BS and TSs twin Natural 40th ST-1s

[todd_sh]

So, half of this build diary can prettymuch be found in other posts, but thought I'd do an actual diary to track our progress, and setbacks, and progress.

My buddy Brett (BS) had said he'd like to do some woodworking with me in my man cave, so when his 40th came around I decided a good present would be an ST-1, and my help building it ... and while I was at it decided I'd buy a kit for myself as well!

So, not to get to cheesy, but to document our 40th build, here's the first session in the man cave, proud enough that we managed to get them together when we did our trial builds!

[todd_sh]

We'd both decided to go for the 70s natural look, and used the Fender headstock templates that I found posted in the headstock part of this forum (I forget who posted that link, but thanks!).

I was shooting for a 70s style, fat as can be headstock, Bretty was shooting for something a little more modern.

We did fairly well using a coping saw I bought a while back to do skirting, but never ended up using. We had a few issues (BS cut on a bit of an angle so we had to do some serious filing to level things out, and I couldn't actually fit the template onto the blank headstock) so ended up with slightly smaller headstocks than we wanted, but were still pretty happy.

[todd_sh]

I googled for pictures of the colour I wanted, and after some back and forth email with DB, we decided on a Goldenrod base, and then some Saffron darkening - with a solid colour all over that would be darker and warmer than Goldenrod by itself, but not as dark as Saffron by itself.

As you may have seen in my other post, I didn't take DB's "Sand, sand, then sand some more ... and when you think you've sanded enough, you should probably sand some more" advice seriously enough, and after the first coat of Goldenrod I started to see some serious scratches in the cutaways and bottom of the body, especially in mine.

(I've included a shot of the little supports I made so that we could do both sides in one session - one sits in the neck pocket, the other in the bridge pickup cavity, and they've been pretty good, only wished I'd made them to fit onto the back of the body instead so we could do the front last).

[todd_sh]

So, I posted a question in the general section of the forum, and got some good feedback from DB and Gav, and decided to sand mine back, and basically start from scratch. Guess I shoulda sanded properly in the first place!

[todd_sh]

When I'd finished sanding, the body looked like it did originally, but with a slight yellow tinge ... and no scratches (I checked by using the wipe down with a damp cloth).

[todd_sh]

So, after two coats of Goldenrod (sanded off and replaced by another two coats of Goldenrod on mine!) we both applied a coat of 75% Goldenrod/ 25% Saffron - and as you can see the colour is starting to deepen.

[todd_sh]

Having wasted two coats of Goldenrod I was running low, so DB helped me out with a little top up (Thanks DB!!) and I've now mixed a 75% Saffron and 25% Goldenrod, and both BS and TS ST-1s will be getting a coat tomorrow.

It'll be interesting to see how it goes - BS didn't have to sand back like I did, but he did have a few scratches in the cutaways, so sanded back just those areas, but went a little onto the front of the body, which took the last coat (with 25% Saffron, giving it some dark-grain in that area on the front of the body) and I seem to have a darker patch on the arm contour on the front of mine (pic below) so hopefully the 75% Saffron next coast will sort these little bits out?

[Brendan]

Brett and Todd - great to see you guys working together... Looking at the last photo - it does look darker, but it may be worthwhile thinking that it's part end grain part top grain... - as such it may take more Wudtone than other parts of the guitar. It also looks relatively consistent - it's not blotchy or patchy, so it may be natural variation because it's wood... I guess lastly - when you're playing it, your arm will cover most of that part anyway...
That said - looking nice - you guys going standard for the electrics?

[Fretworn]

I wouldn't worry about it. All the subtle colour and grain variations are part of the magic.

[todd_sh]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from Brendan on July 6, 2013, 23:54
Brett and Todd - great to see you guys working together...

Yeh, we agree, it's been great bonding/ bromance/ man cave time. That was really the intention of the present, locking in quality time - the guitars are pretty much a bonus (but what a bonus to have!). We were best mates pretty much all through high school, but haven't really hung out like this for years. Win win.

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from Brendan on July 6, 2013, 23:54
you guys going standard for the electrics?

Yeh, we decided to put them together with all standard kit. Brett isn't thinking he'll play his all that much (although I'm kinda hoping the end product will change his mind) and I'm a bedroom player, so figured I'll see what the standard electrics play like before I start making changes.