First build: GS-2Q (also featuring EX-1 custom)

[Ricky]

Great job on fixing those dings and holes.

I think your idea of using the shavings from the binding to fill the gap is the way to go.
Carefully cut some of the excess off with a scalpel, then turn them on edge and push down into the gap.
The smallest amount of acetone should bind it together and run the flat of a scalpel over it before it is fully cured will blend it all together.

Looking forward to seeing that maple when it is stained.

Cheers
Ricky

[Chaosblade]

Nervous about staining since that's a point of no return, of sorts. Really hoping there aren't any hidden glue spots! Will double check again tomorrow and probably stain on Wednesday when I'm off work.

Aside from the glue spot on the headstock I hopefully fixed, I haven't done anything with the neck. Still need to grain fill that. I'm not sure how to handle a satin finish on it. I know it's often recommended to just sand it a bit and not polish, but I don't know how long that lasts before it starts to smooth out from use. It would be the easiest approach though, since I could use the same finish for the whole thing and just polish the headstock.

Finding a nice headstock decal that isn't trademarked is harder than I expected. Like 99% of what's available is just trademark replicas.


Minor EX-1 update. I thought I lost the broken off corner of the neck pocket. Might go ahead and glue that even though I don't intend to really start that one until this one is about finished.

[jugglindan]

Yeah, the headstock decal is hard. I tried a bunch of ideas before I just went wacky and used a cartoon dog. It's still a trademark, just not from a guitar.

[Simon Barden]

Any satin finish on the back of a neck will shine up over time, even a satin spray. So you will always have to do some occasional light sanding to get the sating feel back from time to time. But you may get used to the shine as it will develop slowly.

[Chaosblade]

Put the black on tonight. I suppose it wouldn't be a veneer top guitar kit without some sort of glue spots to deal with.







Hopefully I can deal with it without making it worse.

[Simon Barden]

A shame. A good candidate for a black burst round the edge.

[Chaosblade]

Considering an experiment mixing the dye and some acetone. Thinking that the acetone might penetrate the glue, allowing the color to get in. Would just need to be careful about the binding and not use too much to avoid damaging the adhesion between the body and veneer. Have a lot of doubts, if that worked I'd probably see evidence of someone else doing it.

Maybe I'll try it on a test piece for the heck of it.

Failing that, I guess I can look into an airbrush or something to go around the edges. I don't know the first thing about airbrushes or paint in general honestly.

[Chaosblade]

Huh. Not entirely dry yet, but interesting results!

This is Titebond rubbed into maple.




Went ahead and gave this mix a quick test on the guitar. Unfortunately it didn't really do anything on that. It's possible I didn't let the Titebond dry long enough and that's why it worked better.

[Simon Barden]

Or it's not Titebond used on the guitar, maybe straight PVA. But acetone makes up most of Goof Off, so that alone may remove the glue if you brush it in. But it's not so easy being right next to the binding.

[Chaosblade]

If I want to paint on a burst it looks like I want to finish my dying, then airbrush the burst over that.


Put the black on the headstock. Thankfully I did a good enough job getting rid of the nasty glue blob, that spot took dye just fine. Only glue on the headstock is at the edge of the fretboard.



Some lines where the dye dried because I was going so slow. Applied it with a cotton swab to try and make sure I didn't get the edges too wet. Just caused a different problem, but it's not a big deal since this is getting sanded back anyway. Will need to do better on the blue though.