mistermikev

well, one the one hand... I said f when I saw it too... that must have been painful in realtime. on the other: if anyone can fix that it's you... and very fortunate it was only the back side... and now we all get a free master class in fixing a finish! you got this.

perhaps just another illusion but the line on your fret saw looks a hair deep, then again better deep than shallow. I always dread the part when I finish the slots cause I know the next part... well I'll be holding my breath for a while. have a few under my belt... but still feels like pounding in frets... dressing... leveling = flirting with disaster!

not a lot of us get a 2nd chance at "the one that got away" so... fingers crossed for you.

someday... I wish to be able to render things like that. just looks wonderful. also, that mirage - what a lovely guitar. seeing that boo boo on the headstock just makes me want to fix it. that neck profile looks really flat and wide. I like all types, but appreciate very much variants of the jem wizard 1 which looks pretty similar to that. maybe a hair less U. bet she'll play like greased lightening.

first - that is a lovely piece of mahog. wasted as a table but brought to life as a guitar by you so... bravo. second - I can't help but notice the cutout in your template.... I'm going to assume you will be making a secret stash spot for aviator sunglasses? (right next to the diamond there) third - whenever I see little knots or imperfections I think: "well no one will ever look at this and think it's veneer"! It's those little imperfections I love because they prevent something from looking fake... to me anyway. nice build - rawk on.

wow, some lovely joinery going on there. bravo.

looking good.

for what it's worth... hook, line and sinker.

I think pretty much all nitro is going to add a little amber, if not now, then later as it ages. If you look at any vintage fender neck... right out the gate they were amber w/o any dye... and as they age they are almost orange. The more like that vintage nitro you get... the more amber it's going to be. It's fairly common among the 'fender enthusiasts" to take mohawk and leave it sit in the sun in a clear bottle for months to get that "instant vintage" amber. Not exactly what I'm going for here... but I'm not even trying to avoid it either. On the original mockup I did for this guitar, the blue was based on pictures from the sellers site of the sonoran turquoise. The actual product was much more turquoise. My dye tests where all done on the flamed maple and once tru oil was applied they matched the actual turquoise pretty well. So for the record... was not trying to match my original mockup "light blue" as much as I was trying to match the turquoise inlay, and the color I ended up with on the flame maple is a good match. afa the quilt... this was just my prototype. I never did any tests of the color prior to dye because it just didn't matter for that build. I didn't think it would turn quite this green... but it's a happy accident (bob ross) as I am free to be as creative as I like on that one. Again, this is the wood NOT the dye/tru-oil/lacquer. Both guitars had the exact same treatment. If I really wanted it to match the flamed body I would have A) done some color tests on that wood and/or B ) sanded it down and re-dyed it... but I have to say I really like the color. Further, as it turns out, I have some lovely green abalone block inlay that will match it quite well and since there are no rules on that one... I'm taking the liberty to change it up.

thanks for the reply Drak. I do appreciate the advice, and with all due respect to your finishing prowess, and noting that I'm not above learning anything... I've used nitro lacquer over tru oil on literally (almost) every guitar i have built and have not had an issue with adhesion nor it drawing off any dye. I've also read of many others who have done the sm. The reason I use it... is IMO it pops the figure like nothing else I have seen. Note, that I apply tru oil and then whipe it off immediately. https://www.tdpri.com/threads/nitrocellulose-lacquer-over-tru-oil.411332/ https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=510735 https://www.talkbass.com/threads/nitro-lacquer-over-tru-oil.883106/ afa retard the dye... this dye had been drawn off so many times I don't think the tru oil was taking any more of it out. I literally whiped all the dye off on purpose using mineral spirits prior to any tru oil. I always do that because that top layer of dye just clouds the figure imo. I don't believe tru oil is really an oil in the traditional sense anyway... it's a lot more like a varnish and when applied light, and whiped off after, it drys within an hour or two. afa doing wierd stuff... well that is absolutely accurate in terms of adding some amber. no more so than nitro lacquer will ad tho. I had actually anticipated that. I knew tru oil would add a little bit of yellow to the mix, and that nitro would add some more, and am totally fine with that. I will take your dislike of my finish in stride, I'm pretty happy with it. Actually have used dye mixed in to tru oil inside the f holes. I had used dye mixed into tru oil on my sweet spot blue as the final finish. afa lacquer... my naked eye can see the yellowing in the cup so I would assume it adds some visible amber, but yes a small amount. mohawk instrument lacquer is quite amber, unlike watco I've used before. again, not a huge dif. Admittedly both of these colors don't really look all that dif than they did wetted with min spirits.

