindset rather than rigidly stick to a predetermined plan, cause you never know what results may surprise you.

In hindsight, I'm glad I went with the Ebony TM and DT Coolangatta Gold finish since it turned out to be relatively easy to get a good result right off the bat, if I had've gone with the solid Gold spraypaint plan there would have been a potential for it to go pear-shaped since I'm still a complete newbie at this kit guitar building business, but my success in this kit build so far has increased my confidence in my abilities, and also has me feeling very stoked.

I just can't wait to start playing my finished guitar but I know I must have patience.

[wokkaboy]

nice one Doc, I think you should be ok for clear coats on the body Friday.
The stains are very easy to use, I can clearly remember my first use of wudtone stains how easy they are to rag on.
You can try a solid paint build down the track but there is so much more that can go wrong, so be prepared to have to sand it back to bare wood and start again !
Love the detail in your posts Doc, you forgot to mention the brand of your TV haha
You will treasure your first build and I hope you never sell it or part with it. You can always build more but never replace your first build !

[dingobass]

Wow.....
Combine Shazzas and Docs build diaries......
Instant reality TV show..

Just putting it out there

But seriously, looking good Doc.
When the coat is dry, have a close look for stray cat hairs etc.. You may need to scuff sand lightly with 340 or 400 grit paper to flatten the surface.
Then give it a good dust and apply another intensifying coat.
When thats cured attack it with the final coats.

[DrNomis_44]

nice one Doc, I think you should be ok for clear coats on the body Friday.
The stains are very easy to use, I can clearly remember my first use of wudtone stains how easy they are to rag on.
You can try a solid paint build down the track but there is so much more that can go wrong, so be prepared to have to sand it back to bare wood and start again !
Love the detail in your posts Doc, you forgot to mention the brand of your TV haha
You will treasure your first build and I hope you never sell it or part with it. You can always build more but never replace your first build !

Doh....I knew I forgot something in my last post, lol, okay I'll rectify that, my 42inch Plasma Screen TV is an LG brand TV, I won it in a competition/raffle held by one of my local musical instrument shops, there's a bit of a story in it, I went to do some browsing in the Top End Pro Music shop here in Darwin one day, and one of the shop assistants casually mentioned that they had a competition/raffle going and the prize was a 42inch LG Plasma Screen TV, so I filled out the entry form fully expecting not to win anything and forgot about it for a year, then one day I went back to the Top End Pro Music shop for something, and was told that they had a big TV for me that i had won, at first I thought they were "pulling my leg", but I soon realized otherwise and they arranged for me to come in for a photo shoot while I claimed my prize, the TV works perfectly and it is Digital High Definition TV ready, it works perfect with my games machines and LG Blue Ray DVD player, so I scored an expensive TV for next to nothing.

[DrNomis_44]

Wow.....
Combine Shazzas and Docs build diaries......
Instant reality TV show..

Just putting it out there

But seriously, looking good Doc.
When the coat is dry, have a close look for stray cat hairs etc.. You may need to scuff sand lightly with 340 or 400 grit paper to flatten the surface.
Then give it a good dust and apply another intensifying coat.
When thats cured attack it with the final coats.

Yeah, I know I'm a bit of a chatterbox, aren't I DB?....lol.


Cheers for that mate, I still have plenty of the 340 and 400 grit sandpaper left so I'll try doing as you've suggested once the body's dry, I suppose I could post a couple more pics of the body as it is now, it's not that much different to how it looked in the last two pics, but I'll post the pics anyway, stay tuned.

[wokkaboy]

sounds good Doc thanks for the story on the TV. Being a plasma it must be quite a few years old ?

[DrNomis_44]

sounds good Doc thanks for the story on the TV. Being a plasma it must be quite a few years old ?

I'm guessing that my LG Plasma TV is probably around mid 2000's vintage, I'll post a pic of it along with the Strat body pics.


Here we go, here's the pics of the Strat Body and LG Plasma TV:

The front of the Strat Body:




The back of the Strat body:




My 42 inch LG Plasma Screen TV:




My plasma TV is perfect for watching TV/DVDs while relaxing on my bed or for playing video games too, 42inches is a decent size, it'd also be good for watching the cricket, although I haven't watched much lately, should get back into it, the TV is located at the foot of my bed.