H's TL-1Q, first build.

[GregLane]

Hi UpperCaseH I have just spent 2 hours pouring over your build diary as I am about two embark on my first build with an LP-1MQ. The finishing process with a quilted top is all new to me and I have appreciated your detailed questions to the community. And what about the detailed answers you have received. It appears to be all ending in a magnificent guitar. You have done a great job. Let me know when you track down those maidens wiring those pickups.

Looking forward to your next photos.

Greg

[UpperCaseH]

Thanks, and yeah it's been great to get so much good advice!

I'm not sure if there are going to be much progess in the near future. It's been 5 weeks since I applied the last final coat, and it's still not cured. I'm gonna give it two more weeks (or until my nut files arrive and I get that all done, whichever comes later), and then think about options for sanding it back a bit and trying something else.

The finish on the headstock has been cured hard for at least 2 weeks, so I'm not sure what's going on with the body. They've got the exact same stuff applied the same way and they're hanging less than a meter apart.

[wazkelly]

G'day H, the necks are made from tougher stuff that doesn't soak up as much of the finish which possibly explains why they cure just a bit sooner than the body.

[UpperCaseH]

So after 6 weeks this top coat has still not cured. It's no harder than it was at 3 weeks - I can still easily score it with my thumb nail. Some combination of weather and earlier impatience (eg, possibly not letting the stain or intensifier fully cure between coats) is probably at fault here.

Also, at some point between 3 weeks ago and today, I've managed to get dust into the area where it was hanging and I'm pretty sure that the finish is now ruined - still soft, now dusty, and apparently not drying.

I think I'm going to have to have a go at knocking it back and trying again. Perhaps I'll have a go at stamp pad ink under tru oil this time, and maybe also get some black timbermate onto the veneer since I'm pretty sure I've improved my sanding skills to the point where I won't just go right through it.

[wazkelly]

Don't despair buddy, just use a small amount of 1500 sanded quite wet to take the fine layer of dust off that may or may not have become embedded in the top coat. Remember to rinse the paper after no more than 3 passes and keep lightly running your fingertips over the surface to see how things are working.

If it starts to 'Grab' or develop small lumpy bits, definitely still not fully cured. If not, the light finer grade wet sanding will get you on your way with the final polishing part of the process.

Hopefully this saves having to strip it all the way back and start again.

[UpperCaseH]

Thanks Waz. I'm not too happy with how I've managed this one at the moment, and I might end up stripping it back just to try to do a better job anyway. Having finished the j-bass, I can definitely see room for improvement here.

Here are some pics of what I'm talking about. The first shows a thumbnail mark from today (under where the neck plate will go) - 6 weeks to the say after the final coat was applied. The second shows what I think is dust or something stuck to the finish. Given the apparent softness of the finish at the moment, I'm not sure trying to sand it at all would be a great idea.

[WeirdBits]

wow that is soft, how thick is the finish?

[UpperCaseH]

Probably too thick

[wazkelly]

2nd shot looks more like an oxidisation effect whereas 1st looks like the timber has been dented rather than the finish?

About to let you in on a secret that will see me banished to the cupboard under the stairs in the Naughty Warehouse......you can save this with a light wet sand and then revert to TO for some tougher final coats which is what I had to do on both of the EX builds as I ran out of patience trying to finish off by using DT as top coats. Your 2nd shot is mild compared to the 'Nappy Rash' that both of mine developed.

Don't get me wrong, not here to bash DT, just saying that it might not work best in all climates across this vast land.

[UpperCaseH]

Naughty warehouse sounds pretty full already, but I'll give that a shot!

I'm not saying that the problem is with the DT in the slightest. I didn't wholly understand the role weather plays in the finishing process and I can see that it was pretty silly of me to start my first go in the middle of a wet Melbourne winter. Maybe I'll leave the guitar building for spring and summer and do more electronics stuff in the winter.

Fortunately summer's coming up! And by next winter I hope to have read and practiced enough circuit building stuff to have a go at a tube amp.

Edit: Waz, you're a legend! Wet sanded back gently at 600 then 1200 and the tru-oil's looking great after just one coat.