PBA-4 Marcel's PBG build #9

[Marcel]

What we are starting with....

Quite soon after arrival I started checking the box contents and ensuring I had the right number of screws and bits and pieces, and the bone nut I paid that tiny bit extra for. All was good. Next was a closer examination to ensure there was nil damage during transit. Something that cant be seen in the photo is the two round puncture/crush marks in the box where the volume and tone knobs had tried to exit the box. A check of the two controls confirmed nil damage to the kit parts so I figured I could let that slide.

Neck fit is good into the body. And there are nil dings of significance that sanding will not correct. The electronics person in me feels a little abandoned as there is nil soldering to be done as this kit comes with a fully wired pick guard, 100% completed... lol.

So my job is to give this neck and body a colour and a finish, bolt it together, tune and intonate, and then play.... Simples!

My heart is telling me to try for a burst... my head is saying that a Yellow/Red/Black burst would be a skills challenge...

[DarkMark]

If the burst is what you want, give it a go. If you are not happy with it-sand it off and listen to your head saying, “I told you so!”.

[Simon Barden]

Bursts are fairly easy if you just relax and remember that 'less is more'. If you aim outwards from the centre towards the very edge, then overspray will take care of the burst. Never aim more than 1cm in from the edge, as you'll end up filling in the centre section rather than leaving it the original colour.

[Marcel]

Thanks Simon. Yeah I have done quite a bit of spraying in recent times on all sorts of things, so a guitar will be rather novel in some ways. The worst part is the tropical climate I live in, damn hot most days which is a pain for using all those wonderful products designed for places higher than 40degrees North... Oh well, I'll just have to spray just after sunset...

[wazkelly]

Still plenty of heat even after dark at this time of year in your neighborhood which should make things a bit more challenging.

[Marcel]

The challenge will be staying awake there Waz.... It's 20mins past midnight as I write this reply and outside temp have only just fallen to 25C, mind you the relative humidity is up around 75% ....A pretty typical summer night on the tropic of Capricorn... lol

[JimC]

As a particularly timid instrument finisher I've been mulling over buying some veneered mdf and trying out using dyes without any pressure...

[Simon Barden]

Or just buy some veneer and have one piece of wood you keep sticking veneer on top of after each attempt.

[JimC]

Indeed, although I wouldn't be surprised if veneer MDF was cheaper than veneer... But OTOH practising gluing veneer down would be no bad thing either. Maybe I should have kept the horrible Peavey plywood body I chucked in the bin!

[Marcel]

Got stuck right in and started sanding with 320 grit to refine those edges and prep the surface.... Of course you damp down to raise the grain a little so the when it comes time to paint you don't have many of those little buggars standing up through your paint layer....

But, Hmmm.... something looks off if this is going to be a burst.... Starting to think this might have to be a solid colour.... like this old 1959 I found on the interwebs...