LP jr - JohnH's #5

[OliSam]

John I feel your pain. My kit tele was just as frustrating. Maybe one day I'll go back and redo it, although to be honest I'm considering offloading it because I have other scratch builds planned and it taunts me everytime I look at it because I never got the finish right. Plays ok though.

Ha ha.
I totally understand both of you.
Every guitar ive built has has 2 or 3 complete finishes.
With lots of playing time inbetween also.
Then one day i crack and take it apart.
I just keep going until it is right.
Like with my kids. I dont give up on them.


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[JohnH]

John I feel your pain. My kit tele was just as frustrating. Maybe one day I'll go back and redo it, although to be honest I'm considering offloading it because I have other scratch builds planned and it taunts me everytime I look at it because I never got the finish right. Plays ok though.

Yeah, I totally understand. Though forcing me to refinish has made me think it might be nice to really try to nail this one and find it a home with one of my friends who really loves playing. I just like noodling around, and I figure it'd be nice to have it being used, but if I'm going to do that I want it to look as pro as I can

[JohnH]

Spent some time after work sanding the body. Still have the finish on the sides to get off, and the back still isn't quite flat (but is getting there).

On the upside, the neck and headstock are coming along. The silver decal from drdecalmrhyde turned up in the mail really quickly, and looks ace. Took a few coast of oil but it's now super smooth and you can't see there's a decal at all.

[JohnH]

Had some 'help' from this little girl today too. She was very bemused by the whole thing...

[jugglindan]

Have you thought about building a Catocaster?

The decal looks great too. The oil has done a great job hiding the edges. Despite a lot of coats, the acrylic lacquer clear didn't do quite so well. With the light at the right angle the decal edges are still visible on the blueycaster.

[Bakersdozen]

Have you thought about building a Catocaster?

The decal looks great too. The oil has done a great job hiding the edges. Despite a lot of coats, the acrylic lacquer clear didn't do quite so well. With the light at the right angle the decal edges are still visible on the blueycaster.

Remember you will be the only one looking that close at it.

Looking great @JohnH !! My cat loves to get involved. Especially when there is TruOil at play.

[ThatCluelessGerman]

Looks really beautiful so far!

[JohnH]

Have you thought about building a Catocaster?

The decal looks great too. The oil has done a great job hiding the edges. Despite a lot of coats, the acrylic lacquer clear didn't do quite so well. With the light at the right angle the decal edges are still visible on the blueycaster.

I put a LOT of oil on lol. I figured I'd just keep going until the edges were gone, and then add a bit more for good measure. I didn't even bother counting the coats

[JohnH]

Remember you will be the only one looking that close at it.

Looking great @JohnH !! My cat loves to get involved. Especially when there is TruOil at play.

Must like the smell! Ours loves TO too

Looks really beautiful so far!

Thanks! It's getting there. Looking forward to having a finished body to attach it too.

On the upside, the electronics I ordered from GFS are taking forever to get here, so even if the finish was done I couldn't do much else

[JohnH]

It's taken half the day, but I've managed to strip almost all the finish off this (still have to get into the upper horn but I'm too tired now). Most of the issues I'd had have been fixed - the back is now flat (I think), I've sanded out two dings in the front that the kids had accidentally added, and I've fixed an issue near the neck join where I'd missed some factory marks originally.

It's been a productive and exhausting day. For anyone who worries that Tru Oil isn't a substantial finish, I suggest having a go at sanding it off lol.

Aquacoat and more Tru Oil both arrived in the mail, so once it's all sanded down I can start again.

One thing that I'll have to do is re-route the bevel on the edges, as sanding the back to be properly flat as taken it down by about 1.5 mm on one side. I'd hoped to do it today, but I don't like routers at the best of times, and definitely not when I'm tired.

Another thing I'm going to try to do is re-route the control cavity lip (or ledge? I don't know what you'd call it). It wasn't well done at the factory, and I didn't think to fix it when I first got the kit. By the time I'd noticed I'd already stained and oiled, and didn't have the heart to do anything about it.