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Pimping My Rg505


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Quoting from the stripping using chemicals tutorial hosted by this site:

Next comes the most boring part which is pictured on the bottom left! Just let the body lay there coated in stripper for at least 15-20 minutes. Go watch TV or listen to the radio or what ever, just give the chemical stripper time to do it's job which the longer you wait generally the easier it will be.

Sounds like mr Brian Calvert doesnt mind using stripper on his bodies, maybe you would like to question him? Veneer bodge job huh? Take a look at this page

http://projectguitar.com/tut/veneer.htm

theres a good picture on that, if mine looks anything close to that I would be satisfied. No, not no more nails...i intend to use exactly what he did, Titebond 2. No im not VENEERING my guitar to add tone, you idiot, it is purely cosmetic.

Throw it in the bin? I think a better use would be to smash it repeatedly into your cranium until you pass out bleeding and I unleash this beast onto you

tonylevinathisbest.jpg

He will maul you back to hell hopefully. I dont give 2 "cents" about my online forum reputation. I do care about my money, this is a fairly low cost project. Burn in hell

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Whoa, cool it down boys...

Anyway, 99, I can understand the enthusiasm behind your project, but you've gotten some helpful advice here, in between the trolls, at any rate. A little patience goes a long way.

Personally, I don't like the "buy a new body" idea...where's the fun in that? :D

The main issue I see is that you want to try to do this with veneer, and I just don't see how that's going to work. For one thing, from what I've read, veneer is really hard to apply, and harder still to get it right. Because it's fragile stuff-- I don't see how it'll be strong enough for what you want to do.

Besides, veneer isn't cheap. I think you're better off going with a maple cap --you don't need superthick stuff though. I've been using 5 mm maple, it's very rigid, certainly strong enough for what you want. I paid something like 15 euros for a whole batch, enough to make an acoustic guitar. You don't need that much, obviously. But it's always nice to have some extra, for the next project....

One issue...I can't see from the photo, but is the guitar flat on top? If it is, it'll be easier on you (but otherwise you could probably bend the maple to fit.

You might still want to adjust the thickness of the body though --to square off the existing edges for one thing, but more importantly to make sure your fretboard clears the body at the height you want. (You could shim the neck pocket, but that's not the same).

So I don't see any reason why the project won't work, you just need to adjust your idea to meet the reality of the materials.

I can suggest, however, that the more effort and patience you put into getting the project to work, the more likely you'll be to end up with a guitar you actually like to play.

Regardless, you'll end up with a learning experience...and maybe a guitar you like.

(Oh yeah, as for whether the stripper's going to ruin the wood...I find this one hard to believe. For one thing, as you mentioned, you're not going through the sealer coat, so the stripper's not actually getting to the wood. For another, from reading through the forum, most people seem to be using stripper for this purpose)

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Looks like you have a nice little project going there, and I wish the best of luck to you with all of it.

I've been frequenting these forums for quite some time now without signing up, and have found most things not only interesting but immensely helpful. Although, the attitude of some of the people who have posted in this thread is absolutely disgusting. Shame on you. I've been building and reconditioning guitars for the best part of 20 years now and there is nothing I can see wrong with what this guy is doing here. Of course it's going to look a mess right now - he's just stripped it down and is removing the paint. Damn, the ignorance of some of you is absolutely sickening. Give him advice and support - he's admitted he's new to this.

I've used a method simliar to this before AND used MDF as a filler. Want to know something? It works fine. So if you really have to do it, go ahed. Tried and tested n00bs.

To "FasterthanFriedman". I will be emailing the admins to make a complaint about you. If I were an admin you would be banned already. "Wow we have another nutjob!" - Great constructive critisism there, comments like that are really helpful. How old are you?

"Los Guitaros" - clearly you dont know what you're talking about. Ugh.

