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As far as tru oil goes, it's pretty good to work with, but I was intentionally not trying to hide the grain on this one, though I did do the slurry thing to take it down a notch. Nothing went over top of it either, once I rubbed on maybe 12 coats. It does buff up quite nicely. Feels really special on the neck, too.
There is good grain filling technique info on the reranch and TDPRI fori.
There is good grain filling technique info on the reranch and TDPRI fori.
They also don't put off any heat. If you're using incandescents to, say, dry some paint, you're fooked.
Do you have any solid data to back up any of that, particularly the flickering and being harmful to human health (other than having a drop of Mercury in them)? Have you ever worked in an area where cool-spectrum bulbs were used? Fluorescents are cheap because they're higher in demand and more are made. They also conserve energy and last a lot longer than incandescents.
The last time we saw the glaminator, I had put the final nitro on, and it's been curing for a couple of weeks.
Looked pretty good, had a bit of orange peel, nothing serious. I was reading where a fella can speed up a few days to the final buff-out, if you wetsand a bit early, and let it sit for a few days to fully cure the new layer you expose, then wet-sand again with a finer grit, cure again for a couple days then you can buff her out. Had some time this morning so I figured I'd give it a go.
I also wanted to share a couple of tips from my limited experience to prevent the evil dreaded sand-through. As a noob once too, I spent a lot of time trying to find out some of these techniques, and eventually developed some of my own. I'm nowhere near some of the talent on the boardz as far as finishing goes, but each one I do gets better, so I guess I'm becoming a tiny bit qualified. Call me out if I'm full of bullshite! I've said it before, I'll say it again - "I am not a luthier, I just play one on the internet." These techniques may not be the ideal or most professional ones, but they work quite well for me.
Ahem.
So your guitar is looking all nice and glossy, after your final lacquer, maybe some orange peel, and you're itching to just put it back together already. Unfortunately, if you want a superb DIY finish this is one of those cases where it NEEDS to look quite a bit worse before it's going to get better. Actually this is one of my more favourite parts of a refin, for some wacky reason. Maybe it's that hint of nitro odour you get when you are expose the lesser cured lacquer, and it's gassing out just a little bit, right in your face.
I'm starting with 800 grit paper, and I typically use the combo of an eraser, and a small granite countertop block for sanding blocks. I soak my paper for an hour and a half before I use it, and I'll add a few drops of detergent into my water which adds a nice lube effect so you aren't cutting in like crazy. I won't be changing out the water because I'm only using one grit here.
I start with the granite block and go all over the back first, then the front once I get into the flow. Then I'll move to the eraser which is somewhat more flexible to get at the sides, inside the horns etc. One thing you want to do, if you are confident you have done your job and put enough nitro on, is use the new sheets for the back and front faces. I find one 3" by 2" chunk per face is enough.
You're going to go in nice tight circles, and feel it cut through the orange peel. Wipe, check out what you did, wet, and go at it again if required - I'll work on maybe a 3"x3" space at a time. No hurry, take your time - wipe often, let dry, and check. Trust that your granite chunk is exactly flat, therefore you are cutting off all that evil orange peel, and leveling the surface nicely.
Don't chuck those sandpaper pieces when you finish each side. It's not fresh, but there is plenty of grit left to give you lots enough cut for the body sides, even if it will take you more time - there is no rush here! By the time you are done those, they have even less cutting power, but in my opinion the paper is now absolutely perfect to use those for the round-overs - this is not the time to be changing to new paper, in my experience. It takes a bit more elbow grease and time, but this is a much safer way to get those edges - I'll do this very carefully, about an inch or two at a time. I won't rub with, or along the lines of the guitar, I find it's much safer to rub perpendicular, with just enough pressure to cut a bit, angling as required. I keep a rag in my other hand, wipe often, to make sure I'm cutting into the surface as required, smoothing everything out, getting the gloss gone and the finish matted out and smooth.
Here's an example on the face of the guitar where the granite block didn't get down to some surface imperfections - after you wipe with your damp rag, you can see there is still some gloss left, this part is obviously just a bit lower than the others, so I need to cut around it marginally to be able to get to the level I want -
I'll go at this with the eraser and the worn out paper, which is safer, because it's got a bit of flex, to help make that gloss all gone, but you don't want to press so hard you "bowl" the finish. This is where your extra two or three coats of nitro come in handy, should give you enough wiggle room.
