Drak Posted September 6, 2005 Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!!!!!! While everyone was mourning the death of the Green Ghost, I was soooooo past that and moving at light speed on the next one. (actually I built 2, but the other will be for another conversation) OK, this one was way more up my alley than Green Hornet was. I seem to do my best work with wood that's a little oddball, a little off the beaten path, wood that has very unique character to it, and this one was a -perfect- fit. I started this guitar several months ago (or more maybe, don't really remember) ...I built the body (2-piece Alder) and put the top on it, and there it sat for quite awhile, waiting for the right back panels. I finally had a big piece of Myrtle resawn up and used a pair from that for the back. OK, the 'look' I was looking for with this guitar...was something of a 'weathered barn door' look. You know how I'm always saying that I always try to enhance what's there, to let the wood speak to me and then do it's bidding, and this guitar was just perfect for all that eastern voodoo-hoodoo weathered barn door stuff. It has a very unusual character to the top wood. There is flame wrapping up from the bottom towards the top, but it only goes up 1/2 way and completely stops. The top 1/2 is pretty plain, although it was sold as spalted maple, it doesn't have the typical look of a spalted piece of maple. Who would want a piece of wood like that? DRAKIE! It was a real challenge to figure out what to do with this wood, I kept staring and staring, waiting for it to tell me what to do with the 'weathered barn' thing...how the hell do you make a guitar body look like a weathered barn for chrissakes? SOOOOO...while you were all discussing the afterbirth of the Green Hornet, I went to work all morning doing the final preps to this guitar. I was so past that green guitar, in the blink of an eye it was HISTORY. Never looked back. OK. I had already cut one of my STEER HEAD designs into the top chamber a few months ago, routed a chamber behind the steer head, and there it sat for awhile. Today I finished all the prep work on it, and about noonish, it was ready for finish. So, sez Drak, how do I use color to make the ~weathered barn look~? Well, I started out by using Early American Maple and Yellow Maple mixed together, to do a stain/sand back job on the flame. Applied that, then sanded back until I was happy. I did that, then I mixed some Meduim Brown Mahogony and Lemon Yellow DIRECTLY into my lacquer, for the VERY FIRST COATS. these were NOT toner coats, because they were going directly onto the BARE WOOD. There was no clear coats first. I didn't make it real strong, I was really looking to just tint, or shade, the color of the wood (pretty balnd naturally) a little bit. So I shot about 5-6 coats of this one, I was liking the look, liking the color, but I DIDN'T like the look of the enhanced flame. It SUCKED. Now I'm sure all of you would have just kept right on going, but not DRAK! I STOPPED the process, let it dry for about 1/2 hour, then HEAT GUNNED AND SCRAPED THE FINISH BACK OFF OF JUST THE TOP AND STARTED OVER AGAIN!!!!!.....leaving the rest of the guitar, sides and back, still with it's color coats intact. When I heat gunned the top off, I was very careful to not get the gun anywhere near the sides, I just orbital sanded the little remaining off to make a clean transition for the top. THIS time, I used Solar Lux Blood Red and Black mixed together for my stain/sand back colors. Then I proceeded to apply the red/black combo, dried it with a hair dryer, and then sanded it back to where I liked it. Also, instead of using Med. Brown Mahogony and Yellow Maple for my toner shots, I replaced the Yellow Maple with Lemon Yellow. Lemon Yellow is PURE yellow, Yellow Maple is sort of electric orangey yellow. So, we're at about 3:00pm now, I blew the piece off, hung it up on The Old Maple Tree, and shot about 3-4 coats of the shaded lacquer on it, the color is getting warmer and warmer with each coat, I'm really digging the look. But I sez, I want to do something DIFFERENT now, SOMETHING is MISSING, but WHAT? So, I dumped the mixture into a little cup, and mixed me up a new batch. This time, Stew-Mac Color Tone Cherry Red and Solar Lux Black. I was looking for a dark red to burst ever-so-delicately around the outer edges to 'frame' the look of the top. SORT OF a burst, but not really. Now, remember, I sanded off THE TOP ONLY. Th REST of the guitar, with it's shaded color coats, was left INTACT, and I wanted to frame the top, and also blend the top to the sides. It worked BETTER THAN I EVER EXPECTED, THE WEATHERED BARN DOOR LOOK SHOWED UP!!!! PRESTO! Weathered barn door look, albeit a little reddish, I was pleased as Peach Pie. So I shot ONE clear coat over all this, and by that time, the weather was cooling off, and I had to call it over for the day. WOO-HOO, I LOVE THIS GUITAR! Ehhhhhhh, green WHAT??????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted September 6, 2005 Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 (edited) I stopped reading when I saw there weren't any pictures. DON'T WASTE OUR TIME AGAIN, DRAK!!! I need results! Edited September 6, 2005 by thegarehanman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay5 Posted September 6, 2005 Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 PICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just a thought, but tarnished (rusted) hardware might add to the old barn look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haggardguy Posted September 6, 2005 Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 I stopped reading when I saw there weren't any pictures. DON'T WASTE OUR TIME AGAIN, DRAK!!! I need results! ← lmao, i did the same thing,i started reading and realised i had nothing to go with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted September 6, 2005 Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 The Green Hornet? Sigh... time to search. I need to mourn for that before I can get excited about the barn door guitar. :? <edit> Search shows 2 threads with Green Hornet. Sorry to say, I don't get it. :/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted September 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 Damn you all, there ARE pics, I gotta UPLOAD them! But they're just teaser pics, pics of it being built and then one I took this morning, while I was prepping it. I'll have the GLORY shot (hopefully) tomorrow after I get several more clear coats on it. You're gonna have to believe me here, it's BEAUTIFUL! The Green Hornet is SOOOOOO last week! You'll get behind this one in a heartbeat! When do you ever see me this exited? THIS guitar is getting one of the GLENDALE bridges, and it BELONGS on this puppy! (PS, they did come in, I have to have them gold-plated now) Bill, the Green Hornet was the '5A in 30 Days' thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted September 6, 2005 Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 Yeah...and my grandma is freaking beautiful too. You can't prove me wrong because I don't have pics(I'm very, very wrong, btw). Now prove it. I won't tollerate this any longer! ...and I'm getting very lonely up here at LSU. Don't get me wrong, I've got plenty of friends, but I have no power tools to console me when I'm feeling creative in the wee hours of the night. Therefore, I must live vicariously through this board. I demand photographs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted September 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 YOU SHALL HAVE PHOTOS!!!!! ...as soon as I get something to eat ( ), then I'll upload the ones I have, 10 minutes, you can wait 10 minutes, can't you? ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegarehanman Posted September 6, 2005 Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 (edited) Fine! I'm going back to the "going back to school...again" party. LSU gave us a week off, compliments of katrina. There'd better be some geetar pron when I get back...or there will be hell to pay. Edited September 6, 2005 by thegarehanman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted September 6, 2005 Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 I read all that and didn't get any pictures? EDIT: always hit refresh before posting. When I loaded the page there were no replies, and now I look like a moron repeating what everyone else already said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted September 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 Here's the toppers, just wetted with water so I could figure out whichaway I wanted to set them. This pic shows how they were set finally. PS, I just remembered, this guitar was part of my 'Dozen Telecasters' thread from last year, so some of you might remember these pics. But BOY HOWDY how it turned out!~!!. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted September 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 Here are a few pics of the steerhead cutout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted September 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 BULLSEYE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted September 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 My DELTA <trumpets blare> scroll saw, dutifully at work, doing a bang-up job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted September 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 Shot Thru The Head, And You're To Blame, You Give SteerHeads A Bad Name! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted September 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 This is the final 'old' shot from last summer. Gotta download the camera to get the shot from this morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted September 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 I'm saving this slot for the next pic, if I get it done tonight... Now, when you look at the figure in this wood, it's not really figure. When you apply dye, the whole thing goes DEAD, like it was a piece of Mahogony or Alder, there is no figure, or what appears to LOOK like figure, is just the spalting of the wood, it doesn't react to dye at all, which is why I COULD NOT APPLY DYE DIRECTLY TO THE WOOD, IT KILLED IT. Except for the real flame figure which is near the bottom, but that flame isn't really apparent in these pics. So it was an interesting decision as to how to bring this piece of wood to life, but it worked beautifully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javacody Posted September 6, 2005 Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 accidentally hit enter in the middle of a sentence? Edit: I caught this thread apparently in the middle of Drak editing it. As I think I've made perfectly clear, I love the steers head. It reminds me of Texas. Only two things come from texas though, Steers and... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted September 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 Jave, you're gonna be so proud of me, this puppy is gonna be a dad-blurned real Telecaster, with the Glendale bridge, you're gonna love it. PS, I wanted to get that slot nailed before someone posted in front of it, so I hit enter, then went back and finished the post. You are SO gonna love this guitar! That green thing can go straight to HELL!!!!!!!!!!!! PS, I am not merely showboating another guitar, if anyone cares to really read the posts, I am including al the reasons that I make the decisions I do as far as finishes and color choices go, there's a lot of information in these threads if people really read them, and think about why I did what I did, and look at the woods in question. That goes for the green guitar too, I'm posting this stuff for INFORMATION so y'all can sort of pick my brain why I did what I did. The choices I made on the green guitar were for a completely different set of parameters than this guitar. Different woods, different colors, different application methods, all to suit the individual piece. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javacody Posted September 6, 2005 Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 I'm intersted to hear back the tone. I'm also dying to do some kind of cool soundhole, but obviously, I can't do a steers head. That steers head and your back covers though are what inspired me to buy a scroll saw for my birthday. Only 15 days to go! I'm over the green goblin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted September 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 I'm over the green goblin. Most excellent, this guitar will DEAD SMOKE that thing. I keep going into the drying room and just staring at it, I'm freaking over how it turned out, especially after I stopped and removed the top and redid it all in the same day, that was a Job-1 decision, and it made ALL the difference. That's why the greenie sank, there was no room to try, readjust, and nail it, it was a one-shot deal. I mean, the way it looks now and the way it looks in these pics is night-and-day difference, trust me here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jehle Posted September 6, 2005 Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 Bill, the Green Hornet was the '5A in 30 Days' thread. ← Got it. There was not a picture of the complete guitar, so there's no proof that you actually did build a guitar in 30 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted September 6, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 Totally agree! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goth_fiend Posted September 6, 2005 Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 cool beans drak, but how dare you slaughter a bon jovi song! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByronBlack Posted September 6, 2005 Report Share Posted September 6, 2005 cool beans drak, but how dare you slaughter a bon jovi song! ← I'm very excited to see the outcome of this, I love black/red combinations on guitars, and I have to say, that wood is astonishingly beautifull! Great work drak, can't wait to see the progress on this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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