#7 - a birthday 12string

[Marcel]

Adam is a champion....

Of course, waiting until business hours Monday ... An email was met with a response within the hour. New exchange Maple fretboard neck on its way...

Did I say it before?.... Adam is a champion.!!!!

[cork sniffer]

Adam is a champion....

Of course, waiting until business hours Monday ... An email was met with a response within the hour. New exchange Maple fretboard neck on its way...

Did I say it before?.... Adam is a champion.!!!!

Adam is also a champion in my eyes.
A year or so back he went beyond the call of duty helping me convert a 12 string 335 kit into a 6 string (long story, don't ask).
Today again he's going beyond the call of duty to satisfy my wife with her latest PitBull order (another 12 string). What's wrong with this woman called Mrs Cork Sniffer ;-) LOL

[Marcel]

Adam is also a champion in my eyes.
A year or so back he went beyond the call of duty helping me convert a 12 string 335 kit into a 6 string (long story, don't ask).
Today again he's going beyond the call of duty to satisfy my wife with her latest PitBull order (another 12 string). What's wrong with this woman called Mrs Cork Sniffer ;-) LOL

Can't be much wrong with her if she's building guitar kits right beside you ....

[wazkelly]

You could of course stick veneer on the front and back

Tends to defeat the purpose or reason for buying an Ash body just to cover it up with veneer but could get the job done.

It's the central plank that looks darker than the outer parts which seems to be the odd one out. Maybe a reverse burst or go with darker all over?

[Simon Barden]

You need to take each body as it comes. This one isn't going to work well at all in a clear finish. Just because it's ash, doesn't mean that it's guaranteed to look good. That central block is flamed, and doesn't match the rest of the body wood.

[cork sniffer]

Can't be much wrong with her if she's building guitar kits right beside you ....

Her part in the building process is picking the kit and at the appropriate time telling me what finish she wants.
Like so many women she sees everything and sees nothing at the same time.
I love it when she walks up to any white car in a car park and tries to get in, all white cars look like ours to her, but if I leave a crumb of food on the kitchen bench I'm in trouble :-(

[Marcel]

Tends to defeat the purpose or reason for buying an Ash body just to cover it up with veneer but could get the job done.

It's the central plank that looks darker than the outer parts which seems to be the odd one out. Maybe a reverse burst or go with darker all over?

Darker all over will probably be the result...Though the veneer idea certainly has its merits... I even had a quick browse of the huge pile of denim left over from my Denim Tele build, lofty thoughts of a pair of denim bound Tele's in mind being a 6 and a 12 string...

Not so worried over the back, so might use that side to experiment with stains on... I've got ideas there, but how successful they may be will only be known after an attempt... If all goes horribly wrong then I have a "Jet Black" last resort to fall back on. Actually it's the same Black that is on the edge of the denim Tele...

[Marcel]

And the process starts....

I thought doing the Ebony timbermate treatment would be a good thing.... and that is sorta the case... All the lighter areas are nice and even and you can now see texture and grain, but that block in the centre has turned itself into a sponge and sucked up bucket loads of the Ebony and turned seriously dark. Sanding back made an improvement, and I might just get away with it however with any sort of natural finish it will forever more be carrying the "look at me, here I am" banner loud and proud.

I might persevere with my original finish plan and see how it turns out. I have a quite dark Yellow shellac which was my original plan for sealing the body. If I have a 2nd go with the sanding (my arms got tired today) and then do a single coat of the shellac I'll know far better how the looks will turn out with some hardware in place ... Might even post a photo or two...

[Marcel]

Seems the more I do the 'All Black' option is looking better and better.

I sanded some more, and then more again, and then drowned it in mineral turps to see how it might look, and I almost took a liking to it...

Let it sit (hang) for a few hours while I did other things nearby. Then impatience got the better of me and I gave it a wash with the Yellowed Shellac (FW French polish). Sticky fingers, and sticky Tele body, and sticky everything that touched anything, a spilled bottle of the yellowed shellac over half my bench, my temper lost in the mess, dirty rags and Metho vapour to boot .... Aaarrrghhh!!!

Well, you can see the Yellowed result...

I took a hour break in the fresh air and then returned to contemplate pick guard options and bridge placement.... I took the opportunity to mount the Entwistle AT52 bridge PU into the bridge so the loose bridge placement wouldn't ever be too far wrong... All that would have been good if the PU was small enough to go into the hole routed for it... Hmmm.... Guess what, Even without the bridge plate the kit PU doesn't fit in the routed hole either.... Double Hmmm...

[wazkelly]

I have days like that too.

After seeing those shots I now tend to agree that dark is the way to go. Had a similar dilemma with an Alder body that became the Swampcaster where there were too many mismatched light and dark planks used to make the shape. Do you want the chemical wash recipe? I reckon it would work really well on your Ash body.

Cheers, Waz