Mike.Mara

OK... Pretty sure this has been covered here, probably many times... But I'm looking for the routing dimensions and position of a traditional tremolo, ala Fender Strat. What's the distance from the nut to the pivot screws? (Like, scale length -6.35mm kind of deal.) If anyone can point me to trem routing dimensions or even a plan preferably in DXF that's accurate I'd be extremely grateful! Really sorry for bringing up an issue I'm sure has been covered but I can't find any info... And what I have found is inconsistent at best. Thanks, Mike.

Thanks... I thought it seemed a bit Kramer-ish. The headstock looks to be Fender-ish though. Maybe a Kramer body and a Fender neck... Who knows Thanks for that link!

Right... I've loved this guitar since I first saw it but I have no idea what it is, It's the one Richie is playing in the "Runaway" video for Bon Jovi. At first I thought it may have been a Kramer Classic... But I'm pretty sure it's not after looking at them. All I know is that it's some version of a Tele... Maybe a custom shop Fender, I just don't know but I would love it if someone does! Here's the video: If anyone knows what company made it and what model it is, I'd be super grateful! Mike.

Got her back from the guitar tech... He did an awesome job! Plays a dream now. Going to be a fun weekend!!!!!

And also, my bad, NPC is not associated with Wenge as it seems.

Don't worry! It's much like the old glue they used in MDF... It was carcinogenic but you had to be around it a lot. NPC is extremely rare when working with certain woods. How many old guys that never wore masks that worked with oak their entire lives got it? Hardly any. It's just a possibility so we wear PPE just in-case. I'm still going and I never used to wear a mask. Not entirely sure of the nervous system effects but I'd say your coughing is more likely attributed to just irritation from the dust than a nervous system reaction. As far as I'm aware it's only temporary anyway. I used to be on Diazepam which affects your nervous system and believe me, you would know if yours was affected. I'm sure you're fine, like I said, they're just possibilities... Standing by a road is more likely to cause problems. Just remember in future, grab your mask and goggles... We all forget sometimes. But it's better to be safe than sorry. Mike.

And we have results... It works!!! I haven't sprayed it yet but thinned it to a definitely sprayable state following @StratsRdivine's suggestion of 10% acetone. (Give or take). It cured without any issues what-so-ever. (Even with my area having been over-cast.) I decided to do a less-than-ideal-test... Basically I was trying to see if I could screw it up. If you can easily mess it up then it's not really a home finish for everyone. I sealed the wood with a sealer (shellac) that I wasn't sure was compatible, Less than ideal sealing at that too... Then after letting it dry just a few hours, gave it a scuff sand with 320grit. I then proceeded to mix roughly 10% (I was using a pipette) of acetone into the resin, shoved it on and spread it around with said pipette, then immediately into the sun (within a few minutes) and left to cure. To my surprise it worked. I stress tested it by bending the maple (fretboard blank I messed up before CNC'ing one) to the point I felt comfortable without it snapping... No lifting or separation of the resin. Shellac is compatible so far. I then proceeded to level with 320, followed by 2500 ... Then a bit of stropping compound on a piece of kitchen towel to buff, followed by cotton waste with the same compound as before. Not ideal at all since it's still relatively coarse. And the result... Not bad huh? Considering I was intentionally doing everything rushed to see if I could ruin it. (I know this resin works, I've used it before, I needed to see if the "average joe" with no experience with finishing could easily apply it without many issues.) So... Next will be proper tests with spraying since I know acetone, even with little time to evaporate, isn't going to affect the resin. Looks like the shop bought resin with acetone is the way to go rather than mixing it ourselves since it exceeded my expectations in how well it thinned and buffed. Plus it saves people who really don't want to store the left over chemicals (Styrene, wax in styrene, excess resin ect.) from having to find a place to store them. So yeah... Apart from more thorough testing with spray equipment looks like we have ourselves a sprayable UV cure finish! And thanks to StratsRdivine it ended up being easier than I thought it would be. The resin is Solarez Gloss Polyester and just a bottle of pure acetone from a nail supply store. (Plus MEKP if using as a sealer.) Nice and simple. Over-went my estimate at £20 a litre, ended up being £36. I'll get to spray testing next week with more accurate measurements since this being the UK, Just when you want it, the sun goes away. It can cure on non-sunny days with extra time... But not on days when it's going to rain, so I'll have to wait. At least we know that if you do it badly, the result is acceptable, so done correctly it should be awesome!