When I figure I'm done, I'll wipe the whole thing down and let 'er sit to dry, and soon, any shiny parts still left, show up, I'll go at them again until they are gone. Effectively this, I imagine, is somewhat similar to the scotchbrite process.
Once you get it completely matte, you can be confident the orange peel is pretty much done for. I'll let it hang for a few days, to re-cure the exposed surface and go at it with 1200 grit, same method again. After that, I'll hang again for a day or two, then go at it with 2000, another day or two, then she's ready for the rubbing compound, buff and and polish.
After my last nitro, I though I had the headstock logos buried, but as it cured and shrunk, the edges came back just enough to bug me. Sanded that this morning as well, laid on another couple/few coats of nitro. I can already see I'm going to have to probably do that to her one more time...-
here we are as of today... Almost there...
Overall it's feeling and looking quite nice - hope to have it all together in maybe 10 days or so - there is very little orange peel on the neck, so I'm going to go at that with 1200 when I do the body. Still have to come up with some kind of pick guard for this monstrosity - the GFS crunchy I acquired from a forum member is looking forward to it's new home.
You're going to go in nice tight circles, and feel it cut through the orange peel. Wipe, check out what you did, wet, and go at it again if required - I'll work on maybe a 3"x3" space at a time. No hurry, take your time - wipe often, let dry, and check. Trust that your granite chunk is exactly flat, therefore you are cutting off all that evil orange peel, and leveling the surface nicely.
Don't chuck those sandpaper pieces when you finish each side. It's not fresh, but there is plenty of grit left to give you lots enough cut for the body sides, even if it will take you more time - there is no rush here! By the time you are done those, they have even less cutting power, but in my opinion the paper is now absolutely perfect to use those for the round-overs - this is not the time to be changing to new paper, in my experience. It takes a bit more elbow grease and time, but this is a much safer way to get those edges - I'll do this very carefully, about an inch or two at a time. I won't rub with, or along the lines of the guitar, I find it's much safer to rub perpendicular, with just enough pressure to cut a bit, angling as required. I keep a rag in my other hand, wipe often, to make sure I'm cutting into the surface as required, smoothing everything out, getting the gloss gone and the finish matted out and smooth.
Here's an example on the face of the guitar where the granite block didn't get down to some surface imperfections - after you wipe with your damp rag, you can see there is still some gloss left, this part is obviously just a bit lower than the others, so I need to cut around it marginally to be able to get to the level I want -
I'll go at this with the eraser and the worn out paper, which is safer, because it's got a bit of flex, to help make that gloss all gone, but you don't want to press so hard you "bowl" the finish. This is where your extra two or three coats of nitro come in handy, should give you enough wiggle room.
When I figure I'm done, I'll wipe the whole thing down and let 'er sit to dry, and soon, any shiny parts still left, show up, I'll go at them again until they are gone. Effectively this, I imagine, is somewhat similar to the scotchbrite process.
Once you get it completely matte, you can be confident the orange peel is pretty much done for. I'll let it hang for a few days, to re-cure the exposed surface and go at it with 1200 grit, same method again. After that, I'll hang again for a day or two, then go at it with 2000, another day or two, then she's ready for the rubbing compound, buff and and polish.
After my last nitro, I though I had the headstock logos buried, but as it cured and shrunk, the edges came back just enough to bug me. Sanded that this morning as well, laid on another couple/few coats of nitro. I can already see I'm going to have to probably do that to her one more time...-
here we are as of today... Almost there...
Overall it's feeling and looking quite nice - hope to have it all together in maybe 10 days or so - there is very little orange peel on the neck, so I'm going to go at that with 1200 when I do the body. Still have to come up with some kind of pick guard for this monstrosity - the GFS crunchy I acquired from a forum member is looking forward to it's new home.
Haven't been 'round for a while. The glaminator is waiting to be put together, but I lost the bridge somewhere in my home/workshop. Maddening.
That's keeping me from making a pickguard and putting it all together.
