Time to start working on the top now the back and neck are protected. Very few blemishes on the cap so I decided to mask her up and spray a coat of blue undercoat. This was to seal the surface enough for the size to work on rather than just soaking into the bare wood. The plan was to then knock this back to highlight any low spots so that minimal filler could be used. 2 coats on and i'm happy that the finish is suitable for the next phase so only 1 tiny spot of filler was needed.
Then started the nerve wreaking job of scraping the binding... Stanley knife blade wrapped in masking tape seemed to do the trick very well. Watched so many YouTube videos on making long flowing passes but that's easier said than done. Horns / bouts are tricky wee buggers and the F hole binding was on a whole other level but a few cups of coffee and some sore fingers later i'm happy. Light sanding finished off the weekends work and now we're ready to start the fun job of applying the copper leaf...
Scraping binding isn't ever particularly easy, but it's a lot easer when you haven't left the finish to dry for several weeks but scrape it as soon as you can after spraying.
And I'm sure that you'll have to do it again after the copper finish goes on.
That's a nice thin layer of paint you've got there. I can still see some of the flame in the maple through it.
Thanks Simon.
I had that problem before when I refinished my Les Paul copy and left the nitro for about 2 weeks and it nearly ended up as fire wood.
Yes there will be another pass done once the copper is on and then the back binding will be done between the final coat of oil and the first coat of lacquer.
Many layers of thin dries much easier in this cold weather and there is nothing worse than trying to sand back a run as it never looks right.
Have an hour or 2 free this evening before the boss gets home so i'll get all set up on the kitchen table in the heat and hopefully get the first layer of copper on while I wait on the bone nut arriving.
Got an hour or so at it last night after work so laid up the first layer of copper leaf. I forgot how messy a job this was but it coming out ok so far. Another couple of layers and then i'll tidy up the binding again.
Got the truss rod tightened up on the neck as well and it straightened out very well. Quick cleaning and first wipe down in lemon oil for the fretboard has brought it up a treat. Mat need to wet/dry fret 1 & 2 as the grain is very rough here but i'll see what happens as I get more moisture back into the wood and make a call from there.
Came across a minor issue though... I had planned on having the bridge pickup taped which would then give me P90 neck and a single coil or 59 humbucker bridge. Only problem is that the push / pull POT does not fit through the F hole. Has anyone any knowledge of a smaller / mini push/pull? The alternative may be to install a small toggle switch but i'd prefer the push/pull POT.
What one have you got? Push-pulls normally have mini pots anyway, so you won't get ones with a smaller pot. If it's depth that's your issue, then CTS do shallower units (1" deep) but have a full-sized pot. I have one and it doesn't fit through the F-hole of my half- finished 335 kit.
What about using a revised control layout and use a potentiometer to do the coil split?
You could have a master tone control if you wanted one, so you ended up with P90 volume, '59 vol + split pot and a master tome control? What I don't know (and that article doesn't say) is if a lin or log (or even anti-log) pot is best for the coil split one.
That's a very interesting idea about the spin-a-split mod. Hadn't thought of that option. Need to look into it a bit as i'd think that you would need to use a master tone nob then. Great thought. I'd have thought that you'd use a linear POT but will sit and do a wiring diagram with my tech wizard and see what he comes up with.
Its a CTS push/pull that I have with the plastic section attached to the bottom of the slim body so no chance that its getting through the f hole.
I've 2 coats of copper done so far. Will probably do a 3rd and then I will do a trial run at the tarnishing. The plan would be to do a trial tarnishing job and then repeat with another 3 layers and a final tarnishing job. As you can see in the pictures you can still see the wood grain through the copper so I want at least 5-6 in total before clear coating over the top.
You've got the same style CTS pot as me then. In which case a push/pull or push/push pot with a mini pot will fit through the hole OK. I've got a mini-pot push/push pot handy, and that fits in the F-hole without problems. It's about 3mm deeper overall, so you may have to twist the unit a bit to get it up through the hole in the body (so don't use too stiff a harness) but it should fit. You should have a bit more height to play with if you put the switched pot in the volume pot, rather than tone pot, position.
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