awilcox

I used primavera for my first guitar build and have since worked with mahogany. I found it very easy to work with, sand, etc, - similar to mahogany. It is much lighter than mahogany in color. The guitar I built ended up sounding great with lots of sustain, but that is probably more attributed to the total package/design than just the body wood.

I thought about trying another mehtod of attaching the control cavitiy cover - but I prefer the gold screws myself, so I went with that.

While I am waiting for the nitro to cure on my two current projects, I decided to build myself a flying V. This will likely be the last guitar I build for a while as I just don't have the room for more guitars and I am not really interested in building them to sell at this point. The body will be mahogany with quilt maple top and flamed maple back, flamed maple neck, quilt maple headstock, ebony fingerboard, gold dot inlays, gold hardware, white binding front and back. Here are a few pictures of my progress. I am not sure what finish to do yet.

neck blank

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h7/Wilco...06/100_1191.jpg

neck roughed out

fingerboard and headstock laminate

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h7/Wilcox_2006/G4-26.jpg

mahogany body cut out:

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h7/Wilco...06/100_1187.jpg

back of body:

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h7/Wilcox_2006/G4-27.jpg

front of body:

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h7/Wilcox_2006/G4-30.jpg

Nice looking guitar! That is one of my favorite finishes on quilt maple - mind if I ask your finishing process.

As a related question - is there such thing as letting nitro dry too long - will it get too hard making sanding and buffing difficult or making chipping more likely?

On the LP-ish one, the way the headstock mimicks the body without being too overt or "obnoxious" about it-- simply genius.

Thanks, I am glad somebody finally got that - I tried to design the headstock to have the same flow to it as the body on the single cut, and then I used it on the double cut too. I thought about using a double point headstock on the doublecut, but I thout that it looked too "metal" for the guitar.

12 cans of nitro later - here they hang for a month to dry, waiting...I will post more pictures when they are finished.

Thanks for the help. After 4 clear coats I signed, dated and numbered the guitar with a sharpe (in the pick up cavity), then misted a light coat of nitro over it - then carried on with normal clear coats. it worked perfectly.

Great job! Those cavity covers are awesome!

Just curious, what thickness is binding you used on the body?

CMA

It is 0.25" x 0.09" - from Stewart Macdonald.

I finally got the single cut restained and shot the burst again. I went a little wider with the black this time - but you can still see the grain through it even though it looks like you can't in the picture (bad lighting). I also finished the control cavitiy covers to match the tops. I have about 5 more coats of clear to go and then the wait for the nitro to cure begins.

I would like to sign my name on the back of the headstock of my guitars. What is the best way to do this. I was thinking 3 or 4 coats of lacquer, sign my name with a marker, then finish my clearcoats. Is this correct and what type of marker should I use? The finish is nitrocellulose. Thanks.

Thanks, it was extremely painful sanding the top on the double cut last night - but I am back to bare wood. It was quite easy to sand off with 150 grit, this must be because the lacquer was only on for a couple of days and not real hard yet. I thought about changing the finish on this guitar because it was so close to the other one in looks, but I already have the headstock done and the control cavity cover, so I think I will reapply the same finish - hopefully without the drips this time!

Thanks, I was very timid to try a 2 color sunburst myself and actually thought about paying someone else to do it. My first thought was to use preval's to do the burst (as I use aerosols for my clears - not spray equipment), then my uncle offered to lend me his spray gun. I played with the gun for a bit using spraying thinner, and then shot the bursts. I set the gun to shoot a very fine spray and just kept going around the edge. When I got the width I wanted - I added a few drops of black dye to the lacquer and went around a few more times. A spray gun and compressor are definately on my "what to buy next" list. No more aerosols for me. The double cut is yellow with red/black burst and the double cut is abmber with brown black burst - but they look almost the same.

I did the sunbursts on the guitars on the weekend. They both turned out great, but the paint gun dripped some big drips of brown on the single cut (not real visible on the picture - but it is in real)...so I am going to have to sand that one down and refinish. It was my first time using a spray gun - they sure make doing a sunburst easy. Anyway, I should get all of the clearcoat on in another week and then I am going to let them dry for at least a month - should have the finished product pictures up in about 6 weeks.

Looks good. The neck looks to be quite far into the body for an SG - any problems reaching the higher frets?

I made a big one today - I just finished adding the burst to my latest build (dyed the top amber, sealed, 4 clearcoats...then did the burst). It turned out perfect...then as I was pulling the gun away a big drip fell (some lacquer bubbled out of the air hole somehow) and landed right behind where the tailpiece would go...very noticeble. I panicked, grabbed a razor blade and tried to scrape it off, but it pulled off the clearcoat with it, which was now somewhat amber from over spray from the burst. I tried patching with some amber dyed lacquer and made even more of a mess...anyway I think I will start over again. I have never done this before, this is my plan - is this the correct way to go about this;

- sand the top back to the bare wood

- sand to 320 grit (again)

- dye amber (again)

- 4 clearcoats (again)

- add burst (again)

- 1 more clearcoat (to catch up with the rest of the guitar as it is alread up to 5)

- then carry on with clearcoating the whole guitar

Seems like a stupid question, but as I have never refinished (a newly finished guitar) I thought I would ask. Thanks for any help/suggestions.

