strummer2k Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 First, many sincere thanks to all who put up with my questions. This was my first build and I wouldn't have even tried this if I hadn't found this forum. This is kind of a bittersweet end to this project because it is actually a wedding gift to a good friend I used to be in a band with. Now, if I can just talk the wife into letting me build one for myself. I built the templates and everything else where the body was concerned. The neck was the only part I had made. Here are the specs: - 12" radius USACG custom made mahogany bolt-on neck (Tommy rocks! You won't find any better quality) - Bone nut - Mahogany body which I chambered - AAAA quality maple top - Nitro finish - Binding front and back - Maple inlay block string ferrule holder thingy (look at backside shot) - Handmade mahogany cover plate on back - Seymour Duncan Jerry Donahue Tele pickup in the bridge - Seymour Duncan Phat Cat pickup in the neck - Grover tuners - 3-position tele switch, volume and tone knobs - StewMac tele bridge Some more links here: http://www.advantexcom.net/~scarpen/angle.jpg http://www.advantexcom.net/~scarpen/backside.jpg http://www.advantexcom.net/~scarpen/headstock.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CudBucket Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 That is beautiful! Please tell me how you did the finish. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CudBucket Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 BTW, what's going on with that pic of the back? I see what looks like blue quilted maple where the ferrules are located. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strummer2k Posted February 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 That is beautiful! Please tell me how you did the finish. Thanks! ← Well, Drak gave me some wonderful tips. I guess the best advice is to practice on scrap as much as possible. I used StewMac blue stain. It has a metallic sheen to it that just pops out at ya. Much better than the powder dye I started with (again, thanks Drak). Drak's recipe uses black as the first stain on the maple and I made some killer test samples using that method. However, the guy I made this for preferred the pure blue/blue effect. I will use Drak's black method on my next build. The other trick I learned (Drak again) was to ignore the ratio StewMac puts on the bottle of stain. It is too weak and I wasted alot of time trying to get it to look right. So make it strong. Then I used a clean rag to wipe it on, let it set for about 30 seconds and then gently wipe some of it off with another rag(wet). After drying, you sand back the maple until it leaves the blue in just dark grain areas (not the best term). Then take your stain and reapply again, this time, I let it set for about 30 seconds but was a little more aggressive with wiping the stain off to get a better contrast. If you have more questions, Drak is very helpful and knows way more than I do. The mahogany was done with grain filler that I added dark walnut stain to. This really pops the grain out. Everything was then finished with tons of ReRanch Nitro finish. They have a really good website with tons of finishing help. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJPUC Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 That is a wonderful guitar!!!!!!! love the grain on the back!!! Neck is quite nice too....might need some pointers on that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdguitars Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 that looks familiar... I am working on something like that right now... only painting back black. please do us a favor and enter that into the guitar of the month section. well done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jay5 Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 How much Reranch nitro did you use? Was it in rattle-can form? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strummer2k Posted February 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 BTW, what's going on with that pic of the back? I see what looks like blue quilted maple where the ferrules are located. Dave ← That is exactly what that is! Truth time. It is actually covering up a f***-up. My drill press wasn't deep enough to drill all of the ferrule holes, so I tried some other device which ended up just wrecking the holes (live and learn). After I got through kicking myself, I made a template the width of the set of ferrule holes and got the router out and went to work routing out about a 1/4 inch deep. Then I shaped a piece of left over maple to fit in there, redrilled the holes and voila', no more f***-up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strummer2k Posted February 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 that looks familiar... I am working on something like that right now... only painting back black. please do us a favor and enter that into the guitar of the month section. well done! ← Thanks for the compliments, but I don't think it holds a candle to some of the other work being shown in here. I really don't know if it is GOTM material especially since the neck was made for me. But thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strummer2k Posted February 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 How much Reranch nitro did you use? Was it in rattle-can form? ← Hmm, uhm about two cans of Sand and Sealer and 4.5 cans of clear for both the neck and body. Yes, they were rattle cans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdguitars Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 no seriously if this is your first build you have to enter it... how much wood working experience do you have? have you sprayed before? Its very very good and very worthy of GOTM! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!!METAL MATT!! Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 Man Good work It's realy cool to see new guys learing and building just Great guitars and By the way man very very nice finish And bigd right man You Gota "GOTM" that thing !!METAL MATT!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CudBucket Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 BTW, what's going on with that pic of the back? I see what looks like blue quilted maple where the ferrules are located. Dave ← That is exactly what that is! Truth time. It is actually covering up a f***-up. My drill press wasn't deep enough to drill all of the ferrule holes, so I tried some other device which ended up just wrecking the holes (live and learn). After I got through kicking myself, I made a template the width of the set of ferrule holes and got the router out and went to work routing out about a 1/4 inch deep. Then I shaped a piece of left over maple to fit in there, redrilled the holes and voila', no more f***-up! ← That's what I thought. I just didn't want to suggest it when I asked. Excellent work dealing with a mishap. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strummer2k Posted February 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 no seriously if this is your first build you have to enter it... how much wood working experience do you have? have you sprayed before? Its very very good and very worthy of GOTM! ← Only had high school shop class, but that was so friggin long ago. I just got Melvin's book and bugged everyone I could on here. This was my second finish job, the first was my black Strat you see in the avatar thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 Drool-tastic! Man I love teles. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnognoFasciani Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 This Looks Great!! How does Phat Cat sound? I'm going to put into my tele project too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strummer2k Posted February 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2005 This Looks Great!! How does Phat Cat sound? I'm going to put into my tele project too... ← Dude, I only wish I had routed a humbucker sized space in the bridge. I would have immediately bought and thrown the bridge Phat Cat in there after hearing the neck. They just seem to handle anything. The cool thing is they are sized so that if you don't like them, you can just throw a humbucker in there. But I can't see ever getting rid of one. It is just a gorgeous big single coil sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recursion Posted February 5, 2005 Report Share Posted February 5, 2005 Wow thats a awesome finish. I think i might be starting a tele project when im done with school. You got me hooked on that quilted top. Where did you buy the top at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strummer2k Posted February 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2005 Wow thats a awesome finish. I think i might be starting a tele project when im done with school. You got me hooked on that quilted top. Where did you buy the top at? ← I bought the top and the mahogany body from Tommy at USACG when I ordered the neck. That way I knew the neck and body would be the same type of mahogany. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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