Captain Vallo

Well I gave up trying to find an inexpensive shielding paint (had one quote for £350 for 5Lts) So I used some double sided tape and tin foil...this is only a short term measure until I find some damned suitable paint. Thanks for you help. Bob

Thought so, but when dealing with something for the first time, it never hurts to check with those more experience in such "black arts". Many thanks GEdwardJones. PS God knows why or how it was configured the way it was???? .......................................and he aint talkin

Basic stuff I am afraid. Currently rebuilding sad jackson Professional (of some description) and I noticed that the string heights seemed, well just not right, (ie the high e was higher(distance wise) than the b string!!!. So I have stripped the floyd rose to find that it has "lock boxes" comprising of 2 off 1's, 2 off 2's and2 off 3's. When comparing them on a flat surface, they are of notable height differences. The way the guitar was set up, was high e=3,b=2,g=3 etc ie all to pot!!!!! I am assuming that they should be e=1 b=2 g=3 d=3 a=2 e=1 Many thanks Bob

OK lets see what options are available to me on this one? Whilst I left the original “special” paint/coating inside all the routed areas of the body, I have oversprayed some areas. I have read articles where one needs to “shield” these routed areas to improve sound quality and/or provide connectivity between the different bits of hardware (is this earth?) (see http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Qua...9440/rewire.htm ) So I suppose the questions really should be: What does the coating in these chambers do? And What are my options? To recap: Knackered old Jackson Fusion Professional – strip back body paint recoat with acrylic sprays. Many thanks

Have you thought of some of these new acrylic (well new to me) products such as those by Plasti-Kote. I just bought some red and laquer and the useability and finish was far superior (in my hands anyway) than using cellulose. I did notice that they offer all sorts of wonderful finishes including chrome, gold and a host of "special effect" type paints etc. Here is the link if you are interested http://www.spraypaint.co.uk/ - then go to products

I would have thought that the curing time varies depending upon the product? I have just used Plati-kote laquer, and plan on chatting to them today so will ask the question.

The spray paint seems to be a general purpose type thing, here is the UK address http://www.spraypaint.co.uk/ though I am sure its an internatioinal product. I got it from a large retail store called Wilkinsons. I have just given it 3 layers of laquer, and guess what, got a "run" and couple of hair type things....damnation. Apart from that I am pretty pleased, especially considering the condition when I got it, and that this is my first real attemp...I especially like the bit about saving £100 pounds. All I have to do is remember how to put it all together now , though I may invest in some copper based paint to coat all the hollow bits (?????), supposed to provide excellent shielding! BTW, I am afraid to say that you wife does not agree with your last pseudonymn oooopppss

OK westheman (is it west he man, wes the man or west heman?), keep working on those lyrics. Well patience ran out today, and so did I......to buy some plasti-kote red super spray paint.......bloody hell....what a difference. This stuff goes on beautifully and looks awesome with minimal effort. I must confess that I was a little concerned changed products (other paint was CarPlan Acrylic), but all seems well (at the moment) All I have to do now is apply the plasti-kote laquer, and Bobs your Uncle (well hes a very happy man with a bright red Jackson)

Hey westheman, how are those songs going..... An update on the patience thingy....well its definitely improving, I have now finished my second colour coat and considering its my first "real" project of this nature I am most satisfied.......except....the colour.......it is supposed to be Alfa Red(similar to Ferrari Red) except it looks more pink at the moment I am hoping that it is just the grey primer showing through, so I am off to buy another tin of colour and more laquer. (mind you, my patience has improved so much I may never finish this project )

LOL westhemann, let us write songs about this utopian life upon our not so utopian DIY guitars.

LGM LMAO. Why on earth did you get rid of your frong, I mean it is such a rare item on any guitar now (I had never even heard of one before today). Do you know where I may be able to get one of these?. Can I make one myself....do you have any pictures of your late frong....now I know of them I must have one...or two. Can you make one for me.....should I wait until I get one before I put the final coat of paint on my guitar......so many questions so little time.

What mistake will you not be making...the wool residue or the Wife bit Well I would have blamed my wife

Very depressing westhemann.....seems sometimes, mistakes are the only way to learn..despite being grown ups..

OK folks, I must be getting rid of my demons, as when I got back from work today, and sanded down the back I found three small shiny bits remaining..........................so I have filled them and.........................left them............................and will leave it now till tomorrow.