But, as a surprise, last week my mother-in-law enabled my addiction by bringing me a $5 mystery guitar she picked up in a thrift shop she works at. I was taken to calling it "the spade" mostly because it was black, and also because at the time I thought maybe that's all it might be good for.
Yeah, she's a playah! And a lefty.
Without stripping it down or opening it up, there were few clues as to what it is, or what it is made of. But at the very least she's had much mojo. Looks like it has been played, and that is rosewood under there, I believe.
This is as-received. No bridge, but I had enough parts around to get it going.
It's got three types of mismatched tuners! Pretty hilarious unless you are the new owner :grin:
Ugh.... she needs some deep cleaning. Apparently it was owned by a Mormon fellow, so perhaps she's seen a lot of stage time in worship type performances. I won't hold that against her.
But if cleanliness is next to Godliness, well... 'nuf said.
One thing I immediately noticed was how extremely thin this thing is.
It's super skinny body wise, like less than an inch and a quarter, but the neck is super chunky, more so than my gibson. Curious
That's keeping me from making a pickguard and putting it all together.
But, as a surprise, last week my mother-in-law enabled my addiction by bringing me a $5 mystery guitar she picked up in a thrift shop she works at. I was taken to calling it "the spade" mostly because it was black, and also because at the time I thought maybe that's all it might be good for.
Yeah, she's a playah! And a lefty.
Without stripping it down or opening it up, there were few clues as to what it is, or what it is made of. But at the very least she's had much mojo. Looks like it has been played, and that is rosewood under there, I believe.
This is as-received. No bridge, but I had enough parts around to get it going.
It's got three types of mismatched tuners! Pretty hilarious unless you are the new owner :grin:
Ugh.... she needs some deep cleaning. Apparently it was owned by a Mormon fellow, so perhaps she's seen a lot of stage time in worship type performances. I won't hold that against her.
But if cleanliness is next to Godliness, well... 'nuf said.
One thing I immediately noticed was how extremely thin this thing is.
It's super skinny body wise, like less than an inch and a quarter, but the neck is super chunky, more so than my gibson. Curious
After a bit of time looking it over, and with help of the fine folks at AGF we were finally able to determine it is a Lotus. Still not sure what particular model, or year. So, I began to clean it up
Here's what happens when a doofus loses the screws to his cavity cover...
yeah good old scotch tape. Nice. there was a lot of glue and other questionable residue all over this thing... so I hit it good with the goo gone... and put some screws in the cavity cover.
the large rubber washer for the jack is hiding a repair. Looks like it was torn out at some point, and the guy tried to use epoxy to repair it. The pocket showing all that humungously expensive and gorgeous multi-ply tonewood
Here's the bridge pup pulled. I hope nobody paid for humbuckers!
so after a general cleanup and the installation of a bad-*** type bridge I had kicking around,
(I needed to hit the bottom of the stud slots just ever so slightly with a file so it would fit onto the posts), i tightened all the loose tuner screws and strung it up with a cheap set of Alice strings waiting just for a moment like this. The nut is plastic, but not bad. I've seen worse.
The high E tuner is stripped. Will not grab, so the tuners need to be changed out. No big, us modders usually have something on had that will work, in my case a full set of cheapies that actually fit in the original screw holes.
plugged it into my rig, and the most horrible squealing imaginable ensued. wiggled around with the jack, and eventually was able to get guitar-like tones out of this. Both pups work, knobs and switch does what they are supposed to do, but only when you have the cable wrapped back, pulling up on the jack. By some miracle, perhaps divine intervention the pots weren't even scratchy.
Was I blown away? nope. Was it awful? nope. Actually kind of dug the neck pup - that one might be staying. I didn't dick around with intonation or pup height, basically ran out of time and wanted to post an update.
The frets are a bit worn in the cowboy chord section, as you can see by the board, and they are dirty and scratchy. The action was on the high side, so no buzz, but the TR has not been touched, and was rattling around (stopped when strung) so I assume it is fully relieved. If I can put just a touch of back bow into it, I believe I can actually get a pretty nice action out of this one.
So, it's still going to take some elbow grease, already has, but for low $ I got me a pretty HNUGD, and a pretty nifty winter project that ain't going to cost me an arm and a leg. Now to figure out what to do with it, because when it comes to mods, I tend to get a little carried away.
