My Monthly Guitar Question

[Sleeping in EQ]

As a followup, I decided to ask my daughter what she thought of the guitar's sound. She wisely told me that she didn't want a guitar for Christmas, that she'd wait until her birthday in the hope that we could go to a guitar shop and let her play different models and decide which one feels the best. She said, "I love you, papi, and I'd be grateful for whatever you got for me, but I would prefer to pick my next guitar."

A grown up request like that means that we'll wait for her birthday.

She's becoming a musician. Guitar players can play various guitars of the same model and each will feel different.

[Shaka]

As a followup, I decided to ask my daughter what she thought of the guitar's sound. She wisely told me that she didn't want a guitar for Christmas, that she'd wait until her birthday in the hope that we could go to a guitar shop and let her play different models and decide which one feels the best. She said, "I love you, papi, and I'd be grateful for whatever you got for me, but I would prefer to pick my next guitar."

A grown up request like that means that we'll wait for her birthday.

That's just dumb. She should play what I pick for her.

Good for your daughter. Guitars can become very personal. That's why my Tex Mex strat that I've had for twenty years gets played the most in spite of the fact I own several guitars that costs four times as much.

[old_gregg]

Damn.

I jacked up my Floyd Rose bridge. I stripped the locking unit down on the bridge (the allen wrench port for the first string at the end of the bridge; the one that tightens the block and holds the end of the string).

Am I in for a complete bridge replacement?

I also scratched the pick guard on my Taylor. I've seen YouTube videos of people ungluing those with a hair dryer, but is that really a good idea?

I live near one of the premier musical instrument outlets in the nation. It's a mall of music. They have a skilled luthier, and a responsible repair department (no zit-faced teenagers mangling the axes). I've used them before and I trust them.

Should I try to fix these myself, or should I just get out my wallet?

Damn.

bro pickguards are made to get scratched

[Sleeping in EQ]

bro pickguards are made to get scratched

Yes, but this scratch is hideous. It doesn't give the guitar character at all. It just looks like one of my son's friends opened a door and the door handle ripped into the plastic.

[Sleeping in EQ]

OK, gear check.

What are your axes?

What's your rig?

What styles do you play?

[Shaka]

I've been building guitars for quite some time. When it comes to finishing I usually will only work with old-school nitrocellulose lacquer based finishes. Not sure why but I've become fascinated with metal flake finishes. Shooting nitro isn't easy but shooting metal flake is another animal entirely. If your prep isn't perfect it's not going to work. I decided to learn by building a partscaster. A partscaster is simply a guitar assembled from a pre-made body and neck instead of making them yourself. I picked up a rough body straight off a CNC machine and spent a lot of time shaping and sanding. I sanded to 400 grit and then applied several coats of automotive grade primer sanding in between each coat. I then shot three coats of black automotive grade basecoats again sanding in between each coat. You need a spary gun with a large tip to shoot metal flake so I picked up a new gun from 3M that allows the use of disposable plastic tips in various sizes rather than having to clean various tips and needles on regular spray guns. In this case the flake was 0.015" and was shot with a 1.8mm tip. I wanted to do this one up right so I used a very expensive clear from House of Color. It's generally used by the hot rod finishers. I mixed in a bunch of flake and then shot several coats to get the effect pictured below. Keep in mind the paint isn't orange, what you're seeing is just the flake on top of the black basecoat. This thing pops the way it does because you can slightly see the black beneath the flakes.

I ordered a really cool roasted maple neck from Warmoth for this build. The front of the headstock is going to get the same treatment.

This is where I am so far:


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[creekster]

Shaka that is gorgeous. Do you have paint booth set up? how did you do that? I built one once with pvc and plastic sheeting using a house fan to create some negative pressure but it was a pain to put up and store. what do you use?

that body is gorgeous. will you sell it?

[Shaka]

Shaka that is gorgeous. Do you have paint booth set up? how did you do that? I built one once with pvc and plastic sheeting using a house fan to create some negative pressure but it was a pain to put up and store. what do you use?

that body is gorgeous. will you sell it?

I'm not going to sell this one but I could be convinced to do another. In fact I'm going to do more next spring.

I don't have a booth. I do have a spray tent I can set up anywhere. However, it's been in the mid-sixties here in South Jordan and not very windy so I'd prep in the garage and then walk outside to shoot. Outside worked out well because the flake gets everywhere. and I'd rather not have it in the garage or house.

[old_gregg]

warmoth is cool. would love to do a fiesta red strat with a relic nitro neck.

[creekster]

warmoth is cool. would love to do a fiesta red strat with a relic nitro neck.

Is that a warmoth body?

[old_gregg]

Is that a warmoth body?

they make them under license

[Shaka]

Is that a warmoth body?

No. I got it off a guy who's selling them straight off the CNC machine. They have small tooling marks and the contours are only roughed out. The good news is that they are cheaper than buying one off Warmoth. I will end up making the others using my router table and templates.

[Shaka]

warmoth is cool. would love to do a fiesta red strat with a relic nitro neck.

If I'm not making the strat or tele I usually use USA Custom Guitars for the necks. I heard good things about Warmoth's roasted maple necks so I decided to try one out on this build. Roasted maple is the hip new thing as it is less prone to be affected by weather and humidity.

If you want to do partscasters on the cheap All Parts and Mighty Mite make decent necks and bodies. You will need to do some fret work with them as the details aren't quite as good as a Warmoth or USACG. Once you have the frets dressed though they are excellent.

[NathanBol]

this is a beautiful guitar!! Do you use solid wood? what kind of ? or us it composite?

[Shaka]

this is a beautiful guitar!! Do you use solid wood? what kind of ? or us it composite?

It's a one piece alder body. I like alder for strats and swamp ash for teles.