Yew-topped SG-style Guitar

[Andyjr1515]

Second coat and the back is there.  I know that if I put another coat on it will get worse and not better:


The top...hmmm...close:


There's a couple of small (and inconspicuous) areas where it will probably polish up when it's fully hardened.  While I could do another coat, I don't actually want it to end up too thick.

I'll have a look in the morning when it will be hard enough to handle properly so I can see where the light catches it and decide then

[curtisa]

I think that top should be called 'Jupiter Stormclouds'.

[Andyjr1515]

1 hour ago, curtisa said:

I think that top should be called 'Jupiter Stormclouds'.

Similar thoughts - it reminds me of those close up astrophotography film clips of sunspots.

[curtisa]

All you need now is to devise a way of animating it the same way as those film clips and you could retire on the royalties from the technology..

[Andyjr1515]

So back to worldly matters 

I'm going to let this cure for another day or two before I make the final judgement on whether the next stage is to polish (which will be after a week or two of curing) or a final 2000 grit flattening and a couple of final, final coats.

The reason for that judgement (and I have to make it every time I do gloss this way) is that you can't - in fact you mustn't - buff this type of poly varnished finish as you would with, say, nitro spray.  The reason is that each application of nitro and similar, melt into the previous dry coats.  This type of poly varnish doesn't.  Each cured layer is a distinct layer.  So if you buff - cutting through layers, you expose the under layers and you can get unsightly contour marks.
But you can polish a poly varnish done this way.  The polishing works on the final coat - it smooths minor lumps and bumps, dust buggies, light brush ridges.  It needs to be rock hard before you do that otherwise even this risks cutting through to underneath layers.

Either way, I can get on with finishing the rest of it, because if I do a final flattening and a couple of light top coats, it needs at least a week hardening first anyway.

It's very close though and so this may not need anything more than the final polish.  
This is always a decent test:


I never worry about the finish sinking into the grain - I think that actually enhances the organic feel - but there are a couple of non-grain lumps and bumps that - again - may polish out or might need flattening.  

But, whatever, this is going to end up as eyecatching as I had hoped at the beginning   The obligatory mockups:

So while that's curing, next focus is oil and buffing the neck, levelling and crowning the frets and positioning and fitting the tuners

[ScottR]

SR

[Gogzs]

I see you left it full glossy on the back side/neck as well. I felt like the Minwax wipe-on poly gets stickyish if my hand gets sweaty, so I used fine sanding paper and brought the back side and neck to a satin finish instead leaving it full glossy, feels much nicer now... just curious how truoil is in that regard?

[Andyjr1515]

2 hours ago, Gogzs said:

I see you left it full glossy on the back side/neck as well. I felt like the Minwax wipe-on poly gets stickyish if my hand gets sweaty, so I used fine sanding paper and brought the back side and neck to a satin finish instead leaving it full glossy, feels much nicer now... just curious how truoil is in that regard?

No the neck itself from the heel will be a tru-oil-like sluffy and buff approach so will be satin. 

I like both types of finish - but it sometimes depends on the wood.  For Yew, the only way to bring out the true spectacle of the figuring is with a good traditional gloss. 

For many or most of more homogeneous woods, I favour the tru-oil satin approach.  This one is tru-oil and, although it is figured, there is a homogeneity there too:

[Andyjr1515]

In terms of yesterday's activities, first thing I did was drill the tuner holes.  Matt was happy with the compromise of strings bending at the nut to retain a more traditional headstock shape.  I always draw headstocks full-size and only when I physically have the tuners at hand!  Been there, done that!

I then started the treatment of the neck.  I will be using the Tru-oil slurry-and-buff method - fabulous for necks - but recently I've started using Danish Oil rather than Tru-oil (although I still use Tru-oil for the bodies).
Reason is that I've found that over extended playing, the tru-oil necks sometimes get a bit grain-furry where they are most regularly used.  All it needs is a quick rub down with some micro-web or similar to sort it, but I've found that decent Danish Oil applied in the same way gives the same organic silky smooth result, but appears - certainly on the ones I've done this way - to be just a touch longer lasting before you need to re-buff.

The main thing I have found with both, though, is that the wood needs to have absorbed a decent amount of oil before the slurry and buff starts.  I usually apply at least two generous coats of oil to soak in and fully dry first:


And this is how it is this morning, dry and ready for the slurry and buff process to begin - probably starting with 400 grit emery to be applying the Danish Oil with. This is broadly the colour it will now stay at, but it will end up satin rather than the matt you see here:


Again, the light stripe of the maple veneer is subtle but really adds to the look of the fretboard join : 

I have to say I'm pleased with the heel - it is the great, great advantage of through-necks, particularly with slim bodies, in spite of some of the challenges of doing them.  Matt should find this very nice to play.  Oh - and even with the tuners fitted and no body hardware...it balances!  Phew!

[Gogzs]

10 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said:

I have to say I'm pleased with the heel - it is the great, great advantage of through-necks, particularly with slim bodies

This was the main motivation I had for building mine, the neck joint on the Ibanez S series is rather bulky and a huge compromise in my opinion. Thanks for the tips about the neck finish, will consider Danish oil definitely for the next build

[Andyjr1515]

7 hours ago, Gogzs said:

This was the main motivation I had for building mine, the neck joint on the Ibanez S series is rather bulky and a huge compromise in my opinion. Thanks for the tips about the neck finish, will consider Danish oil definitely for the next build

I think @ScottR passed on that tip to me...and we all know what we think of HIS builds 

[Norris]

Looking gorgeous!