I'm also with komodo and Prostheta on the neck... Get some bubinga in there, It's dense enough to absorb some of the bass frequencies and accentuate the mids and highs. It's also worth noting... And I'm sure you would do this anyway, but please wear a mask. Wenge is a bit iffy when it comes to safety... Splinters go septic, dust can cause nervous system effects, NPC ect. Don't let this put you off, as long as you wear appropriate PPE you're safe... Just something to bare in mind. I'm speaking from experience here, I sometimes forget my PPE and occasionally the after-effects can last weeks.

Quick tip from the guys over at Stan Winston... Isopropyl will pretty much make hot glue pop right of off almost anything.

I read that the same way lol... That would be a stinky finish huh. I would love it if we could get 180 proof here, then I wouldn't have to worry about the methanol in methylated spirits. I don't drink alcohol and since the cure for methanol poisoning is ethanol... That would not be a fun day for me. Mike.

Awesome news! I've got some supplies arriving today so I can start experimenting. I decided to try a pre-packed UV resin first just because it already has everything in the right proportions so if we can just buy that and thin, literally anyone can make it up. Failing that I'll be ordering the separate ingredients to mix my own. Great idea about the mirror! Funny you should mention the sun here in the UK... The last week has been ridiculously sunny and we've been having a heat-wave... Supplies arriving today and... Overcast. I do have an OSRAM full spectrum bulb which does work for curing resin, so worst case scenario I have that but it's blindingly bright, even with goggles. I'll be trying a few different sealers I have laying around to see what works. I'm hoping shellac will since I love what it does to wood but I'm not going to hold my breath. On a side note... Do you know the shelf life of MEKP? I have some laying around but it's pretty old. I'm hoping that shellac will work, I love the chatoyance of shellac and it does beautiful things to wood. I'll give it a test and let you know.

I agree with this and I did say so in the post lol... I mentioned unless you want the addition of MEKP we'll need a sealer of a different type. Maybe the way I worded it wasn't clear? Thanks for the warning of why though... I just assumed you'd be left with un-cured resin under the cured film, not that it would slowly dissolve it... That would not be pretty. The issues with buffing aren't as prominent as it seems they once were. You can buff (to my knowledge) all of them nowadays... My desk buffed up a treat. And almost all projects I've seen with UV cured polyester have been buffed. So hopefully that means it won't be a problem... But until it's in the testing phase who knows? So you can thin with acetone? I spoke to so many people in the resin industry who told me it wasn't possible since the resin would never cure or they just plain didn't know... Is that some kind of reaction with the MEKP as a catalyst or are they just talking out of their ass? My bad about the flashing off... I know it's a reactive thinner, I just assumed, wrongly it seems, that some would evaporate, hence the manufacturers saying leave it 15-30 minutes between coats. Do you know the reason? Regarding the issue with shaded areas... I'm also not sure if this is a problem. I know you'll have to expose all areas and be careful not to miss any. So far I've not had any problems with the projects I used UV cure resins on, but saying that none have been as complex a shape as a guitar... Maybe a cheap MDF box covered in foil and a couple tanning bulbs could be an option for a booth for all-round even curing? With the UV cured aliphatic urethane, is that something we can make at home and cure with the sun as a worst case UV source? Failing that, your experience has shown acetone to be a good enough thinner? I'd prefer not to interfere with the chemistry of the resin too much (A bit is fine) just in case it changes the properties of the cured film. If we could thin purely with acetone that would be great... You could just buy a pre-packed UV cure resin and just thin. Is that an option? Would the telegraphing of the grain really still be a problem even with a seal coat of resin+MEKP and sanded down smooth? I hope not... Anything else you care to add? I could really use all the help I can get. (Clearly ). Mike.

