Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: WezV on April 27, 2010, 08:31:21 PM
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its a guitar i built for myself last year that i finally got around to finishing - and decided to have a bit of a play.
This isnt to show good practice or even something a lot of you will like - just showing my experiments
so i started painting it black, then covered quite roughly in faux silver leaf... i didnt go for full coverage as i wanted some black showing in places - although i did misjudge scratchplate shape first time round
that gave me this
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/new/silver1.jpg)
i quite liked it but continued playing as i had some gold and copper leaf too
so - the last 24 hours progress (most of which was sleeping and being at work)
added gold and copper - dont like it though, some of the patterns are fun but the colour contrast is all wrong
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/new/st1.jpg)
roughly distressed it, which removed a lot of gold and copper... still not happy with colour:
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/new/st2-1.jpg)
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/new/st3-1.jpg)
wiped down with black stain, rubbed down with wire wool and one coat of lacquer later:
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/new/st4.jpg)
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/new/st5.jpg)
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/new/st7.jpg)
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/new/st8.jpg)
seeing it like that i am not sure if i want to relic the hardware or not.... but i think i am just about done now
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Very interesting process! But I think my jury's out on this one until I see the finished guitar.
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Ditto - was there a thought process, or was it a little more random than that?
Does look kinda cool... I think that I like the idea of gold or silver leaf...
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I think that's really cool. I've always like the distressed metal look: for some, completely indefensible reason, it's never bothered me the way some relic jobs do. Is that a CuNiFe wide range humbucker you have in there? The question remaining though is what are you going to do with the neck?
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Still not sure about the gold/copper bits. The rest has an appeal for me though :)
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Interesting Wez. I think I'll reserve judgement until I see the finished article though. Will be very interested to see what it looks like.
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was there a thought process, or was it a little more random than that?
random - just seeing what happens for sh1ts and giggles
now i need to make a couple of decisions which will affect the final look
1. loads of clear till it can be buffed to a high shine or leave textured and lightly coated
2. Relic hardware to match or stay with the contrast
the neck bucker is an original wide range - its the one HTH didnt like, but i am rather fond of it - partnered with a BKP flat 50 and a 4-way tele switch
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I didn't like the look of the silver with the gold and silver but after seeing it wiped down with black stain and with the wire wool I really like the look of the guitar. I love the look of beat up Strats/Teles. That now looks like it has been on tour round the world, played every night for the past 30 years. I like the way that it has turned out.
I will be interested to see what you decide to do with it, will be keeping a close eye on the development.
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Looks very Trussart!
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Looks very Trussart!
poor mans version ;)
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looks a bit like the bottom of my frying pan (outside!). Didn't mind just the silver, hated it with the gold & copper, don't mind the wiped down look. I would lacquer it more myself though.
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Tyler meets Trussart :D
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I love the finish you ended up with, with a slightly different choice of colours and some aged hardware I would think it'd work really well on something with cammo humbuckers.
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Looks very Trussart!
8)
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the neck bucker is an original wide range - its the one HTH didnt like, but i am rather fond of it - partnered with a BKP flat 50 and a 4-way tele switch
That little lot there looks like it's worth the price of admission alone.
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when i was at the silver stage i was considering:
1. blackburst finish
2. Masked off flames in trans black
3. Candy colours
4. Stripping it all back and giving in
5. and the distressed thing which i ended up going for
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Very Trussart indeed. it would be nice to take a Squier thinline Tele and give it that look, including the dark stained neck and rusty hardware.
I thought about doing this by drybrushing but this faux silver leaf look a whole lot better.
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Maybe try an aluminium scratchplate?
I think the finish isn't so bad itself, but that metallic look clashes with the white plastic.
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I kinda likee :D
I didn't find the silver/gold/copper too offensive, either... but I prefer what it's progressed to...
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I would wrestle an adult grizzly bear for that guitar. And I would win.
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I like it but the neck doesn't look very well made :D
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Maybe try an aluminium scratchplate?
I think the finish isn't so bad itself, but that metallic look clashes with the white plastic.
i considered that - may make one to see
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Hi I like how the guitar looks now. Was not sure part way through. I wonder if the pickguard needs to be aged maybe.
Will be intrested to see how the guitar looks once finshed. Keep us posted.
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Hi I like how the guitar looks now. Was not sure part way through. I wonder if the pickguard needs to be aged maybe.
Will be intrested to see how the guitar looks once finshed. Keep us posted.
its another thing i may try - i intend on making another anyway as this is slightly out of shape around the horn so i have one to practice on
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i am also doing a bass for myself - think standard (BK)P-bass with my version of a teisco spectrum bass shape. its black and together for a test fit at the moment and looking good
...
but would it look better in copper leaf with a browny green stain :)
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Love the final finish you ended up with there Wez
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Needs an aluminium neck, Albini style. Looks good Wez, not totally keen on the scratchplate myself, but I'd rock the $% out of it regardless.
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I REALLY like the end (?) result. Distress the hardware!
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but would it look better in copper leaf with a browny green stain :)
Could you chemically age the copper to make verdigris?
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well - lets see about that ;)
trial metal leaf finish number 2 - going for a different look here, the idea for this one is a more traditional gilded finish, so i went with an acrylic size (the glue/varnish that sticks it down) and loose leaf copper (rather than the transfer stuff i have used so far).
once complete the plan is to age the copper to start to develop some green - rather than wait 10-15 years i am going to accelerate the process before lacquering. i have looked around for chemicals to age it and two easy ones keep popping up. apparently urine does a good job, but a salt & vinegar mix also works well - so i think i had better use that.
anyway - just done the rear of the bass and i am rather happy so far. still needs a little burnishing but it has worked well
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/new/copper1.jpg)
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/new/copper3.jpg)
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front and sides
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/new/copper4.jpg)
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Funky! :D I think that absolutely demands a matching headstock.
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i was thinking the same thing
it wont be this shiny though - just wiped it down with the salt vinegar solution and i think its working as the cloth came off green. i am off out for the day now, looking forward to seeing what happens by the time i return home
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I just realised what the stratele guitar reminds me of - it's like a custom shop Squier 51
... and don't be offended by the analogy, I loved the design of the Squier 51, definitely had that funky retro vibe about it
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i was thinking squire 51 when i first started it, it was originally going to have a 51 style plate
i still think they should be making a higher end version of the 51
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The whole thing's given me a sudden attack of very intense GAS. You've taken my two favourite guitars and squelched them together with my two favourite pickups and made it look so utterly funky that I can practically hear the gut-wrenching sound of it just by looking at a photo. It's possibly my favourite piece of guitar design of the year so far and I'm not easy to please when it comes to F-style guitars.
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cheers frank - hopefully i will have some finished pics in the next few days
the bass above also has a slight 51 fender connection. i have the pickup wired to a series/parallel switch for pseudo 51 p-bass sounds
anyway - back to the ageing of copper. not much happened yesterday whilst i was out. i wiped it down with the salt & vinegar solution then later wiped it down with water which i think halted the processs. it definately got more varigated during the day - but not too much green came along. so today its the same thing without the water wipe down
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I'm really loving the bass and I think the idea of a verdigris bass is pure genius. I really can't wait to see what this looks like finished. Really cool. The Tele I kludged together last year is looking very nervous at the moment... :)
I also wondered if anyone else had added metal leaf to guitars and after a bit of Googling it seems that there are a couple who've done gold leaf (I seem to remember a Fender Custom Shop with white gold leaf too?) but I think you might be the first to go down the verdigris copper route. Exciting times.
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i still think they should be making a higher end version of the 51
+1
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Wikipedia says:
Another method of obtaining verdigris pigment, used in the Middle Ages, was to attach copper strips to a wooden block with acetic acid, then bury the sealed block in dung.
food for thought there
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i think its getting somewhere now, definately have patches of green showing - no dung or wee needed
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The bass is looking good. Looking forward to seeing the end results of these guitars.
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so this it what it looks like now:
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/new/acopper1.jpg)
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/new/acopper3.jpg)
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e31/WezV/new/acopper4.jpg)
the vinegar actually ate through completely in some areas. there was more green but it wiped off :) i think i will hang it somewhere for a week or two to see how the copper darkens but i think this is quite fun
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I'm really liking what's going on with these finishes Wez - I think you got something here :D
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cheers andy - the bass has gone greener overnight
i purposely did the front and back differently to see if i could control the effect - which i think i can to a certain extent
if anyone wants me to mess up one of their bodies like this feel free to contact me ;)
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Im liking these Wez.
I do perfer the finish on the guitar has oppossed to the bass though.