Teleburster TL-1A aka G-special

[WeirdBits]

Nah Gav, it's just a black plastic pickguard that I custom made from a blank, it only looks a bit like Bakelite in the pics because I've left the protective flim on it for now. I always intended to use a black pickguard for this as that's the look that I wanted, but I have a few other options I guess I could try.

[WeirdBits]

So, what I thought was only going to be two more base coats has actually turned into four, but I think it will be worth it in the end. The overall surface of the finish has smoothed out, the Goldenrod has an increased depth to its appearance, and the last couple of Black Magic Woman spots on the lower edge that I wasn't happy with have now filled out more (pic below). I think that will be the end of the base coats, but I'll give it a couple of days to cure and see how it looks. If all's good, I'll post up the method I used for the burst.

As an aside: while I was busy applying the Wudtone today a package mysteriously appeared on the doorstep… didn't even hear the delivery guy, vehicle, doorbell or anything. I ordered it on a whim and it's only a cheap two piece 2nd grade blank, but I think the grain looks pretty good (pics below)… mmm, ashy. I plan on doing a (hopefully) high quality scratch build later this year (sort of a replica/recreation), so I figured it may be a good idea to try something a little less ambitious first and hence ordered the blank. The back is a little messy which I think will clean up, the join seems ok, but the top looks just how I was hoping it would - the tap test sounds alright, but what do I know :? The plan, when I have time, is to do a partial scratch build by cutting a replacement body for one of my other Pit Bull kits, which means either a YB-4, ST-1 or TL-1… I'm thinking maybe a nice Ash Tele to sit beside the Alder Teleburster. Not sure yet.

And yes, that's right, you're not seeing things, a YB-4, all you knuckle-draggers bass players made me go and order a bass kit.

[Brendan]

Quote from WeirdBits on June 4, 2013, 21:10
And yes, that's right, you're not seeing things, a YB-4, all you knuckle-draggers bass players made me go and order a bass kit.

Excellent another convert to the dark side... 8-)

[dingobass]

Hard to tell from a pic, but that blank looks fine to me.
Where did you score it from, Weirdy?

[WeirdBits]

I just got it on a whim from Guitaraust. I'm not sure how it compares on price/quality as I wasn't shopping around for blanks, but it seemed reasonable so I took a chance and I'm pretty happy with how it looks.

However, I think I had better complete a kit or two before embarking on a semi-delusional attempt at a scratch build

[keloooe]

Quote from Brendan on June 4, 2013, 21:26

Quote from WeirdBits on June 4, 2013, 21:10
And yes, that's right, you're not seeing things, a YB-4, all you knuckle-draggers bass players made me go and order a bass kit.

Excellent another convert to the dark side... 8-)

Don't forget me after I finish my 3rd kit!!!!

[WeirdBits]

It finally feels like I'm making some progress…

Gold highlights and first top coat went on at the start of the week, and the light was good today so I figured I'd take a few pics. The first two images are direct morning sunlight, the last is indirect late afternoon light. The highlights and first coat of gloss has really added to the depth of the Goldenrod with a nice metallic shimmer in the grain. I only added the highlights to the Goldenrod areas and kept the Black Magic Woman as pure black, as I thought the gold would only spoil the black. The highlights were really thick and on the verge of going off, but some extensive and vigorous shaking of the bottle seemed to resurrect them and they were actually quite liquid again by the time I applied them. It was still somewhat prone to streaking, so I had to be careful, but I think it ended up ok.

I'm still not entirely satisfied with the way the finish has turned out, but I'm "happy enough" with it to keep going… and, honestly, it did look pretty damn good in the sunlight today, much better than it shows in the photos. Not sure how many more top coats I'll put on… probably until the bottle runs out, with 3-4 days between coats. Regardless, I think the description for Wudtone's Goldenrod should definitely say "Suitable" for Alder rather than the current "Unsuitable" rating

[WeirdBits]

How I did my 'burst

Warning: Let me remind everyone that this is my first build, my first time using Wudtone, and my first attempt at doing a burst… so everything that follows may be inappropriate, misguided, wrong, ridiculous and/or possibly criminally negligent. The method I used may only work with these particular colours, or this colour/wood combo or when the planets are aligned etc. Please take that into consideration.

