Members Freeman Keller Posted September 10, 2015 Author Members Share Posted September 10, 2015 are the three weeks already over? Patience..... I did order a case for it (which fits, whew) and started work on some of the trim pieces - pictures will come in a day or two. I figure the finish needs at least another week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted September 18, 2015 Author Members Share Posted September 18, 2015 While the finish is curing I have been doing a little work on the red guitar. My wife came out to the shop the other day and asked what I was doing - I told her that I could buy a plastic pick guard and truss rod cover but I thought I'd make them out of ebony instead. She said "of course you would". The truss rod cover is three thin veneers of ebony sandwiched together, the p/g is just a piece of ebony that I had on hand. Its got a little bit of grey streaks - kind of nice grain. I bound them to match the guitar and put some surgical tape on the back to keep them from cracking. The owner of this guitar plays in a band called "Raining Sunshine" (nice, eh?) - this is their logo from a tee shirt He asked if it could somehow be incorporated into the guitar. Its too late for a headstock inlay (but it would have been perfect - imagine that raindrop between the tuners....) but the pick guard is fair game. A quick call to the guy I get my pearl from (I don't cut my own - its just too much of a hassle) and here it is inlayed with one coat of lacquer. The guitar has been hanging over my work bench - kind of looks like its raining sunshine on me More to come Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Preacher Posted September 18, 2015 Members Share Posted September 18, 2015 Wow, great stuff, Freeman. I love the precision on those inlays - incredible - and the curing guitar looks gorgeous upside down and facing the other way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted September 19, 2015 Author Members Share Posted September 19, 2015 Well it has been three weeks or so, probably time to make this shiny. Personally I like moderately glossy guitars but not the dipped in plastic look that you see on lots of imports. I'll also say up front that my guitars will never look like a professionally finished factory guitar - for a whole lot of reasons. I do my best, that's part of the deal. The last coat of lacquer is pretty smooth (and glossy) but it does have some surface imperfections - a couple of little sags on the sides, some orange peel and a few flakes of dust. I start standing at 1000 grit - the idea is to take all of this out and make the surface as flat as possible I then go up thru 1200 and 1500 grit - now the idea is to remove any scratches left by the previous sanding. Here is the guitar (with the pick guard setting on it) after the sanding Where did all my nice gloss go? Next I hit it with two levels of polishing compound - medium and fine - buffed with both a wheel and with foam pads. Looks like this Close up I've got to be careful here - so much can go wrong. But I'm pretty happy with it - maybe tomorrow I'll give it one more shot with the fine compound and call it good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Preacher Posted September 19, 2015 Members Share Posted September 19, 2015 Hot dang, that's purdy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted September 21, 2015 Members Share Posted September 21, 2015 While the finish is curing I have been doing a little work on the red guitar. My wife came out to the shop the other day and asked what I was doing - I told her that I could buy a plastic pick guard and truss rod cover but I thought I'd make them out of ebony instead. She said "of course you would". The truss rod cover is three thin veneers of ebony sandwiched together, the p/g is just a piece of ebony that I had on hand. Its got a little bit of grey streaks - kind of nice grain. I bound them to match the guitar and put some surgical tape on the back to keep them from cracking Surgical tape on the back,thats a slick trick . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted September 21, 2015 Members Share Posted September 21, 2015 That looks as tasty as a homemade cherry pie While i anticipate seeing the final result I hate to think about the tread coming to a conclusion.. I've really enjoyed the journey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted September 21, 2015 Members Share Posted September 21, 2015 It looks really great, right down to the pickguard. Love all the little details and how they come together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted September 21, 2015 Members Share Posted September 21, 2015 Amazing! The final buffing and polishing will really make it pop even more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thatsbunk Posted September 22, 2015 Members Share Posted September 22, 2015 I am anxiously awaiting the final product (& to find out who the lucky new owner will be!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted September 22, 2015 Author Members Share Posted September 22, 2015 I am anxiously awaiting the final product (& to find out who the lucky new owner will be!) There have been several fairly blatant hints.