Frankdemariany

I tried the razor but was getting not far. Someone suggested an orange paint remover gel?

Not sure if anyone had thoughts on that. 

Thank you! 

1 hour ago, ADFinlayson said:

In Dr Nitro's youtube videos, he holds a ruler up to the fretboard and runs is razor down the fretboard side to scape the binding/fretboard edge evenly without having to work around the frets. 

Awesome thank you! 

9 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

A single edge razor blade used as a scraper should do the job. A million light passes rather than one single gouge.

Okay great. Thank you so much! 

Hello Everyone,

I'm FINALLY getting to my rebuild with my oldest daughter. 

This was an Epi Special in Black. It was sanded down and I started the process to paint it TV Yellow. 

I'm not a "handy" guy at all so I was looking forward to the challenge. 

Per the pics, I'm pleased with the body and I'm thinking once the gloss is on, it will look nice. 

The neck on the other hand I am concerned about...lol. 

Some of the TV Yellow got to the top of the fretboard.

Any ideas and/or tips to try and make that look a little nicer?

Thank you all for the feedback! 

54 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

No silly questions, more stupid is not to ask when in doubt!

Unscrew the end strap button and replace it with a hook. If you spray it, you can grab the body by the pickup cavities for better access to tight curves.

 

 

Okay cool. I can then hang it from the tree in my backyard? As it's nice and open there.

5 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

I'm tempted to call that as good as controlled but as it most likely is different at night not to mention dew it most certainly is not controlled.

With you over there and me up here I obviously can't tell you exactly what to do but here's some food for thought:

• No matter whether you spray or brush the paint, don't let it into your lungs!
• Dust is your enemy and so are insects, you don't want them into your fresh paint.
• Spraying inside will also blow dust. One way to fight it is to hang wet bedsheets around your painting spot.
• Painting outside is well ventilated but the wind will blow dust, also some flies tend to like the smell of fresh paint. Wet bedsheets might help there as well.
• Painting in direct sunlight in the heat is not recommendable as the paint will dry too quickly. If you use wet sheets for a makeshift shed the drying of them will make air flow - a desert fridge can be made by stretching a wet cloth between corner poles!
• If outside, I'd hang wet sheets on the shadow side porch (or similar location) and paint it there.
• If your house has air conditioning and is significantly cooler than the outside weather I'd a) check if the wet sheets lower the temperature on the shadow side and b) take the guitar out of the house only for the painting and take it back inside for drying so that the temperature of the wood doesn't change much.

Thank you. And silly question, but when I paint it outside....where do I put it? Do I hang it from somewhere?

Okay so here we go guitar was sanded (by a buddy of mine) and is ready to go. I order the color tone kit for TV yellow and got it today. In the instructions, it said to paint it in a temperature and humidity controlled environment. I happen to live in South Florida and it;s like 91 everyday!!!!! 

Anyone have a suggestions?

Thank you! 

14 hours ago, norm barrows said:

post a pic of the body so we can see where you're at.

god is in the details.

a paint job is only as good as the surface prep job you do first.

for best results get it smooth as glass, then scuff with 1000 grit or so and start squirting.

if it was a resto, one of those gibson / epi forums might have suggestions for brand of paint.     but about all you can do is look for guitars the color you want then try to find out what finish they use.

check into acrylic paints and clearcoats while you're at it.  they may be a viable option.  I've had good results with acrylic clearcoat.   goes on easier than lacquers and enamels,   dries faster too.    once i use up my stock of clear lacquer (about 9 cans), i may switch to acrylic.    i think its cheaper too!  lacquer is definitely pricey - more than regular old paint.

lacquer and enamel are traditional types of paint. acrylic is a more modern type of paint.    Many things in guitars are done for tradition's sake, not because they are a superior way of doing things.  in fact things are sometimes done for tradition's sake, despite being an inferior way of doing things. 

so don't discount "new school" approaches out of hand simply because they are not the traditional way of doing things.  such as acrylic vs lacquer or enamel finishes.

technology tends to evolve, not devolve, so newer generally means better, not worse.  strat vs floyd rose trem,   single coil vs humbucker, nohead vs headstock guitars, metal vs gut strings, the list of examples goes on.   

acrylic vs enamel or lacquer may go in that list as well.

I haven't had the time to conduct thorough tests yet.  but on various build over the last fiscal quarter, i've tested lacquer, acrylic, polyurethane, enamel, and tung oil clear coats,      I've also tested  enamel and lacquer paints, oil based stains, and water based dyes for painting / staining / dyeing bodies and necks.

so far, the water based dyes and acrylic clear coat are the most impressive.   but i don't paint guitars, i stain them.   if i were to paint a guitar, i'd likely use duplicolor.   real professional automotive paint.

be aware that not all basecoats and clear coats are compatible.  clear lacquer can loosen some types of underlying paint    other combos may not play well together either.

i recently got into building guitars big time myself. i have about half a dozen youtube channels i rely on for good info.  if you really want to get good at squirting guitars, this is the man to talk to...

he's my #1 goto for squirting guitars.

do him a favor and like and subscribe - if you think he deserves it.    it helps him and doesn't hurt us.

https://www.youtube.com/user/BradAngove

 

 

Great thank you so much I will check out his videos and subscribe for sure. 

