Jupiter

Haha, funny that you ask me that... that was going to be my next question! Ben

Well, poo! I thought it would be a neat touch! Oh well, in the back of my head, that's what i figured would happen { about the veneer flexing and such }. So, i guess if i was going to do the tone chambers thing, i'd want to make my body 1/4 inch thinner than i want it to be, cut the tone chambers out, then put on a fat 1/4 inch top, right? I guess i'll just try and keep it simple, with this being my first project and all. Thanks for the help! Ben

Aloha! So, i'm planning on building a body from the ground up in a few months, and i was just wondering... Would it be safe to route out some tone chambers in the body to increase the resonance of the guitar, then just put a veneer top over it? What i'm worried about is if the veneer would be strong enough to support itself over the tone chambers. I plan on using the average, super-thin veneer { can't remember the measurements, sorry! }for the top. Please help! Ben

Hmm, alrighty! Doesn't sound too bad. Thanks! So, how does this affect the surface differently as opposed to dry-sanding? Ben

Haha, well, those do seem to be the most efficient learning tools, after all... Anyway, about the wet sanding... What do i do? Soak my paper in water? Put water on the surface? I'm just not to clear on this. What difference does it make as opposed to normal sanding? Thanks! Ben

You're the man, Jeremy!!! Thanks a lot, that should do it! Just where did you learn all of this stuff, anyway? Ben

Great! So, when i wet sand it, what grit should i use? This may sound stupid, but i'm not really familier with wet-sanding. Could someone give me a how-to and some pointers? Thanks! Ben

Aloha! I'm in the process of shooting an acrylic-based clear coat on my guitar body. I'm about three good coats into it, and it's looking really good.... except there's a few odd spots that feel really dry. The sides and the back of the top horn, mostly. What in the world is going on here? Is there anything i can do with it? Please help soon! Ben

Hello again! As those of you who have been following the saga of my seemingly-neverending Schecter refinish project { and i'm sure there's legions of you out there } know, i've used an acrylic-based clear coat by Krylon to shine up my paint. I'm about three coats into it, and it's looking good. My Dad suggested that i use a rubbing compound and clear coat polish { typically what you would use on your car } to shine it up even more. Would this be a good idea with an acrylic-based clear coat? Please help! Ben

Great, thanks for the tips! Keep them coming! My first coats went pretty well. I did, however, catch a few hairs and small debris in the clear ... any tips for removing the little buggers? I feel like when i run the sanding block over them, i'm only driving them further into the clear. Also, on the lower edge of the body, there are a few little tiny craters of some kind... they weren't there before i shot the clear, either. It looks like small bubbles have formed and popped. What was this caused by? Thanks!!! Ben

Excellent !!! Thanks a million to everyone on this forum who has helped me throughout this project { my first big project! }! I've fired up the heaters in the garage, so i'll be spraying it tonight. I'll let you all know how it goes. I plan on shooting a light coat, waiting 15 minutes, then shooting a wet coat, then sanding later with 320. And of course, i'll put a crapload of more coats on there, too. Any other suggestions? Wish me luck !!! Ben

Hello again! Following the advice LGM and Brian, i bought some Krylon aerosol clear coat to put over my Krylon white spray paint on my axe. The only kind i could find that Krylon made was clear acrylic... will this work? Will it give a nice shine? Please help soon!!! Ben

Well, it rained again today.... grr, i hate Tennessee weather, it sucks very badly. Anyway, i sanded down the back and sides of the guitar and eliminated ALL orange peel! It now has a very glass-like sheen to it. Here's the only problem... there were two tiny dirt spots on the back that i had to sand out, and two small ones on the front, too. I've eliminated them, but now there's a little swirl/scratchy area where each spot used to be since i used a coarser grit paper to get the dust out. Will i have to spot spray these little spots before i clear the guitar, or will they vanish when i spray the clear? Also, what kind of clear do i use over Krylon? Practically all that i saw at Wal Mart { where i bought the paint } was spray-on laquer. Will this be okay? Please help soon, i think it's supposed to stop raining Friday! Thanks for all the help, everybody! Ben

Wow!!! That is beautiful! What stain did you use on the top of the guitar? It's very unique, i like it a lot. How does she play? Great work! Ben

Update time! After waiting a couple of days for the rain to clear off, i sprayed some more paint today...i used the rainy days as an oppurtunity to knock the orange peel down completely. This time, i heated up the garage and warmed the paint can first! I put a coat on the back and sides, first... and it STiLL has some texture to it !!! I don't have a clue what could be going wrong here... i then sprayed a really wet coat on the top of the guitar, and it turned out PERFECT! Yay! I just can't figure out whats going on with the sides and back of the guitar... the texture isn't as bad as it was before, but it's definately still there! Oh well, at least the top looks good ! Any ideas as for what i could be doing wrong? Ben

