Drak

I don't have an immediate answer to your problem but I use a lot of EMG hardware in my builds. I would call EMG directly if you don't get an answer here. Their usual protocol is you leave a message with your question and they'll call you back. I've called them several times over the years, they always return the call (I think) same day. Be as clear and specific with your message as you can be.

Semi-Kinda guitar top related. This is a 3-10 custom baffle I made probably 20 years ago. 1/4" Quilted Maple face over Baltic Birch. I still have this thing, never made an amp cab to pair it with yet. Always so many irons in the fire at the same time... Behind it you can see one of my old Traynor YBA-1's I recovered in Orange Ostrich. Not one of my better choices IMO...

I'm going to toss this in here since its amp-related and I built it. The heart of my 'rolling rack rig' is a Rivera TBR-1SL from the late 90's. After owning it forever, and since its rack-rig ready, I decided to build a rack rig. I need to update the pics as I've added to the rack since I took these several years ago. But it was really cool designing and building my own rolling rack rig. It has filled out considerably since I took these pics tho.

Here is my second Deluxe Reverb in Snakeskin. One is a 1971, this one is a 1973. Bought both as your standard old ragged-ass SF Fenders for about $350.00 back in the day. Both are now awesome and totally running at 100% peak performance. I'm totally lucky that I have a custom amp builder near me. I do all the cosmetics and light maintenance, he does the deep state work. Snakeskin recover with black grillecloth and an old EV SRO coffee-can alnico speaker. Makes the amp weigh a ton., but so what, its worth it.

Here is an interesting one. The chassis was a 1971 Super Reverb (I love Supers) bought as a head only (oh, those were the days) The cab was an old blackface Vibrolux Reverb, I can't even remember how I came by it, but there was never a Vibrolux chassis to go with it. So I made my own custom baffle for it, a 1-12, 1-10 combo. And covered it in Sherry Iguana, and more gold hardware. I also sprayed the faceplate kind of an amber color, then clearcoated it. It lasted for about a year, but I own boxes and boxes of guitar speakers of all descriptions. So this thing went through multiple speaker swaps before I concluded it was a shite idea. No matter what I put in it, the 12 always overpowered the 10, no matter the combo. And, TBH, I just absolutely adore Real Super Reverbs (the real 4-10 Supers) So after a year or two, I swapped the chassis back into a real 4-10 cab and ditched the Vibrolux cab. Sherry Iguana version with 1-12, 1-10 baffle And After I moved the same chassis into a modded (real) 4-10 Super. I had it re-grilled with gold screen, and old-school gold nameplate, which totally matches the amber-sprayed faceplate. Still own this amp, and it has been kept up and modded by my local amp tech, one of my all-time keepers. Goodbye Sherry Iguana!

I re-did all three of these at about the same time. The Twin, a Deluxe Reverb, and a Bassman. The Deluxe Reverb I modified to a 2-10 format (you can see it through the grille) I used to buy these amps for stupid cheap, like $2-300.00, the more beat, the cheaper they were, the more I liked it. The prices for these now are ridiculous, I still own the Deluxe Reverb along with a second that I'll post in a bit. All these amps looked like beat-to-shit raggedy-ass old Fenders when I bought them.

I haven't done one in a long time, but I used to recover (and modify to various extents) nearly all the tube amps I ever bought. I've probably owned over 40+ old tube amps of various makes and models over the years. This was one of my favorite recover/remakes I ever did. I think I sold this to a guy in Alaska, probably 20+ years ago. I'm an awesome box packer but I remember freaking out a little as I packed it for shipping to Alaska. I still wonder where it is today, its not like it would just 'blend in', it definitely stands out. I believe every single bit of hardware got changed, switched, or in some way manipulated. The tilt-back legs (and some other pieces) I had genuine gold-plated by a local plater, then thin coat of lacquer shot over it to protect it. The tolex is Marshall White Elephant, I remember that. If I find more, I'll post them here. Before After:

Another group shot

Jamaica-Caster! It has different pickups in it now. This is a traditional Tele, non-active controls. This is a 1/4" Oak top over chambered Cherry core, pore-filled with black Timbermate pore filler. The headstock is taken from a roll of Oak veneer I have, same process.

A shot of how I layout my (active) 5-control scheme. And a shot of how I cut my switch slots (this was asked about in a recent thread)

I think you and I use dissimilar terms for the same thing (i.e. cowskulls/steerheads) When you say detail gun, I think you mean (what I call) a pint gun. If true, that's my normal spray gun, I never use quart guns, don't even own one. Although I do have two detail guns, one with a big(ger) tip for clearcoats and one with a finer tip I usually use for the bursts.

That strip job was done a loong time ago, here is the refinished job, might have different pickups in it now. I kind of laughed when I was done, for the time it took, it looks very similar to the first rendition. And it was completely stripped and sanded back to raw before the refin. But its more 'contrasty' now from light-to-dark. Basically, wound up being an improved version on version one, ...almost like putting a contrast filter over No.1. Arguments could be made for either version, really, version 1 looks a bit more 'traditional', version 2 looks more 'rock' if you ask me. I don't do hand-rub dye blends, my bursts are done with an airbrush (or my regular spray-gun sometimes).