[Andyjr1515]

For the control chamber hatch, I take a sheet of paper and run my fingernail round the recess to make a template:


Then cut the shape out of the offcut slice I cut a while back a mm or less oversize.  And then just use a sanding block to gradually make my way round the recess until I get a clear but close fit:


As long as I can keep this flat - which means applying the finish to both sides each time - then this should hold well with magnets, and ditto the trussrod cover.

Other jobs done: fret ends rounded; headstock plate started being varnished.  I'm quite close to having few enough jobs left to be able to fit the list onto a piece of A4!

 

[komodo]

I want to plaaaaaaay it.

[Andyjr1515]

I decided, once the varnish had fully shrunk after a week's curing, that it did need flattening and then a couple of final coats of varnish applying. 

While I'm happy with ridges that are following the grain lines, I'm trying to get rid of the ridges that are from accumulated brush strokes and other lumps, bumps and dust buggies but taking care not to get back down to the timber.  And I've mentioned it before, but it is worth repeating, that unlike nitro and other 'melting' finishes, with this kind of finish done this way you flatten before  the final coats and not after. 

I have used here some 1500 grit wet 'n dry used wet and with a sanding block.  Almost there.  Again, I'm trying to flatten the varnish itself and not get down to the underlying timber - so gently does it! :

I then give one or two thin gloss coats - here I generally thin the varnish around 5% to ensure that it flows and flattens.  This process often takes a few goes.  This is after the first go - close but no cigar:

While it's a whole lot flatter than before and the lumps, bumps and dust buggies are sorted, the surface finish is a bit bobbly.  So it is simply a case of letting it cure a day, then repeating with a very light flattening (usually 2000-2500 grit) and another go...and this whole process repeated as often as needed. Here, patience is your friend - you are only affecting that final couple of coats, so at least one time it's going to be OK!

This is better - much flatter than before and decent surface quality that will gloss up nicely with a light polishing in a week or so when it's fully hardened:

But it's already hard enough to be worked on, so I can now carry on and finish the build

Today's job is going to be fitting the magnets to the control chamber hatch that has also been varnished:


And then it's the other dozen or so finishing jobs, final polish and done!    Probably by the end of the coming weekend 

Must chase up Matt and see how he's getting on with pickups for it!

[curtisa]

19 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Must chase up Matt and see how he's getting on with pickups for it!

Please tell me this isn't where you find out Matt's pickups are slightly different than 'standard' humbucker dimensions 

[Andyjr1515]

2 hours ago, curtisa said:

Please tell me this isn't where you find out Matt's pickups are slightly different than 'standard' humbucker dimensions 

No - already checked

[Andyjr1515]

Didn't get round to the hatch magnets yesterday.  Instead, I went for something much more scary!  Fitting the stoptail.

Now this really is a measure 15 times, drill once.  This - and the ToM bridge is even worse - has to be right.

I used my little drill press to drill the 11mm holes and then also used the drill press chuck to press them in:




I still have to drill the earth wire hole and fit the wire, so will be removing the lower bout insert soon (Tip about removing inserts/bushes, assuming they are open ended - get a bolt of the correct size, screw it in until it bottoms on the body wood at the bottom of the hole, use a spanner to carry on screwing and it will lift the insert gently out).

In terms of finding the insert hole from the control chamber with my earth-wire drill bit, I have a cunning plan.  Just got to remember what on earth that might have been   

But, challenges aside, it's starting to look like a guitar:


Now that I have the stoptail and tuners in place, I can pop a spare 6th and 1st string on and position the bridge to make sure that it is lined up with the fretboard.  Then the last really scary bit after checking the measurements, oh, probably 35 times? - drilling for the bridge inserts  

[ADFinlayson]

That's one boutique looking SG there Andy, I'm working on wet sanding my two builds but I think I'll leave them an extra few weeks so I don't have to enter them into the same GOTM as you  

[curtisa]

15 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said:

I have a cunning plan.  Just got to remember what on earth that might have been  

Nice one, Baldrick

[mistermikev]

wow, like a dissertation in finish application.  well done.

[Gogzs]

I catch myself staring at the top, just to snap out of it, wondering how long I was gone. 11/10, will stare at it again when I finish with work

[Andyjr1515]

1 hour ago, ADFinlayson said:

That's one boutique looking SG there Andy, I'm working on wet sanding my two builds but I think I'll leave them an extra few weeks so I don't have to enter them into the same GOTM as you  

I used to do a bit of writing.  Never really got anywhere, but I did start getting a much better class of rejection letter...

So, on the same theme, coming second to you or @ScottR  or any one of a whole gaggle of the others would be an achievement in its own right

So finish away! 

[Andyjr1515]

For the bridge, now I have the stop-tail in place, I can fit a couple of strings and get the bridge in exactly the right position both for string-to-fretboard-edge distance and, of course, intonation.

For the latter, I wind the top E string saddle fully forward and place that at the scale length and then wind the bottom E fully back and ensure that there are a couple of mm adjustment possible behind the 'normal' offset of around 5mm.  This way, if I have a cumulative build error of up to 1mm somewhere, it's still going to fully intonate.



And then same process - drill on the drill-press, press the inserts in and pop the bridge on the pegs to make sure it all fits as it should:

 

And finally, another mockup   

Bit of decorating tomorrow, but might be able to either make a start on the fret levelling or maybe sort the control positions  

[komodo]

16 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

So, on the same theme, coming second to you or @ScottR  or any one of a whole gaggle of the others would be an achievement in its own right

Let’s be honest, there is no second here. That thing is stunning and can’t be defined by a silly contest. Sometimes I wonder whether we should even have such things.