Lets look at our guitars thread
Discussion
It's hydro dipping, so water transfer.
The body is prepared and then painted before dipping - and this one has been fitted with genuine 1950's Fender pick ups etc.
It is then clear coated with a pearlescent clear coating.
It looks amazing in bright lights.
They left the seam on it about two-thirds down the sides to show of the paint finish and make it look dated.
This isn't to promote his business really.
He's done another one for his sister in leopard print.
The body is prepared and then painted before dipping - and this one has been fitted with genuine 1950's Fender pick ups etc.
It is then clear coated with a pearlescent clear coating.
It looks amazing in bright lights.
They left the seam on it about two-thirds down the sides to show of the paint finish and make it look dated.
This isn't to promote his business really.
He's done another one for his sister in leopard print.
Edited by Davel on Wednesday 3rd September 15:41
Edited by Davel on Monday 22 September 15:34
Davel said:
It's hydro dipping, so water transfer.
The body is prepared and then painted before dipping - and this one has been fitted with genuine 1950's Fender pick ups etc.
It is then clear coated with a pearlescent clear coating.
It looks amazing in bright lights.
They left the seam on it about two-thirds down the sides to show of the paint finish and make it look dated.
This isn't to promote his business really.
He's doing another one for his sister in leopard print I believe.
Thanks pops, hydro dipping is a way of applying vinyl to 3d objects. It was discovered and patented by the big car manufacturers in the 70's but patents expire after twenty five years hence the take off in the US and now UK, and can be applied to any surface that can be dipped in water. The body is prepared and then painted before dipping - and this one has been fitted with genuine 1950's Fender pick ups etc.
It is then clear coated with a pearlescent clear coating.
It looks amazing in bright lights.
They left the seam on it about two-thirds down the sides to show of the paint finish and make it look dated.
This isn't to promote his business really.
He's doing another one for his sister in leopard print I believe.
Edited by Davel on Wednesday 3rd September 15:41
We've done a few guitars and we're proud of the work we've done and our attention to detail!
This 50's pinup guitar was built as a project and we asked Len to build it. I ordered a load of bits off ebay including a Dr Parts licensed Alder body, and licensed neck as well as all sorts of original style brightwork.
The body had been sealed and was ready for paint, we used a cream pearlescent paint and lacquer and left the seam 2/3rds down the side to show off the paintwork and make it look like a 50's style shoe!
We even tracked down some original 50's pickups from a little shop in the US and according to Len she's (nicknamed Marilyn Monroe) even got the authentic Fender twang and sparkles like you wouldn't believe!
bennyboysvuk said:
I never did answer my question about Seymour Duncan Black Winters vs the JB SH-4. However, I did come across a TB-4 and SH-2 on Ebay so have gone for them. Hopefully, this will give the RG320FM the kick up the backside that it needs. 
Last night I got the first opportunity to give the guitar a go through the amp with the new SD pups in and they have much more clarity than the muddier INF3/4 pups that were in there. There's much more bite too. It sounds completely different to my staple gigging guitar though (a LP). A nice surprise was how good they sounded in coil tapped mode, thanks to the 5 way switch on the Ibanez. Great for all that Red Hot Chilli Peppers stuff and also Kenny Wayne Shepherd-type sounds too.
Snoop Bagg said:
Thanks pops, hydro dipping is a way of applying vinyl to 3d objects. It was discovered and patented by the big car manufacturers in the 70's but patents expire after twenty five years hence the take off in the US and now UK, and can be applied to any surface that can be dipped in water.
We've done a few guitars and we're proud of the work we've done and our attention to detail!
They look stunning.... interesting thoughts... I know hydrodipping isn't much for car parts, but can you transfer any image at all? Are there cost implications with that?We've done a few guitars and we're proud of the work we've done and our attention to detail!
Don1 said:
They look stunning.... interesting thoughts... I know hydrodipping isn't much for car parts, but can you transfer any image at all? Are there cost implications with that?
Yes there's a huge selection of designs already on the marketplace, if you don't like what you see you can create you're own there are ways. From what I've seen it's getting the film and a pigment printer like Kodak's Hero range. It's something I'm looking into, small images can be reproduced using a standard printer it's larger scale when you have to get film printed via a manufacturer as they've the bigger printer and made the investment. But combining different base coats, vinyl's and clear coats the choice is spectacular. My tank is 3m by 1m so we can dip bumpers doors bonnets leaving a painted finish, opposed to a wrap where a stone chip would make the whole panel look and need re-wrapping.
For guitars like these we double dip them for 360 degree coverage. So there is a seam but we use the airbrushing to hide that and to be honest combining the old and new school works it adds a lot more depth to the object!
Well, I finally got my guitar back from being refinished. I striped it down about 6 years ago and sanded it back to bare wood. Over the years I'd done various mods and resprayed it solid colours twice. I decided I wanted it back to the original '57 two tone sunburst it was when I bought it in 1982.
It's one of the first JV Squier Strats that had the 'Squier' logo on the headstock rather than 'Fender' (I was a bit miffed when it arrived as they'd made that change after I ordered it). Of course having sanded it down and replacing a few of the tone pots/capacitors it isn't wholly original now, but it's not for sale so it doesn't really matter if I've devalued it over the years. I had it refinished in nitrocellulose which isn't original either (would have been polyester I believe), but I think it will age better. The guy who did it has made guitars for Hank and his band mates, so I was confident he'd do a good job; it plays better than I remember, so his setting up is top notch, so it was worth the 5 month wait (plus 6 years of me looking for someone to do it properly). I don't think my Affinity Tele or Epi LP will get played much for a week or two now.
The day I took it in to be refinished:
When I bought it in 1982:
How it looks today:
It's one of the first JV Squier Strats that had the 'Squier' logo on the headstock rather than 'Fender' (I was a bit miffed when it arrived as they'd made that change after I ordered it). Of course having sanded it down and replacing a few of the tone pots/capacitors it isn't wholly original now, but it's not for sale so it doesn't really matter if I've devalued it over the years. I had it refinished in nitrocellulose which isn't original either (would have been polyester I believe), but I think it will age better. The guy who did it has made guitars for Hank and his band mates, so I was confident he'd do a good job; it plays better than I remember, so his setting up is top notch, so it was worth the 5 month wait (plus 6 years of me looking for someone to do it properly). I don't think my Affinity Tele or Epi LP will get played much for a week or two now.
The day I took it in to be refinished:
When I bought it in 1982:
How it looks today:
I had a friend who owned one back in the very late 80s. It wasn't great, they were very much the cheaper end of the range. He might even have bought it at Argos I think.
Search on Strat Talk, some of them were plywood bodies but others were solid, and some had very poor hardware, but the necks can be nice.
Search on Strat Talk, some of them were plywood bodies but others were solid, and some had very poor hardware, but the necks can be nice.
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