TD's MBM-1

[Trevor Davies]

I wonder if it was always planned at the factory to make that a one pickup guitar, or if they just could not bear to cut into that beautiful figuring?

Good question. This was a custom order that was rejected. There were some machine marks on the veneer, and the book matching is not perfectly aligned. I assumed they were not happy with that!

[fender3x]

Their loss. Hope they tune in and see what's become of it. How did you fill the machine marks? I have sometimes been able to fill small ones with AcuaCoat clear filler. It dries clear so you don't see the gouge. I have one build that has more filler in it than a teenager's first car.

[Trevor Davies]

Their loss. Hope they tune in and see what's become of it. How did you fill the machine marks? I have sometimes been able to fill small ones with AcuaCoat clear filler. It dries clear so you don't see the gouge. I have one build that has more filler in it than a teenager's first car.

I could sand the machine marks out luckily. I was very careful. Filler was the next option!

The Aquacoat clear filler looks great. For small fills I would normally use CA glue!

[Trevor Davies]

Back to the MBM-1.
I have polished it today with:
Kustom Creations Kustom Grit step 1 (cutting compound) and step 2 using a Random Orbital Polisher and micro-fibre pad.
Then applied Maguire’s Ultimate Compound and then Scratch X with the Polisher and micro-fibre cloth.

[brandfbr]

This is looking amazing!
Can I ask why you chose to use both the oil based poly and the water based one? Was there a particular reason/different result you wanted or did you just have some leftover?

[Trevor Davies]

This is looking amazing!
Can I ask why you chose to use both the oil based poly and the water based one? Was there a particular reason/different result you wanted or did you just have some leftover?

Thanks brandfbr.

The idea of the oil based first coats is to not raise the grain of the timber (like water-based coats would). I have been spraying water-based poly final coats on my last couple of guitar builds but found that the grain still raised a bit. So, this is another trial at trying to reduce raised grain.

Note: I also use a Ubeaut sanding sealer (shellac based) before the stain to raise the grain a bit (and it can be lightly sanded (de-nibbed)). I have also used Timbermate grain filler (water based) to grain fill and raise the grain. Others also wipe the timber with a damp (water or metho) cloth to help lift the grain.

This is probably only an issue when using a stain, on open grained timber. After staining, you do not want water-based coats raising the grain of the wood and making it rough, since you cannot sand it back too much as you may remove the stain layer.

For non-stained timber it is not a problem as you can sand the raised grain back and then add more water-based coats.

Seeing fender3x's work, I have thought that Shellac may be a better alternative to the oil-based poly first coats!

[Trevor Davies]

Assembled, stringed and rough tuned.

[fender3x]

Wow! That came out spectacularly well! You've got to be pretty happy. I really like the headstock. Cool inlay. Did you make that truss rod cover? That's a really nice tough. I also like the shape of it. Classic vibe without being something you generally see.

Does the guitar sound as good as it looks?

[Trevor Davies]

Wow! That came out spectacularly well! You've got to be pretty happy. I really like the headstock. Cool inlay. Did you make that truss rod cover? That's a really nice tough. I also like the shape of it. Classic vibe without being something you generally see.

Does the guitar sound as good as it looks?

Thanks fender3x. Yes, very happy with the end result. Yes, I did the truss rod cover (it is the same style cover as used for the axe bass!) and the mockingbird emblem is a Cricut vinyl sticker.

It is not sounding great at the moment! But I'm sure some nut work, string height adjustment, and intonation will set that straight. That is this weekend's work.

[Trevor Davies]

Final setup is now complete - adjusted the truss rod, set the string heights, filed the nut slots, set the intonation. Now it sounds good!