Esquire-esque

[fender3x]

Very cool looking headstock. I like the logo!

Getting a blue stain finish is tricky, in part because yellow has a tendency to sneak in. I have a guitar with a Fender Antigua finish on it. When it was new it was essentially cream and gray. By the time I got it it had turned all the colors of snot, because the top coat had yellowed.

I was planning a blue with a build I am working on, but just could not get a color I liked. I think the reason is that I was trying to tint platina shellac. I could get it blue...but I was not able to get it to be a blue that I liked. A part of the reason may have been that there is just enough yellow in the shellac "move" the blue in a direction I didn't like. Or, more likely the combination of yellow in the shellac and yellow/brown in the wood migrated the blue. Ultimately I went a went in a different direction. But I would still like to return to this at some point....

The recommendation I am seeing on the interwebs is to sand back the finish, and then use a wood bleach to get the wood as light as possible, and start there. I like Trevor's idea of using a tinted water-based finish, because water based finishes typically do not yellow (or at least not much) over time. Oil top coats can yellow rather dramatically over time.

I actually had a similar thought in tinting the platina shellac. It's *almost* clear, and although all shellac has a bit of yellow in it, it doesn't deepen over time like other yellowing finishes. Alas, it is the nature of experiments that sometimes they fail. I am glad that I tried it on scrap before trying it on the body. When, at some point, I return to the experiment, i'll try tinting the water-based poly ;-)

[Trevor Davies]

The headstock and logo look good. Is it a waterslide type of logo?

[EsquireEsque]

Very cool looking headstock. I like the logo!

Getting a blue stain finish is tricky, in part because yellow has a tendency to sneak in. I have a guitar with a Fender Antigua finish on it. When it was new it was essentially cream and gray. By the time I got it it had turned all the colors of snot, because the top coat had yellowed.

I was planning a blue with a build I am working on, but just could not get a color I liked. I think the reason is that I was trying to tint platina shellac. I could get it blue...but I was not able to get it to be a blue that I liked. A part of the reason may have been that there is just enough yellow in the shellac "move" the blue in a direction I didn't like. Or, more likely the combination of yellow in the shellac and yellow/brown in the wood migrated the blue. Ultimately I went a went in a different direction. But I would still like to return to this at some point....

The recommendation I am seeing on the interwebs is to sand back the finish, and then use a wood bleach to get the wood as light as possible, and start there. I like Trevor's idea of using a tinted water-based finish, because water based finishes typically do not yellow (or at least not much) over time. Oil top coats can yellow rather dramatically over time.

I actually had a similar thought in tinting the platina shellac. It's *almost* clear, and although all shellac has a bit of yellow in it, it doesn't deepen over time like other yellowing finishes. Alas, it is the nature of experiments that sometimes they fail. I am glad that I tried it on scrap before trying it on the body. When, at some point, I return to the experiment, i'll try tinting the water-based poly ;-)

I had the same concerns with the body colour, Douglas Fir is rather stripy and an unusual colour - so I couldn't be sure of what colour I'd end up with.

The idea of "white" hit me as simply a way to "soften" things even if the colour isn't what I anticipated....

I Also saw the yellowing effects of oils when the first attempt at a body was finished with Danish Oil.... This time I'm using Hard Wax Oils - which I am told will have a much lesser "yellowing effect". (but to be sure - I put a little white tint in it).

I'll know in time if it works, I suppose.

[EsquireEsque]

The headstock and logo look good. Is it a waterslide type of logo?

I tried the waterslide thing - and found it a little more "difficult" that I originally thought it would.....

I then found some "transfer paper" I'd bought for the kid's t-shirts years ago .... It uses the same inks as would the waterslide so I thought I'd give that a try as well..... It was a much easier process and the "edges" were easier to blend in...... but I have to admit the "practice" came out better than the final try (which was smudged just a little).

[fender3x]

I have not heard about that approach before. Maybe you could post something on the decal forum. Speaking just for myself, I have mostly used the waterslide decal approach, but am not 100% satisfied with it. Always interested in learning about other approaches!

https://www.buildyourownguitar.com.a...splay.php?f=47

[EsquireEsque]

Well it's been a while as I waited for the pickup (a cheaper Filter'tron" to arrive - I placed it where the poles were as much directly under the strings as I could - but it's still a bit out from the bridge.... about 3.5cm from the edge of the bridge plate.



As you can see - to be directly under the strings it needed to go further to the neck.....



I wonder if they sent me a neck pickup by mistake?

[EsquireEsque]

But it has been shielded, a backing plate made from some pickguard material and has a very bad finish (forgot a basic thing that I worked out on a sample - raise the grain first, stain, light sand and then stain again.....)

As a result the "white" finish is a bit blotchy and uneven (particularly on the sides).

However the wiring works and it actually sounds "cool" according to my daughter... is is a single coil with a touch more depth.... or a "light" humbucker with a bit more crunch.

For a first build with a scratch body - I'mm rather chuffed..... But the third instalment of this build is already in the planning stages......



Anyway - here's a few photos.....

[EsquireEsque]

.... and the back

[fender3x]

Looks pretty good to me! Very unique. I don't really see the blotchiness issue. Whitewashes are really tricky to do, and yours looks pretty good to me. Better than the last one I tried (which was repainted a solid color ;-) )

It may be that you got a neck pickup rather than a bridge pickup... That said, neck and bridge pups are generally the same spacing on guitars. It could also be Gibson spacing on the pup but Fender spacing on the bridge. I learned this the hard way on basses which can vary quite a bit on string spacing at the bridge. Something to check on future builds. For the current one, it looks like you have the strings better over the poles pretty well, and if you like the sound (or if your biggest fan likes it), then by definition the pickup is in the right place.

[EsquireEsque]

Looks pretty good to me! Very unique. I don't really see the blotchiness issue. Whitewashes are really tricky to do, and yours looks pretty good to me. Better than the last one I tried (which was repainted a solid color ;-) )

It may be that you got a neck pickup rather than a bridge pickup... That said, neck and bridge pups are generally the same spacing on guitars. It could also be Gibson spacing on the pup but Fender spacing on the bridge. I learned this the hard way on basses which can vary quite a bit on string spacing at the bridge. Something to check on future builds. For the current one, it looks like you have the strings better over the poles pretty well, and if you like the sound (or if your biggest fan likes it), then by definition the pickup is in the right place.

Not so much a whitewash as a stain using a Whittles Hard Wax colour, finished with a Whittles Hard Wax finish (slightly tinted with the same colour). The Douglas Fir is a very strongly coloured and "striped" wood so the idea was to have it as a "transparent" white finish.....worked great in the sample I did!

Gibson spacing on the pickup and fender spacing at the bridge saddles.... that would make sense.
It would seem I've learned the same lesson as yourself!


Just done a whole lot of "research" over the net.... and I'm surprised to learn that while the Gibson nut width is greater than the Fender nut width (43 mm as opposed to 42 mm)... the opposite is true for the bridge... I'd made the assumption that the Gibson bridge would be wider, but it's narrower.... (old "Benny Hill" joke.... "never assume - it makes an ass out of u and me")

So in fact it would be the case that it is a bridge pickup but the bridge is a bit wider spaced than is ideal for the pickup... that is, a narrower spacing at the saddles means the pickup is moved closer to the bridge......

The veils of ignorance shift slightly.....