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charisjapan

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Everything posted by charisjapan

  1. Yeah ... I knew that answer to that. I had a chromed Japanese road racer (bicycle) with chromoly tubes and really fancy lugs, and saw what the builder had to do to prep the frame ... crazy! While I could imagine chrome, I would not want to be the one to prepare for it! I am certain your powder coat will turn out beautiful, and look forward to it. Humbucker should be nice. Certainly any kind of hum reduction will help, as the entire guitar is grounded. Don't use this guitar with a vintage amp!!!!!!
  2. I masked the neck pocket, but didn't want the paint to "wall up" so left a few millimeters, which cleaned up nicely with a card scraper. Neck fit in nicely, tight, but not "force-it" tight. Zero movement even without bolts, but decide to use them anyway .
  3. Control cavity done, and everything works ... like a jazz bass. Here's a couple shots of the jack inside and out. I admit that if this ever fails, it'll be a bear to replace. But not impossible, and I deem how it looks worth it!
  4. Some Project!! i read the thread, but must’ve missed what the pickup layout will be ... ? While this is a massive Faraday Cage , I would imagine single coils might need some serious shielding. I know you said purple, but chromed would be fantastic! looking forward to how you wind this up ( pun very much intended)
  5. @gpcustomguitars, Aha! I see what you're saying, and it sounds like it would work great on resizing, tapering, or sharpening a constant-size dowel. How could that work with a knob, especially a bell?
  6. I just made an electrosocket-like plug out of Padauk for my Limba Redux, and. I can tell you that it’s not easy to get a truly round whatever. The grain, no matter how subtle, fights to make an irregular whatever. Now, I admit that my drill press is a cheapo, but as @Prostheta mentioned, they don’t do well with side loads. For my plug to be round, I spun it against my belt sander while eyeballing, then chucked it into the drill press for final size and polish. One way I found to use a drill press effectively was by using a drum sander in a hand drill against the whatever. It’s a bit hard to make two matching items ... but I suppose possible. At least this way there is minimal side-load on the press. Some day I’ll buy a lathe.
  7. I just could not keep my mitts off! Too much temptation, even though I knew that I should wait another few days. So far, no damage. As I had resigned myself, this may have a slightly relic finish ... i.e. a bit of grain sinkage. Actually, I find myself not bothered by that! Someday I'll make an uber-shiny guitar, but this being Limba, I can't see the point of a mirror finish. AND, the Odie's Oil neck and headstock are super-grainy ... Is that enough rationalization? I could probably come up with a few more excuses for NOT GRAIN FILLING, but this should suffice.
  8. Cut out a little template to prewire the electronics. Two Volume and a Master Tone in a jazz bass no-switch layout. I may add push-pull switches after I hear the guitar ... On/Off for pickups, phase reversal, tone cap selector, coil splitting, partial tap, bright switch, no-load ...
  9. Found a couple new toys to shine up my toys! The little boxes contain precut #1000 and #1500 wet-sanding sheets ... with a matching little rubber block, perfect for details and complicated inner and outer arcs. I know it would be cheaper to just cut up my own, but these are cut perfectly, with no harsh edges that you sometimes get with scissors or cutter knives. Next are these little “toothbrush” sanding film tools ... the finest is #6000, or 2 microns. Haven't used them yet, but someday! All Made in Japan!!
  10. Just did ... Wow! Once a year, my whole neighborhood is sakura ... probably six or seven different types all blossoming at different times, so more than a six week season. @hooglebug, your work is as good as any I have seen done by Hakone Zaiku artisans! (and I've been visiting Hakone for nearly 50 years) I also know what it's like to be laid up with problems that kept me out of the shop for months, in my case tedinitis and bursitis. Hope you get the right advice ... and take it! I tried to bluff my way through it - like when I was younger - and made things worse. Now, my doctor gave my nurse (Mrs. Charisjapan) strict orders, and I'm on the mend. Be well!!
  11. Neck almost done. 1mm off the back, .5 to 1.5mm off the front, now a nice 13mm thickness, and the tuner posts are now about 2mm taller than the nubs they were. In relation to the nut, just 1mm higher, but plenty of break angle. The edge is just a bit more slender, and I imagine the headstock weighs 10-12% less. I didn't experience neck dive per se, but definitely more head mass than my strat, so expecting a more balanced feel for this kind of guitar. I shaved a good 1mm off the far half of the neck, so hoping it will give me a similar profile as the Clapton strat neck ... my favorite. All the numbers are now nearly the same, but ya'll know that numbers don't necessarily = feel. High Hopes. (yes, THAT song ... Gilmour's lap guitar sends me to other places) (cue @Mr Natural ... )
  12. @Prostheta, I envy a place that has any kind of 2K aerosol ... Just nothing like that available here. Nothing like that can be sent here, and can’t bring it on an airplane ... even in Hawaii, my usual port-of-call in the U.S., nothing like that is available. I will just have to make do with what I have! Fortunately, I know that this 1K urethane will become very hard and tough eventually. I used it on the Chinaberry bass, just two coats, no sanding or polishing, and it’s hard as a rock, and resists buckle rash admirably. This is the first time to try and be a bit more fancy. Good luck with the aerosol being usable in a week. That would be amazing! The stuff I’m using now is okay for a week, but beyond that it’s in the bin.
