Pestvic

Hey guys! im about to donate. i have about 3-4 bucks left in my paypal. im about to add more... like 20 bucks. but How much would i need to donate to get to the Secret PRS templates ive been hearing about here? cause thats something i really want looking to build a custom 24 for Myself. Not to sell Thanks guys!

cool thanks for the tip

cool cool thanks man im using the spray cans, and im going to use poly spray clear gloss

Hi guys i came to you guys cause i know you guys are amazing at this and i couldnt find what i wanted in the search. ive been using some gloss black on my guitar for finishing and its coming out great. except ive had a couple runs here and there. is it ok to knock it down with some 400-600 grit until its level then put the next coat on? kinda like clear coat? or is that bad for the paint and not good to do? like ive noticed that the spots i do get dull and then its like its almost the first coat again. i dont want to make it look uneven but so far its going good. heres what its looking like. got about a coat or two then clear Thanks guys!

[quote name='LGM Guitars' post='14203' date='Jul 13 2003, 09:23 AM']Ok, there have been a lot of paint and polishing questions asked recently, so I thought I'd do a brief description of the polishing process, first here is a list of what I use for polishing. Stew mac Polishing compounds #1, 2, 3, and 4 (coarse, medium, fine, extra fine) Micro cut sandpaper 2000 grit (unless my spray job sucked then I start with 1200, 1500, and then 2000) Stew mac foam buffing pad and electric drill (soon I will have a nice big buffing wheel in the new shop though) x4 One for each compound Water Ivory hand soap Patience. Elbow grease. Ok, This will be assumed that you have a nice clear coated body (see [url="http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.php?act=ST&f=10&t=1362&hl=painting+tutorial"]The painting tutorial[/url] I did for painting and applying clear) Difference being from that painting tutorial that I usually put on about 10 coats of clear on a guitar body before final polishing is done. So, once the paint is good and cured, we go to step one. Step one: Sanding First thing you need to do, is sand out all imperfections or built up edges, if you sprayed well and the paint flowed out nice this won't take very long. It generally takes me about 1 and a half hours to sand out a body starting with 2000 grit. You'll want to do this with some water with ivory hand soap mixed in. Yes use Ivory, it is the only soap on the market that is 99% oil free. (you want oil free in case you should sand to deep or discover you need to spray another coat of clear for some reason) Sanding always in one direction (I always sand lengthways on the body) use a semi hard block and level the entire body. If you have dust spots or really large built up edges use a hard block to knock them down, then go to a semi hard block (I really like the foam block you get with micromesh) I start with the top of the guitar as this is usually the most difficult to sand because of all the cavities. Unless there is a dust speck or something on the very edge, don't sand the edges, the clear is always the thinnest there and it doesn't take long to cut through an edge. Then do the back, and then the sides, the worst part is in the horns, this is also where the clear always seems to stay the roughest so it takes a bit longer than the rest. When you do the perimiter, I sand with the body all the way around, never across the sides, just always along them. Sand until the entire guitar (except the edges) is an overall dull flat sheen, if you see shiny spots, keep sanding, these will become awful looking marks once it's all shiny again. Step 2: Coarse cutting (if you have sprayed with laquer, you can skip this step as laquer is far softer than the Poly's I spray) Apply the cutting compound all over the top of the guitar with a rag. Mount your drill with the foam pad on it on your work bench (I used to hold the drill and secure the body, but that was stupid, this is so much easier) I run about 1500rpm. Using a good amount of pressure, cut the entire top. The compound will fly everywhere, so use old clothes, a shop coat, and safety glasses, a particle mask is a good idea too. I personally start with the lower half of the top and work through the cavities and stuff. You'll notice alot of shine come back with even the coarse. Keep wiping it clean and applying compound until you can't see the 2000 scratches anymore. BE CAREFUL AROUND EDGES!!!!!!! NEVER let the wheel come into the edge, I always polish so that the rotating wheel is going OFF the edge, there are 2 reasons for this. 1: If you are letting the wheel come into the edge, there is way more pressure and cutting through the paint is far more likely. 2: If it grabs a corner, you run the risk of the body being taken from your hands and zinged across the room (have had a couple close calls but never actually lost a body yet ) Oh, during all the cutting stages, you'll want to also wear rubber gloves, this crap will be messy, and the rubber gloves also helps you to hold onto the rather greasy compound. Now do the back the same way. Then the sides, but be very careful on the sides, you don't want to burn through an edge. Inside the horns is very difficult, you can do these by hand if you want, but the foam pads will reach all the way in, even on the deep scoops of an ibanez body, but watch out for the plastic backer on the pad, it will cut into your clear in a big hurry. Step three: Medium compound Basically repeat step two with the Medium, just make sure to use a NEW pad and clean all the coarse compound off before you start with the medium. The guitar will really start to shine now, keep wiping the body and checking for any deep scratches that are left over and get rid of them. At this point you will also start to notice that if you didn't sand everything flat all the marks are starting to show badly again. You might want to resand at this stage before you get to far into it. At this stage, when you wipe the body clean, use a soft cotten pad, not paper towel as it will put in scratches. Step four: Fine compound Same thing again with fine now. I use a little more pressure with the fine though (again use a NEW pad). Now this thing is starting to glow, with the fine compound I also hit all the edges now, but still be careful, just the foam pad alone will cut through an edge if you use to much pressure or leave it there to long. Again, wipe it all down and look it over, it should look pretty close to factory finish now. Step five: Extra fine (swirl remover) This step is basically the same except I use 2000RPM and light pressure, you are now just buffing the body, not cutting, you dont' want to put heat marks or rub marks into the clear at this point. Again use a new pad and just do small area's at a time with the swirl remover, a little bit of this stuff goes a LOOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGG way, and it flings all over everything. Once you've gone over the entire guitar with this, wipe it all down once more and check everything, make sure it's perfect, if you have to go back, go back. Step six: Finishing Wipe it all down with a flannel cloth, and if you want, put some wax on it, I use meguire's automotive wax and then clean it all down with some Dunlop guitar polish once I'm done waxing (I wax by hand) then when you assemble, be sure to always set the body on flannel cloth. If you scratch it and it's your guitar, it's a piss off, if you scratch it and it's a customer guitar, it's a nightmare! Hope this has been helpful to everyone, next time I polish out a body I will take pics of the process and add them to this thread. If you have any questions please feel free to ask Jeremy[/quote] can you do the pics thread? or.... i mean have you yet?