I have since put in an order for some "dream 90" clones from ebay seller bezdez, one of my fave parts dealers. I figured I might as well stay with the single coil heritage of this unit, and it would give me another flavour in the stable. I also tore that ugly washer off the plug jack on the front to find a nice big tearout where some dude had an accident.
I have a chrome strat football ordered to go in there.
Let the Mods begin!
Here's what happens when a doofus loses the screws to his cavity cover...
yeah good old scotch tape. Nice. there was a lot of glue and other questionable residue all over this thing... so I hit it good with the goo gone... and put some screws in the cavity cover.
the large rubber washer for the jack is hiding a repair. Looks like it was torn out at some point, and the guy tried to use epoxy to repair it. The pocket showing all that humungously expensive and gorgeous multi-ply tonewood
Here's the bridge pup pulled. I hope nobody paid for humbuckers!
so after a general cleanup and the installation of a bad-*** type bridge I had kicking around,
(I needed to hit the bottom of the stud slots just ever so slightly with a file so it would fit onto the posts), i tightened all the loose tuner screws and strung it up with a cheap set of Alice strings waiting just for a moment like this. The nut is plastic, but not bad. I've seen worse.
The high E tuner is stripped. Will not grab, so the tuners need to be changed out. No big, us modders usually have something on had that will work, in my case a full set of cheapies that actually fit in the original screw holes.
plugged it into my rig, and the most horrible squealing imaginable ensued. wiggled around with the jack, and eventually was able to get guitar-like tones out of this. Both pups work, knobs and switch does what they are supposed to do, but only when you have the cable wrapped back, pulling up on the jack. By some miracle, perhaps divine intervention the pots weren't even scratchy.
Was I blown away? nope. Was it awful? nope. Actually kind of dug the neck pup - that one might be staying. I didn't dick around with intonation or pup height, basically ran out of time and wanted to post an update.
The frets are a bit worn in the cowboy chord section, as you can see by the board, and they are dirty and scratchy. The action was on the high side, so no buzz, but the TR has not been touched, and was rattling around (stopped when strung) so I assume it is fully relieved. If I can put just a touch of back bow into it, I believe I can actually get a pretty nice action out of this one.
So, it's still going to take some elbow grease, already has, but for low $ I got me a pretty HNUGD, and a pretty nifty winter project that ain't going to cost me an arm and a leg. Now to figure out what to do with it, because when it comes to mods, I tend to get a little carried away.
I have since put in an order for some "dream 90" clones from ebay seller bezdez, one of my fave parts dealers. I figured I might as well stay with the single coil heritage of this unit, and it would give me another flavour in the stable. I also tore that ugly washer off the plug jack on the front to find a nice big tearout where some dude had an accident.
I have a chrome strat football ordered to go in there.
Let the Mods begin!
Just one more update on a simple but effective mod, I understook, mostly because I was inspired by a trip to... the thrift store.
So we still can't find the bridge for the damninator, at least we have a neat-o project that dropped in unexpectedly with what I've nicknamed "The Spade"
Anyway, we went ahead with what I'm calling "TVvoodoo's Candy Dish Mod™" :grin:
Find a nice big silverplated tea service plate, and make your own Zemaitis!
Got mine at the local thrift shop. Can you believe they wanted TEN CENTS for this plate?
Man, what cheap B*stards. Wouldn't come down even a bit.
[/IMG]
first you need a flat surface, the good stuff so to speak. You need to trim off the edge, but don't do it like I did here. If you do this, you risk bending your plate. Later on I figured out that it's best just to work your way around toward the center, taking a quarter of an inch at a time off until you have the edge off.
As a dad, I'm very used to saying do as I say, NOT as I do! On a related note BE FRICKIN' CAREFUL - after you start cutting this stuff, it's WAY sharper than playing with tin can lids. Like wicked deadly sharp.
So, now you have your flat bit. what I did was trace out my pg with an eraseboard marker. then I kept trimming most of it with the tin snips, until I was close. Some bits you cannot, because the snips want to bend the material, and they are not all that maneuverable in tight spaces -
that becomes a job for Mr. Dremel. Don't forget the safety glasses. If you can, save as much extra material intact as you can. You'll see why later.
