kpcrash

Just as an FYI, here's a link to the MSDS on the Aeromax.... mmmm... yummy... MSDS

I have installed one of these and now have this guitar doing nothing but looking pretty because of upbow in a maple neck. Not very pleased but kinda figured it was more something stupid I did.

KTM looks like milk in the can/gun but shoots/dry clear.

Simply, yes. A trem is grounded to the claw, hardtail style usually has wire from bridge to cavity, TOM has wire from stopbar to cavity, etc....

http://pickguards.us/materialoptions.htm

Nice work as always John. I side question, do you feel the bench pucks are worth it? Do they really provide a slip-resistant base for working on material?

I saw this stuff at an auto parts store recently at $36.00 a can and was tempted to try it until I read all the warnings. Like, if used indoors, must be used with positive ventilation respirator. I might still give it a go, but will have to wait until it's nice and warm outside.

Duh... I didn't even grab any poly when I was getting the clear stuff out. You are correct though, it could do both jobs in a single product - I'll have to create a new dummy now and test it. I'll probably test with standard Minwax poly and not anything 2-stage/catalyzed as I simply can't afford to "play" with that stuff.

Actually, I just wrapped up doing some clear coat tests on some of the 'victims' that I swirled and had the following results: Clear coats Please note that the paint after swirling was of course not perfectly flat and level, so I decided with such a thin coat of paint, it would be better to use some sort of leveling agent (epoxy) or something easier to work with that did the same job (shellac). I chose between these two items because when dry, they should not cause any negative interactions with any of the commonly used clear coats and have been used numerous times by many members on this site and produced acceptable results. One other note - this section may be modified the more I play with sealing bodies with wax/other substances. Wax can cause undesired results when it comes in contact with many finishes, so I'm trying to find a few guaranteed ways to make sure what gets used gets removed effectively and completely before finishing. I'm also playing with sealing holes with epoxy as it can easily be drilled out once the finish is ready to be clear coated. In these tests I used ZPoxy, Wax-Free Shellac (Bulls-Eye Clear), Rustoleum Painter's Touch Clear Gloss (rattlecan), KTM-9 and Nitro Lacquer. Quick lesson learned was that if the enamel is not COMPLETELY dry (like 48 hours dry) you will get the crackle effect from rattlecan solvent Whoops. Since all methods that I tried worked, perhaps it would be best to classify them in order of best results: Note: Fixing any sandthrough spots (burns) was done with a q-tip dipped in solvent, then a drop or two of enamel paint. This made sort of a 'magic marker' for filling in tiny areas. Method #1: Z-Poxy + KTM-9. This produced a result that was similar to being under glass. Used my super advanced epoxy spreading system (credit card) to add a layer between 1/32 and 1/16" thick. Leveled the epoxy to 800 grit and shot KTM-9 in several thin layers. Once the KTM cures (5-10 days, I waited 7) it gets leveled/buffed and polished like any other clear coat. This produces an ultra-clear finish. I'm sure that more work on the epoxy would have led to a better finish - but quite sparkling. Method #2: Shellac + Nitro/Shellac + KTM-9. Sprayed 3 heavy coats of shellac and let dry, then leveled and started with the clear. The KTM-9 finish worked great as described above, yet by using only a few layers of shellac, did not have the depth of using ZPoxy. The nitro is still curing, so I may swap these two when it's done. (I should mention here that this was leveled with a method learned from Avengers63 - used oil-free 0000 steel wool + a little mineral spirits) Method #3: Rattlecan clear on unsealed enamel paint - basically, just let it dry and spray several thin coats of clear on top, let dry, level and buff as described in several other tutorials on this site. This produced an acceptable result, yet without quite as much depth or clarity as the others. Will a person viewing you on stage notice? No. However, the Rustoleum product doesn't cure quite as hard as the others and may dent in high use areas around the strings/knobs. Otherwise, worked great.

Any pics?

Ricky - exactly which paint did you use? Since I'm trying to track this with some specifics. Thanks.

Nice present John! I've been interested in this one, but sticking to my traditional HVLP guns until a surplus of money comes along. Please let me know how this works for you, esp. on anything clear.

Aside from Hisock's book, there is a small section in the book by Oakham which explains how to measure harmonics, etc.(1-2 pages around page 30). This of course only addresses interactions with the pickups and nothing about how the amp may process and project sound.

This is awesome! I love it!.