  13. Haha about Shazbot, not your humidity situation! I am considering a water-based 2K urethane brush-on for the first coat of the next build on super-grainy Chinaberry. It's super-clear, self-leveling, and sands down well. If it works well under this 1K spray, I may have a winner! I used the 2K on a Padauk shelf for my daughter's house, and it was gorgeous, so hoping it will serve well on a guitar. Wishing you a bubble-less finish! (is Finnish a bad pun? )
  14. Yeah, that and that fact that I got overheated! Airflow it has now, and looking good. edit: by airflow, I mean it's in the house now, with A.C. moving air around. Mrs, Charisjapan has not complained about the smell, so that is absolute proof that it doesn't!!
  15. For the middle of June, we are having downright cold (18C/65F) temps and rain ... another typhoon nearby, but they keep missing Yokohama. The past two weeks have been a muggy-warm/muggy cold dance. For a 1K lacquer/urethane, my rattle can spray is drying pretty fast, and clear as can be ... I was able to wet sand and hand polish the edges today with no issues. The top is the thickest area ... I laid it on first then again last, and clamped it face up each coat ... so will give it some more time to be sure. I will hold off a week before using my drill buffing wheel, as I don't want to risk heating it up. As to off-gassing, I cranked up the A.C. in one room to 30C all day, which also dries the air, and can hardly smell anything when I walk I the room. I'm hoping my aggressive sanding between coats makes for a thin, well-cured finish. and nanu nanu.
  16. Haha! Actually, far less than half of books are “backwards” anymore ... since Win95 and the Internet, most things are Western standard, unless it’s written to make a traditional statement or a few official documents. The most interesting is taxicabs ... many have their company name written front-to-back, so right-to -left on the right side, and left-to-right on the left. This is especially funny when they write English “IXAT” on the right side of the car ... continuity? I don’t use a lathe, but if “they” say that Japanese lacquerware has been around 9,000 years, then clockwise is the correct rotation! I am sorely tempted to finish a guitar in black and red urushi someday.
  17. Gotcha. Much like we use “nisu” (varnish) for just about anything except “urushi.” The other exception is spray nitrocellulose lacquer, but that is becoming more and more rare as water-based paints are being aggressively marketed. Well, I had the body in an enclosed small room overnight, and the smell is pretty faint. Maybe I can crank up the heater for a day to promote off-gassing? Thanks again!
  18. I’m confused. This stuff is supposed to be an oil-based urethane that cleans with paint thinner ... would it still be considered a lacquer? It is definitely quicker drying than any nitrocellulose lacquer I’ve used, and the smell disappears much faster, but I’ll have to wait and see how long it takes to get hard enough polish correctly. After the first coat, I sanded back almost to wood (and fully to wood in a few places), and the second coat nearly as much. The third and forth coats were dry-sanded pretty thoroughly with #400. So even though I’m on the fifth coat, it is pretty thin. If after I let my buddy’s son build it and play it, I’m not satisfied, I’ll pull it apart again, give it a good coat, and wait a few weeks. I want to get this squared away so I can get working on my daughter’s Chinaberry Six. Thanks guys for the input! Will post my observations.
  19. Indeed, it's a bit early to start polishing. Actually, very little smell, and the thinner back already polished up pretty nicely. The front is a bit thicker (and lacks any sunken grain! ), but is definitely still a bit soft. Not to worry, I still have it "on stick" and either hanging or clamped sideways. When I did the fifth coat, it developed a run between the pickups (must've gotten a bit repetitive there), so I decided to clamp it face upwards. Very happy to say the drip settled down quite nicely . Now that it is looking pretty good, will leave the finish be until the day before my buddy comes, but will finish wiring and a few more coats of Odie's Oil on the neck. Fortunately, this guitar has been finished once, so setup should be pretty easy. Thanks for the heads up, my friend! I had looked at the specs carefully, but this company claims you can mess with it the next day ... but they probably didn't imagine an inane luthier laying down five coats!
  20. Fifth coat, and gonna call it Done. It's not, really, there are a gazillion little nicks (well, maybe a hundred) everywhere, and there's some wavy areas where it's supposed to be flat. I could give it another coat or two and try to make it perfect, but this is a prototype ... so Done. From one step back, it looks all shiny and smooth . Also, I gained a lot of experience for the next build ... i.e. grain fill Limba, Mahogany, and Chinaberry, you nitwit!!! But I also found out that this Washin Paint Spray Urethane can finish a guitar - if properly prepped - and a lot easier than getting set up for spraying lacquer. I'm on a clock I did not know about. A good buddy from New Zealand is bringing his family through Japan on the ways to Europe, and I heard his 17 year old son has gotten into electric guitars in a big way, so I'm gonna have this thing ready to bolt the neck on and string up ...and let him have first whack. He's been following the progress on FB, so might get a kick out of that. Only polished the back a bit so far, but using a small hard block with #2000 wet-sanding, then a professional "sanding paste" I've had forever (my first church was situated over an auto-body shop my friend owned), and finally my first time to use Meguiar's Mirror Glaze #7 Professional Show Car Glaze (what a long name!). I am impressed with the Meguiar's ... this is supposed to be one step finer than their Swirl Remover, and it's pretty shiny. The first two pics are just the dried paint, the last is after hand-polishing. I will probably use my drill buffing pad with the glaze, then wax it before assembly.
  21. Still wet from the fourth coat of cleat, the grain is filled, but after an hour there are still a few sunken spots (and a few drips ). After the next wet sanding and fifth coat, I will just drop fill if necessary, as this urethane drop fills quite nicely.
  22. A few random shots. My painting booth , a drip to show how much amber in the clear, and a selfie
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