Lets look at our guitars thread
Discussion
417 attempts later, I'm finally getting there with this paint job...I clear coated front and back yesterday, very light rub down today and the 'final' last few coats are going on today, then it can be left to harden off before buffing and assembly.
I'm using Dartfords clear nitro which has 'minimal plastisers' so will craze eventually. The body won't fit in my freezer (not a search term I would recommend using
) so will have to wait for the winter months to see if I can get the body to craze outside in the frost.
Getting a decent gloss from the gun now, but I guess I've had plenty of practice on it lately.
I'm using Dartfords clear nitro which has 'minimal plastisers' so will craze eventually. The body won't fit in my freezer (not a search term I would recommend using
) so will have to wait for the winter months to see if I can get the body to craze outside in the frost.Getting a decent gloss from the gun now, but I guess I've had plenty of practice on it lately.
gazza285 said:
Harsh, but fair. Actually I did once slip and used one of those on my face...not recommended and it took more than a week of sanding to sort out.
My wife just said 'what the **** have you done??!" when I came in from the garage. No sympathy. 
It's looking good now, so I'll be a bit more careful with the wet sanding and buffing, if not I'm just going to call it a 'relic' and put it together anyway.
I buffed a lot more carefully this time. I only wet sanded some of the back that had excess orange peel, but the front and the sides just needed buffing with my DA polisher (I left the angle grinder in the garage this time ).
Think it came out OK in the end.
I'll paint the cavities with conductive paint over the weekend, but in the meantime I'll leave it in the sunshine on the table (raised up on the back with some screws so the back doesn't get marked).
).Think it came out OK in the end.
I'll paint the cavities with conductive paint over the weekend, but in the meantime I'll leave it in the sunshine on the table (raised up on the back with some screws so the back doesn't get marked).
I did my electric cello with the Charles Guitars kit off eBay.
Before it was borderline unusable (house full of dimmers, no shielding on the cello). Even though I couldn't do a complete 360° coat, afterwards there was absolutely no discernible noise. I suspect most places sell exactly the same stuff.
Before it was borderline unusable (house full of dimmers, no shielding on the cello). Even though I couldn't do a complete 360° coat, afterwards there was absolutely no discernible noise. I suspect most places sell exactly the same stuff.
rsbmw said:
What conductive paint do you use? I failed to bother in my bios and can’t be bothered trying to take it apart to use the copper tape, paint would be easier
Same as Sporky; I've got a Charles kit and also bought a spare 60mL pot of it as I might do some other guitars like my Jaguar. I've got a full sized aluminium shield that goes on the back of the pickguard like the original 60s models did, so that should mean all the electrics and PCB are contained within shielding. My kitchen will be the ultimate test as the various lights in there usually set single coils off buzzing. I sometimes play through my Champ in there if my wife is watching TV in the living room.
rsbmw said:
What conductive paint do you use? I failed to bother in my bios and can’t be bothered trying to take it apart to use the copper tape, paint would be easier
Did it this afternoon, first coat (as they recommend two thin coats 24 hours apart). I think one tub will do all my guitars, so probably didn't need the second one. Takes a lot of stirring first as it's all sunk to the bottom of the tub. It's also very dark, so probably better to either do it before painting the body or to mask off. I just had to clean off some spots with a damp microfibre.
Sneak peek of the tobacco sunburst Strat body now that it's had its first few coats of clear.
Unfortunately, I've since had a slight mishap; made the mistake of using the random orbital sander to rub it down, and ended up removing the stain in a few places. Touched it in and all's fine, so can carry on and apply the last few coats of clear.
Oh well, learning all the time.
Unfortunately, I've since had a slight mishap; made the mistake of using the random orbital sander to rub it down, and ended up removing the stain in a few places. Touched it in and all's fine, so can carry on and apply the last few coats of clear.
Oh well, learning all the time.
OldSkoolRS said:
It's looking good, just don't use an angle grinder to buff it when it's finished.
Got to say, slightly jealous/envious of you both being able to fit the time in to build your own guitars..HighwayToHull said:
Oh well, learning all the time.
You and me both. ..looking forward to seeing pictures of when they are finished :-)
HiAsAKite said:
Got to say, slightly jealous/envious of you both being able to fit the time in to build your own guitars..
..looking forward to seeing pictures of when they are finished :-)
I guess I'm lucky as I have the spare time on evenings and weekends when not actually playing them. ..looking forward to seeing pictures of when they are finished :-)
I don't watch much TV, not into sport and don't have other hobbies. My wife keeps busy doing her art, so we can both sit in the kitchen working on our respective hobbies. Probably helps that the kids are grown up too.Anyway, I managed to finish it off this evening. The conductive paint caused me a problem because the pickup selector switch was shorting out on the paint: I'd get sound with the pickguard loose, but as soon as I pushed it down it would cut out. I always test using a screwdriver on the pickups before going to the trouble of restringing, but it still took me a while to work it out. Just a bit of careful bending of the tags.
Got it setup, trem floating, action and intonation all done. I've already tried the pickguard and neck in my other Strat, but having it all together finally is great. Really pleased with how it plays and how worn in it already feels due to the work I've done on the neck/frets/fret ends and rolling the fingerboard.
Two Strats together, with my previous build in the background (see how understanding my wife is
)
OldSkoolRS said:
I guess I'm lucky as I have the spare time on evenings and weekends when not actually playing them. I don't watch much TV, not into sport and don't have other hobbies. My wife keeps busy doing her art, so we can both sit in the kitchen working on our respective hobbies. Probably helps that the kids are grown up too.
Anyway, I managed to finish it off this evening. The conductive paint caused me a problem because the pickup selector switch was shorting out on the paint: I'd get sound with the pickguard loose, but as soon as I pushed it down it would cut out. I always test using a screwdriver on the pickups before going to the trouble of restringing, but it still took me a while to work it out. Just a bit of careful bending of the tags.
Got it setup, trem floating, action and intonation all done. I've already tried the pickguard and neck in my other Strat, but having it all together finally is great. Really pleased with how it plays and how worn in it already feels due to the work I've done on the neck/frets/fret ends and rolling the fingerboard.
Two Strats together, with my previous build in the background (see how understanding my wife is )
Nice job - looks great. I wish I had space for spray finishing - I’m stuck with doing oil finishes for the foreseeable unfortunately. I don't watch much TV, not into sport and don't have other hobbies. My wife keeps busy doing her art, so we can both sit in the kitchen working on our respective hobbies. Probably helps that the kids are grown up too.Anyway, I managed to finish it off this evening. The conductive paint caused me a problem because the pickup selector switch was shorting out on the paint: I'd get sound with the pickguard loose, but as soon as I pushed it down it would cut out. I always test using a screwdriver on the pickups before going to the trouble of restringing, but it still took me a while to work it out. Just a bit of careful bending of the tags.
Got it setup, trem floating, action and intonation all done. I've already tried the pickguard and neck in my other Strat, but having it all together finally is great. Really pleased with how it plays and how worn in it already feels due to the work I've done on the neck/frets/fret ends and rolling the fingerboard.
Two Strats together, with my previous build in the background (see how understanding my wife is
)Gassing Station | Music | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff