Jehle Posted August 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 With the neck done, it's time to paint the body. So far, I primed it gray, then sprayed on a light blue metallic, hated it, sanded that back off, sprayed a deep purple metallic (because it was handy). Now, THIS is a color that I like. What better color for a steve morse fan than "deep purple"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!!METAL MATT!! Posted August 10, 2005 Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 Very Nice!! But I see Blue Not deep purple !!METAL MATT!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted August 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2005 That's so strange. It really does look blue in the picture. It really is quite purple to see it in person. I've got about 3 color coats on now. The one in the picture is just the first (and I can see a thin spot or two). By Friday, it should be ready for the clear coat. I'm going to clear coat this one in lacquer so I've got to wait for it to harden for a few weeks before I can do anything else. That's going to kill me. I might as well start building another one while I wait... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xlr8 Posted August 11, 2005 Report Share Posted August 11, 2005 Looking nice Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted August 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2005 I don't exactly know what happened, but I sprayed a last coat of purple on and in bubbled horribly. I had to strip the guitar down and start over. I cannot believe that it happened. As far as I can tell, the paint was too low in the rattle can and the propellent did something weird causing the bubbles to form. What a huuuuuge pain in the butt! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Dangerouso Posted August 13, 2005 Report Share Posted August 13, 2005 Looks great! I like the fusion of parts and styles. It's got that Satriani/Morse(gotta love that pickguard and pickup config)/Gibson vibe. Speaking of pickup configurations, I see you went with the Jellycaster III (or was it just II?) setup again. Still my favorite after putting it in the Shredocaster. Good luck with the rest o' the project! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted August 13, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2005 Yeah, I've noticed the Satch/Morse fusion too. It was never intentional for this build. I have designed on the fly for most of it. Still, I dig the fact that this guitar is taking on that look. Those guys have been big influences in my playing. The pickup configuration is my thing. No surprise there. I really don't like or use middle pickups on a strat. I dont care for the in-between sound that so many people claim they love. I'd rather have 2 bridge pickups, and this design is close to that. I suppose it's my trademark now. With this pickup configuration, I love the neck bucker and single coil combination. It has the mellowness of the neck PU with a little snap added from the single coli. The final color coat get resprayed today. then it's time for it to harden a little before the clear coats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay5 Posted August 14, 2005 Report Share Posted August 14, 2005 I was looking at those type of bridges from guitarfetish.com and they said that they were pretty tall, about an inch. Can you confirm that Bill? Are you using a neck angle at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted August 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2005 I was looking at those type of bridges from guitarfetish.com and they said that they were pretty tall, about an inch. Can you confirm that Bill? Are you using a neck angle at all? ← Yeah they are a little tall. I have not actually measured, but to say that it's about an inch tall is about right. To remedy that, I have cleared the holes for the mounting bushings to be flush with the body, that lowered it about 1/16" to 1/8". I did not make the body with any neck angle in mind (designed on the fly for the most part), so no, there is no neck angle. I did a trick that Fender did a long while ago and I put a small strip of 60 grit sand paper in the rear of the neck pocket. The action was just a little too high without it. I had considered routing a little pocket for the bridge to recess into, but with just those two small adjustments, the action is fine. Also, since I'm top loading the electronics with a pickguard, the "feel" of the strings over the body doesn't feel that high. It's pretty close to the way my Strat feels. If you do use one of these bridges, just keep in mind that the height of the bridge is a factor. For a jazz setup, I imagine it's perfect. Or, for a Les Paul setup, it would be good too. For the more shready Fender feel, you'll have to figure out a way to sink the bridge a little bit. <edit> BTW, just added the repaint pictures on photobucket... This is just the color coat, no wet sanding or clear coat yet. That's where the real magic happens. Told you it was purple. Here's a close up of the back, in the sun you can see the tiny little metalic flakes... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/jehlephoto/pearl2.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted September 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2005 The finishing stage always takes me a long time for some reason. I might get to it 5 minutes a day. The fact that I'm using lacquer this time just slows me down even more. Anywho, since the last update, I've had the body painted and repainted because of a problem with contaminated paint. It bubbled really badly and I had to basically strip it and start over. Very frustrating. After a couple of weeks now of the clear lacquer hardening (the hot weather really helped this out), I'm sanding back using CudBucket's mineral spirits wet sanding technique. It's not polished yet, but with 1000 grit paper and mineral spirits the body is dead level. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/jeh...oddboy-001F.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/jeh...oddboy-007F.jpg Please excuse the grainy texture of the pictures from this camera. It doesn't do well in low light and it's cloudy outside this morning. The buffing and polishing will happen over the weekend. If that goes quickly, and if the lacquer is really cured, I'll assemble it and set it up. One nice thing about the top loaded electronics is that it's all wired and ready to drop in. All I have to do is connect it to the output jack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted September 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2005 Okay. Clear coat is finished and polished. From the other morning you should have seen that the finish had a nice haze from wet sanding with 1000 grit and mineral spirits. Before: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/jeh...oddboy-007F.jpg After: Two more views of the top and side. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/jeh...to/DSCN1755.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/jeh...to/DSCN1761.jpg I buffed in 3 steps using a Porter Cable buffer and 3 different pads. 1st step was to polish with turtle wax polishing compound. 2nd step, mild abrasive pad with pre-wax treatment, 3rd step, non-abrasive polish pad with carnauba wax. I WILL NEVER POLISH BY HAND AGAIN! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeiscosRock Posted September 3, 2005 Report Share Posted September 3, 2005 I LOVE that color! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocksolid Posted September 4, 2005 Report Share Posted September 4, 2005 I LOVE that color! ← Me too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted September 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2005 I LOVE that color! ← Testor's Model Masters Deep Pearlescent Purple. Finished the assembly now and gave it a quick test run. I have yet to intonnate and set the action, but right off the bat, the action is low and it plays well. I have a recording project coming up that I plan to use this for and that will give you a idea of how it sounds. Here's the full frontal A vew down the side of the neck. No dots here. I've actually always wanted to have a guitar like this. The dots sometimes limit my playing because I focus on them too much. I wanted to see the neck from more of a wide open space point of view. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/jeh...to/DSCN1768.jpg And here's the heel. Nothing too weird here, ferrules, ooooh ahhhh.... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/jeh...to/DSCN1774.jpg And here's the goesoutza. Shiney body... http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/jeh...to/DSCN1778.jpg And lastly, here's a close up of the body with all the bits on it. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v299/jeh...to/DSCN1765.jpg I have a rough list of all the parts that went into it. Keep in mind that this project was a collection of leftovers, cheap ebay parts, and scrap. Bottom line of cost of materials came to $150. Not bad, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeiscosRock Posted September 4, 2005 Report Share Posted September 4, 2005 (edited) Testors? What type of paint is that?? -edit And thats an interesting idea there, with the angled pup right above the bridge humbucker.. Let us know how that sounds so maybe I can take a leaf out of your book and do something with this old spare tele pup. Edited September 4, 2005 by TeiscosRock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opencan Posted September 4, 2005 Report Share Posted September 4, 2005 This guitar looks great! except of the HUGH headstock... Is it balanced while standing? Great work! are you married? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted September 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2005 Testors? What type of paint is that?? -edit And thats an interesting idea there, with the angled pup right above the bridge humbucker.. Let us know how that sounds so maybe I can take a leaf out of your book and do something with this old spare tele pup. ← It's model paint used for model cars or model rockets. I had a spare can of a few colors and the purple was the best look. A quick trip to the Hobby Lobby, and I had 4 little 3 oz rattle cans of it. Each can was just enough for one coat of paint on one side of the body. At $3 a can, it's pretty darn cheap. And thats an interesting idea there, with the angled pup right above the bridge humbucker.. Let us know how that sounds so maybe I can take a leaf out of your book and do something with this old spare tele pup. Yeah, that's my thing. I don't like or use middle pickups at all. Pushing it back towards the bridge brightens it up a bit but it doesn't have the nail in the ear tone of a true single coil in the bridge position. Combined with the buckers, it really is nice. It adds snap to the neck PU and with the bridge PU, it's darn close to a Tele. are you married? What does this have to do with the big headstock? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted September 4, 2005 Report Share Posted September 4, 2005 i think he is askin you out? lol joking , thats a nice lookin guit box there Jehle Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!!METAL MATT!! Posted September 4, 2005 Report Share Posted September 4, 2005 are you married? Hey It's a PG Romance Just Buging! Man Jehle That Look's like one comfy guitar It really came out nice Good work !!METAL MATT!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted September 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2005 i think he is askin you out? lol joking , thats a nice lookin guit box there Jehle Curtis ← Well, you know what they say... Big headstock... What's so funny about the Huge headstock comments is that is no bigger than a 70's style Strat headstock. It's just as wide, but it's shorter. Maybe that's what fools the eye. I should post a comparison pic between the two to show what I mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted September 4, 2005 Report Share Posted September 4, 2005 It's just a little unusual -- odd -- at first. But hey, maybe it could do double duty as a trenching shovel! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeiscosRock Posted September 4, 2005 Report Share Posted September 4, 2005 Testors? What type of paint is that?? -edit And thats an interesting idea there, with the angled pup right above the bridge humbucker.. Let us know how that sounds so maybe I can take a leaf out of your book and do something with this old spare tele pup. ← It's model paint used for model cars or model rockets. I had a spare can of a few colors and the purple was the best look. A quick trip to the Hobby Lobby, and I had 4 little 3 oz rattle cans of it. Each can was just enough for one coat of paint on one side of the body. At $3 a can, it's pretty darn cheap. ← So what is it - Acrylic? Enamel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted September 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 4, 2005 Testors? What type of paint is that?? It's model paint used for model cars or model rockets. So what is it - Acrylic? Enamel? Ah, okay. It's an Enamel. Actually, for the whole finish, I layered it as such: 1. Brush on "dope" which is normally used to grain fill the balsa wood fins on model rockets. This filled in any scratches on the wood surface. I put on about 2 coats of that, and sanded in between. 2. Rustolem grey primer. THE ONLY RUSTOLEUM PRODUCT WORTH A DAM*. Sanded back lightly with 150 grit. 3. Testor's Model Masters # 2947. Two coats, no sanding between or before the lacquer coats. 4. Deft Lacquer grain filler sealer coat. About 2 or 3 coats. Wet sanded back with Cud's mineral spirit method and 600 grit paper. 5. repeat step 4 until run out of lacquer. 6. dry, dry, dry, cure, cure, cure, go on vacation, etc... 7. wet sand with 600 and 1000 grit paper and mineral spirits. 8. polish with Porter Cable buffer moving from polish compound, prewax, and carnauba wax. The end result is silky feeling and it feels really solid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeiscosRock Posted September 4, 2005 Report Share Posted September 4, 2005 Looks like a trip to hobby lobby may be in order... I'm guessing the "dope" stuff is available there, too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted September 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 5, 2005 Looks like a trip to hobby lobby may be in order... I'm guessing the "dope" stuff is available there, too? ← Yep. It'll be in the model rocket section. Can't say if it's better than anything else at grain filling, but it is fire-proof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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