From there on in, it's simply a matter of quite a bit of filing, shaping, and CAREFULLY countersinking holes. This stuff is not as thick as a PG so you can burn through with drill easy. Even as I did, the screws did not seat down as perfect as I like, should have stuck it on a piece of plastic or something - still can do, down the road - maybe even just cover your original PG, though I couldn't because I did a bit of a reshape, and made it a tad larger than the original.
Be sure to carefull file all the edges so they will not damage your guitar, or your fingers
So, here you go...
Someday I might even get that little plate engraved (by a pro!)
And, as an extra bonus... (with a bit of left-over material)
Note how the original manufacturer drilled the hole in the top of the TR cover. Pretty lame....
Anyway - gotta say this was one of the most pleasing, simple, fast and big impact mods I've ever made to a guitar, not much for tools or materials required, and I think it looks totally spiffy.
So we still can't find the bridge for the damninator, at least we have a neat-o project that dropped in unexpectedly with what I've nicknamed "The Spade"
Anyway, we went ahead with what I'm calling "TVvoodoo's Candy Dish Mod™" :grin:
Find a nice big silverplated tea service plate, and make your own Zemaitis!
Got mine at the local thrift shop. Can you believe they wanted TEN CENTS for this plate?
Man, what cheap B*stards. Wouldn't come down even a bit.
[/IMG]first you need a flat surface, the good stuff so to speak. You need to trim off the edge, but don't do it like I did here. If you do this, you risk bending your plate. Later on I figured out that it's best just to work your way around toward the center, taking a quarter of an inch at a time off until you have the edge off.
As a dad, I'm very used to saying do as I say, NOT as I do! On a related note BE FRICKIN' CAREFUL - after you start cutting this stuff, it's WAY sharper than playing with tin can lids. Like wicked deadly sharp.
So, now you have your flat bit. what I did was trace out my pg with an eraseboard marker. then I kept trimming most of it with the tin snips, until I was close. Some bits you cannot, because the snips want to bend the material, and they are not all that maneuverable in tight spaces -
that becomes a job for Mr. Dremel. Don't forget the safety glasses. If you can, save as much extra material intact as you can. You'll see why later.
From there on in, it's simply a matter of quite a bit of filing, shaping, and CAREFULLY countersinking holes. This stuff is not as thick as a PG so you can burn through with drill easy. Even as I did, the screws did not seat down as perfect as I like, should have stuck it on a piece of plastic or something - still can do, down the road - maybe even just cover your original PG, though I couldn't because I did a bit of a reshape, and made it a tad larger than the original.
Be sure to carefull file all the edges so they will not damage your guitar, or your fingers
So, here you go...
Someday I might even get that little plate engraved (by a pro!)
And, as an extra bonus... (with a bit of left-over material)
Note how the original manufacturer drilled the hole in the top of the TR cover. Pretty lame....
Anyway - gotta say this was one of the most pleasing, simple, fast and big impact mods I've ever made to a guitar, not much for tools or materials required, and I think it looks totally spiffy.
I like your pick guard & TR cover. Very classy. But you paid waaaay too much for it.
oke:
BTW I recently discovered a trick for speeding up drying time and cutting down on sand thru when using lacquer.
Get some of those elcheapo green scotchbrite pads. Go over the clear after each 3 days rest. Just enough to knock off the high spots. When you go to cut & buff, you can start with 800 grit and have it come out fine without wearing out your elbows polishing.
oke:
BTW I recently discovered a trick for speeding up drying time and cutting down on sand thru when using lacquer.
Get some of those elcheapo green scotchbrite pads. Go over the clear after each 3 days rest. Just enough to knock off the high spots. When you go to cut & buff, you can start with 800 grit and have it come out fine without wearing out your elbows polishing.
I know I paid too much! That's a great Idea for the scotchbrite - I can see that stuff totally killing o-peel, but I'm a bit worried about how flat it would get, as it has quite a bit of flex to it
I know, 50 cents?:eek
orry, I forgot to mention I use a piece of 2X4 for a sanding block with the scotchbrite on the flat surfaces. As you prolly know, I've been fixing guitars on the side for about 2 years now. Some of my customers have seen my paint jobs and want me to paint their guitars. I've been looking for any way I can to speed up the total time. I'm down to 3 weeks now.BTW I charge $150 incl. materials. If they want it stripped, $300.