ohhhh yeah i see. hmmm. thats a good thing to look out for. its got an Inch on the bass side and 3/4 of an inch on the treble side holding it in VERY snugly do you think thats enough? i mean so far ive had no trouble at all.

yeah ill get some pics when its painted. its a bolt on its supported its just going through the body right now with the metal pieces that hold the screws. i plan on making a backplate with some veneer with the curly maple. but im waiting until thats done before i get pics. so it looks clean

90% done!!! put it all together and set it up. it plays amazing and sounds it too. i have a blade swithch (so far) on it but its not sticking through the front im going to put a toggle switch in it to complete it. THEN i have to paint the back black and gloss the beast ill film a youtube for the sound test and put up pictures when the camera charges and im done editing let me know if you guys are interested

am i still getting a set since i asked?

They came out of a CE24. £40 would be approximately $60. Thanks! Roman wow 60 each huh? hmm are those the same that are in the PRS Custom 24?

i have a pickup thats made to go in acoustics. i have to dig it up and post pics. its like what soapbarstrat said its like made for the acoustic it had premade clamps for the sound hole and the pickup wire goes directly into a imput

oh its just bolted on. but i need to make a backplate for it. cause its like in the wood. it was just a test fit,

i thought about trying this also haha. and like with the 6 outputs sending them to different pedals and haveing like individual strings distorted or some different effect that would sound crazy haha

i do know how to make some. i made a template tutorial here :-P i just got lazy there cause i thought it would be easy and fast but i was wrong... hahaha which the template is now built

Here is some pics :-P i used a old ibanez neck i customized a while ago. i have it scalloped from the 12th fret up. http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b116/Vic...cs/DSC08336.jpg Yeah i know. the trem cavity is horrible. which is why i should of slapped my self in the head and made a template (like a post i read on the forums) anyway another mess up the pickup cavity is to deep on this one. but im going to put a piece of veneer in there so it looks normal. anyway here is some pics. ill post a mock up picture with the pickups and all that installed. if anyone is interested. haha Last couple things i need to do is paint the back and cutaway black and then finish it with some clear. Not bad for a first build right? i used some crap wood haha so i dont really care how bad it is :-P. i cant wait to get REAL wood and spend time on that. this build took me a couple days.

what prs guitar did those pickups come out of? and how much is £40 in us dollars?

nevermind they arent 90 bucks. i saw it somewhere for that much. i think it was the actual prs part? anyway nevermind

yeah but im not looking to make a veneered guitar i want an actual top :-P thanks though ill look into that later

Dude that looks amazing!

how about this?

current http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b116/Vic...tom5rwiring.jpg Pre 2007 Hope this helps but im pretty sure this is just the wiring for the prs rotary switch (which is like 90 bucks i think). i dont know how to do it with a normal switch Edit... sorry i just noticed that in your post you asked for a schematic on a BLADE switch haha let me dig more stuff up. brb

The jigsaw is probably not the best approach. I doubt it could do the 14-15 degree angle you needed plus the blade wobble would cause some issues. If you were going to do it by hand a nice Japanese pull saw would be the trick. well yeah the jigsaw isnt very stable. but you know what i meant couldnt you just find a tool like a pull saw or whatever and just set it to 15 degrees? most tools are adjustable arent they?

i cant ever seem to get those videos to work? do i sign up or something? thanks again for the info, all of you

cool man thanks a lot for the info, yeah i get the whole 5/4ths thing now i just realized it.. dont know why i didnt get it before haha. hmmm 5/8 of a top isnt to much. cause id still like to do a carve that looks someone deep... hmm. i told my dad about the build and he knows someone from brazil so he might be able to get us some sweet wood and tomorrow hopefully im going to get my NEW router and New Orbital Sander. so, so far so good The tools are building up. the info is gathering in my head thanks to all of you, you guys rock! then i just get the wood and start making my own build thread

yeah me too!