Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
At The Back => Time Out => Topic started by: Nadz1lla on September 11, 2007, 09:31:56 AM
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Hi guys, posted briefly about what I was doing to an old bronze series BC Rich Mockingbird in another part of the forum, but thought I'd post here more details as this is probably a more appropriate place, heh.
This is a run-up to actually making my own guitar at some point, I've done this little project just to see what finishing it is going to be like in my parent's garage environment. I don't have access to a spray booth or proper facilities, so as you can imagine I have a pretty dusty atmosphere to work in which makes the process a lot longer.
Basically what I am doing is I have taken my black Mockingbird (all black hardware also) and stripped it. I'm now painting it a really nice purple colour, the pic of the headstock doesn't do the colour justice, the light in the garage is awful, so I've found a sample on the net of the closest match: (http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b189/SnakeStyleMaster/poiple.jpg)
(http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b189/SnakeStyleMaster/Headstock.jpg)
All the hardware is being swapped for all gold hardware on it, and I'm putting a set of Gold covered Nailbombs in. I know it sounds a little silly putting new hardware and 'Bombs on a bronze series, but there is a method to my madness, the 'Bombs will be going on the Guitar I'll build later on out of some proper materials, and I'm thinking a Spalted or Bird-eye maple top for my creation.
Pic above is a sneak peek of the 'Bird, will post a full set of pics when it's complete.
As for the custom I'm going to be making...well, it's going to be very different... I've drawn out some design sketches for the body shape and it looks awesome on paper, just hope it's do-able, lol. But you'll have to wait for that, I'll just post little tasters during the build when I get around to it, hehe. :lol:
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Ooh, almost forgot... Dunno if anyone else does little projects like this in dusty environments but wouldn't mind hearing how you combat the dust-in-paint situation. I've taken to using auto-glym! I guess it's kinda like T-Cut or something, slightly abrasive, you rub it on and it basically gets rid of the roughness and dust that has dried into the paint, and when you wipe it off it's pretty smooth after. What I'll be doing before and after the clear laquer coat has gone on, is Auto Glyming the whole guitar twice, just to get it as smooth as possible and then treating the whole thing to a coat of Meguiars auto wax, it's amazing stuff. Should get the axe up to a lovely show-room shine! :D
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Not sure what to do about the dusty environment - I suppose you could try wetting the garage floor to stop the dust getting agitated when you move around?
Are you wet-sanding the guitar inbetween coats to keep the surfaces flat? I'm not sure about using T-Cut or Auto-Glym between coats, it might leave the surface too smooth/shiny for the next coat to bond properly. I'm no expert though...
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I've got a full set of gold Gotoh parts at home (TOM, Stop piece, tuners, neck plate, jack plate 4 gold knobs all screws etc). Going cheap because I don't need it.
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Ah I have the parts already, but thanks though!
As for the sanding between coats, yeah I am doing it just to get rid of uneven patches of paint etc. I'll prob just t-cut after the clear gloss is put on, didn't think about the surface issue, heh. For something that I'm just knocking up it's looking pretty good so far though. Pic above was without it being t-cut so the finish looks a little rough.
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I've got a full set of gold Gotoh parts at home (TOM, Stop piece, tuners, neck plate, jack plate 4 gold knobs all screws etc). Going cheap because I don't need it.
Actually if you still have it when I get around to making the Axe I'll be interested, but that's a way off yet. I'm skint so the wood is something I have to save up for.
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Are you wet-sanding the guitar inbetween coats to keep the surfaces flat? I'm not sure about using T-Cut or Auto-Glym between coats, it might leave the surface too smooth/shiny for the next coat to bond properly. I'm no expert though...
I would agree with that - but really you need to sort out the dusty enviroment first and unfortunately that means a lot of cleaning and hoovering
you dont really want to be applying any other products inbetween coats of lacquer - not if you want it to stick anyway.