Excellent, thanks for the tips ! Alrighty, well, i guess i'll try heating the garage up with the heaters for a while before turning them off so i can spray { with warm cans! }. What do you reccomend i do with my semi-orange-peeled paint? Keep spraying over it, or try to knock it down as much as possible? Thanks a bunch!!! Ben

So, do you mean that you spray your paint in a cold environment? When do you bring it back inside? Ben

Well, today's coat has dried, and there is still a little orange peel. It's actually not as bad as my first coat, though, so i'm happy i'm making progress ! The weather today was still a little bit cool, so i suppose that has something to do with it. Oh well, i'll crank up the kerosene heaters if i paint tomorrow. That'll be okay, right? If i can find a thermometer, i'll try the water trick, too, but i don't think i have one... Thanks again, any more tips are welcome! Ben

Thanks for the quick help, guys ! Alright, i did some sanding earlier, and i've just sprayed several wet coats... we'll see how it turns out... as i was spraying it, it still looked like it was going orange-peel, though. After this coat dries, should i sand it, or just spray more on it? This is normal, right? About how many coats will it take before the peel goes away? Thanks guys, this is my first time doing this! Ben

Hey guys! After several days of sealing and priming, i sprayed my first coat of paint { Krylon brand bright white} today. I sprayed two pretty light coats. I brought it inside to dry, and now it's looking like it has some definate orange-peel to it... I tried going over it with a 320 grit sanding sponge in a few places, but it didn't seem to help much. Have i done something wrong? Here's some variables to consider.... I shot the paint in a fairly cold environment, but brought it inside a few minutes after i shot it. I also shot the headstock. I did it with a far more wet coat than i did on the body. I brought it inside promptly, too. It looks great! Nice smooth texture. I used the exact same sealing and priming process as i did with the body, but it looks a lot better. My coat on the body wasn't very wet... but this is really my first coat. Please help soon! I'd like to continue painting tonight if possible. Thanks!!! Ben

Hey guys! Forgive me if this isn't actually a new trick, but i've just never seen it mentioned anywhere else... i'm in the process of priming a body using regular Krylon aerosol primer { white } in preparation for a bright white paint job. So, i was doing some smoothing between coats of primer tonight, and i had an idea... i had a piece of 0000 steel wool laying around, and i wondered what it would do to the primer. After all, sanding it with 220-320 grit paper got it smooth, but i just thought it could be smoother. So, i tried smoothing out the primer with the wool, and it works amazingly well!!! Smooth as glass. You don't have to apply much pressure, just rub it back and forth. It's wonderful because you can even glide around those annoying edges and horns with no problems! Don't get me wrong, you can still sand through { as i proved to myself... } , but it's much less likely to happen. Has anybody else tried this method? I'm on a roll tonight! I even did my first soldering job on a bum input jack ! Go me! Let me know what you think! Ben

Thanks! Alrghty.... i just sprayed my first coat. Most of the guitar was already sealed from the factory paint job, so i've not got too much work to do. So, i sprayed the body, but most of the bare wood areas don't look mush different then they did before.... is this normal? I'm supposed to sand after this coat dries, right? Then do i just repeat this all over 2 or 3 more times? Please help! Ben

I saw a PRS Private Stock { what a snobby name... } with 24k gold bird inlays once..... to me, it seemed gaudy, but i'm sure whomever paid $6000+ for it didn't think so... Ben

Hello all! I know Brian said to use Deft brand sanding sealer for good results, but i'm just double-checking myself to make sure i'm not going to mess anything up.... I was at Lowe's earlier, and bought a can of aerosol Deft Lacquer Sanding Sealer. What i'm worried about is the Lacquer aspect..... will this potentially screw anything up? I plan on using the sanding sealer, putting primer on top of it, painting the guitar with aerosol paints { either plain-old spray paint or possibly the kind of aerosol you'd buy at, say, AutoZone }, then clearing with another aerosol that is of the same base as the paint. I'm not sure if the primer/paint i'm going to use will be lacquer, enamel, or acrylic yet. Would it make a difference over the Lacquer sanding sealer? Please help ASAP, i'd like to start working on the guitar tonight, if possible. Thanks! Ben

Sweet axe! Congratulations! Be sure to post pics when it's all reassembled. I'm going to win the anime contest by saying: Vampire Hunter D So am i right?!? If that were my guitar, i would save up some cash and send the neck away to Jeremy or someone; how sweet would it be to have cross inlays { like the tombstones on the guitar } instead of dots?!? I think it would look great! Good job! Ben