Tele build countdown...

[XP Rider]

Nice piece of wood, Fender3x. It will be a beauty when the hardware is installed.

[fender3x]

Thank you! So far I have had pretty decent luck with paulownia. I was not committed to a clear finish, but figured I'd give it a go when I saw the figuring.

[fender3x]

I experimented with the Highline Guitars method of doing the transfers. In theory I really like that approach since it since it eliminates the transparent decal paper so that only ink and a very fine layer of water based glue gets transferred to the guitar. In practice I couldn't get it to work. Some part of the logo always seemed to stay stuck to the label paper. I think that DikkyBee's approach would eliminate my ink issue, but I don't think I have the fine motor skills to paint the color on. I've never been good at coloring inside the lines. So I took the conventional ink-jet decal that came out best and put that on. I put 4 coats of very thin 1# cut blonde shellac on the neck, applied with a rag. I am using General Finishes High Performance Satin clear to finish the neck. The top of the headstock got 2 coats below the decal. I then finished the whole neck with 8 coats of clear, and added another 5 coats to the top of the headstock to make sure I'd be able to sand absolutely flat over the decal. I started with a synthetic bristle brush, but ended up using a foam brush to get thinner coats.

I won't finish sand until it has completely cured. The mfg says this takes 3 weeks, but I tend to give it one or two more because I use more coats than they recommend.



In other news, I think I am about to complete the parts list for this build with the arrival of long awaited pickups. They shipped yesterday. The US Postal Service tells me that overnight they have gone from Marina California to San Jose...about 100 km. That means they have just around 4800 km left to get to Miami.



This is the first time I have ordered pickups like these. I have had good luck with a small custom pickup winder called "Epic Custom Shop." My favorite bass has one of their "black gold" p-bass pickups and it's the best I have heard. I also have a set of their D2 Strat pickups for a build I did for my daughter. On the website (https://epiccustomshop.com/) they have a limited range--just P-bass, J-bass and Strat pickups. But since I have had good luck with them, I asked if they had Tele pickups as well. The proprietor asked me to send him some ideas of what I was looking for, I sent some sound clips, and he wound a set to get those sounds. They have been a long time coming, but I am really looking forward to hearing them.

Also got a "Three String Tree" from Music City Bridge...

https://musiccitybridge.com/products...tring-retainer

...and installed a bone nut.

May not be much progress on this one for a while until the body and neck are fully cured...but at least there's been some slow progress.

[Trevor Davies]

That neck looks lovely!

[fender3x]

That neck looks lovely!

Once i do the final polishing I'll try to get a few pics that do it more justice. This was just a neck I bought on sale from PB, but I turned out to be really nicely figured, especially the fingerboard and back.

Sent from my LE2125 using Tapatalk

[fender3x]

Small progress. I managed to get the body buffed. Still need to use the scratch compound and polish, I like the new buffing system so far!



I only used brown bar buffing compound on the body. I used a sort of weird sanding mesh to get it flat sanded that is somewhere between 220 and 320. Then just used 3M sanding pads of maroon and grey.

I have decided not use use the Garnet shellac as a color, and the tool for cleaning buffing wheels came unfinished...so you may notice a striking similarity in the color...



...not maybe the smartest thing I have ever done. I have not finished finishing this thing, but have now used up all the matching color of shellac. Oh well...



Could not resist taking a look with the parts in place...

The neck is next!

[Trevor Davies]

The body is looking great. That tool for cleaning the buffer wheel looks quite mean - but I love the matching colour.

[fender3x]

Given the problems I have had with General Finishes High Performance, I decided to refinish at least the back and sides of the neck. On a couple of maple necks, I have had some problems with the finish turning green and bubbling up around the fret ends, and on a bass neck, actually bubbling up.

So, instead of doing finish sanding on the neck, I took the finish all the way off the back of the neck. Reapplied some shellac to get the color back to normal. Will be using Crystalac Brite Tone instrument finish. I have used it before, on one guitar. My technique may need a bit of work...but I guess we'll find out. It seems about as good as any water based finish I can get my hands on here, and can go on with a brush or wiped on. Most people who don't spray, seem to use a brush...so will work on my chops a bit, and then have at it ;-)

I considered taking the finish all they way off and re-doing it...but I figure I can always do that if this doesn't work. I will never use High Performance again, but in fairness it's been fine most places. It's just on the back and sides of the neck that it's been a problem...so far.

[fender3x]

I hope I don't regret not taking the finish all the way off...but I haven't had problems with it on my other builds *except* on the sides and bottom of the neck. I have had a little experience using the Crystalac Brite Tone and the General Finishes High Performance together without issue... So hoping for the best.



After taking the back and sides down to bare wood, I gave those parts 6 coats of wiped on blonde shellac which brought the color back to being the same as the rest of the neck.

I then put 10 coats of Brite Tone on the back and sides. I spent all 10 coats refining my technique and experimenting with brushes. I think my technique still has a ways to go. I did manage to get the finish on without brush strokes or bubbles..but I got some disconcerting runs and drips, particularly in the early coats.

I auditioned 4 different kinds of brushes. What I have used in the past is a 50mm synthetic sash brush. Essentially a short but ordinary brush that you'd use to paint the window sills inside a house. That got eliminated first, since I couldn't keep off brush strokes. It got relegated to brushing after sanding duty. Second was the foam brush. One of the people at the mfg uses one of these, but I could not lay down a thin coat with it, and could not eliminate bubbles.

That left art store 50mm wide brushes. One was a "golden" 50mm Taklon brush... very fine, very soft, synthetic bristles developed in Japan. The other was a "hake" brush. Same idea but with even finer, even softer goat or sheep bristles. I had less control with the Hake brush so most coats went down with the Taklon brush.

I got much thinner coats with the Taklon brush...but kept getting small drips on the sides or small runs. The mfg told me that was likely because my coats were too thick. I got better at getting them thinner over time, but the breakthrough came when I began to prime the brush with water before dipping into the Brite Tone. That got is considerably thinner and much reduced my drip/run problem. It did not eliminate the problem, but I at least got to the point where I could sand or scrape with a razor blade the small mistakes. With practice I am hoping that I won't need the razor blade.

At the moment it seems to me that the way to develop good brush technique is a bit like the old joke about how you get to Carnegie Hall... Do you have that joke in Australia? Has it been adapted? (e.g. How do you get to the Sydney Opera House?). I think I should stay away from the paint fumes for a while...

[Trevor Davies]

If the answer is One step at a time, we do!