Aww shucks Matt, darn nice of you to say. I'm just pretty much learning as I go along - hope I can save someone else from disaster or a few mistakes. I should mention at this time that I consider HC like my second home, a cottage if you will on the internetz. I usually detail ALL the stupid crap going on, more pics, and oftentimes far too much information in My Mod HQ: "The Insanitarium" over at: http://www.agileguitarforum.com/showthread.php?tid
I just want to tell you. How awesome this thread is.
Well after a struggle, finding the lost bridge, coming up with some kind of glam idea and making a pickguard, I finally put The Glaminator (a First Act ME-537 major cosmetic mod) together. That, after I made a new custom strap for it, while I was waiting for the bridge to find me.
Much more, and lots of details over my mod HQ (The insanitarium on AGF), http://www.agileguitarforum.com/showthread.php?tid
recarved neck heel - much more comfortable
Swarovski crystal fret dots, side and fretboard. kind of a botch, they look slightly better in realz - Won't be trying that again anytime soon. :facepalm:
Themed headstock. Logos came out nice, not perfect, but pretty nice. Good waterslide bury. TR cover, last minute "inspiration" with one leftover crystal. Kinda goofy. TR painted with krylon chrome
Front of the custom made strap, made from a funky ladies belt I found in a thrift shop, and a leather skirt also frome in the same place. Sewn with my 1958 Singer 185J
Knobs off some PA poweramp thing found at the electronic recycle depot.
The top hat skull rhinestone pickguard both my daughter and wife think look terrifyingly threatening and rock 'n roll deadly, like "frosty the snowman" deadly. LOL :facepalm:
I think the rhinestones will be coming off at a later date, I'll sand down the plastic, get the CA off, and maybe do something much more simple, like a falling star motif in metal studs instead, then re-finish with the future floor polish. Winter project.
Full back, with matching control cavity cover. There's a couple wrinkles in the gift wrap on the cover. Bugs me a bit. Might just take it back down to pure black. The back paper laydown was near perfect. Too bad, I would have preferred the best side on the front.
Full Frontal Glaminity, note that I sawed an arm bevel into it, already had the tummy cut on the back.
Couple of small finish imperfections on the front, mostly due to damaged gift wrap, nothing you can see within a couple feet unless it's pointed out. Clearcoat levelled out nicely pretty much everywhere. Very nice gloss, particularly on the black, pretty "deep" looking finish around the edges. The neck feels really great. That's a crunchy pat in there.
Happy with the burst, though it ended up a quite a bit thicker than I originally planned, to cover up boo-boos. Again this was a $45 guitar, new, that played very nice. It was a learning project, and boy, did I.
Overall, I am very pleased with how this thing glows when the sun reflects off it. pretty cool. Just need to get it adjusted back into playing shape, and learn some T-Rex or whatnot.
recarved neck heel - much more comfortable
Swarovski crystal fret dots, side and fretboard. kind of a botch, they look slightly better in realz - Won't be trying that again anytime soon. :facepalm:
Themed headstock. Logos came out nice, not perfect, but pretty nice. Good waterslide bury. TR cover, last minute "inspiration" with one leftover crystal. Kinda goofy. TR painted with krylon chrome
Front of the custom made strap, made from a funky ladies belt I found in a thrift shop, and a leather skirt also frome in the same place. Sewn with my 1958 Singer 185J
Knobs off some PA poweramp thing found at the electronic recycle depot.
The top hat skull rhinestone pickguard both my daughter and wife think look terrifyingly threatening and rock 'n roll deadly, like "frosty the snowman" deadly. LOL :facepalm:
I think the rhinestones will be coming off at a later date, I'll sand down the plastic, get the CA off, and maybe do something much more simple, like a falling star motif in metal studs instead, then re-finish with the future floor polish. Winter project.
Full back, with matching control cavity cover. There's a couple wrinkles in the gift wrap on the cover. Bugs me a bit. Might just take it back down to pure black. The back paper laydown was near perfect. Too bad, I would have preferred the best side on the front.
Full Frontal Glaminity, note that I sawed an arm bevel into it, already had the tummy cut on the back.
