Tims ash ST-1 linseed oil finish (First Build)

[crundes]

Here is a close up of the patched up area.

[wokkaboy]

doesn't look too obvious Tim but I spose it will always be there in your mind. It makes it a bit awkward you have already applied a few clear coats from memory.
How many times did you touch it up with the FW oak ? Wondering if more coats will darken the patch anymore

[crundes]

Yeah have applied a number (8 i think) of clear coats so it's hard to gauge what it would look like with clear coats over the patch. I have applied 2 coats of the Oak stain might apply another one or 2 and see how it looks.

I am a bit of a perfectionist with these things and unfortunately my skill level with guitar building and lack of knowledge conflicts with that quite frequently. But when it comes down to it I'm more than happy, if not a little bit excited to start again if it doesn't come up to the standard I have set. I was happy with the dark tease finish but it does look better in the photos than in real life (it's normally the other way around!), so I won't be completely devastated if I do have to start over.

Everyone's feedback and advice has been incredibly helpful and I look forward to more tips and tricks along the way with whatever avenue I end up taking.

Cheers
Tim

[wokkaboy]

ok Tim sure, I'd put another 2 or 3 coats of oak FW on the patch and see if it darkens. Usually clear coats darken the shade of stains a little so you may still be able to save sanding back. The patch almost looks like that part of the body didn't take the wudtone as much as the surrounds, my watermelon ash strat had some yellowish marks I couldn't get out but wasn't that bothered about it

[crundes]

well it'a been a while since my last post so I'd thought better get my act in to gear!

I wasn't able to patch the area I buggered up well enough so I bit the bullet and ended up sanding the whole guitar back to plain ash and started again. I wanted a finish that at least slightly resembled what I had and after speaking with my brother I decided on a linseed oil finish with a satin top coat. My brother plays a lot of snooker and he uses boiled linseed oil on his cues and they always end up looking really nice so I thought why not?

So I've applied 8 coats of boiled linseed oil mixed with equal parts mineral turps, following this I have applied 8 coats of feast watsons satin wipe on poly.

Here are the results

[crundes]

I've just realised i didn't tak a photo without the pickguard but i'll be able to do that tomorrow after the last coat of satin dries.

I still haven't decided which pickguard to apply yet I was hoping you guys could help me out?

here are my 3 options

[crundes]

i think i'm leaning towards the black one at the moment. Still not sure about the cream pickup covers though. The black pickup covers I bought aren't drilled correctly so they don't fit over the pickups properly.

[crundes]

I'm having s few problems with fitting the pickguard at the moment. The pickups I bought came with a set of pots and a five way switch that doesn't quite fit in the space that has already been routed. I'm tempted to just carefully drill some small divots to accommodate the 5 way switch but I have very little room for error as the entire width of the body is 42 mm and the depth of the pickup route is 32 mm or so.

[crundes]

the other problem is the pickguard doesn't fit around the bridge very well, I just got a cheap one from ebay so I may just have to buy a better one from pitbull as the white one they provided fits perfectly.

[wokkaboy]

wow Tim, you must have forearms bigger than Popeye all that sanding.
Impressed at the final result, its been worth the hard slog, well done !
Personally I prefer the black pick guard, too much contrast with the white and red tortisehell ones.
Its got a nice gloss, the linseed oil has come up a treat