NON-PBG - LP Build Diary for DIY Guitars GLP-40BBK

[wazkelly]

G'day Alkay, bit late on the scene as been busy doing plenty of work and builds and just catching up on some threads and found this one.

Would not recommend deep mahogany for the spalted top as you may as well go a solid colour and kiss goodbye any grain definition....the colour will most likely come out very, very dark brown.....almost Cadbury Milk Chocolate colour if not too careful as the black grain popping will only add to the overall darker theme.

If you have not already started staining maybe continue with a few sheets of wet kitchen paper towel to help draw out more of the dark grain popping efforts. Tend to think your original plan of Cedar would look better as it is a lighter colour shade that would allow the grain popping to show up.

[Alkay]

Thanks Andy40 and wazkelly,

I'll order some parts soon.

No staining has been done anywhere. Timbermate with the ink slurry was used just on the guitar body face.

I'm just following wazkelly's advice and still trying to draw out more of the dark stain as suggested on the guitar body face.

I didn't get mahogany. I have the cedar and Australian jarrah water based stains which are unopened.

Maybe I should do Cedar all over but obviously the sides back and neck will be lighter than the guitar body face given the attempt of grain popping lol.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Cheers,

Alkay.

[wazkelly]

Hi mate, just run with the lighter colour first as you can always add more to go darker but harder to go back if first attempt is darker than planned.

Both my 2 recent builds used water based ink/stains and this was the method used as I was worried about it coming out too dark. When applying 2nd coat on my Red J Bass I added a bit more depth to the colour and on the Blue Tele just the same strength as first coat on a second pass helped pick out the grain to give a slightly different popping effect. I have copied in links to those builds below if you want to check them out.

http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...?t=4813&page=7
http://www.buildyourownguitar.com.au...?t=4812&page=3

[Alkay]

Hi wazkelly,

Thanks for the advice and I'll stick with the lighter colour Cedar for this one.

Haven't done much more on this because there has been too much moisture in the air. Hopefully I'll see the sun again before summer haha. Weather here has been very average.

Wow those builds look excellent. Great job. Your whole build diary is a good informative read in gaining a better understanding.

How were you applying your water based ink stains? Is a lint free cloth suitable?

What are you using to shield your cavities? I just have the copper shielding tape.

Cheers,

Alkay.

[wazkelly]

How were you applying your water based ink stains? Is a lint free cloth suitable?

What are you using to shield your cavities? I just have the copper shielding tape.

Hi Alkay, Used syringes to measure quantities of ink & water and then squirted each into another small round container that you can buy in packs of 8 or 10 at Woolies for about $2.50. Then proceeded to shake the mix for about 30 seconds to a minute and just ragged the stuff on with a cotton lint free cloth, in fact it was strips cut from an old T shirt which seems to work best as all the lint and fluff had worn off. Basically the same process as shown in the PBG Videos except the ink mixture is far more watery than DT and 1st coats are very thirsty so you need to have plenty mixed up ready to go. Also need to use those blue industrial strength rubber gloves as I got some of the blue ink on me when wiping down between 1st & 2nd coats and it took 3 days of scrubbing to finally disappear.

The shielding paint used in the cavities was bought on eBay from Cat Music who I think are based in the UK. Copper tape is good and highly recommended for single coil PUP applications such as on Strat's & Tele's.
Here is a photo of the bottle...yet to fire up the Tele & J Bass as planning to do final wiring on both tomorrow, just been giving them a bit of a rest waiting for the necks to settle after taking up initial tension. Will let you know if there is any buzzing going on that would indicate a fail......the stuff worked a treat on both EX's builds as they use Humbuckers.

[Alkay]

The shielding paint used in the cavities was bought on eBay from Cat Music who I think are based in the UK. Copper tape is good and highly recommended for single coil PUP applications such as on Strat's & Tele's.

Thanks wazkelly,

Thats good advice for the ink and water ratios and I will keep that in mind.

I have heard mixed reviews about the shielding paint. My last LP build on here I used copper shielding tape and had a terrible buzzing sound but that could have been my poor soldering too. It also took many many hours to apply the shielding tape

I'll be interested to hear how it goes after you do the wiring.

[Alkay]

Hi everyone,

I've still been trying to remove the excess black stain on the body.

Here is a pic just taken outside in the shade a few minutes ago.

It's still too dark for Cedar isn't it?



Cheers,

Alkay.

[Alkay]

and here is another pic in direct sunlight.

[wazkelly]

G'day Alkay, how does it look when slightly damp as that should give an indication of how much the background will jump out at you once top coats go down. Looks a bit risky to sand as those caps are barely 1.0mm to 1.5mm thick.

Tend to think you may end up with 'Reverse' grain popping where the Cedar will highlight the spalted bit from stop tail piece section to strap button location and also help to bring out the other bits on the outer planks.

Wired up the J Bass and no buzzing so that worked out OK. Went to do a test wire up on the Tele using stock Chinese parts supplied and melted one of the lugs off the cheap 3 way switch without even trying which means I will have to wire the whole thing up using the upgraded parts before knowing whether it buzzes or not. Won't happen until Sunday as I have work tomorrow & Saturday and will let you know how it goes.

The shielding paint worked well on both my EX shapes and reckon it should do the same on a LP too.

[Alkay]

Hi wazkelly,

Ouch I didn't know you could melt them off that easily. I hope I don't have the same problem when I get to that stage. Hopefully you have a good test run on Sunday with the upgraded parts then and check if there is any buzzing.

I've been looking at the conductive shielding paint on ebay but not sure how many ml's I should get?

G'day Alkay, how does it look when slightly damp as that should give an indication of how much the background will jump out at you once top coats go down. Looks a bit risky to sand as those caps are barely 1.0mm to 1.5mm thick.

Tend to think you may end up with 'Reverse' grain popping where the Cedar will highlight the spalted bit from stop tail piece section to strap button location and also help to bring out the other bits on the outer planks.

Here are some pics I have just taken outside while it was damp.

Outside in shade:


Outside in sunlight:


Yes I agree with you about the sanding. I'm too worried to do any more incase I go through the veneer.

I'm not sure if Cedar is a good choice now. It doesn't look that appealing to the eye so I'm open to any suggestions anyone may have.

Cheers,

Alkay.