The Project (Part 3)

Since March (the last blog post) I've been sanding, sanding, filling, sanding...

A few minor details and things I found out about working on this guitar. First, while the specs for the guitar body from 1985 stated it was basswood, it was all sorts of basswood pieces glued together. The body is in 3 main parts, 2 of which are the same color and consistency - the third a much darker part of heart wood. The treble side of the body including the treble horn and part of the lower bout was a 4th piece of wood glued onto the other 3 parts. And while basswood does not have pores, say like, mahogany or alder, which Fender loves to use in guitar bodies, basswood doesn't have these pores - meaning the wood does not require a sealant to be used before painting. Regardless, I used 3 coats of sealer with a 400 grit sanding before starting the paint. Before getting into the painting - some other things I found out.

1. The guitar seems to have been modified by one of our friends a long time ago, Joe Vadala, who for a short time in Karma Factory history, managed the band and who founded and plays in a tribute band Best of the Eagles. The modification was to the bridge pins and since I cannot find a new bridge with these same specs which doesn't use string locks, the old bridge will have to do.

2. The Obsidian Wire harness went into the new 11 hole pick guard no problems. The HSS and 7 way switch will hopefully make this solderless electronics a no brainer.

3. White paint apparently shows every single slight flaw and ding - so after the first coat of paint, I had to do a little more filling and sanding, sanding, sanding...

4. I opted to spend $8 on new springs and spring plate. A little work on the screw holes but there were 3 different springs on the guitar and since Scott nor I really bother with dive bombing notes these days, it should be a good option.

5. I purchased lots of wet/dry sandpaper up to 3000 grit for the finish as well as some Maguiars automotive compound and polish for the finishing touch.

Following the finishing guidelines from Oxford Guitar Supply has been great. So far, their stuff has been top notch, instructions very easy to follow and their kits are better than anything else out there.

So for the past week, I've been alternating the color and as of today, put the last color coat on. Next will be the 3 cans of finish, of which about 12-15 coats will be put on over the next week. The color has to cure for at least 24 hours, so I'm going to give it 48. The lacquer however, once all coats are done, needs to cure for 2 weeks before final finish and buffing can occur. This is to let the lacquer harden properly.

Once cured, I can put on the hardware, and do a dry fit to make sure everything is sitting just where it's supposed to. As well, I'm mixing my own conductive shielding paint for the pickup pockets and switch area out of powdered graphite and ink similar to this example instead of paying $56 plus shipping from Steward MacDonald for a 1/2 pint of the same thing. The graphite cost me $6 and the ink/paint $1 on Amazon. Enough to do at least 2-3 guitars. Stew-Mac is SUPER expensive so I try to avoid buying things from them as much as possible.

Below are a few pictures and how it's going. A little after Mothers Day I should have all the lacquer on and nearly ready for the hardware to go on.