Edited by DukeTroy
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hey duketroy, the only thing disgusting here is that you were born out of *****. I am trying to stop this guy from wasting his money, just because you are used to throwing it away on hookers duketroy u **** :D . I agree with the idea about the maple, veneer is after all very fragile, and unless you have a uniformly flat top (you dont) then it will probably splinter. On the other hand you may not be able to get the style of top u want, plus maple is harder to dye so a finish such as the one your after is by no means guaranteed.Why dont you stick some tyre tread to the scratchplate, then it will look as cool as before. :D

Plus duketroy im not young enough for you to go to jail for, so ur probably not interested

I think i just figured out who this is.... B) .... it was nice and quiet without you and your multiple personalties around here for a couple of months....why don't you just go away again. Maybe go get that cup of coffee excuse and use it again

Edited by bluespresence
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frontwood.jpg

This is how its looking after stripping and sanding down the front. The back was especially resistant to stripper, eventually I sanded down. Tried not to sand too much of the grey primer paint off, can I simply sand this smooth, apply some wax to the exposed wood and paint in a car shop (my friend works their)? Ordering the maple soon.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f119/9956/DSC_0411.jpg

Looks dark/weird as I just washed it down with acetone, it is definitely down to the grey + wood.

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Its got to be the veneer...for the same price as I was going to spend I can get 2 bookmatched veneer flame tops (the website has a stupid minimum order thing). So either I have a backup piece, or I can test a HELL of a lot of finishes :D

I would love to show them, but my motivation is to make this good for me....not to own some forum people.

Peace

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I would love to show them, but my motivation is to make this good for me....not to own some forum people.

Amen to that. Some of the best things ive come up with were because I couldn't afford to buy the real deal.

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It seems you have to treat exposed wood in some way...Many people talk about rubbing wax in. Essentially what should I do, I dont mind buying a pot of wax or whatever product needed, but if its unnecessary then screw it.

Painting Question

I am planning to paint this with automative red paint, should I then buy a can of spray on laquer and spray + sand it. OR should I sand the paint after spraying then laquer and sand. A brief simple 1, 2, 3, 4 would sort me out SO much regarding finishing.

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DO NOT apply ANY wax if you intend on putting ANY finish over it later. At all. Ever. Just...don't. Wax bad, unless we're talking some paste wax as a final finishing touch on top of an oil finish. If you want to seal it right away (not really necessary. Y'know lumber yards? Exposed wood? Do just fine), get some de-waxed shellac (zinnser seal coat, f'r example) and slap some on.

Re: finishing...read the tutorials in the tutorials section. It's all there. Basically:

1) sand

2) seal

3) Pore fill (optional, might be swapped with sealing. Depends)

4) primer (if solid coloured, optional)

5) scuff sand (320'll do)

6) shoot colour until good, scuff sanding between coats only if necessary. Minimize sanding on colour coats.

7) Shoot clear coats, scuff sanding beginning of each day, levelling if necessary, max once/3 coats.

8) Shoot final coat, let cure

9) level sand final coat starting with 1200 grit, 800 if it's a bit nasty, work your way up to at least 1500 or 2000

10) buff and polish.

There's also info at StewMac.com (Free info section), as well as at Reranch.com

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Keep going.The bestlessons I ever learned were done the hard way.I pride myself on making things work where they really shouldn,t.I see no reason what you are doing won"t work but any infill material should match the surrounding wood.This is mostly for humidity.Close grained and loose grained woods move differently and could cause buckling or shrinking that could crack your veneer.Hope it works :D

Oh i forgot wax is very bad and will do no good.

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Ok 9956, all you need to do is cut a block (any hardwood will do) the same size / shape as the control cavity up to where the cavity connects with the bridge pickup. Make sure the block is slightly higher than the surrounding surface and epoxy it in there. Sand it down flush and then you can do your painting and veneer job. Then rout out your rear control cavity and drill the holes for the pots/switches. Does that sound like what you had in mind?

Edited by Southpa
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hey dude this project sounds like it's going to turrn out well. just don't give up because someone told you you can't do it, i think it sounds perfectly plausible, and i hope it turns out well for you. good luck!

also, fo any other skeptics, go to this site: http://members.fortunecity.com/jtfish/lpc/cvr/cover.htm (from the project guitar reference section)

this guy had to use pvc pipe as a binding, so don't say something cannot be done unless you've tried it.

again, good luck, it sounds like it will look awesome when it's finished!

