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Posted

Heya Guy's,

Im doing a fabric refinish on a jackson JS30 that im fixing up.

Reality is Im using it as a guinny pig for working out my fabric finish tecnique for my next custom build... so I'll likely sell it (hopefully to get back my $$$ from the mod's / refinish) once it's complete.

I've chosen some fabric... but im not sure about it... so im loking for some opinions....

It seems like the kinda thing where you'd either love it or hate it...

Body and fabric

and then the neck to go with it...

replaced the cheep dots with some black MOP dots i had laying around that just happened to be the correct size... black mop = epic win if you ask me... looks good...

Whadda ya all think.... Epic win or epic fail????

1.jpg

2.jpg

Posted

How heavy is the material you are using ? Is it cotton ?

Be aware that the black colour of the guitar is most likly going to tint the white in the fabric. background colour is very important with a fabric finish.

I have done a few, This is one My link

Do you know your method yet ? If you put up some details of how you intend to do it some of us on here can help you avoid some pitfalls before you start.

I rekon the fabric choice is cool. But i would lay it on at a bit of an angle to avoid it causing horizontal & vertical break lines in your overall look.

Posted

I appoligize but im clueless when it comes to fabric... it's a medium weight cloth i would guess.... not overly heavy not overly light....

Game plan is to sand the top down to the bare wood (looks like alder) then to use titebond to glue the fabric down to the bare wood.... fill with a clear filler and get my buddy to burst the edges with his airbrush... then some clear and done.

Posted

I appoligize but im clueless when it comes to fabric... it's a medium weight cloth i would guess.... not overly heavy not overly light....

Game plan is to sand the top down to the bare wood (looks like alder) then to use titebond to glue the fabric down to the bare wood.... fill with a clear filler and get my buddy to burst the edges with his airbrush... then some clear and done.

Sounds OK. Be sure to test the titebond on the white first. Us titebond original. Iv never used wood glue where there is white in the fabric. Usually a 2 part clear epoxy. Make sure you use plenty of grain filler aswell. leaving a day at least between applications. Then wait at least a week to 10 days before you clear it to let any moisture introduced into the guitar escape.

You should use a few bulking coats of clear before you try level it for the final coats. sanding thru to the fabric is an absolute bitch :D

Good luck with this. Keep us posted. & remember - lots of piks !!!!!

Posted

Sounds OK. Be sure to test the titebond on the white first. Us titebond original. Iv never used wood glue where there is white in the fabric. Usually a 2 part clear epoxy. Make sure you use plenty of grain filler aswell. leaving a day at least between applications. Then wait at least a week to 10 days before you clear it to let any moisture introduced into the guitar escape.

You should use a few bulking coats of clear before you try level it for the final coats. sanding thru to the fabric is an absolute bitch :D

Good luck with this. Keep us posted. & remember - lots of piks !!!!!

I've got some LMII luthiers glue that's supposed to dry clear... do you think that would be a better choice? I just chose titebond because that's what's in the DIY.... Perhaps i'll try both on scrap and see how it works out....

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted (edited)

So,

Long story short.

I had the last week off of work while I was moving.

got alot done.

Sanded the black paint off so it wouldnt show thru the white fabric. (the photo is about 1/2 way thru the process... VERY thick finish on this one..)

sanding.jpg

Tested the lmii glue on a sample...

worked well...

tested the mod podge... worked well.... so i thought....

So I went ahead and glued down my fabric on the guitar

superman.jpg

All was going well...

I applied 3 coats of the mod podge...

all looked well....

untill i started sanding....

it was terrible...

the mod podge didnt dry even after several days....

it remained tacky indeffinatly....

so it would litterally ball up, load up the paper and then stop sanding essentially immediatly...... It was like trying to sand hot rubber....

and it just got worse from there....

I had a little more luck wet sanding... but that's a whole new issue....

then i found out that the lmii glue hardended soooo fast I didnt get a chance to get all the bubbles out... so i had a couple sand thru pockets.....

but i kept at it....

and finally got everything level... with a couple of tiny holes where i'd sanded thru....

so i brought everything into the house and put everything together in a nice neat stack so my lady friend wouldnt have a kaniption fit.....

when i returned several hours later I found that the mod podge had glued itself to the sandpaper i put on top of the guitar body....

then i noticed the blade of grass that i'd somehow managed to glue down under the fabric....

I can kinda see it in the picture... between the two pickups kinda by supermans feet in the white area..... FML!!!!

so yeah... round 1...

fabric finish 5

jdogg 0

It's on... it's on like donkey kong my friend....

I think I'll light the rest of my mod podge on fire.... and check at windsor plywood for a REAL sanding sealer....

sooo much anger....

Edited by Jdogg
Posted

Dont worry about it man. fabric finishes are not easy. Read this My link it should help.

I use a high silicon content sealer from lmi, dries clear & rock solid. You can also just forget the sealeer& use your bulking coats to do the job. About 7 coats of clear is usualy enough to get you sorted. but these are a sealer & not the finish.

Pity. it looked realy cool. try again man :D

Posted

I've been following that tutorial pretty closely for the last little bit...

He reccomends the mod podge... which is why I tried it in the first place...

this time i'll get a real pore filler and do it right...

lesson learned.... hopefully....

Posted

Just a quick note on the mod podge. My wife uses it for several things and I tried it on my first fabric finish. The gloss level has a dramatic difference in dry time with. I think I still have some test fabric around here that's gooey with the gloss finish. Used the matte with good results, but still not as good as epoxy :D

Posted

Small update....

peeled the old fabric off this weekend....

Came off as kinda like one giant sticker....

sanding the LMII glue back to the body was nearly impossible....

danm LMII glue is hard as nails once it's set....

Also noticed I had a few more little tidbits hidden under the fabric that I couldnt see.....

Turns out they were all stray fibers from the fabric... so I made sure not to make that mistake twice....

Soo..... got everything level and tried again.... this time im using LMII glue to fill the fabric... and it seems to be working... just need to wait for it to dry completely so i can see if it'll sand smooth...

  • 4 weeks later...
Posted (edited)

So.. another small update on this one...

I was able to make the lmii glue work as a filler... but i'll never do it again....

burst4.jpg

it didnt turn out perfect this time... but much better than last time....

I went searching store to store for hours for a "sanding sealer" and found nothing....

I think next time I'll fill it with a clear brush on finish... or try the mat mod podge.... level sand and call er a day.... this has just been an incredible nightmare.....

either way... it's ready for my buddy to do the burst with his airbrush.. then i'll hit it with a can of clear over top and call er a day..... hopefully....

The neck on this project is also nearly complete....

I'll post pictures of that soon...

Edited by Jdogg

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