Hi,
So jealous that you have got your Iceman kit. Mine is only arriving in November from Pitbull. The Iceman has been a dream guitar for me for years too.
I will be keeping an eye on your progress to pick up any hints that will help me with my build.
Good luck and happy building.
Graham,
Total fluke getting my kit so quickly!
Maybe my lot in life is to meticulously document each and every inevitable error, that my Ice-Man brethren might learn from my mistakes
So far the guitar is everything I dreamt it would be, albeit in many pieces. Very much looking forward to this build.
What I've learned so far:
If you are super anxious to have the axe in your hands, I might suggest not preemptively investing a bunch of money in a Nitro finish kit. I didn't exactly realize I would be stalling myself for a month waiting for my paint to dry.
I chickened out, thinking it would be super easy because everything came in a can. Still looking forward to the process
Definitely use the intervening time to thoroughly research and make your kit into exactly what you want!
Don't be discouraged! All good things will come to pass
Nothing in the kit looks *super* chintzy
I opted to upgrade the wiring harness to something pre-made, and the pickups. The weak points of the kit I guess? But I don't know what I'm talking about, really.
Stay tuned! And I look forward to seeing your progress, buddy!
The humbuckers were the only thing that I was thinking about upgrading. My plan was to install the stock humbuckers and if they sounded terrible to change them out at a later date. I'll be interested to hear how the Warmans sound. They look really good by the way.
I had a look through the forum to see what people thought of the stock pick-ups but it was hard to find anything, there is so much info on here!!
I have been watching a lot of videos on YouTube - some of them are literally about watching paint dry.
Spent the weekend watching paint dry.
I work in auto service, and was lucky to have an extra bay available over the weekend.
Here's the girl all strung up in position. I am not sure if I had already put a can of sealer on it by this point
The process went well. Some drips, which I waited for a while and sanded down with 400 grit sandpaper.
Overall, about 5 coats of sealer and 5-6 coats of White. The pictures don't do the white any justice. It's perfectly off-white IRL, which I was going for.
I got to the end of the white lacquer can, and I was about to start the long clear-coat process, and I realized I didn't want it shiny! I liked the matte finish.
Does anyone familiar with the painting process think it's a terrible Idea to leave it there, to stop at the color lacquer stage?
I realize this leaves it more open to nicks and bumps and scratches, but I think a little wear might suit this baby well.
Similar question, I opted for black stain on the neck in place of black nitro, as I wasn't going to be able to make it look good. At all.
Here's a couple progress pics. It is currently dry, and I'm waiting a few days to sand it down and give it a smooth surface.
Can I just let the stain be the top coat? The Guitar looks a lot better than I thought it would without any shiny bits.
No need to put clear coat on top of a paint finish if you don't want to. You'd normally use more paint applications if you were going for a gloss finish, but if you leave it as it is,and satin/matt, then it would be akin to some of Gibson's faded finishes. But if you are adding any decals, then you'd need to have some clear over the top of those to protect them. But yu many only need that on the headstock and you can use a satin or matt clear coat.
If the black is straight stain, then you really would really need some clear over the top to seal the wood from humidity changes and also hand/finger grease and acid. But if it's basically the tinted varnish type of stain, then you should be OK leaving it as it is if you want. In the second neck photo it looks quite shiny, so I'm guessing its probably the latter type.
This is the stain I used. Appears as though it could be fine leaving well enough alone. The shininess is likely due to the newness of that coat, and the fact that I was liberally slathering the stuff on, probably in violation of the manufacturer's directions.
But like I said, I'm going to give it a few days before I sand anything.
Thank you for the advice on the paint. There is definitely vinyl sealer under the white coat, so the body is sealed (I'm also paying attention to the finishing discourse over on the other build diary)
Now the waiting game. I have to learn patience at this step. Any advice on how to pass the next few weeks? Puzzles? Netflix?
Thanks!
Thanks!
Hmmm....next guitar build....
All I know is that I want to put distortion *in* it.
I've been dabbling in these (LINK) making portable amps
I got one of those "Psycho Knobs" in the mail yesterday...gonna try it in an amp first and see how it goes.
Next one though, I want to put it in the guitar.
But that project will likely be a Craigslist beater. Is Craigslist international?
A cheapo guitar to make into a Frankenstein is what I mean.
The next PBG kit....maybe a bass!
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