Couple of small finish imperfections on the front, mostly due to damaged gift wrap, nothing you can see within a couple feet unless it's pointed out. Clearcoat levelled out nicely pretty much everywhere. Very nice gloss, particularly on the black, pretty "deep" looking finish around the edges. The neck feels really great. That's a crunchy pat in there.
Happy with the burst, though it ended up a quite a bit thicker than I originally planned, to cover up boo-boos. Again this was a $45 guitar, new, that played very nice. It was a learning project, and boy, did I.
Overall, I am very pleased with how this thing glows when the sun reflects off it. pretty cool. Just need to get it adjusted back into playing shape, and learn some T-Rex or whatnot.
As you can see I been getting into the metalz lately, and I ain't done yet!
Me and Mini-Me had us a little trip to the dump not long ago. He spied something he wanted to take apart (it's a bit of a hobby of his to de-manufacture things, whatever I can get him), but I was a bit leery of this kind of thing, because, well it was a microwave, and I mean, they call these things nukers, don't they?
Anyway I was about to say "no way," when I took a second look, and was suddenly compelled to holler "YES WAY!!!!" Normally I let him go crazy at this stuff by himself, but I felt this was a case where he required some supervision.
We were ultra careful, and I don't think we got into any trouble. But really, I'm not sure what's what with these things anyway. His favorite find was the front door, a cool two way "spy mirror" he called it. I had my eye on something else - we'll get to that later.
The rhinestone skull/snowman on the glaminator kept creeping me out, so I've just been plain avoiding that guitar lately. I've switched it up a bit and put all the parts received into the Lotus LP special copy. Never saw a jack that has been so well used and worn out, it wouldn't even hold a cable plug properly anymore - that was actually a big part of the issues electronically with The Spade. Changed that out, put the dream 90 clones in, fiddled with the truss rod over a few days, did a "lick and a promise" fret level and dress, added some shims, and got the action down from about 3/8" at the 12th fret to a little over 1/16th now.
Pleased with the pickups in this guitar, I like the variety of tones it gives me. not ice picky at all, and I really is a joy to play. I can even get interesting quacky semi-strat sounds out if it with the single coils- it does lack a bit on the sustain end, probably the multi-ply tonewood. But, the really chunky neck on this thin body is intriguing, and I find it very comfortable. Seems like a great 'lectric blues guitar with those dream 90 thingies.
For some reason, vibrato sounds "heightened" on this guitar, maybe it's just in my head.
Anyway, while I had it apart, the candy-dish mod seemed a bit funny, too 2D so to speak, so I added another layer of material under it, "borrowed" from a black plastic garbage can. Looks quite a bit better now.
Meanwhile that frickin' Glaminator was sitting in the corner mocking me, waiting for it's final setup. It's like it was saying to me "Man, I had SO much potential, WHY did you screw up so bad, and make me look so lame-o?"
Frickin' sparkly snowman thing. Had to do something with it. Looked dumb and dumber every time I looked at it. Perhaps that dismantled microwave can help us. I had an idea when I saw it at the dump, what made me say yes to bringing it home.
After scraping off the gems with an old chisel, (they were stuck on pretty good!) and sanding down the CA to close to level, I laid it out on my new guard material, and gave it a trace.
After about a half hour with the tin snips, I got it into position for a test fit.
"HOLY CRAP!", I thought to myself - Now THIS is working for me. Sometimes I even surprise myself.
Stainless steel panel baby! Sure, it looks a bit toaster oven-ish, or like a Delorean? But really - I dig it very much. When I began this project, I wanted this guitar to look like it might belong to someone in the "House Band of Hell" - now we are getting somewhere! And, I got a whole bunch more of this stuff left over, too. This stainless as a guard a black strat someday? hmmmmm.
Another half hour later, after some edge filing, sandpapering, hole drilling, we have her all fitted proper, and sitting in the rack.
NOW, she's worthy of setting up proper! In fact, she's calling out to me to get right on it.
We were ultra careful, and I don't think we got into any trouble. But really, I'm not sure what's what with these things anyway. His favorite find was the front door, a cool two way "spy mirror" he called it. I had my eye on something else - we'll get to that later.