6 minutes ago, norm barrows said:

not familiar with it. 

my paint and body experience comes from hot rodding , show cars, etc.

krylon is cheap but ok.   rust-o-leum is nicer, but costs more,

duplicolor is automotive paint.  often used on guitars.   pricey, but good stuff.  If you want Lambourghini "arrest me!" yellow, odds are you'll have to go with an automotive paint from some manufacturer or another.   

if you were restoring the guitar, black lacquer would be another option.   more runny than enamels, but dries faster.

 

Gotcha. I'll research those you mentioned. 

I'm assuming Clear Satin is a primer?

Thank you again! 

3 minutes ago, norm barrows said:

light coats. squirting the body only, you might get three coats, perhaps even four from a can.  but only count on a little over two coats per can, until you see how your actual usage goes.       if you've never squirted anything before, get a couple extra cans of cheap primer for practice on scrap wood til you can lay down paint like a CNC machine - then go for it for real on the guitar body.

if you go too light, it will dust (can too far away, some paint is drying before contacting the body). 

if you go too heavy it will run (can too close, over-saturates an area, or you're not moving fast enough - too much time over one area).

in either case, let it dry completely, do not touch it while wet!

once its dry, sand back lightly with 400 or higher and try again.

if you're squirting clear coat and mess up, keep adding more coats until you have enough buildup to sand back without cutting into the paint.  Once you have enough buildup, sand it back smooth, then squirt it again.

in general when squirting, you want to get the entire surface just wet, and then stop.

more expensive paints will tend to have better sprayers and will behave better with regard to runs, coverage, hiding, self leveling, etc.

if you get cheap paint and have issues, step up to the next most expensive brand.

   

Great thanks! Any paint you would recommend? Color Tone seems to be the main one for guitar paint.

Thanks! 

13 minutes ago, norm barrows said:

Strip the stickers.     Then start sanding.   I'd start with something coarser, 400 or so.   Scuff everything.    Fill low spots with bondo or scratch filler.     you're going yellow over black, so you'll need to do something like light gray primer, or white first, then your yellow.  No need to go to bare wood unless you want to.  Just get any loose stuff off, and the rest as smooth as you want (smooth as glass is nice, but a lot of sanding), then squirt.  lots of light coats.   long drying times between coats.   being patient will pay off.  count on one coat a day, and a month to finish.  its won't be that bad, but you'll be  prepared mentally. 

 

Thank you. I was looking at color tone for the paint. Any idea how many cans I would need of the yellow or the primer for that matter?

1 hour ago, Bizman62 said:

Partially so. If the pots are in good condition i.e. they don't give noise to the amplifier when turned and you're using the same or similar type pickups there's nothing against using the existing ones.

Some semi-advanced knowledge: The pots have an electric value measured in ohms, in guitars mainly in kilo-ohms shortened k . Typical values are 250k for single coils and 500k for humbuckers. That's because the higher the value the brighter the sound and most often you'd want a pleasant balanced sound instead of screaming highs. So you can change the sound of your guitar by changing pots but is it an improvement is another thing. Changing poor quality to good is recommendable, though.

 

 

Got it. Thank you! 

2 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

Yes.

Isn't it amazing how we think everyone understands this lingo we're using? Pots are potentiometres used for adjusting volume. On the inside they're pots, on the outside they're knobs! If and when you're uncertain about any word or expression, ask. There's many other similar things that don't necessarily open to a beginner, not to mention that the same word can mean a different thing on the other side of the pond!

Very true and thank you for the explanation. 

So the "Pots" really don't have to be changed in an effort to better the sound of the guitar. If I want different knobs, I can get those but the pots inside really can stay the same?

6 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

As @mistermikev said you can just tuck them into the cavity.

Just for clarification: The volume knobs are the pots so just unscrew the hex nuts and push them to the other side so you can sand the top around them.

You should also pull off the plugs for the bridge pieces. There's many ways but one of the safest is to use a bolt and a piece of tube or a block with a large enough hole for the plug like in the image below. The block/tube (brown/yellow) can be of any thickness depending on the length of the bolt. About an inch or so is enough to pull the entire length of the plug off.

Ah so the pots are the volume knobs. Okay I will just unscrew the hex nuts and take them out. To confirm you mean the hex nuts on the surface correct?

Okay I will try to pull off the plugs for the bridge as well. 

Hopefully I can get this sanded soon. 

Ok so here you go. I took out the picks up. I'm assuming the grey wire will be left in there during the sanding? 

Those pots seem really in there. Is that essential to change for this project?

Also I took a picture of the front as there are still some things I didn't take off from the bridge and volume knobs. I'm assuming those need to come off for the sanding. Sorry if this was already mentioned...but how is the best way to do that?

Thanks! 

22 minutes ago, Bizman62 said:

Super easy...

There's two kinds of knobs for the pots. Either there's a tiny screw on the side or the knob just pulls off. Either way, after getting the knob off you'll see a nut. Unscrew the nut and pull the pot off through the control cavity. Same thing with the switch, there's a nut on the outside. The knob of the switch can be threaded (Gibson type) or pushed (Fender type). No tools needed for the knob.

