December 2015 Guitar of the MOnth Competition

[Fretworn]

Two great axes already this month.

[jp]

Thank you - much appreciated

[jp]

Thank you for the lovely comment

[jp]

Thank you for the support, took some time but finally made it...

[nDR01d]

OK here I go again - 2 from 2. This months entry I call "The Boss". It's my tribute to Bruce Springsteens' guitar (see Born to Run). It has Mick Brierly flat wound late 50's pick ups and MUTSL or Man Under The Street Light. The version I used was the original, before Bruce upgraded his pickguard. His btw, is all black leather and carved and painted. I don't have that kind of $$ so I used a 1:1 scale sticker of it It has the usual swan headstock, so let see how divisive it is this month I honestly don't mind the 'love it' or 'hate it' thing. That tells me I'm doing something new and unique. And that's what I want to do. Otherwise I'd buy a factory made one. And it supposed to look a little bit used. see close up pic, top half.

[nDR01d]

Here is a colourised version of the guitar on the album "Born to Run" that I wanted to create a tribute of.

[wokkaboy]

nice tele Ndroid and a cool tribute to the boss. The swan headstock is original looks cool.

What colour stain have you used ?

[nDR01d]

Thanks Wokka. What I did was spray 3 light mists of lacquer over the raw top, then sand with 0000 steel wire. Then I used a dilution of Butterscotch and Metho. I just went with a light colour dilution and kept on rubbing it on till it looked right. Then I applied just over 12 coats of lacquer. Sanded down, but not buffed or polished. That way it went with a matt look, adding to the slightly used appeal of it.

[andrewdosborne]

Janet & nDro1d - 2x awesome entries. Like your work.

[infxualbydesign]

Here is my YB-4 kit.

I used Japan black and Walnut stains in different layers and sanded them back to get the "rustic" burst. Top coat is clear enamel ( takes ages to cure if you spray too think.) All hardware is stock. Some mods i have done are subtle belly/forearm sculpting. i ditched the neck backplate and used recessed chrome ferrules, Looking back I wish i had sculpted the heel and actually redrilled the neck bolts. live an learn. As fares the neck goes i have stained it, i wanted a blackwood type colour. I'm happy with the stain. I shortened the headstock and printed up a waterslide decal with my dodgy logo. I fully shielded the body cavities with copper tape.

Im really quite surprised by the action and playability. i haven't even adjusted the truss rod, or levelled the frets or anything but it actually plays pretty well. yes it could play better but I'm just giving the thing a while to really settle. previous kits i have used had "dried out" after a couple months and changed quite a bit.