Calling It Quits

[bcjim]

I'm getting so frustrated. I've tried painting and it ended up not being what I was looking for so I sanded it back down. I was wanting to try staining. But on the top it looks like it is

2 pieces of wood. Now it is not seamed down the middle it is a piece about 3'' wide

but in some places I can see it and in others I can't. And where the arm rest is the grain don't run right with the rest of the guitar. I thought about just adding a veneer to the top but the edges of the guitar are not square, they are beveled off and a veneer wouldn't look right along the edge. I'm ready to call it quits on this. I'm getting ready to put it on E Bay and just get out of it what I can.

Edited April 1, 2005 by bcjim

[Drak]

Quitter.

I have sprayed, sanded, and resprayed the same guitar over 8-10 times before until I finally got what I wanted.

Do you have -any- idea how much work that is? It was part of my learning curve, but I did it, and it was very much worth it.

You give up too easy, or are expecting good results too soon, or had unrealistic expectations of how much work was involved in customizing guitars, or something along those lines.

Either give it up, or have a look at yourself and ask yourself why you are so easily frustrated.

Anything in this life worth learning takes some serious effort, dedication, the ability to recover from the ups and downs that always come, and patience. Lots of patience. If you can't teach yourself patience, then you'll always be frustrated, and feeling frustrated all the time surely does suck.

Step back, take a breather, and maybe give it another go.

[Southpa]

Yup, no other way around it. If someone was paying you to finish the guitar then yes, it DOES help to get it right the first time. But in the mean time, read up on what you want to do, set the project down and think about the reality. To me its like reading a book. If I can't get into the plot then I'll put it down until some later time/date when I'm in the mood to enjoy the book. You tend to see things in a whole new light. Experiment on scrap, have a definite plan and don't deviate from it. Your post gives me the idea that you didn't have a plan for this guitar, first paint, then stain etc. Understand the nature of the wood and materials you are using.

I stripped my last build 4 times and am still not all that happy with the results. Thats ok tho, I just really wanted to play it at the time. But you know what happens when you have to do this so often ???(Drak knows...) You learn a bit more each time and ... you end up with a SLIGHTLY SMALLER GUITAR!!!!

Edited April 1, 2005 by Southpa

[erikbojerik]

On my GOTM doubleneck I stripped the burst & clear 4 times before I had something I was satisfied with.

[Guitarfrenzy]

Frustation is a good sign in a way, because to be frustrated you have to actually get angry about the results you end up with, versus what you have a vision for. That's a good thing, because it tells me that you actually care about how the guitar will look. I've seen far too many who can do shabby work and not even know it.. at least you have higher standards for what your building, and that's a good thing. So being frustrated can only be a call to action, you must figure out what your doing wrong and correct it before moving on. You need a vision for what your end results should be and a plan to get you where you want. Building a guitar with no plan is gonna set yourself up for frustration to begin with. If you was to take the worlds best archer and blind folded him, spun him around and around, then told him to shoot at his target, I bet he'd miss also. So basically your failure didn't happen in just the finishing stage, it happened in choice of wood, etc. Hopefully you won't quit, but do like Drak said and just step back, dust yourself off, and go after it again!!!! You don't think Edison built the perfect lightbulb on his first attempt do you? Just think of each mistake as a lesson learned, and move on.

[unclej]

You learn a bit more each time and ... you end up with a SLIGHTLY SMALLER GUITAR!!!! 

yep, that's the unmistakable voice of experience. thanks for the chuckle.