The rhinestone skull/snowman on the glaminator kept creeping me out, so I've just been plain avoiding that guitar lately. I've switched it up a bit and put all the parts received into the Lotus LP special copy. Never saw a jack that has been so well used and worn out, it wouldn't even hold a cable plug properly anymore - that was actually a big part of the issues electronically with The Spade. Changed that out, put the dream 90 clones in, fiddled with the truss rod over a few days, did a "lick and a promise" fret level and dress, added some shims, and got the action down from about 3/8" at the 12th fret to a little over 1/16th now.
Pleased with the pickups in this guitar, I like the variety of tones it gives me. not ice picky at all, and I really is a joy to play. I can even get interesting quacky semi-strat sounds out if it with the single coils- it does lack a bit on the sustain end, probably the multi-ply tonewood. But, the really chunky neck on this thin body is intriguing, and I find it very comfortable. Seems like a great 'lectric blues guitar with those dream 90 thingies.
For some reason, vibrato sounds "heightened" on this guitar, maybe it's just in my head.
Anyway, while I had it apart, the candy-dish mod seemed a bit funny, too 2D so to speak, so I added another layer of material under it, "borrowed" from a black plastic garbage can. Looks quite a bit better now.
Meanwhile that frickin' Glaminator was sitting in the corner mocking me, waiting for it's final setup. It's like it was saying to me "Man, I had SO much potential, WHY did you screw up so bad, and make me look so lame-o?"
Frickin' sparkly snowman thing. Had to do something with it. Looked dumb and dumber every time I looked at it. Perhaps that dismantled microwave can help us. I had an idea when I saw it at the dump, what made me say yes to bringing it home.
After scraping off the gems with an old chisel, (they were stuck on pretty good!) and sanding down the CA to close to level, I laid it out on my new guard material, and gave it a trace.
After about a half hour with the tin snips, I got it into position for a test fit.
"HOLY CRAP!", I thought to myself - Now THIS is working for me. Sometimes I even surprise myself.
Stainless steel panel baby! Sure, it looks a bit toaster oven-ish, or like a Delorean? But really - I dig it very much. When I began this project, I wanted this guitar to look like it might belong to someone in the "House Band of Hell" - now we are getting somewhere! And, I got a whole bunch more of this stuff left over, too. This stainless as a guard a black strat someday? hmmmmm.
Another half hour later, after some edge filing, sandpapering, hole drilling, we have her all fitted proper, and sitting in the rack.
NOW, she's worthy of setting up proper! In fact, she's calling out to me to get right on it.
Just a couple of new pics of the stainless on the Glaminator. It's such a photogenic guitar, just a shame it just sounds like %$#@! right now. I got the action back to where it was new, and a fair bit better. plays great, fairly wide neck actually.
Sounds out-of-phase or something. Hope it's my wiring and not the crunchy pat which I acquired from a forum. Problem is, the stock pup had two wires. The crunchy has four, plus a ground. I need to do some research, or any help would be appreciated. I went with the red to the volume tab, the black and ground wire got twisted together and went to the v-pot back. Just sounds nasally and wierd. The white and green twisted together, taped off, but I didn't do any pre-soldering research either, just went ahead and winged it so I'm probably deserving of what I got.
New back plate, to get rid of the semi-bubbly old one, this one shows off the colour variations in the metallic paper pretty well also.
'nother frontal, unfortunately this one doesn't pick up the brushed steel texture very well, but it's there, and it's very cool.
One quick tip if any readers want to try working with the stainless, or any other guard material for that matter - when it comes to putting holes in it for the guard screws - specifically the countersink pockets, I found the best way was to run my hand drill backwards - gives you plenty more control, takes longer, but control is what you need here. I wrecked one back plate when the bit chewed right through, and bent the whole thing beyond repair. Sadly I don't own a drill press.
'nother frontal, unfortunately this one doesn't pick up the brushed steel texture very well, but it's there, and it's very cool.
One quick tip if any readers want to try working with the stainless, or any other guard material for that matter - when it comes to putting holes in it for the guard screws - specifically the countersink pockets, I found the best way was to run my hand drill backwards - gives you plenty more control, takes longer, but control is what you need here. I wrecked one back plate when the bit chewed right through, and bent the whole thing beyond repair. Sadly I don't own a drill press.
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