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted September 23, 2015 Author Members Share Posted September 23, 2015 Polished the headstock, trying to leave enough grain that it doesn't look painted or plastic. Reamed the bushings and mounted the tuners Did the frets. Right in front of the neck is a 12 inch radius sanding block with some 800 grit sticky back sandpaper - that levels everything. My favorite little diamond fret file, steel wool, Dremel with a polishing pad - nothing very fancy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted September 23, 2015 Members Share Posted September 23, 2015 OH YEAH. that's perfect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted September 29, 2015 Author Members Share Posted September 29, 2015 I'm starting to see a glimmer of light at the end of the very long tunnel. First its time to hook the pickups back up to their leads - remember that all the electronics are buried inside the guitar Found a nice hunk of unbleached bone that matched the tuner buttons Flipped my favorite little string spacing rule over and made some marks I won't bore you with all the details of making a nut - you've seen it all before. Here is the final product All the shiny bits are screwed in place and I threw a set of strings on it. Its kind of weird, since I can't play this thing I have to do all the setup by the numbers. Its close but it needs to sit under tension for a few days before I finalize it The light is a little closer.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted September 29, 2015 Members Share Posted September 29, 2015 Astounding! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted September 29, 2015 Members Share Posted September 29, 2015 Truly amazing. As usual, you make it look so easy. If the intended owner doesn't want it, I'm sure there won't be any trouble finding a home for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AlexMC Posted September 29, 2015 Members Share Posted September 29, 2015 Just read this thread from start to finish... Fascinating work and incredible craftsmanship! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted September 29, 2015 Members Share Posted September 29, 2015 Extremely nice guitar. The only tiny thing I don't care for is the black switch plate.. Maybe it's because I don't use one so I'm not accustomed to seeing it,but it's just a little too much black for my taste. I realize this is very nit-pickey and it's the owner's eye that is important not mineOverall this guitar qualifies for a solid WOW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted October 8, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 8, 2015 Good news, bad news, good news. Well, since most 335's don't have switch plates I thought I'd take it off. Like it much better. (good news) However when I looked closely I see two hairline cracks radiating from the switch hole (bad news). The yellow work light reflection is highlighting the crack. Took it up to my motorcycle painting buddy (remember the 175 with the skulls?) and he said it looked like it was only the clear coats (good news) and probably happened when I tried to get the flat switch plate to contour to the curve of the top. Anyway, he said it was repairable. (good news) In fact, he made a pretty profound statement. He said "when I hand off a commission to a customer I have to be totally satisfied with it. I'm more critical that he will be, if I'm happy he will be too". I told him I wasn't happy with this, he said "well, fix it then". E-mailed my customer and told him there was a delay. I've been trying to get this to him for a birthday at the end of the month, not looking too likely now. He said he understood (I'll stop with the good / bad news stuff). The fix, according to Jesse was to sand the clear just back to the red and respray. I took off the hardware, masked the holes and top and started sanding. I thought my little air brush would work the best but it didn't lay down enough lacquer so I switched to my gun After 6 coats of clear I pulled the tape and it had a pretty good ridge all the way around. Feathered that into the original finish starting with 400 and 600 grit, then going up thru the grits to 2000. The blue thing is a piece of foam pad that backs up the sandpaper. I can't use a block on the curved surface. The cracks are all healed, I'm going to wait about two or three days before I finish the polish but I'm happy with what I did Lost about a week but it was the right thing to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted October 8, 2015 Members Share Posted October 8, 2015 Another perfect job.I would have been having a stroke if that happened to a guitar I just finished. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted October 8, 2015 Members Share Posted October 8, 2015 Wow - it's amazing that you can reshoot it and blend it like that! Excellent once again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted October 8, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 8, 2015 That is one of the big advantages of nitro - each coat melts into the previous one. Other finishes tend to form "witness lines" between layers. Its also one of the reasons I hate trying to do any cosmetic work on most new guitars, its almost impossible to deal with the finish. When I first saw it I thought the cracks went all the way thru to the wood which would have been impossible to touch up. That probably would have meant stripping and refinishing - not a trivial option. Jesse's sharp eye (and experience) convinced me this would work - thank goodness it did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted October 11, 2015 Author Members Share Posted October 11, 2015 I'm fighting my way thru all the customs and CITES paperwork, with luck this will ship tomorrow Some glamour shots before it leaves. Happy Birthday, T_e_l_e Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badpenguin Posted October 11, 2015 Members Share Posted October 11, 2015 Artistry, pure and simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted October 12, 2015 Members Share Posted October 12, 2015 I've enjoyed following the thread and all good things must end. .I hope you do a " Let's help someone build something that looks like a Telecaster" thread ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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