Thanks for the information.

Well, my vacation is over today and I never got all of the clearcoats (nitro) on my present projects. I will be back to doing work on my guitars mostly on the weekend so my question is; is there a maximum length of time you can go between coats before it starts affecting adhesion of one coat to the next? I have 4 coats on now and it will likely be 6 days before I can continue my clearcoating. Thanks for any help.

Looking good Wilcox. Your guitars are really quality work. Congratulations.

I like the sunburst on that double cut. Will you also sunburst the headstock? I'm assuming you will, just with a thinner dark ring on the outside, correct?

You brought up something I've been meaning to ask. What is the proper degree of final sanding on binding? I guess the lacquer needs something to adhere to, so 400 grit then the finish buildup makes it smooth and no sanding marks remain?

Once again, great builds!

Not sure what the "correct" grit is for final sanding of the binding is, but I found the 400 gave a very clean surface on the binding for finishing. For final sanding of the binding before starting the clearcoat I use a thin strip of 400 grit and sand only the binding, trying not to slide onto the wood as I sand because I find that any sawdust picked up on the sandpaper from the wood will lodge in the sanding scratches on the white binding and show through. Then i wipe it down good with a good clean dry rag.

Check out www.mohawk-finishing.com - I use there walnut grain filler on mahogany and it looks great, easy to work with. Check with you local building supply dealer, most can special order it through the canadian distributor www.richelieu.com

Hey your guitars are looking awesome. I have a couple of quick questions for you. Did you mask the bindings or the body of the guitar at all before you dyed the top, or are you just really careful? On the same note, did you mask the top for the grainfill?

Thanks - I am into the clearcoating and the figure is really popping. I have tried dying both ways. This time i did not mask the binding and I applied the dye very carefully, making sure it did not run down the side or get on the mahogany - not worrying if it got on the binding. Then i scraped it off of the biding after it had dried. This took a while though - might have been easier to mask off the binding - but either way works for me.

For the grain filling - first I applied 2 light coats of sand and seal over the whole guitar, mask the bindings and then add the grain filler. This causes a buildup of filler along the tape. After drying I remove the tape and sand the filler back with 320 grit until I start seeing the white residue of the sand and sealer. This takes off the build up where the masking was and removes any extra filler. then i go back and sand the binding with 400 grit to clean it up - not worrying if I go through the sand and seal. Hope this helps - not sure if it is the right way to do it, but it works for me.

I finished grain filling the mahogany with dark brown filler, sanded and another coat of sand and seal. A little more sanding and then I can do 3 coats of clear, add the burst, then 12-15 more coats of clear...then wait a month for the nitro to cure...the mahogany with dark filler looks great. Although the body is redish in color and the neck is brown - same wood, different part of the tree I guess.

I will post some pictures on how I do the carved top with the belt sander.

I have started finishing these guitars. I decided on fireburst for the doublecut:

Here is the top stained yellow with a couple of coats of sealer:

I am doing the double cut in desert burst:

Here is the top stained amber with sealer:

Next step is to grain fill the mahogany.

Check out www.mohawk.com - nitro in spray cans (clear and colours) or by the gallon. It is available through most building supply shops in Canada by special order. I just order it from the local building supply store - which gets it from the Canadian distributor www.richelieu.com check out this link http://www.richelieu.com/produit/index.php...m=1&id=6819

I once heard they are owned by behelen and it is the same stuff. I use their nitro toner aerosol on my first build and it worked great. Do a check on the net too, I think there are a few internet shops that sell it out of Quebec.

Just amazing! Very well done. Is that the snail nut? I couldn't really tell, it looked almost a shade of green, but I wasn't sure if they were a little green with green streaks or bright pearl white with green streaks. Either way just beautiful. As for the headstock binding, how many joints do you have in there? I'm just curious how you did it, I was thinking 1 or 3. Also, did you just wipe the ends with acetone to make the joints? I couldn't even see any joints, which is why I am asking, perfect work. Thanks, J.

No, that is just a bone nut that I use as a temorary. I will be trying the snail nut on one of these, it looks like bine with streaks of green and part of it is really shiny like MOP. There are 4 pieces of bindin on the headstock - basically, every sharp corner is a joint. I use the binding paste (binding melted in acetone) for glue on the binding. I make sure I get lots in the joints - it melts them together seamlessly.