Irish ES-1 / 335 Copper Top

[Simon Barden]

It's your choice. The runs on the copper look a bit too obvious to me, so it it was mine, I'd want to at least try and remove them.

The copper itself isn't that robust, as you've mentioned, so my preference would be to try and get rid of the run patterns (at least the large ones), then put several coats of lacquer over the top, as that's what's going to protect the finish.

[Jbuller7]

Hi Simon. The runs and the small deposits are the bit that I'm most happy about. The wee small bubble / water marks I'm not so happy about but that's what makes life fun. Not everyone's opinion is the same.

[Simon Barden]

Indeed not. I like the bubble/water marks!

Whatever you do should be right for you.

[DarkMark]

I’m really liking what you are doing here, Jbuller7.

[Jbuller7]

Thanks guys.
I'm that random guy that would rather have a spotlessly polished car or a dirty car but not a clean one with water marks. Otherwise known as a royal pain in the a55

[Jbuller7]

A bit ill over the past few days so 2000 wet/dried the copper back and put another 2 layers on. Such a lovely smell and taste of rust when sanding back and smoothed well. Neck glue and tuners arrived too so bit the bullet and glued on the neck. Clamp comes off this morning so fingers crossed all is well...
Light sand on the exposed sections of neck joint and a final coat or 2 of the Danish oil on the way.

[Jbuller7]

But before we start... Frusciante is back with the Chili Peppers!!! Just throwing that out there lol

So where did we leave off... Oh yes the neck had just been glued and it seems to be holding well since the clamp was removed. All copper work completed and the second round of tarnishing finished. Really happy with the results again this time. Less tarnishing on the 'wings' as forearm would keep the upper clean and hands fiddling with control knobs would keep the lower clean. Added a couple of quick coats of clear satin in a cold shed with the aide of a gas heater to heat the surface and a tub of scalding water to heat the aerosol paint and no milky bloom. Lacquer was drying as it was contacting with the surface which is a nice way to get a good finish in less than ideal temperature conditions - snow falling outside. Only did the headstock and copper top of the guitar.Was the only way I could see that I could stop the tarnishing and protect the surfaces while other jobs continued. Will need to get in somewhere warmer to spray up the rest with lacquer once I get off work for the holidays.

[Simon Barden]

Really looking good.

Agree with the forearm keeping the upper bout clean(ish) but strictly speaking, acidic sweat on the fingers would tend to corrode the area around the knobs more than normal. You'd want to have the area that would be under the knobs a lot clearer than the area around them.

But it does look good regardless.

And well done for getting it sprayed in the cold. It's cold here and has been very wet indeed, but no slow, Maybe a touch of sleet on Saturday.

[Jbuller7]

That lightbulb moment when you remember there is a heated spray booth at work... 1 slightly extended lunch break later the guitar has 4 more coats of clear satin lacquer on it, my eyelashes are stuck together and i'll need no hair gel for at least a week. Result.

Now to let it cure for a few weeks so I will have to start work on tidying up the fretboard, levelling and dressing frets, rolling the fretboard edges and wiring the harness.

1 quick question to anyone reading who has built an ES1 already... Is the earth wire needed from bridge post? Fitted the bridge bushes (very nice tight fit) and then realised that I needed and earth wire. There is no hole drilled through from the control cavity, and the screwing in a larger bolt trick just seems to be compressing the soft centre block wood at the bottom of the post hole. Really don't want to screw too hard (lol) and delaminate the centre block from the back of the guitar. p.s. did try removing stoptail bush also but had a similar result. thanks

[Simon Barden]

It's a good idea to have it, especially as you've got that P90 in the neck. Otherwise there's no way you can ground your body when playing. Your body acts a bit like an aerial for EMI and the guitar does pick up more noise if you aren't grounded via the strings. You might get away with it if all humbuckers, but the P90 style is one of the noisiest pickups around. Your version does have some shielding, so will be quieter than standard ones.

This is where a stud puller comes in handy. I've got one of these https://www.gluedtomusic.com/product...8aAlSbEALw_wcB and whilst it could be better designed, it gets the job done and works when the long bolt method doesn't.