The StratoScooper

[ScoopD]

This is the one that scared me. I watched so many different videos on this. Once I got the fret rocker and went over the fret board I found so many frets were not level. Never very much in it and who knows if this would have made a significant difference, but if I am doing this, then I am going all the way.

The board all taped and marked where the frets are high - you can see the marker is everywhere.


After sanding. Videos have told me to sand till there is at least a thin line through the marker pen


This is the first fret. You can see how much was taken off on the far side to get the near side to just be done.


Covered the frets with marker pen again and got my new fret crowning file out. This time you go till a thin line of marker is left.


Taped up again to cover where the tape was damaged. Ran some fine grit wet and dry (in dry state) along the length of the board. Removed as much of the tool marks as possible and polished them up a bit. Then got out the dremel with a polishing bit and some polish compound to make them sparkle.

[ScoopD]

And the end result? Clean up with a rag and metho. Tape removed. Fretboard cleaned up to remove tape goop and then a quick lemon oil and rub down.

[ScoopD]

So I did the headstock decals as well. Two on the front and my name for this guitar on the back.

Unfortunately the Stratoscooper name piece folded over on itself at the end. I didn't notice till it was basically dry so I had to rip it off. I'll see if I can get another printed tomorrow

[Fretworn]

So there have been delays and procrastinations aplenty. There has been the passing of a dog. There has been holidays away and there has been difficulty getting Decal paper. There has been tooling up for the next couple of stages. All of that means that not much happened for a while.

So, first off - an intensifying coat for the body And I am happy that there is enough intensity with the one coat. I want to keep the Blonde of the Ash as much as possible.

I would do a second intensifying coat. I found out the hard way that you may miss spots and not pick it up until a few weeks later as the colour darkens (which it will). a second pass will pick up any spots you have missed. Fortunately on my bass the missed spots tended to be where they would be obscured by hardware.

[gavinturner]

Great work on the neck - it's looking awesome. I also love the body colour. That intensifying coat has the ash looking beautiful! Great job on the frets as well. She is going to look and play like a dream at the end of all your careful ministrations. The STA kit is a beauty to play! Any plans for a new nut? That seems to be the only piece of awesomeness remaining .

cheers,
Gav.

[ScoopD]

Thanks guys. The shots of the intensifying coat are from a couple of weeks ago. It is nice and even. I've moved on to final coats now. I've got a bone nut ready to drop in. I just needed to get the levelling done.

[ScoopD]

I had a number of issues with the top coat on the body. I have used the Dingotone Colourless finish and when I put the first coat of top coat on it dried to a tacky finish in about a day, but stayed tacky for weeks. After about four week I thought I must have put too much on so I rubbed it over with some copy paper first, but that did not get rid of it. I then tried some 800 wet and dry which clogged up quickly, but worked to get the tackyness away. The stuff coming off was actually balling up.
So I did another coat and tried to go as thin as I possibly could. Same thing happened again - dry to tacky in a day or two then stayed tacky. I left it for six weeks and gave up. 1200 wet and dry the second time. I then bought some beeswax furniture polish. Done!
Neck on.
Scratch plate on.
Bridge on.
Solder earth and plug.
Machine Heads on
Strings and string guides on.
Action and intonation set.

Here it is - The StratoScooper 001 - Blondie

[ScoopD]

Front and rear of the headstock. I managed to scratch off some of the "brand" name when I was buffing with steel wool.

[Eljaroli]

I like the rounded headstock. How does it sound?

[ScoopD]

How does it sound?

Just like a strat. Clean and clear.