FS-1 Build

[stan]

very nice result, Moose.
The colour combo is very classy

[andrewdosborne]

Looks great with the shellac natural finish and coloured sides. Very smart


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[wokkaboy]

love the shellac cap and black sides Moose, should look a treat with gold hardware

[Nickosaurus]

Really loving this build. Shellac finishes are one of my favourites

[Island_Moose]

I was very hesitant after the first round of shellac, despite using mineral oil it was difficult to get an even coat. After some steel wool though the next day, the 3rd and 4th coats went on wonderfully, and the finish is really starting to build. With 4 coats of amber, I've achieved the colour tone that I want, so I'm switching to clear shellac. I think another 20 coats will give me something that can be wet-sanded and polished to a very high gloss.

I'm applying the shellac as per the standard French polish technique, and I like the way it's a very clean operation, no dribbles down the sound holes, very little scraping of the binding to do. The smell is wonderful, the process is sort of hypnotic.

I've got something special in mind for the headstock, reminiscent of the original Starcasters.

[Island_Moose]

Set back!

I was applying the 3rd coat of blonde shellac to the neck when I carelessly let a drop of pure meth-spirits fall onto the back of the body. By the time I removed it, the spirits had liquefied and removed all the previous layers in one tiny patch back to bare wood. I now have to match the colour shellac in that area, and re-build the 8+ layers in that one area....sigh....shellac is very very sensitive to it's nemesis...alcohol.
Nevertheless, I have 20 coats on the front of the body, and once I have a similar quantity on the back and neck I will let it all sit for a week before wet-sanding with mineral oil and then polish it with various compounds.

Whenever I regret not just spraying the guitar with lacquer I look at the shellac/polished surface, it is quite a distinctive gloss, very deep, but with an 'aged'/traditional look.

Shopping for pickups now, I'd love to splash out on the best money could buy, but I'm brought back to reality when I consider the pickups could easily exceed the cost of the entire kit. Perhaps the "Toneriders" that I see on the market instead of the Seymour Duncans that I want.

I never started this project aiming for perfection, I like the little 'maker-marks' that come with something you've built yourself, but I'm hopelessly-competitive, and discovering that the group votes for 'build-of-the-month" has caused me many sleepless nights.

[keloooe]

Hey Moose, sucks to hear of the setback.... All you can do here is patch it up and you can even look at any mismatched colour as more "character" in the finish, with playing it will change anyway, so in my mind, no biggie!
For the pickups, Toneriders are dead cheap but pack a whole lotta pickup. I'd pick either the Rebel 90's or the AC series, but if you really want more output and something more of a Seymour Duncan SH-4, my personal favourite so far is the Rocksong set!

[bargeloobs]

If you're looking for a "deep", "traditional" look from lacquer I'd have to put my vote in for Nitro Cellulose. It gets a bit of a hard time round here from certain luthiers (who shall remain nameless), but there's a good reason why it's been used pretty much since the birth of the electric guitar. It's hard wearing, doesn't have to go on super thick, it expands and contracts with the instrument and best of all can be bought to a beautiful high gloss finish (see pic).

I've never used Toneriders but all indications point to a really solid pup and hey, great thing about electronics is you can swap em' out for SD's further down the track without any noticeable alterations to the instrument. The one that always gets me is tuners, as if you decide to go with the stock ones if you ever want to swap out later on you're gonna be left with spare drill holes....yuck. Just something to contemplate if you're building a keeper that you want to use as a daily instrument.

You can get as picky or as relaxed as you want to with your builds but as the quality of the guitars on the forum become increasingly higher, if you want to seriously be in the running for GOTM consideration you really have to get a little bit OCD.
If you are as you say "hopelessly competitive" you'll find it hard to settle for anything less than perfect and as a consequence end up with an instrument to be truly proud of.

[Island_Moose]

GASP!!! Gorgeous LP!!!

[Island_Moose]

Getting there, nearly done with the shellac. Will let it cure for a week before sanding and polishing.