i have done tru oil on the inside of several guitars... more because I figure it is a moderate amount of environmental protection. probably overkill but it can't hurt. I also do tru oil in the truss rod cavity because there is always a hole exposing it... most of that is mitigated by a dab or two of silicon... but again... i figure it can't hurt. the obvious caveat there is - you really don't want it getting anywhere near the glue surface. really love your build. going the extra mile! afa lam tables... I've built an awful lot of convenience counters, bar tops and nurse stations and all were mdf. I think the reason both sides are finished is because they are any edge that gets exposed to moisture is going to be problematic for the structural integrity! mdf will mushroom with the slightest moisture exposure.

on both... did one light layer of tru oil then lacquer. tru oil contributed some yellow, nitro lacquer contributed even more. The light/flash is contributing in addition. The difference between the two is just down to the wood. the flamed maple was a very white wood, while the quilt was much more tan/pink.

sort of hard to believe how different these are given they both used the sm dye mix. also hard to believe I used an entire quart of lacquer only doing 4 or so coats. Need to order more... anywho, minor update.

extra fat extra flavor!!

yes, on the first guitar I did that on there was no f hole... it was a strat style. I had considered going at it with a file but, no one was ever going to see it so I just left it as steps. Someone commented on it that they liked that detail and I was surprised anyone would mention it... but it actually does look kind of cool. anywho, great minds think alike.

that's a great observation. I'm afraid the quality of workmanship has distracted me from ever seeing it... but yeah... scottr rocks!!

love where this is going... a fattie. bet that is going to sound amazing!

noice steps. I actually do the inside/opposite of my belly cut in an almost identical way. really does make the route look like a nice swimming pool you could step down into! folks have commented on it and I thought I was just being lazy but seeing it from the other side (ie someone else doing it) - very nice detail. great work!!

i don't want to send the wrong impression or anything (I'm spoken for) but a............. "noice jig"! I mean that in the most plutonic way possible. some good looking tops there too. rawk on.

so just wanted to update in case anyone else ever has this similar issue. I had it again when I was spraying lacquer and never would have guessed this was not debris. Was hunting around on sites trying to find keywords that would bring me to someone with the sm issue... and finally found this thread that describes EXACTLY what my issue is: 'sounds like improper reduction of material shot at high pressure. In the good old days this was known as "spider webbing", or "Cobwebbing", done with old lacquer type finishes.Clean gun and reduce the material to proper ratio to finish, shot at correct pressure for gun and material in use. the stuff actually looks like little airborne debri that might have been shot with lacquer. Kind of looks like little feathers or hairs that end up on the finish. "spider webbing" describes it pretty good too. Admittedly... have not figured out how to dial in either gun I have... but this puts me on the path. Gun is clean as a whistle... but lacquer was not reduced at all, and now that they mention it... I think my pressure was a bit high! anywho

congrats!!

I was actually curious if anyone would notice it as well. def from about the f hole over to where it meets the neck pocket. but honestly did not see it well with naked eye. the flash actually accentuates it so... def happy accident.

thank you. yea, doing it rubbed... I had to build it slowly to prevent what biz is talking about below. after I had taken these photos I noticed the lower horn didn't have enough transition... drew some more color off with min spirits to correct.

alien archeologist lizards - cracked me up there lol afa rings... i like the idea of pouring them in the sense that I think this could be a useful process to know. I also think that cutting them might be problematic given the material. could combine the two ideas and mill something out of scrap and then make a mold from it.

right on... well admittedly I was as much telling as asking as I figured you would know the nitty gritty and not dissapointed.