once your workshop is nice and clean you need to spend as little time in it as possible in this situation. Go in, spray a coat and get the hell out. When i used to do my own spraying i had the guitars hung just inside my shed door - i could open the door and do all the work without going in and disturbing too much dust. I also had a fan at the entrance to the doorway pointing outwards. Not ideal at all but it should make do at a push
WIth spray cans you can get away with about 3 coats a day, and then you will need to let it cure for quite a while. at least a month. you can sand back the finish between coats but dont do it to often because you will sand through everytime - its better to build up a few coats then sand back - avoiding the edges. Its so easy to sand through at the edges its better just to not sand them at all till right at the end
i think you might be having a problem with the overspray (all that paint thats floats in the air ahs to settle somewhere) from the can settling on the guitar, in that case i would have the guitar somewhere else when you spray it. My sprayer has a cheap fabric wardrobe with a few extra air holes made in it that he hangs guitars in between coats - this means he can spray more stuff without worrying about the overspray getting on other guitars
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Cool, cheers for the tips. I'm using proper laquer thinned down a little through a cheap airbrush, pretty good coverage. I do about 2 coats a day, 1 in the morning and 1 in late evening and the next day rub out any cr@p spots with a very fine sandpaper and a wipe over with a damp cloth followed by a soft dry towel before the next coat. I've messed up a little with some of the edges, like you say, it's easy to go through too far on the edges, but it's only on the back of the guitar so I'm not too worried about that at the moment.
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Little update, body is almost done now. Might put one more clear coat on, not sure yet, but I'll be going to my parent's house tomorrow to check it over and decide on that. All going well, should be done by Friday hopefully!
I am pretty impressed with the cheap airbrush I bought to do this with, best £11.99 I ever spent, hehe. Gives a really nice coverage.
So here's the latest pic:
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Woohoooo!!! Finally all done and my gorgeous gold Nailbombs are ready to decimate all!!!
(http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b189/SnakeStyleMaster/Banebird3.jpg)
(http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b189/SnakeStyleMaster/Banebird2.jpg)
(http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b189/SnakeStyleMaster/Banebird1.jpg)
I never noticed it before (when it was all black) but the neck pickup ring was always a little skewed, but now that it's 2 different colours you really notice it. A bronze series with all the hardware stripped off really shows why they call it "Bronze". The pre-drilled holes weren't measured out properly at all, and it looked pretty messy up close without hardware to cover up all the flaws. So now I've got all the hardware on you can really see where the neck pickup ring has been slanted by the poor hole position. I'm surprised it didn't look worse to be honest, but hey, it sounds amazing and that's the main thing, heh! :lol:
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looks fun!
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Love the combination of purple and gold!
Now if only the guitar would've had quilted maple top and the purple finish transparent... :P
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That looks cool!!
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That looks great!
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I was really worried about what you were doing to that guitar when I saw the first post, but credit where credit's due, that looks sweet :)
Roo
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Nice look! :D
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Thanks guys! And that was in a dusty garage and a rushed job, so I think when I finally make my own axe and finish it with my new and improved facilities later on it'll be a real looker!
Love the combination of purple and gold!
Now if only the guitar would've had quilted maple top and the purple finish transparent... :P
Agreed, that would be amazing! Trans finish on this one though would be a bad idea, on the angled sections on the body you have some very prominent ply lines, lol.
I'm thinking for the one I'm making a mahogany body with quilted / birds-eye maple top, and possibly transparent dark red. Tasty!
I've also seen a guitar somewhere that had "tone channels" routed into the mahogany body before the top was put on, that might give it some killer sustain, but I guess I'll start asking the techie questions when I have actually started building it, hehe.
I was really worried about what you were doing to that guitar when I saw the first post
Yeah I had my doubts too, but I thought hell, if you don't take risks sometimes you'll never know if it would have worked or not...so I'm kinda glad I took that plunge hehe. :lol:
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I've also seen a guitar somewhere that had "tone channels" routed into the mahogany body before the top was put on, that might give it some killer sustain, but I guess I'll start asking the techie questions when I have actually started building it, hehe.
It wont be sustain it increases, it will be weight it reduces. if you have large chambers with an opening/sound hole then it will sound different acoustically, but thiose long thin chambers are more for weight relief. I am not saying it doesnt affect tone, it c an make it sound more open, but if anything sustain will be reduced
On the sustain thing, just forget about it now - or buy an ebow/sustainer
As long as a guitar is put together well it will have enough sustain for all styles of modern music. if you want more sustain than that you need to buy one of the products i mentioned above. Or spend some time in front of an amp or with a good compressor
Sustain is one of those terms overused in the marketing of guitars, not something i really approve of since its a pointless quest since so few of us need any more sustain than we have already from a squier strat thats been set up well
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Well that clears it up, hehe, cheers. :lol: