First Build - ST-1

[McCreed]

Sorry, I may not have been clear. The length of the neck has about 12-14 coats (3 days of 4-5 coats per day).

Ahhh, I get it now. That's a better number!

Undecided on the fretboard, which hasn't had any yet... Definitely dont want any gloss on it, but on the other hand the oil darkens it up which I like (can see alongth the edges of the neck).

Rosewood typically does not get a finish on it (except Rickenbackers). It doesn't really need any more than some occasional lemon oil or similar conditioning oil.

[dobes]

Let me preface this post by saying; I know, or at least should know, more about painting and paint prep than my actions would lead you to beleive.

I decided against paying a bunch for nitro paint in the colour I wanted, I costed up spraying in acrylic at 1/3 the price given SCA had a sale on. So I plodded down to the store a few weeks ago, chose a duplicolor colour from the cabinet of small cans, checked if it was in the large can cabit, which it was and called the enthusiastic helpful retail employee over to unlock the doors.

- No duplicolor primer left
- No white primer in a spray can
- 2 for 1 deal on Septone cans

Now, had it all worked out from this point, I would have just posted pics and you wouldn't see the following information. I chose a white that to my eyes looked similar to the vintage white I have seen on some strats. I matched it to the big can by name, failing to realise mutiple tints share the same name but have a different code. Given there was no white primer, I got grey, which I knew would mean I would need to go heavy on the base/super light on sanding as any low build areas would be apparent.

Primer went down well, body looked good and was easy to prep for base. First coat of base went down well, however colour was off by a lot. Left it a couple of days, decided I couldn't live with it and on the day I wanted to clear it, decided to scuff back and apply another base layer. This had the desired effect of giving complete coverage, but the colour was still too white. As I knew I wasn't aiming for perfection (read: I am super impatient and just wanted to finish the build and play the damn thing!) I decided this was acceptable. Not only that, but I was so confident in my prep and spraying that it wouldn't need any defects sanded out, and that night was the night I was going go clear it anyway, I went ahead and tried to clear directly over the top of the tacky base coat (about 15 minutes after applying it). (My head is hung in shame at this point). I don't know if it was the tacky base coat, the cold conditions, or my spraying method, but I had orange peel out the wazoo. Devastated, I didn't go back in the garage for a week.

I spent the following week sanding off the clear, and a lot of the base. Given the amount of time and effort put in at this stage, I was invested in achieving a good finish, so I returned to SCA and chose a new colour. I prepped the body for paint again and laid down the new colour. It is now curing, I will give it some time, scuff it smooth and then clear on the next warmish day.

[McCreed]

You're not alone dobes. I think we've all had one thing or another go pear-shaped in the finishing process. In many ways, finishing is the hardest part of building (especially when you factor in the waiting - patience is not one of my top characteristics either).

My Tele/Strat hybrid that I built in 2019 got 3 paint jobs before it was done! Issues ranged from a crinkled base coat to a sand-through. This was not my first build either, so it can happen to anyone. Sod's Law...

[nitroburner1000]

I hear ya guys, got 50 years of painting experience behind me but did i listen? NOOOOO, I knew better, my latest build ended up with patches of crinkle over it because i was too impatient to wait for the primer too dry before i undercoated it.
Only now am i going slow, and hey this is my 4th guitar, i should know better....