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I've seen people selling woods for bodys that have their ends coated in wax, presumably to keep the wood from cracking or splitting. But that's just the ends--that part gets cut off, doesn't end up as part of the guitar.

Well, yeah. Parrafin wax as end sealer on boards that are stickered and drying, fine. Parrafin wax applied liberally over the top of the guitar, not s'much.

You get a lot of burls covered in wax all over (endgrain all over) which means you need to scrape it all off (not heat it; that would force it deeper) before trying to glue things to it.

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Ok 9956, all you need to do is cut a block (any hardwood will do) the same size / shape as the control cavity up to where the cavity connects with the bridge pickup. Make sure the block is slightly higher than the surrounding surface and epoxy it in there. Sand it down flush and then you can do your painting and veneer job. Then rout out your rear control cavity and drill the holes for the pots/switches. Does that sound like what you had in mind?

Yeah precisely, I have a piece of wood roughly cut to size. I am planning to rout first however, so (crude I know) I can draw "through" the hole onto the piece of wood and thus get a perfect shape fairly quickly.

Awesome guys, thanks Mattia, that has sorted the plan out. I need to do a tiny area more sanding of the paint (inside the horns some paint didnt strip) so I am nicking a little bit of dowel from the school shop today and putting sandpaper round it to get the curve right. I block sanded the whole body, apart from the rear chest contour which I did with the pressure coming from the heel of my hand, I could feel no inconsistensies that i have felt when I have sanded other things with my fingers as pressure.

Many thanks about the whole wax confusion, I will just sand the back and sides to 320 after I have finished paint removal on the horns and epoxied the blank in.

One thing I think I screwed up on, is I let a bit of water drip onto the neck pocket. I am paranoid this will completely screw up the neck angle (wood warping and all) I brushed it off as quickly as possible. Im fairly sure this is a basswood body, do you know the effects this would have? Was a small patch of water, probably about the size of "a quarter" (Im a Brit) and it was on about 30 seconds.

Thanks to ALL who answered helpfully

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Don't worry about the water; it'll dry up. 'Dried' wood can't be made 'wet' again simply by soaking it; the cellular structure changes in the drying process, and a drop of water's not going to ruin anything. Heck, I use water all the time to steam/soak dents out. Just look at the area; if it's a bit rought, or bumpy, 3 swipes of sandpaper will take care of it.

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DO NOT apply ANY wax if you intend on putting ANY finish over it later. At all. Ever. Just...don't. Wax bad, unless we're talking some paste wax as a final finishing touch on top of an oil finish. If you want to seal it right away (not really necessary. Y'know lumber yards? Exposed wood? Do just fine), get some de-waxed shellac (zinnser seal coat, f'r example) and slap some on.

hi there,

i'm in germany, and though i'm extremely fluent, i still don't know some odd words... what exactly would you call the de-waxed shellac (zinnser seal coat) in nederlands? i can probably figure out the german word then, or ask a bilingual friend to translate... cheers!

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Shellac is Schellak in Germany and NL. Ohne wachs, or whatever (mein Deutsch ist nicht mehr das was es einmal war...), a decent paint store should have the flakes and some denatured alcohol to dissolve them. If they don't know if it's dewaxed, have them look it up in the spec sheets. If it doesn't say it is, assume it's not; it can be 'dewaxed' by letting it sit around for a while, have the wax settle out, but that takes entirely too long if you're in a hurry (week or so, minimum). In fact, the flakes I buy at my local Dutch shop are from Germany.

I mentioned Zinnser Seal coat, which is a US brand of pre-mixed dewaxed, because I've seen it on shelves at some pait/art supply stores here. I'm just as happy to mix my own, given it's very, very simple (1 part flakes, 2 parts alcohol is a perfectly good seal coat).

Edited by mattia
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