Build #12 - IB-7 Rebuild

[m0j0]

+1 for the quality of SCA paint. You won't regret it. They just perform very well.

I did my Franken-wannabe in SCA automotive paint. Never even bothered with clears or even sanding/polishing. Maybe when I fail again with this one, I'll strip it right back and go with the SCA paint.

[McCreed]

...or I need to somehow protect drill holes better as this is not the first time I've had streaks of timber swelling underneath the colour because water gets in where it's not sealed while sanding. What's the best method here?

Bee's wax.

My method is scraping a small bit off the wax block with whatever tool is handy (teaspoon, paddle-pop stick etc) then pack the holes with my fingers. You don't need to fill the entire hole. Even just a few mil at the top is good enough.
I leave it slightly proud of the surface and then level them before wet sanding with something that won't scratch the finish (credit card or similar).
If there are small smears of wax from levelling the holes, I typically don't worry about it as it's not enough to clog the sand paper and will just sand away, but if it is significant enough to be of concern, I will wipe it off with naptha (shellite) on a clean bit of rag.

As for the swollen streaks in the grain, they will likely decrease as the timber dries out again, but usually don't go away completely. Unfortunately the only way I know to entirely get rid of them is a full level sand and refinish.

I've been lucky that the times it's happened to me (before I started plugging with bee's wax) the swelling has mostly been covered by a pickguard or bridge plate so I lived with it.

[Andyxlh]

I find that with timber wet sanding is not needed, even to get a mirror finish. Use a grain filler and sand it smooth, going from 180-240-320 or so. Then primer, sand with 320/400ish. The key is to get the base for the final colour coat flat, and then go clear over the top without touching the colour coat at all.
It is the same with auto finishes, you get the colour coat right and then clear it. Use a 'tack rag' to remove lint before the clear and do it on a still day.
Once you have the clear coat on you can sand this coat with 400 grade, and clear over the top, it won't show (for timber stuff, for metal I'd use #1000-1500 and soapy water). Just don't cut through the lower clear coat into the colour
Usually basecoats are matte but as long as you get good adhesion it should not matter
BTW I used Hot Lips on my EVH frankenstein, and just bought another can for the Frankenbass (the red on the EVH Harley is Mercedes Jupiter, which is quite a lot darker)
I used the matte black and clear on the LP mentioned in the signature below, that was a few years ago now and no issues. The Rustoleum and Duramax have a good rep with me for timber

[m0j0]

Bee's wax.

That's good to hear. I recently purchased some bee's wax purely for lubricating screws and I think there's more than I'll ever use in what's left of my days on this earth. I had a couple of these streaks on the headstock via the tuner holes and they mostly settled down within about 24 hours. Think I'll just let this sit for a week or so to dry out before I potentially seal those sections off with bees wax and prevent drying out as much as possible.
Most of the streaks will be hidden by switch plates, tuner washers and pickup mounts so I'm not overly concerned. Besides, it's my son's guitar so I don't have to look at it :-p And he didn't even notice it until I pointed it out.

[McCreed]

Letting it sit and dry out would be good.

I recently purchased some bee's wax purely for lubricating screws

Yeah, the added bonus is when you're finished wet sanding, the screw holes are all waxed up for the screws!

[m0j0]

Lovely day here, but I'm in isolation awaiting a negative test result. So, thought I'd finally get around to finishing this re-build for my son while enjoying a few beers in the process (needed to drown my sorrows after wet sanding through the clear coats on the headstock of my other build).

Anyway, did the wet sand and polish then hunted around for all the parts I put away 12 months ago when I started this. While putting all the parts back in place I discovered a missing string lock block in the Floyd. Checked the disassemble photos and it was there then. Couldn't find it anywhere so I ordered a set online and while I'm waiting for that, I "borrowed" one from a Warlock build that never gets played.

Re-soldering is less fun than a fresh build solder job. My solder sucker isn't particularly efficient but I eventually managed to create enough hole space in the lugs to run cable through.

Didn't have a spare 7-string set of strings lying around so I've relied on a tap test to make sure both pickups make some sort of noise. Was somewhat surprised when noise came out the amp, but the real test will be when this set of strings turns up.

Headstock logo erased for posting purposes.

[m0j0]

Got this thing strung up and plugged in. Every time I re-string a Floyd I like them less and less. Bridge pickup works fine, neck pickup was really quiet and when I tried raising the height it now produces nothing. Without pulling it apart, I checked the grounding of both pickups (continuity tester between pickup height screw and bridge) and both are fine, so I'm assuming it's an issue with the solder joint at the switch or the switch itself. Given this switch was de-soldered and resoldered I can see how there may be a dry joint, or I may have put too much heat into it when trying to remove solder from the lugs. I've taken the opportunity to order a short switchcraft switch so I'll wait for that before I bother trying to fix this.

Another issue that may son brought up that may be a non-issue. He pointed out that the D string sits higher than the rest. Because my eyesight is what you would expect of someone of my advancing years, I took photos and zoomed in. Can definitely see the saddle sits at an angle compared to the rest and sits higher. Looking at an older photo I took before stringing, there appears to be a shim under just that saddle but just looking at it, it looks like it's a permanent fixture rather than something removable. I'm thinking since it's the middle string of a 7-string that it's possibly be design to allow for the radius of the fretboard with the bridge being flat. Of course, this height difference reduces the closer you get to the nut and it's not really noticeable when playing. Wondering if it might be worth getting a set of shims and raising the A & G not quite as high and the E & B a bit less again or just live with it. Obviously, the more important thing to worry about at this point is getting sound from the neck pickup.

[m0j0]

I think some stupid comments from me. The closer I look at that first photo, it would appear the E and A saddles do sit a little higher than the B to allow for fretboard radius. Just looks more pronounced on the D so it just didn't look right.