westhemann Posted March 5, 2013 Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 Can it be used to advantage, ie if I wanted to have the finish somewhat cracked? I have "heard" of people taking a nitro cured guitar and putting it in the freezer for a while and then putting it in the sun to cause the finish to crack and look old,but I would never do that and I wouldn't trust it since I think it is too risky besides...hard to find a freezer large enough for a set neck guitar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted March 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 Thanks! Just curious, I'm not really into relicing, but I might try something like that just for fun sometime... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pan_kara Posted March 5, 2013 Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 It would be cool to crack a color coat and then clear over it (without cracks of course). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted March 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 Started No2! Also working on v1.1 of the tr cover cutter, MDF could work if I put 2 dowels in. Salvaged already made template by making it 2... Started by making sure that the body base is prefectly flat, and proceeded by sanding the back to get rid of all the marks. Next I plan to sand the sides, too. Laid out all the wood parts of the build, seems it's all there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 Can it be used to advantage, ie if I wanted to have the finish somewhat cracked? I have "heard" of people taking a nitro cured guitar and putting it in the freezer for a while and then putting it in the sun to cause the finish to crack and look old,but I would never do that and I wouldn't trust it since I think it is too risky besides...hard to find a freezer large enough for a set neck guitar Im one of those people. except i do it the other way around. I keep the guitar in my drying room where its a constant 32 centigrade (well, close to constant) Then I dunk it into a box freezer for a few minits. take it back out & hang it in the heat again. Usualy crazes up the finish. But only if im asked fot it. & it only realy works with nitro varnishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireFly Posted March 7, 2013 Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 I agree with spraying in the shade vs sunlight... However, I don't think it would crack due to that. What usually happens is the outer layer dries first, and all those gasses are trapped under that layer, resulting in a cloudy finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted March 7, 2013 Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 JUst curious... what do you use to glue the binding? I've been using super glue but I don't like it. After 4 guitars using the stuff, I don't like the way it dries hard and become so hard to scrape off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted March 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 (edited) Just plain acetone. I used to use it clean, but now I add some binding scraps to it, approx until it becomes milky coloured. I think I like it more, so I'll stick with it for now. I tried the superglue, but it was hard on my fingers, and besides, it's not necesarry. I use it on binding the fingerboards, I believe it helps prevent any issues due to sweat, dirt etc, but I might be wrong... Edited March 7, 2013 by gpcustomguitars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted March 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2013 Had some other things to finish, but back to No2! Glued the neck lams together, prepared the top to be glued tommorrow, and prepared the headstock face plate. The body base is sanded, waiting for the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted March 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2013 Glued the top using the new scrap-made jig, sanded the neck planes flat, and thicknessed a few faceplates. Then thicknessed and flattened the top, and glued it on. For the next session, I'm planning just a lot of routing - truss rod chanell, various top routes, binding ledge and rounding the back edge.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted March 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2013 After some computer problems, some new pics. I've just finished wet sanding the No1 finally, I'll buff it out tommorow and start the assembly. In the meanwhile, No2 is progressing nicely. I have changed the procedure in some details slightly, and so far so good. Only problem I had was with the cheap wood screws I used to glue on the top - 4 out of 4 snapped when I tried to unscrew them, so I had to drill around them a bit, to get some grip for the pliers, and got them out. No damage done...just some wasted time. After all the routing of the top angles and the ledge etc, I bound the body last night. I got a dedicated jig for routing a lot of neck related things, and tried it out on truss rod channel, way better han what I used to do I want to route the neck pocket now, fit the neck, and then glue the fretboard and carve the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted March 21, 2013 Report Share Posted March 21, 2013 That fretboard looks real nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted March 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2013 Thanks! Buffed out the No1, and started the assembly, No2 will wait for now. I'm missing a few parts, abr bridge being the most important one, but I'll do everything else while waiting on the mailman... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted March 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 (edited) Assembly! Still waiting on the abr and the togggle, but the rest of the parts arrived today, so it looks more and more like a guitar! I've started carving the No2 top. Edited March 27, 2013 by gpcustomguitars 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted March 27, 2013 Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 Nice. What are you getting for the ABR? I'm thinking of trying out the Callaham stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted March 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 I'm trying out the guitarfetish one, wanted their Alnico II PAF's, but decided to use some pups I had already. I'll get the PAF's for No2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pan_kara Posted March 28, 2013 Report Share Posted March 28, 2013 Nice clean classic look. Love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted March 28, 2013 Report Share Posted March 28, 2013 Personally, I'm not super thrilled with the GFS bridges aside from their SS saddles and trem blocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted May 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2013 Well, got the parts, and some surgery done, just to get myself back up and I'll string it up, really excited to see what came out! Parts look fine to me, but we'll see... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted February 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Well, after a looong time, it's finally done! A lot happened in the meanwhile, and this came back from the back burner just now. 2 generic hums, nice sounding tho, clasic wiring. I got some help with this photo, my version would have been really bad... Hope you like it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 25, 2015 Report Share Posted February 25, 2015 Wow, that's been burnin' out back for quite a while! It's good to hear you're in a position again to pull it off the back burner.......and it came out fine too. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted February 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Thanks Scott! I had some surgery done, and then had a burglary which left me without almost all the power tools in the shop... They left the bandsaw, as it was too heavy, but the rest...no guitar parts were taken, or the guitars - they just wanted the power tools. So I was not in the mood for a while, and then did a tele last summer for a class of kids as a graduation present to one of them - just couldn't say no , they had a really low budget and really wanted that guitar as a gift to their classmate. I actually had to go and buy a router to do it Then some knife handles, an actual knife, a mug, some bows for the kids, wooden working Colt Walker, bog chair for me and then decided to finish this one finally and restart the guitars. I'm working on finishing a few more, we'll see what happens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Man, being stolen from sucks, you feel so angry and powerless at the same time. Sounds like you got your shop and yourself restored though. I'm looking forward to seeing what's next. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpcustomguitars Posted February 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Thanks! Still working on the shop, I still sorely miss the orbital sander...anyway, here's the next one (one of them): I guess you can tell I took this pic I'll get help with a proper photo when it's done, but basically, this is my own LP, made about 8-9 years ago. Sapele body, mahogony neck, MOP details from an actual shell brought from a vacation, plain maple top etc...Big sound, but terribly heavy, and the neck profile was off and too thick. I scraped and rasped new neck thickness and proper profile, reset the nut and did a relief on the back, a la Dickey Betts. Also, wanted to change the look a little, and cut a pickguard out of some white acrylic plate I have. The sound actually got bigger with the weight loss. I want to sand it some more and repair the lacquer, but without the color, I want the transition plainly visible. Very comfortable too, although I would never say I would like a tummy cut on a LP before... I plan to finish all the guitars I didn't quite finish over the last few years, we'll see how that goes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted February 26, 2015 Report Share Posted February 26, 2015 Nice! I like the look of that back and the cut never even crossed my mind before. And I love P-90s. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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