thermopyle

www.vintagevibeguitars.com

just got a set of custom lefty strat pickups. very fast turnaround and the build quality is excellent. pete can do damned near anything by the looks of some samples on his website. prices awesome too.

thermo

well, for a pickup endorsement, try www.vintagevibeguitars.com - pete is a great guy and can build to spec pretty quickly. serious quality workmanship too, and of course great tone.

thermo

ryder

pm me, if you have a hires, reasonably sharp scan i'd be glad to build you one. take no time at all.

thermo

my brother-in-law works for a large cabinetmaking/finishing company, that does everything from houses for the well-to-do to casinos. we got to talking about the best way to get a nice, deep red/brown, transparent, on this mahogany strat i'm building. i showed him a few examples around the web of the color i was looking for.

next day, he shows up with a chunk of mahogany and the most incredible dyed reddish-brown, the grain on this mahogany just shimmering as i move it under the light. had one coat of lacquer on it. the perfect color and the grain was popping... considering that the areas that weren't finished were rather plain, i couldn't believe how alive it was.

he used caustic soda, a fairly strong concentrate, and wiped it on with a foam brush. for those of you unfamiliar, caustic soda is one of the main ingredients in crystal drano. so i bought a can, mixed one tablespoon with a litre (about a quart) of water, and wiped some on a bit of scrap with a foam brush. instant reaction and a beautiful color emerged. let it sit a few minutes then dabbed it dry with paper towel. even dry, the grain is alive under a lamp, and that's with no lacquer on it at all. looks like a top-line aniline dye job. cost me 4 bucks.

i'm going to start on a new piece, drano-stain, grain-fill, sand and shoot lacquer until i get something resembling a guitar-style finish and see what comes out. i'll post when i have more info.

anyone tried this?

thermo

link to aforementioned seller:

http://cgi6.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewS...&sort=3&rows=50

she's selling some mahogany boards now.

thermo

i've had great luck with someone on ebay, nickname is member4567893 (not sure about the numbers... do a search on 'luthier' in the guitar category). they've done a tele and a strat body for me, one piece mahogany, ready for sanding/etc and each was under $50 USD.

thermo

time for a little experimentation perhaps.

i'm going to do a fine (220) sanding on the surface to rough it up some, then try soaking it in some hot coffee for a while, then maybe sit it in the sun.

well, not sure what i'm doing wrong... i have a pair of dimarzio covers, brand new and white. soaked one in coffee overnight, nothing. same with tea. still looks like the other one. what am i missing here?

thermo

hi

opened an old box to find... some very old strat parts, one yellowed pickup cover and full knob set. they'd be about 25 years old and they look it. amazing. i'm gonna put them on one of my strats.

question is - which of the replacement brands out there make a pickup cover that can be stained with tea/coffee/whatever to get that aged look? or should i just buy some pre-stained?

it may sound silly but i'd like to have the amount of yellowing decrease from top to bottom, just like on this real one i've found. (what i wouldn't GIVE to know where the other two are...)

thanks

thermo

yeah, that's the one. i'm doing a mahogany strat and i want to replicate the red over mahogany on the back and sides of that model LP.

very nice example of it here (full back shot):

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIt...&category=47072

thermo

hi all

trying for that beautiful red on the back of sunburst les pauls.

stain with clear nitro?

red tinted nitro?

stain with red tinted nitro?

any suggestions appreciated.

thermo

tell us more about this 'search engine' of which you speak.

seriously though, that is great info, thanks a ton.

thermo

can anyone give me some insight into what finishing brands, that work well for guitar, can be found in the stores here in canada? grain filler, transparent dyes, sanding sealer, nitro lacquer.

any help appreciated... my first project and i want to get it right.

thermo

yes, you're right, i confused grain filler with sealer. so what i'm looking at now is:

1. sand. dampen to raise grain, sand again.

2. apply grain filler, sand smooth.

3. stain.

4. sealer. sand. repeat until nice and flat.

5. nitro.

i've got some scrap pieces, i think i'll play with those first.

compatible brands for any of this stuff would be appreciated. home depot or canadian tire is where i plan to buy. i don't think reranch ships to canada.

thanks

thermo

i'm about to start on a mahogany body, my first finishing attempt. body is routed but not yet drilled. i plan to drill before starting on the finish.

If you want to stain the body, you can't use a sealer on it first, try this procedure.

1:  Sand the body until dead smooth (finish sand) to 400 grit paper. 

2:  Dampen the wood with some water to raise the grain.  Let it dry

3:  Sand again to 400

4:  Dampen one more time to raise any remaining graing.  Let it dry

5:  Sand again to 400, then 600, then 800, make SURE that all previous sanding scratches are gone, the stain will fill and enhance any and all scratches.

6:  Apply your stain, THEN you can try a compatible sealer. 

OR:

6b:  Start clearing over your stain.

any variations on these that i should know for mahogany? i planned on doing a sealer on such a porous wood. but should this be before or after i stain it?

also any recommendations on brands/colors from home depot that can get close to that dark red transparent you see on the back of a les paul? going with a nitro lacquer to finish.

thanks

thermo