unclej

i didn't use the sanding sealer on the sides. what i actually did was to tape off the back of the neck just below the headstock and shot the sides and back with black lacquer then removed the tape and shot a fade on down the neck a bit and then clear coated it. but if you have a good finish on the neck to start with i'd just mask off the sides and work strictly on the front.

if you have access to and are accomplished with a scroll saw you could cut it out of a matching or contrasting wood and make an aplique to be glued onto the front of the guitar. i've never done it with anything as fine as ivy but i've applied dolphins, a yellow rose of texas, a hawk and a buffalo...on different guitars of course..and it looks great. brian..i've got a lady friend who blasts pics and designs and such on crystal. she's got a computer that she can create her design and then print out a mylar template with a light adhesive on the back and uses that to blast. i've got her working on a dragon for me now to be used on a guitar. this one will blast the dragon and make it a depression rather than blasting around it and making it high relief. i'll post some pics when i finish the 4 or 5 projects that i have half completed now.

yep..i did it on the parrot guitar and it kicks butt. the only thing i did different than the body is i left a 1/4" overhang and didn't trim it until i had put a coat or two of sanding sealer on it to stiffen it up. i trimmed it exactly flush with the outside edge of the headstock and wanted a real clean cut. check it out. http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?folder_id=1062390

i've been watching some stuff on e-bay including a couple of tube testers. one of guitar instructors that works at my shop has "an attic full of test gear" that he's going to bring me after he goes home for thanksgiving so i think i'll hold off til then. how cool would it be if some of it was actually what i needed...and free? keith, thanks for the clarification on the frequency range. probably kept me from over buying.

keith, thanks and a word or warning. i took your advice and googled signal generator and the very first page i opened up had devices from $6000 to $30,000. thought i was gonna choke. grabbed my heart and did the "this is the big one elizabeth" deal. the next few sites were more in my range so i was fine after i breathed in the brown paper bag for a little while.

the first thing that comes to my mind would be to wipe a thin coat of petroleum jelly on the sides and back and even the binding if you could do a straight line of it with an artist brush of some sort. dip it and let it dry thoroughly and i'm guessing that a wipe with an old t shirt would take all the unwanted paint off. 'course you might want to test it on your brother's guitar first.

i have been building and repairing guitars for several years now and am pretty handy inside a control cavity. but i've managed with just a good soldering iron and an inexpensive multi-meter like you'd buy in any hardware store. lately i've had a lot of requests for amp repairs which i don't do. so i've ordered some books on basic amplifier troubleshooting and repair and might look into a class on basic electronics if needed but right now i need advice on the test equipment that i'm going to need. i did a search here and came up empty. so what would you guys recommend for a basic set up for someone just getting into amp repair? thanks .

looking good paul..keep us posted. i found some seriously cool fabric to put on the pick guard for the flame material guitar. i'll work on it this evening and post a pic of it tomorrow. takes it to a whole different level.

great job! when i tried it on some practice pieces i swirled my left hand. looked pretty good actually.

i'll try that next time drak. but i did just bleach a mahogany body with household bleach with excellent results. the only thing i'm wondering is if the liquid chlorine would work any deeper into the wood. with household bleach it only soaked in an eighth of an inch or so. what's the kleen strip 2 part stuff and where do you get it?

i use parks lacquer sanding sealer. but that's only because that's the brand my local hardware store carries. any hardware store with a paint department or, of course, a paint store will have some. get a relatively inexpensive brush and some lacquer thinner for clean ups. a quart of this stuff goes a long way. just brush on a thick coat front, sides and back with that little extra that i was talking about on the edges of the material. let it dry for a few hours, sand it down and give it another coat. continue until you can't feel the texture of the material and have a nice smooth surface all around and then do your sunburst and top coats.

just regular old run of the mill household bleach will do just fine.

thanks drak..when you do one get ready for some serious sanding.

it doesn't disolve the paper it simply loosens the decal from the backing paper so that you can slide it off onto your guitar. if you leave it in the water too long it will completely separate from the backing..not a good thing.

if you're talking about making edge of the material on the front meet the edge of the material on the back you don't have to. leave the sides bare and shoot your sunburst when you're finished. if you look again at my current project you'll see what i mean. i haven't shot the sunburst yet so the original red on the body is what's showing. if that's not what you meant 'splain it and maybe i can help.

i've used a product called "goof off" for years with great results. it softens and disolves glues and paints and such. i've used it on a ton of guitars and have never had it effect the finish. don't know where you're located but it's available at most hardware and paint stores here in god's great state of texas. (wonder why there's no texas flag emoticon?)

thanks everyone...sharkey does kinda fit doesn't it? and i think i found my sig line. "When life gives you lemons, build a Strat"

hey paul..both of my material projects are strats and i don't think they could be much more difficult than a straighter edged body. as far a tips go, when you are applying the glue use your fingertip when you get to the edges and spread the glue just to where the roundover starts. apply you material and when it dries trim it where you've got about 1/4" overhang. then apply glue to the roundover with your finger and roll the material over the edge. when it's dry you can trim it with your x-acto knife so that the edge of the material is on the high side of the roundover. i'm using a brush on lacquer sanding sealer and after i brush on a coat i add a little extra at the edge of the material so that it fills in the drop off. be gently when you're sanding the edges and the breakover line on the belly bevel on the back. it's easy to go through your sealer and rough up the fabric. here's a couple of pics that i hope will help. current project: http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?folder_id=1075688 finished project: http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?folder_id=1062390 good luck!

5mm is slightly less than 3/16" and should be more than adequate. the standard scew for a bolt on using a neck plate is just over 4mm.

it won't hurt your neck to leave it unfinished. it may get a little grungy over time but i know several players that like the feel of an unfinished neck. i would be careful about putting too much lemon oil on an unfinished neck though. a good wipe down and polish every six months should be ok but too much more than that could saturate and weaken the wood.

i make all my own decals with my computer and ink jet printer. there are dozens of places on line that sell ink jet decal paper. just google "ink jet decals" and pick the one with the best price. once you print your decal you fix it with a couple of coats of acrylic or lacquer. once it dries you drop it in water just like the model decals and there you go.

this guitar probably turned out better than what i had originally intended. i had a black strat body that had a lot of deep dings in it so i bondo'd them and after sanding them smooth i shot a coat of white primer over the black. i then shot three coats of an off-white as my color coat. the original idea was to drop drops of black paint from about 4-5 feet and hopefully they would make a nice splash pattern. i figured 20 or so drops in varying sizes would be pretty cool. didn't work. i had to thin the paint a bit to get it to "splash" and when i did the drops started running, especially on the arm bevel. so i let it cure for a few days and took the old random orbital sander to it and as i started getting the splashes off i was also taking the top coat and the primer off in spots and kinda liked the effect. so i carefully went over the entire guitar, sometimes to the primer, sometimes to the black and sometimes to bare wood. when i got the look i liked i shot my clear coat and here it is. it's not a relic nor was i trying for a relic look. i didn't even take the sanding swirls out of it but it's actually pretty cool looking in person. http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?folder_id=1065862

i'd probably do a picture guitar edge just like the tutorial of fabric says. just lap your pics 1/8 to 1/4" over the edge then fill in with sanding sealer so that there's no line and then shoot a black sunburst around it. i'm sanding a fabric guitar as we speak and it only took two coats to fill the edge so that you can't feel or see it.

hey demon, that's a great looking guitar. i'm already planning a hippie version of it complete with flowers and peace symbols, etc. paul, unless you just want to sand all the finish off i don't think it's necessary. just take some 120 grit sand paper and rough the surface so the glue will bond. at least that's what i've done with the fabric ones.