Why: Black Magic Woman and Goldenrod are very different colours and don't really want to play nice together when doing a burst (and Goldenrod is apparently not recommended for Alder). I tried the Wudtone video method of doing a burst, I tried with wet coats, dryish coats, Goldenrod first, BMW first, different cloth types, mixing the two colours into an intermediate colour, I even tried fine art paint brushes… and although they all worked, at least sort of, none produced the results that I wanted. Typically, one colour would dominate the other or wipe off what I'd already done or just not create a smooth transition. The Goldenrod seems to be sort of waxy, whereas the Black Magic Woman is more inky… if you get what I mean. And, it's tough to get them to blend. Using steel wool alone between coats to blend them seemed to take off too much of one colour or the other, or both, and I'd end up pretty much where I started.

How: The Black Magic Woman has a deep colour coat, so start with that by doing a very dry band in as far as you want the burst transition and then progressively darken it out to the edge. When I did mine I feathered the edge with sandpaper and steel wool between deep colour coats, but I don't think this produces the best results with BMW, so try to get a good transition/gradient with just how you apply the deep colour. Then it's on to the base coats. I found that once I had a couple of solid base coats on, particularly the Goldenrod, it was actually best to deal with the colours separately.

• First do a good coat of Goldenrod out to and overlapping the black edge and allow that to dry for a day or two.
• Switch to BMW and with your finger as a guide on the edge of the body use your thumb on the cloth to apply a thin film/band of BMW overlapping and in a couple of centimetres from the previous BMW edge. Essentially, you want a semi-transparent, streak free, smooth film of BMW overlapping the previous coat and about 5-8mm further in than you want the edge to finish. If there are streaks/lines in the BMW film then you need to gently and extremely lightly pat/dab the film so that it becomes mottled and the lines blend into a smooth even film (hard to describe, but you'll get the idea). The BMW always seems to go on best with the first swipe, and every time you have to go over the film to try to get it right it actually seems to get more difficult. The photos I took of this process didn't really show it clearly, so I artificially created a more extreme example to illustrate what I'm trying to explain, see first pic below (although, in reality, the overlapping film of BMW should be more transparent). This film/band then needs to be left for 30mins or so until it has just started to dry slightly, which is about how long it would take me to do the other side of the body and then apply a normal BMW coat to the sides and edges.
• Once the Black Magic Woman film/band has dried slightly it is time to 'blend'… by essentially rubbing off part of the drying edge of the band with a cloth. Get a clean cloth swab, fold it into a nice pad with an edge and using very small circular motions begin to carefully rub just beside the edge of the BMW band. If you do it right it will start to rub off some of the BMW and you can feather and blend the edge by varying the pressure you apply. If the BMW is dry enough it should feel slightly 'dusty' under your cloth, but as soon as you feel it start to get 'tacky' it's a sign you need to switch to a clean spot on your cloth… otherwise you start smearing the BMW back on! The second image below is an exaggerated illustration of how the edge should look as you move along it. Typically, I would be able to do 3-5cms of edge before switching to a clean spot on my cloth. Once you've blended the edge on the front and back, leave it to dry for a day or two.
• Blending the edge using this technique doesn't allow you to rub with the grain to finish off as per normal, so it lends to leave swirl/rub marks along the edge. Give it a light steel wool before the next coat, and repeat the process with the next overlapped band etc, until your burst is at the required intensity and in as far as you want it.
• Once you're satisfied with the blend/transition, switch back to Goldenrod and do another coat (or two) overlapping the black. This should smooth and deepen the transition. If needed, switch back to BMW and repeat the banding and rubbing/blending until you are either: satisfied, run out of Wudtone, give up or go insane.

Hopefully it all works as intended and you produce a nice smooth transition all along the edge of your burst that puts mine to shame… last pic below.


Like I said at the start, this was my first use of Wudtone and first attempt at a burst. And, with these colours, this was the method that worked for me. It may not be the best method, it may not be a good method, but it was the method I used. Your mileage may vary.

[Brendan]

Scott - nice job and thanks for the detailed run down...

[Brendan]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from keloooe on June 5, 2013, 05:56
Don't forget me after I finish my 3rd kit!!!!

Don't worry Pest, we wont forget you...