Agreed

Ok, here is a picture from the testing on two pickguards. The one on top (strat) was un-primed, the RG pickguard was primed. The orange runs caused on the strat pickguard were from two mistakes - 1 was taping over the metallic film around the control knob holes (which made divots) and two, the orange paint was simply too thick. Also, note on the RG pickguard how the green darkens at one end. This is from the paint not being evenly spread out and hitting a 'deep spot' of paint. The above picture shows another 2 mistakes - too much paint AND adding darks after lights. Good news is a few hours later, this was easily removed with a hair dryer and putty knife. The rest came off with a little 220/400 grit.

Thank you. I'm working on some trial and error with that today actually. Testing melting candle wax vs. paraffin vs. bees wax - just waiting on the bees wax to show up. For the bodies discussed previously, they were sealed with rather heavy coats of primer/sealant only as they are bodies/slabs I have no intention of every using in a real instrument. I'm also looking at using epoxy as a sealant/primer to see what it might look like to allow some grain to show through some clearer colors. Again, thank you for the kind words.

There are some very good threads on here about 'swirling' or 'marbling' paint on bodies but in all of the information I read, there was very little specifics and very little discussion on what went wrong. I figured, since I hadn't posted in a while maybe it was time to step back in with something I've been working on quietly in the shadows - sort of a list of exactly what was tried and what failed, with brand names, etc. This is not so much a how-to, but a list of trials and results to hopefully help someone save some time/money/stress. Paints Tested: - Humbrol Enamel - Testors Enamel - Testors Model Masters Enamel - Faskolor (w/ carageenan) Primers Tested: - Rustoleum Painter's Touch - Testors White Primer - Behlen's Grain Filler Materials Tested: - Primed Guitar Bodies or dummies - Primed and Unprimed pickguards (cause, they need love too) Containers Used: - 5 GAL Bucket - 33 GAL Tub To be fair, I attempted the dipping method in all tests and started out trying the acrylic method with "seaweed enhanced" water. Basically, the science behind this method is to make the water gelatinous enough to allow the water-based paint to float and stay stable while you break the surface with whatever object you intend to swirl. While I could make the paint float, create beautiful swirls, etc., for the life me, I couldn't get anything to stick in there. The paint that did stick to the various test objects came out VERY thin regardless of amount used - until I got it so thick it started to sink. This method was abandoned because it was easier for me to understand the science of oil floating on water - so off to the enamels. Preparing the water - I've read many articles, postings on the Internet stating that Borax was/wasn't necessary and that the common ratio was 1 T (tablespoon) to 1 GAL of water if used, yet, there are videos of people using 1 C of Borax in 33-55 Gallon drum/trashcan and producing acceptable results - so.... Why use Borax? Despite some postings, the use of Borax isn't really to "soften" the water as much as it is to provide a safe surfactant. Will it work without Borax? Yes. I could not make it fail. Did it work better with Borax? Yes - why? Because the borax 'lubricated' the surface of the water providing more of a platform for the oil-based paint to sit, thus allowing more color to adhere to the object and less chance of it being pushed away. By default, oil-based enamel is attracted to and will stick to anything (esp. carpet and the shower stall floor, but that's another discussion). The other reason to use Borax - it retards the drying process of the paint. This is important as all of the enamels I tested have an extremely fast evaporation rate and you need the paint to spread about in the container you are using to get the best results - this takes a few seconds. To see this in action, time it with and without - OR - steal a bottle of your daughter's nail polish and add it to two containers. The one without Borax will skin almost instantly, while the other gives you a few seconds of working time. I stuck with 1T/GAL. I have also read of using Alum in this process, especially when using water-based paints to 'treat' the desired object with alum somehow to make the paint stick better, or adding it to the water - yet never explained why. Alum has excellent abilities when it comes to making a gel - thus, when an alum treated object is used, it causes the paint to thicken quickly and stick at a very low level. Also, adding a small amount of alum to the water bath before anything else and stirring it around can ensure that any tiny particles of crap coagulate and sink vs. sticking to your guitar body. The most I used in any experiments was approx. 1/4 tsp. Preparing the object - I found that regardless of the primer used, the smoother it was, the better. The best results were of course on a plain plastic pickguard; however I didn't think that sanding to 400 grit was smooth enough and settled on 800 grit. It seemed the porous nature of the primers/grain filler quite an effect on the flow of paint as the item was dipped. I also wiped things down with denatured alcohol and let them dry completely before dipping anything (including a set of Christmas tree ornaments that fell victim). Once ready, I firmly mounted (via screws) the object to a dipping stick and set it aside. Since time is critical in this process, I decided each color to be used and stirred (shaking seemed to cause bubbles) the paint, and thus in the finish. Got my newspaper ready and proceeded to pour or drop (via droppers) the paint as close to the surface of the water as possible without touching it. I was able to get acceptable results with ALL of the products used, yet had a difficult time with any of the Humbrol metallic finishes. They spread awfully thin and escape to the edges of your container very rapidly - then, don't like any other paint you've got in there, so you get gaps in the colors of the swirl. Dipping the object - I tried straight in and out, moving side-to-side and various angles and reached the conclusion that using about a 25-30 degree angle of insertion with random side-to-side movements and VERY slow speed worked best. Some key notes: - Testors is a bit thicker than Humbrol. Thinning was attempted by mixing beforehand, adding thinner to the surface of the water and dropping thinner on the paint once it was in the water. 1:10 thinner to paint seemed effective for regular Testors only. Model Masters only needed thinning on colors containing Orange. - Red is an extremely dominant color. It loves to spread and take over everything, use it sparingly if you don't want it to be the focal point - Runs can be caused by paint that's too thick or divots (screw holes) in the object. Remember - the smoother, the better. - Bubbles under the paint seemed to happen from dipping too fast or moving too fast in the water. - Use a dryer (with no heat) or a fan to expedite removing any droplets of water from the object when removed from the water. If left on, these can push away the paint around the shape of the droplet leaving undesirable results. - Fluorescent colors seemed to be temperamental and needed thinning or nothing to work right. Final note, I dipped 2 guitar bodies, 7 pickguards and 2 Christmas ornaments and still have paint left over. It doesn't take much. I hope to post some pictures of these experiments shortly.