OK... Some progress on my build. She's off with the tech now getting frets levelled and the nut slots done properly. I didn't fancy doing this bit myself since the tools needed would cost as much as the tech... Not to mention he has experience in this and I don't. He said he was pleased with the fret work I had done and it's going to be pretty standard and straight forward. Go me huh? I of course had a play before taking it down to him. It's a strange thing, the 28" scale took absolutely no getting used to. It felt just as natural as my 25.5" and 24.75" scales. The only issues were a bit of buzz which I expected being un-levelled, and a bum note on the 11th fret, low E which was due to a slightly too firm tap with the hammer so it was sitting slightly lower than the 12th. All going well (fingers crossed) I'll have her back in about 9 days. Here's a pic... Not planned, but she fit perfectly into the hard case my 7 string Ibanez came in. Neck pickup is just a dummy... I have to either wind or buy one, that's an F-spaced bridge pickup. Also the push pull tone sits a bit too proud so I'm going to have to order one with a shorter thread. (Plus the only 47nF cap I had laying around was a 600V orange drop which is huge... Slightly larger than the push-pull itself.) So apart from small things like putting on the truss rod cover and control cavity plate, pickup and a little alteration to the wiring... She's done! Mike.

You're exactly right. The idea is indeed to spray multiple thin coats in succession and then cure. If any more are required a good level sand will be needed to try to avoid sanding through with successive coats after the previous layers have been cured. This is the same process needed to be followed even when using the "professional" UV cured finishes as they are all polyester or vinyl ester based. If I were a chemist I'd go ahead and develop a formula for one that would have the ability to "melt" to the coats underneath as it is possible... But the chances of normal people like us even being able to get a hold of those kind of chemicals is extremely low. Either that or if I were rich... Or at least had enough money to burn, I'd contact Morrells and grab a 20L tub of their UV cure lacquer and split it into smaller batches for regular people to buy.

Thanks Scott, Hopefully all will go well!

OK... Partially through my own impatience I have decided to experiment with making a DIY UV (Sun-cure) finish that we can all use. I have the goal to be able to make it available to everyone here, so hopefully that means even those of you without a compressor and HVLP could use it through a Preval or similar home spray gadget. This might not be possible as getting it thin enough to spray through a Preval might be problematic... But I'll try my best. Anyways... On to the goals: To have a sun cure finish we can all have access to. Not need expensive UV light systems. Preferably with no expensive spray equipment. Cost-effective. (Less than £20 a litre.) Recipe available here for free. (I'm not trying to make any money off this.) The UV cure systems on the market at the moment mostly seem to be made of a polyester base with styrene as the thinner. As any of us who have looked into polyester resins know, you can get an additive to cure it via UV light. So the resin, styrene and UV additive are readily available to all of us in small quantities. This means we can all make these fancy UV cure finishes manufacturers charge in excess of $100 for and without the need for a few hundred pound/dollars of UV light equipment. (Plus the cost of safety gear when using said lights.) A low viscosity polyester resin is my starting point, that way we can avoid the use of too much styrene that would prolong flashing times. (The average seeming to be 15 minutes between coats.) That meaning that with an average (On MSDS and TDS sheets) of three coats, you can have your guitar or other project ready for level sanding and buffing in about an hour. Sounds good right? Now on to the issues I foresee... UV light from the sun on average will only penetrate wood about 80um (0.08MM). So that means unless you feel like the addition of MEKP, we need a sealer. I've toyed with the idea of a seal coat just using polyester resin and MEKP since we know polyester is compatible with itself... This would serve two functions, a grain filler and sealer. It's downfall being that there will be a lot of sanding before you can top coat, and anyone that's sanded polyester knows it's not fun. I'm completely open to ideas on other ways to fill and seal the wood here but with the preference of it curing/drying quickly. So far the starting point will be polyester resin + UV catalyst and around 7% styrene. My research has suggested that 7% is the maximum before we start to affect the polyesters properties when cured. This may make the already low viscosity resin too thin, but I'll adjust it as I go to get the right balance between spray-ability and runs. Although a few minutes in the sun and the runs can be sanded off, so worst case scenario it still beats lacquer. The addition of wax in styrene may be needed to make the final coat cure tack free, but that's a problem for future me. Anyone out there care to chime in? It may be a few weeks before I can buy the supplies to start the experiment so there's a while to discuss possible pitfalls or improvements. Mike.

Could you try (if you have enough) stripping a piece of wire, laying it across your strings so all are in contact with it and touching it to your ground somewhere? That should show you if it's a grounding issue which it sounds like you have since I doubt you could have missed a bad joint doing it as many times as you have. If the humming stops, it's your bridge ground... Either through a bad contact with your bridge ground wire or with the saddles being isolated from the main block. I can't imagine it's your pickups since a short there would either cancel the signal or severely reduce it. At least through my experiance. Other than that I'm stumped unless you can post pics of your wiring with pickup brands and models. Glad it's not your cable... Those are expensive. Also could you check (easier if you have a multimeter with a continuity checker) that the metal casing on each component is connected to your ground. The more you eliminate the easier we can help. Mike.