For hardware...I'd just go full on black hardware makeover. Here is an idea for your fret dots (fretboard, actually). Jennifer Batten uses them. Neck Illusions Here's a pic of one on one of her guitars. If she uses them, you can be sure they do the job. They probably have something more to your liking, just an idea.

Skinned alive! Here's a refin I did using a heat gun to remove the first (lacquer) finish, Chevron Sunset. The old girl is still with me to this day, this was probably oh, 8-10 years ago? But, each pic has a steerhead in it, so we're good to go. And, its interesting! You can see Both the dye On the wood, and the dye In the lacquer (my typical shoot scheme, a little of both) Pretty damn clean strip job if you ask me, no burns, no digs, no mistakes. This first shot, my hand is pulling that strip of lacquer up and off the wood, you can't see my hand in the pic. You can also see that 90% of the burst is done right on the wood, the dye in the lacquer is just the last 5-10% of the job.

There was potential there, to be sure, but I can be a hard taskmaster...= toast.

Some never made the cut far enough to get named and inevitably had close personal contact with the W.O.D.. This is one such unfortunate creature, you will see many more.

Ever see the movie Inception? Yeah, its like that...

Trail Boss with different pickups/hardware. Old Trail Boss went through at least 5 makeovers in the years since he was a calf... There are three different pics already up and old TB has a different look every time out the gate.

OK, let's get the party started... I had just been kicked out of an anger management class earlier in the day...hahaha! <I kid, of course...but maybe not!>

Haha! The W.O.D... Komodo, we only talk about the W.O.D. in silenced, hushed whispers in the dark, vacant, dank, and rarely accessed corners of the dark web. And I still remain the midget...with a bucket and a mop...in the dungeon of despair where I rule in the darkness!

Then I believe we are each in alignment, where steerheads and cattleskulls can co-mingle in harmony. You then, sir, will not be disapointed, is my forecast.

I Googled 'cattleskulls' just to be sure I knew what you were referring to. Google popped this up, is this what you mean?

This is a placeholder for the moment, but I assure you it will pick up speed shortly. When I posted a few finished guitars around the end of 2018, there were several requests for 'More Steerheads!' (cue SNL cowbell skit) Well, I didn't forget and I'm working on a Steerhead right now which prompted me to address this somewhat dated request. So I'm going to post a boatload of Steerheads here, all in one thread, until the topic is exhausted. The Good, the Bad, the Burnt, the Broken, the re-negotiated, the starters and the benchwarmers, the playahs and the poser-boys. The Brazos Valley contingent...the Rio Bravo brigade...the Badlands Pistoleros...the Compadre Cavalcade, the whole Corral cut loose. Coming soon to a theater near you, please observe proper seating distancing and wear your damn face mask!

I know cycledude hasn't been here since the day he joined...but for future reference anyway... Sorry, but none of that is the 'normal' way to proceed, just FYI (kinda misleading info but very well-intentioned I'm certain). For brief educational purposes: Sanding sealer is (usually) lacquer with soap added to it to make it easier to sand. That's why you're sanding through it so fast, it's just lacquer with soap additives in it. How thick is a coat or two of lacquer? ...Not very. It's Not a Pore Filler, and that is your problem and the real answer (of clarity) you're looking for here. Maybe they make a waterbased pore-filler now that's not lacquer based (probably do). Even if it is waterbased, sanding sealer Is Not pore filler, that is the important part of this discussion. Two different products designed to do two different things, and sometimes they get mixed up and confused. If you want a level finish, you need to fill the pores with a pore filler. Sanding sealer is a product designed for total newbs to make sanding almost effortlessly easy (thank you to Mr. Soap flake additives). But it's almost always unnecessary, and usually confusing to most people. That's the answer you're looking for here, you're looking for a pore filler. And pore fillers go down First, before any dye or anything else (9 times out of 10, with exceptions). There are exceptions, but for this conversation, those exceptions aren't necessary to talk about really. I do do those 'exceptions' if you want to ask about them, but I think they're beyond this conversation. So to get to the point, to answer your question, you're looking for a Pore Filler. I use Timbermate, its a really good product. It's reasonably cheap and comes in small containers It's available online and safe to ship anywhere It's water-based and very easy to use It comes in lots of colors It can be tinted with your own colored products if you want to customize it to taste It sands really easily And...wait for it...It Fills Pores! It loves to completely fill your pores, as if it was designed from birth to do just that <I kid a little, of course> There's a bunch of YT's on it. So you can get that glassy smooth finish we all love so much. And, a sidenote to @ScottR, I still to this day use CA glue to fill pores when the situation calls for a clear filler. Many tools in the toolchest to use, many different hammers to hammer with.