Maybe I'm voodoo-ing the voodoo here but after many discussions, threads, scientific research, not-so-scientific research and playing for a long time, it turns out that the composition of the wood does contribute to the tonal qualities of an electric guitar. How? Glad you asked. By now, we should all understand how the pickups works and how the disturbance of the magnetic field they create is carried via the pickups (which are ~2V electromagnets) through the wire, to the amp and produce sound. The question of tonal quality of wood is often shot down/negated because of the heavy reliance on electromagnetics to make the guitar make sound. There are two other factors that are physically present - material and thickness of that material. As proof, I offer that you attempt to make an acoustic guitar with wood of the same thickness of an electric guitar - you'll have a hell of a time getting sound out of because acoustic guitars/pianos rely on a soundboard (don't worry, I'll get there shortly). These soundboards are often made of spruce - why? Density, which affects speed of vibration. The other factor is thickness, it has to be able to vibrate to transfer the vibrations from the strings, through the bridge and out into the open (piano or guitar). Ok, now that we've reviewed the basics Turns out that the type of wood used in an electric guitar can effect the disturbances carried by the pickups by how much the pickups themselves vibrate (relatively minor, but try it out sometime with an oscilloscope) and resonant feedback caused in the strings by the material/and thickness of that material. This is why string-through has a different tone than top-bridge. That is why mahogany sounds different than pine (density). As for how much it impacts the sound is in the ear of the beholder - I'm just offering a logical explanation for some of the voodoo

Not so much tip size as flow adjustments. The water-based stuff flows differently than solvent based (usually because of the fact that water is heavier than some solvents, esp. in aerosol form).

I have used KTM-9 with as small as .5 mm (that took a while) and had great results. You do have to treat it a bit differently than Nitro - because they are quite a bit different. Was it worth it? For the reasons you state - yes. I can finish guitars, necks, other projects quite safely in the basement with the strongest fumes being the denatured alcohol used to clean out the gun between coats. I have tried shooting with and without wiping down between each coat with denatured alcohol and wiping down is definitely recommended. It does seem to get a little harder over time as well - initially kinda soft, but so are many other finishes. Also noted that it accepts water-based dyes (even food color) quite well. As an experiment, I mixed a few drops of Fascolor in a batch for a nice haze of color. Hope this answers some of your questions. Otherwise, once it's on there (15-20 coats at least) it polishes up like anything else.

just to cover the obvious - have you tested the grouding on what you just installed? I know it sounds silly, but a ground wire coming loose/unset or not being connected properly (cold soldered?) will do that.

I recently read an article in some woodworking magazine about strengthening butcher block designs using tenons. Not sure you want to go through all that effort - but maximizing glue surface is never really a bad idea.

A bunch of Ibanez use polyester paint.

I saw them in Bristol, VA (Washington, D.C.) this past Tuesday. Got in the pit right after DT finished and had a blast.