That is some clean wiring there! Absolutely gorgeous... No ground loops that I can see... All very linear! Eye candy indeed! Mike.

I have a suggestion... I had a similar problem with one of my guitars, it was the cable. If they start to become damaged the ground can become a bit funny. If you have another cable I'd try that first. The only other thing I can think of that's easy to check is open up your control cover and (if you have one) alligator clip from your ground to your bridge or a string and see if that helps. Also, if your bridge is coated like your tuners are, check that you've scratched off the coating where your bridge ground wire goes. Mike. Edit: Also remember all grounds should be connected and make sure there are no ground loops.

This is the problem I have with Solarez, is that it's extremely thick. It's what I used on my desk, and although great for curing fast... It was just a pain to let it level. I've also seen his video and I like the idea of using it on a guitar but the fact you have to let it level so long isn't ideal as dust can get trapped in the finish. The casting resin polyester is MUCH thinner, how much so I cannot say yet but I have seen some that look like they might be spray-able. They can flow into incredibly fine detail so they might just be thin enough. I have no experience with the Preval units so I'm just guessing their suitability. Failing that you have those propellant cans used to airbrush without a compressor... So may be an option there with the choice of needle size ect. I know polyester can be sprayed successfully since it's what these UV guitar finishes mostly seem to be made of... But getting it to spray I imagine will take some experimentation. From the user guides of these finishes, they have unusually long waiting times before UV curing (On average 15mins) which would indicate an addition of a thinner and the waiting time being for that to evaporate before curing. I'm willing to go through that experimentation and the costs involved to get a finish where I can be impatient lol. And of course to share the results and recipes here so others can either make it better or just use it for their own projects. Hopefully won't have to deal with runs but if mist coats is what it takes then that's what it takes lol. At least if there are runs you can sand them out that day. And regarding costs... The resin averages out here at about £7 a litre and a packet to cure it by UV costing around £2, so it's also an extremely affordable finish as opposed to commercial ones at about £40 per litre and having to buy by the gallon. Plus there's no need for expensive and dangerous UV cure lamps on top as we could use the sun. This is why I'm interested to see if I can make this work. Even with the thinners it will still work out cheaper than buying it commercially. (That's if you can even find a place that sells it to non-commercial end users.) Acetone works as a thinner too, evaporates fast and is cheap. Mike.

On the plus side I may have figured out a UV cure finish! After reading though MANY a MSDS on the guys that make them, I've realised most of them are actually polyester based. So these extremely expensive finishes would have the same downfall of Solarez with the witness lines if you sand through. So I've been toying with the idea of using polyester casting resin (Low viscosity) with the standard UV catalyst through a spray system which should give a more consistent film thickness that should allow level sanding without going through to the layer underneath. So if all tests go well, we could all have an almost instant cure finish you could spray through a Preval if you don't have a compressor that cures with the sun in a few minutes, that is rock hard (I have it on my desk and it's extremely difficult to scratch or dent) and is a fraction of the cost of most systems! Here's hoping it will work! Will be a few weeks before I can try it but I'll post results and a recipe here on the forums if it works. Mike.

It was done in extremely thin coats over a few days with 30mins to an hour between "sessions" (One or two coats and depending on if the last coat still felt "tacky" or not). The neck has had 4 days and after 3 I couldn't get my nail in it. My first go at french polishing was on an Ibanez body and I can still get my nail in that... That was months ago lol, Looks like I'll be stripping that again. I got new fresh shellac for this project since my other ones are a little on the old side now. For the U.K. It's been really warm and I've had good air flow over the body and neck. (Hanging in a doorway with a good cross breeze.) I'll be following the french polishing with a few coats of renaissance wax to protect the shellac from my grubby hands and moisture. Looks like it's going to be a long week . My patience (or lack there of) has always been my downfall with finishing things.

@Prostheta I know you've french polished guitars before... How long would you leave it before hardware? Mike.

If you were an hour earlier I would have still been sanding lol. Still interested to hear what you would have done though.

Thanks, It was a bargain price and my birthday so my other half and my mum treated me . What would you do? I'm not a finish guy by any means... I just started french polishing so may not be useful to me now... But on the next one it could be!