LGM that sounds too simple, why are all the best ideas the simple ones......one question though, I do not think that I have a frong on my guitar A more serious question would be why do you need to unclamp the unit, surely it is possible to walk around it, or have I missed the way that it is held!! Many ghanks, igs much appreciaged

OK, I think that I have worked out a cost effective way of making a suitable stand....difficult to describe but I will have a go. I will make a 12" long neck holder from 3" square wood. At the opposite end to the guitar end, I will drill 15mm hole in each face, including the top. I will make a stand from the 3" square wood that can be supported in a workmate and fit 15mm tube in the top end protruding sideways. This will allow the guitar to be positioned in almost all ways without ever having to touch the guitar. I may have to make the end that fits the guitar from thinner wood as it may otherwise make access difficult into the cut outs of the body. I would attach a MS paint drawing I have just knocked up, but seme unable to attach files!

To bring it back to topic (I know I am the one who diverted it) Well I have now completed the sanding sealer on the front and the sides and have refilled some minor imperfections on the back. So one more coat of sanding sealer on the back, and then sand, it should be ready for painting..... However I plan to leave it one day and then go over the whole body with a bright light and magnifying glass just to make one last check for imperfections. Should I find any, I will correct them....yes I will........of course you will.............arghhhhh PS Great web site, great forum.

OK, johnbsharp, does that mean you hold the guitar with one hand (ensuring that you dont touch the paint of course) and spray with the other...yes that sounds workable. I have been toying an idea of somehow supporting the guitar as if in a lathe or a spit, so that the body can be rotated. I thought that this would minimise the risk of paint running on the front and back, however I suspect that this is just a pipe dream.

Ok, my patience is improving but in anticipation of having a body fit for painting soon, what are your preferred methods for spraying. I will be using car cellulose paints (probably alfa red (guess what car I drive ): Primer Colour Following the colour I am toying with the idea of some sort of subtle markings (ie transfers etc) (need to check topics for this) Then laquer Now I have checked out many of the sites on best practice, but I am unclear on just how to suspend the body when spraying. I have always thought that one needs to spray the coats as a single operation, so lying it down to do the front, then later when dry, doing the back etc etc, resulted in obvious layers/overlap ! If hanging the guitar from the ceiling, then doing certain areas such as the base, causes the can to be at a poor angle thus increasing the chance of "spotting/spitting" Any suggestions on how do this will be greatly received. (Diagrams or plans for any marvelous contraptions will be held in the strictest confidence and reproduced in public........honest) Thanks in anticipation Bob

We wants it, we needs it. Must mess with the PreciousGuitar. Its sitting there waiting to be rubbed down. They stole it from us. Sneaky little ProjectGuitarists Wicked, tricksy, falssse! No! No! filler is not dry yet! Yess. PreciousGuitar is ready. All dry and don’t mind those bits and hairs…no one will see them! ProjectGuitarists is my friend. You don't have any friends. Nobody likes your workmanship anyway. Not listening. Not listening You´re a bodger, and useless. No. Bodger! Go away. Go away?! Ahahhaa! I hate you, I hate you. Where would you be without me? . . I saved us. It was me. We survived because of me. Not anymore. What did you say? ProjectGuitar looks after us now. We don't need you. What? Leave now and never come back. No! Leave now and never come back! : Ahh! LEAVE NOW AND NEVER COME BACK! [silence] We told him to go away! And away he goes, preciousguitar. Gone, gone, gone, Captain Vallo is free!

Well BeAR, I am determined to do it this time, I am lucky in that this is my second reasonable guitar, so there should be no need to rush it, but even now as I sit here typing I can feel that little devil on my shoulder whispering "go on Bob, you know you want to, go and rub it down the filler must almost be dry" go back to the shadows "oh go on, prod it with your finger to see if its dry - no....in fact why not spray it now, forget the primer, the bumps, the indentations, bolt my precious together and then paint it with an artex roller"

arrghhhhhhhh, ..... Despite reading surely every "how to" prepare and paint article on painting a guitar, and buying the correct materials etc, seems my lack of patience will forever be my undoing. So let this be a lesson to others. The Project - Very very tired and battered Jackson Professional. Stage - Completely stripped and well sanded body ready for Sanding Sealer I applied the first coat of a cellulose based sanding sealer with a brush and rubbed down with 3?0 paper and block, and got the expected buff with shiny areas result..... most satisfactory. Applied second coat and sanded, but still appeared to have the same amount of shiny areas?????? Third coat results were the same....whats going on here....so in desparation applied fourth coat and then rubbed down too soon resulting in horrible gluey type areas where obviously the new layer had "loosened" the lower layers so clogged up the sand paper. Hind sight is a wonderful thing...seems I was sanding the sealer so lightly that I was actually leaving the brush strokes in and had I sanded a little more would probably not have required any additional layers. Secondly, the additional layers actually softened the previous layers so when sanding, I just got horrible globby areas (technical term). Hopefully I think that will a bit of filler and patience I will not have to resort to stripping back again, however, all the reading and learning cannot ever substitute actual experience. Wish me luck with the paint spraying stages....