First build, blue widow LP quilted

[Denial]

Yes I had noted that the veneer centre line is about 0.5 - 1 cm off being perfectly centered , but I do have to remind myself that this is a $ 270 kit and not a $ 5000 guitar. It is a good learning experience.

Today I have sanded back the black stain and have put on 2 coats of the blue dye.
See pictures below

[Rossc0]

Yes I had noted that the veneer centre line is about 0.5 - 1 cm off being perfectly centered , but I do have to remind myself that this is a $ 270 kit and not a $ 5000 guitar. It is a good learning experience.

Today I have sanded back the black stain and have put on 2 coats of the blue dye.
See pictures below

Denial, looking really good. Question for you. What was your process for sanding back the black on the body veneer. About to do the same and it worries me?

[Denial]

Rossc0

After reading lots of other builds where there was thin veneer involved I decided that I would do almost no preparation on the top surface as I thought I would only get one overall sand on the top of the body.

So I tried to check for glue spots with methylated spirits , it worked on the mahogany sides and the glue spots stood out.
However on the top veneer it did not show up any spots due to the very white colour of the maple.

As I had seen in lots of the veneer builds with glue spots I decided to pre-emptively use some " goof off" around the edges and along the centre glue line. Unfortunately when I put the black stain on it revealed more glue spots in patches so I rubbed the goof off in with 0000 steel wool and then rubbed it down with a rag soaked wth the goof off. This seemed to work in most of the cases.

I then rubbed down the body with 400 grit sandpaper

By the way I use a cloth backed sandpaper that is nice to use on uneven surfaces
See picture below

And I have been holding the body in a cradle that I made out of some scrap chip board an some pieces of foam, that I could then cover with a towel to protect the top or bottom of the body. See below



I will probably do a very light sand with 400 to knock the top off the raised grain , before I start to put my oil coats on.
As I am likely to rub some of my oil coats with 0000 steel wool to sort of sand and work the oil into the grain it probably does not need to be really smooth. I am hoping the oil will fill any minor grain issues.

[Rossc0]

Rossc0

After reading lots of other builds where there was thin veneer involved I decided that I would do almost no preparation on the top surface as I thought I would only get one overall sand on the top of the body.

So I tried to check for glue spots with methylated spirits , it worked on the mahogany sides and the glue spots stood out.
However on the top veneer it did not show up any spots due to the very white colour of the maple.

As I had seen in lots of the veneer builds with glue spots I decided to pre-emptively use some " goof off" around the edges and along the centre glue line. Unfortunately when I put the black stain on it revealed more glue spots in patches so I rubbed the goof off in with 0000 steel wool and then rubbed it down with a rag soaked wth the goof off. This seemed to work in most of the cases.

I then rubbed down the body with 400 grit sandpaper

Cheers for that, My LP veneer was spalted so left as is, this one is the first one I'll be trying to bring the grain out on so we'll see how it goes.