Thank you both. I will play around with this tonight and post pics. 

3 hours ago, mistermikev said:

shouldn't need to cut the jack wires as if you unscrew it it will pull right thru the hole.  If you aren't replacing all the wire I'd just put the pots and such in a bag and tape up.  less work later... but follow your own path on this. 

Do those pots come out easily?

3 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

If you're just going to take the pickups and pots and the switch and jack out, cutting is as good as desoldering. Whichever you choose, leave the blue, red and black as long as possible, cutting right at the pot so there'll remain enough slack to redo the wiring. The rest will come off as one harness.Mark the red and blue on the pots and switch so you know where to solder them back.

The jack can be cut right at the prongs or even easier just at where the grey plastic ends. The latter will show how it was soldered so you can redo it easier.

And of course you can just desolder all of the seven spots.

 

Okay great. Yes I'm going to upgrade the pickups Thank you for the red lines for where to cut. I will do that tonight. 

Do I need to take out the pots? Should I be upgrading those as well. I actually don't know much about those little guys...lol. 

5 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

Let's start with so simple basics that even I can understand them! My knowledge is limited to following the simple diagrams and trying to avoid cutting where rejoining is impossible.

So... There's basically two types of wire, signal and ground. All grounded wires should follow a chain ending to the sleeve of the jack, often on tops of the pots. Similarly all signal wires will end up to the tip prong of the jack but it can go through various pots and switches. Digging deeper, the wires actually join inside the pickup! Utterly simplified we're talking about a loop inside your guitar with some magic involved to pick up the string vibrations through a chosen pickup - actually a bit similar to our blood vessels!

Pots and switches plus the jack are inexpensive easily replaceable parts compared to pickups. You can tell it by the lumps of solder on the outside. As a rule of thumb if a wire is easy to desolder and resolder on a small component it's pretty safe to either cut or desolder depending on whether you're going to reuse the component or trash it.

Here's my understanding of a basic wiring like yours, pretty similar to the fancier one you referred to. The cloured are signal,  black are ground all centered to the tone pot before going to the jack sleeve.

Oh, by the way, the small black wire you mentioned is the grounding wire from the bridge. It's there to ground the player through the strings to eliminate buzz and hum.

 

Thank you. So I wouldn't need to cut the black wire correct? The grey wire to the input I would cut where it meets the white wire?

11 hours ago, mistermikev said:

the blue wire splits into ground and white.  the red wire splits into ground and white.  you want to cut where the white meets a connection on the three way, and  where the ground meets the back of the pot.  do this for red, then do this for blue.  does that make sense?

Thank you. So I think I got it. I would cut where the blue meets the white (shown in the 2nd image) and then cut where ground meets the pot more further inside? 

Did I get that right?

On 7/30/2019 at 3:04 PM, Bizman62 said:

Exactly. Leave as much wire as you can in the pickup since it's very tricky to replace.

Hello world! It's been a while and I have slacked. I'm finally ready to get back to working on this. I'm going to have a friend sand it with his sander. 

I was looking again at removing the pick ups and just wanted to reiterate so I know I'm doing it correctly. So based on the pictures below, am I cutting where the blue or red meet the white? 

Also where am cutting by the input jack?

I also see a black wire in there. 

Thanks as always for the advice. 

On 9/23/2019 at 11:36 AM, Bizman62 said:

Aren't I a nuisance! Each time you show some progress I ask you to do some more sanding!

LOL no worries at all. I really appreciate you taking your valuable time to help. 

4 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

Looks good so far.

However, there's rough looking spots here and there especially on the sides of the headstock. Try to sand them smooth. A piece of broomstick as a sanding block might be a good tool in those curvy areas. Use it as a spokeshave with both hands so you don't change the angle of the side and try to get some rotating action to your strokes. And remember: No pressure! I'd say 180-240-320-400 grits should do it.

Okay great. I'll do just that and let you know. 

Thanks! 

Okay so I think the neck is done. It was a task that's for sure and I'm thinking to paint it as opposed to the finish would be a better student. 

Now onto the body with the wet sand paper as instructed earlier. 

Any feedback or advice on the neck would be awesome!

Thanks! 

On 9/5/2019 at 12:12 PM, Bizman62 said:

If you choose the paint route the paint will cover everything with a uniform colour no matter what's under it. The main issue with the blemishes would be getting the wood grain not to show. The main function of the primer is to fill all tiny gaps so you get a very smooth surface to paint on. Even the paint itself acts somewhat of a primer if the wood grain isn't deeply figured and if you sand between layers.

Oiling is another form of finishing. Unlike paint or lacquer (which is paint without colour pigments) oil penetrates into the wood and leaves a more organic feel - almost like bare wood with some shield against dirt and moisture. An oiled neck has less friction so it can make your playing both faster and more accurate than a painted neck.

Makes sense. And I'm sure the oiling will show those blemishes. 

I'll work on the rest of the neck with the razor this weekend, send pic, and think about the paint vs. oil.

Thank you again!