Prostheta Posted November 8, 2013 Report Share Posted November 8, 2013 This thread will be a collection of information and stages of planning a build using parts found on eBay. Ultimately this will become a series of articles on specific techniques and procedures for the main Project Guitar site with one main article documenting the build with reference to these. For the moment this will serve as a public thread discussing everything as it happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted November 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2013 Finding second hand parts on eBay is a great way to build a new instrument on a budget and stops perfectly (well, usually...) good parts going to waste. This is the body I picked up for just over £22 on ebay.co.uk This body came from a middle-of-the-road superstrat made by Aria Pro II. Not entirely dissimilar to this: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted November 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2013 The body is in reasonable shape with a few dings here and there around the body. The carve is for a traditional six-screw style Strat bridge with a corresponding rout on the underside. It appears to be a figured veneer vacuum-pressed over the carved Alder body. Inspecting the edges (which have roughly a 3mm roundover) I suspect that the veneer is extremely thin. There is absolutely no observable chatoyance (the reflective effect of alternating wood fibre sides/ends in figured wood causing a 3D shimmering) in the veneer which suggests that it is either a fake photo finish (the catalogues say "Maple") or a veneer that has been stained and sanded back to "pop" the figure. In many cases, this technique can produce an exaggeration of the figuring in wood at the expense of that figures natural depth and "movement" when light moves around it. Sloppy routs for components, rough-edged too. Bad bad bad. Oh nice. Free compound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted November 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2013 The heel is tempting me with the possibility of converting this body to a seven-string however I think that for the purposes of these tutorials this would create unnecessary complication. I'm going to take some Nitro Mors chemical paint stripper to this and see what we're left with. Quite likely nothing will dent this paint and we might be left with having to resort to stronger methods. Like Nitro Mors isn't strong enough.... If the Nitro Mors doesn't work, then the veneer will more than likely end up toast. I doubt that it will be worth salvaging anyway. Under that tinted clear the veneer might as well be covered with solid paint or stuck with a photo since there is no life left to the figure. The Alder is four-piece and what with physical reality being what it is, will likely stay that way too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted November 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2013 Had some better lighting today to further examine the body. Chipping away the finish around some of the corner dings revealed that the top is a veneer and wasn't stained to pop the figure. The veneer appears extremely thin and is sealed under the nuclear-proof stuff that can only really be removed physically by sanding or scraping. That can stay where it is I think. Subsequent inspection revealed areas of sloppy work.... Veneer adhesive splashed onto the surface. Plus a lack of finish sanding in the inner horn area. Sandthrough and/or more adhesive. Another angle of this issue. 3D stereogram I made so you can experience this firsthand! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted November 10, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2013 The instrument will be converted to become a more-or-less standard hardtail Superstrat with a few important modifications here and there. Cosmetically the existing cavity routing will be cleaned up and done as it should have been in the first place. Veneer will be toasted purely because it has so many issues. I'll look into the possibility of re-veneering the top if I can find anybody locally with a bagging system. I intend to block up the top trem rout and partially do this to the rear rout. Part of the rear trem cavity will become a dual battery compartment and the plate cut to match. Since the veneer will end up toasted there is plenty of opportunity to modify the carve. Part of this is because of my intention to bind the body, however the size of the roundover and the presence of cutaways travelling deeper than the perimeter of the body present both a physical and cosmetic hurdle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted November 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2013 Okay, a bit of an update on prepping the body prior to starting the real work.As expected, the veneer was in fact hair thin and had received a stain/sandback hence why there was no life left in the figure. The random orbital sander (Mirka CEROS) loaded with 100 grit paper made short work of the evil that men paint. My aim was to work purely on the curvature, leaving the top and edges until last. They take care of themselves and are done last. After this was all sorted I cleaned the perimeter with the spindle sander. The lower cutaway turned out to be a real mess as could be seen through the paint. Deep scratches which almost required the cutaway to be slightly reshaped. After removing the paint it was time to sort out that awful work in the cavity. The intention was to take a template, clean the outline and expand it slightly before applying that shape to the cavity. Copying the cavity shape (slight ding at the right where the bearing dropped in a bit): The basic shape was re-created as a set of straight lines.... ....then chiselled out. I considered adding a bit of polyester filler to repair the ding but decided that since this will be hidden it would be a waste of time. Template re-fitted and cavity routed. I took it deeper than the original, to the depth of the shallowest pot location. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted November 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2013 Black Alder infill chosen for similar growth ring orientation. Routing out rear spring cavity. Checking infill is flush from the top side. Glueing in. Marking out top infill area. Infill material cut to size. Top infill cut and sanded flush. Rear infill cut and sanded flush. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted November 26, 2013 Report Share Posted November 26, 2013 Error: Could not load template 'bbCodeImageNoPermission' from group 'gallery_global' Hey Pros, the above is the message I get when clicking on your pics to see the enlargement. Oddly enough, if I click on one from your earlier posts it works fine...... SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted November 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2013 Ah, figured that might happen. It's because they are in a restricted area of the gallery system which is for articles in progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted November 26, 2013 Report Share Posted November 26, 2013 I can see them fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted November 26, 2013 Report Share Posted November 26, 2013 Perhaps as a moderator you have permissions for the restricted area....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted November 26, 2013 Report Share Posted November 26, 2013 Maybe,but I am a technology caveman,so what do I know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted November 26, 2013 Report Share Posted November 26, 2013 Me too buddy. You got a couple of sticks? It's cold and I want to make a fire. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted November 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2013 This would seem a good opportunity to ask; you can see the thumbnails okay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottR Posted November 27, 2013 Report Share Posted November 27, 2013 For me it is the same as yesterday, I can see all of them except the ones you posted yesterday. To be 100% accurate, I can see the thumbnails in your post, but cannot get to the enlargements. SR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted November 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2013 Okay, thanks. My concern is that these images are meant to be public in terms of being embedded in articles, the forums, etc. but not visible within the Gallery system itself since that is kind of a drag. I really don't want to have to add code to the Gallery since that will break future software releases....argh.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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