johnuk Posted February 18, 2004 Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 Well, yeah! I shouldn't have touched the guitar... but I did anyway! I have a Fender Squire lying around which is not only third hand, but has been thru a number of modifications and was looking for sad about it's self. So I am fitting a brand new original FR I've had lying around for months and some other new bits I have spare to make it a fun guitar to play about the house. I'm not trying to create a work of art by any means. I am am trying to think of a way I can fill the horrible cavities. I remember seeing a thread similar to this on here some time last year. I don't want to have a pickguard, so I need to fill in the electronics cavity and leave a space where I want the bridge pickup to go. A bit like EVH first home made Kramer guitars - I can think of a way to do this but I thought I'd ask you to make sure I wasn't doing anything seriously unnecessary. Although I have new parts lying around to put in the guitar, I don't want to spend a lot of time with it or any particularly large amount of money - it's destiny is as a beta guitar. My first idea was to mix up some two part resin and just pour it into the cavity, perhaps adding some lumps of spare mahogany to remove some of the volume, and save cost. Then I began wondering if perhaps there was something else I could use. Epoxy never seems to dry past being rubbery, so that's not going to work. But I read something about cement / plaster based moulding materials. Like I say, it's nothing major, it's a cheap guitar and I'm only fixing it up because I have the parts spare. I have to say though, whatever the answer is, I'd really prefer it didn't involve any routing. The pourable resin has the beautiful aspect to it that I can just mix it, pour it and leave it to set up, then sand it flat. But it's about $25 for a bottle each of the parts, and it's tricky to find in the UK. Any ideas? Many thanks! John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www Posted February 18, 2004 Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 Can't you just shape some wood to fill the cavities? It is harder than using resin, but it is a better fix IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fidgec94 Posted February 18, 2004 Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 I am by no means an expert, but i was thinking along the same lines as www. At the very least you shape a piece to a very approximate shape and then fill the gaps left over with resin. Like you said, you'll save on resin costs that way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted February 18, 2004 Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 I would really fill as much of the cavity as you pssibly could with real wood, like Maple or Basswood. These woods don't have deep grains to fill. If you have any outstanding areas to fill afterwards, I use Bondo. Bondo is great stuff for filling voids, I love it. Just pouring some a/b epoxy in the cavity is not a good idea. Maybe consider doing a veneer top after you fill everything in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MzI Posted February 18, 2004 Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 after puttin blocks of wood in there i recommend 2 part wood putty, works the same as bondo for guitars dries really hard and is paintable and sandable etc etc MzI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RHOADS-N-RONSON Posted February 20, 2004 Report Share Posted February 20, 2004 I was just reading up on this subject. The author suggests filling in as tighly as possibly with wood, then making up a mixture of 2-part epoxy thickened heavily with fine saw dust. This is essentially a home made "wood dough" filler which is sandable, paintable, ect. Hope this helps. Jimmy K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnuk Posted February 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2004 Thanks for the ideas. I'll give it a go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sethmetal Posted February 20, 2004 Report Share Posted February 20, 2004 I successfully filled a pickup cavity with two part wood putty. It worked awesome. It would take alot of putty to do an area that large, but I think it would be a good way to do it. I would probably fill it in several layers to ensure proper curing. Although I did the single coil slot in one layer. Just an idea -Seth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted February 21, 2004 Report Share Posted February 21, 2004 Can you spray any finish over the wood filler? Would it have to be oil based? Devon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted February 21, 2004 Report Share Posted February 21, 2004 Another option (which is more work but inexpensive) is to just take 1/8" off the top then slap on a 1/8" thick maple top, trim & sand edges flush with body, and go from there. You get a semi-chambered body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Page_Master Posted February 21, 2004 Report Share Posted February 21, 2004 i think you should take a look at Brian's tutorial on: Trem to Hard Tail Conversion. ok, sure the title has very little to do with want you want to do, but the process is almost congruent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tezifon Posted February 21, 2004 Report Share Posted February 21, 2004 im doing it, basically i use balsa wood+ hard wood top + epoxy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted February 22, 2004 Report Share Posted February 22, 2004 Will two part epoxy take finish without a primer? I wanna use nitro translucent on one of my guitars, and there's a bit of a gap I need to fill. Devon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Page_Master Posted February 23, 2004 Report Share Posted February 23, 2004 Tezifon Posted on Feb 21 2004, 11:31 AM im doing it, basically i use balsa wood+ hard wood top + epoxy balsa wood? i would use a solid piece of hard wood. StonesCreed Posted on Feb 22 2004, 03:29 PM Will two part epoxy take finish without a primer? I wanna use nitro translucent on one of my guitars, and there's a bit of a gap I need to fill. Devon i was talking to brain about the process a few months back. after the block of wood has been added, smoothed down the primered up, you can still see the edge of the block that has been glued in. [by all means glue the block in with wood glue] he said the trick to making a smooth finish was to use the 2 part epoxy as a filler around the block. and yes, it must be primed again after that. the only down side with this process is that it cannot use a translucent finish, only a solid one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted February 23, 2004 Report Share Posted February 23, 2004 I like the looks of Eddie's guitar WITH all the exposed cavities http://www.btinternet.com/~theonlineguitarmagazine/ Like he was using in the days when he played really well (in the studio) and you could throw peanuts into his mouth, if you stood in the front row at his shows Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLS Posted February 23, 2004 Report Share Posted February 23, 2004 Balsa wood isent a good idea you cna indent that stuff with your thumb nail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted February 23, 2004 Report Share Posted February 23, 2004 What is a filler I could use to match (or at least get close to) the surrounding wood, that will work with nitro? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted February 23, 2004 Report Share Posted February 23, 2004 What is a filler I could use to match (or at least get close to) the surrounding wood, that will work with nitro? Thanks they have nitrocellulose filler....but i would not use it to fill the entire cavity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tezifon Posted February 23, 2004 Report Share Posted February 23, 2004 about the balsa wood thing i readed gibson use it in some series and wanted to try it, i hardened it with white glue and seem solid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted February 23, 2004 Report Share Posted February 23, 2004 I'm not filling a cavity, it's a crack where the heat gun shrunk the wood joing a little bit. Not a very big gap, but plenty enough to screw up a good finish. Devon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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