9380 Members
50 Forums
26839 Topics
293692 Posts
Max Online: 390 @ 10/02/12 01:42 PM
|
|
|
#291391 - 04/01/12 07:09 PM
Re: Megi's Stratocaster project - Finishing process underway
[Re: Jocko]
|
Megi
Old Timer
Registered: 08/07/11
Posts: 1271
Loc: Lincolnshire
|
I may well go "au-naturel" as you put it, but I would probably have applied a sealer coat of Tru-Oil first anyway, so the option of using filler is still there at this stage I guess. Really I'm going to wait for it to dry a bit more (just got the back of the guitar done about an hour ago) before making a decision.
The wood is pretty smooth I have to say, no obvious bumps from the grain, and I don't mind a little subtle texture from the wood coming through the finish - it's a matter of taste I guess. Also a luthier on another forum was describing to me how you can sand in the oil (a bit like your suggestion on the tele build) giving a grain filling effect, so I may try that. We will have to see!
_________________________
Graham, jazz guitar nut!
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#291392 - 04/01/12 07:13 PM
Re: Megi's Stratocaster build project - confesion!
[Re: Megi]
|
Mark P
Professional Forumite!
Registered: 21/10/09
Posts: 455
Loc: Scotland
|
Hard to see the join (Morecambe & Wise?) and it won't affect performance at all. Excellent job with the shim! 
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#291393 - 04/01/12 07:20 PM
Re: Megi's Stratocaster build project - confesion!
[Re: Mark P]
|
Megi
Old Timer
Registered: 08/07/11
Posts: 1271
Loc: Lincolnshire
|
Cheers Mark, the shim was actually quite a few hours work, as it had to be thinner at one end than the other - so I tapered down a piece of veneer, then cut it over-sized. Glued it into place, then sanded the sticking-out bits flush to the suface of the body. Then tested the fit with the neck, still a small gap at one end (furthest from the end of the fingerboard), so had to make another even smaller tapered shim, cut over-size, glue-in, file flush etc....
What with some of my bits of veneer breaking before I could finish (it's fragile stuff) it took a while. Oh well, done now!  
_________________________
Graham, jazz guitar nut!
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#291409 - 05/01/12 07:13 AM
Re: Neck Alignment
[Re: Jocko]
|
Jocko
Old Timer
Registered: 06/07/11
Posts: 1023
Loc: Kirkcaldy, Fife
|
I have worked on a couple of Fender Strats and one came from Fender, shimmed, and the other had Fender's Micro adjustment system for setting up the neck. Obviously Fender specs are not the be all and end all.
My previous post referred to shims behind the neck. I misunderstood where you intended fitting a shim.
_________________________
Best tip for budding guitarists. Start playing 10 years earlier!
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#291415 - 05/01/12 11:38 AM
Re: Neck Alignment
[Re: Jocko]
|
Megi
Old Timer
Registered: 08/07/11
Posts: 1271
Loc: Lincolnshire
|
Thanks very much for all that Jocko, nice of you to take the time to make a detailed post like that. By chance it does sound like my first coat of Tru-Oil was applied a lot like he describes in step 1 for the "soak coat" (see my earlier post). I'm thinking maybe I can use the Tobias approach up to step 3 or 4, which seems to be the grain filling bit really, and then maybe carry on with our more normal Tru-Oil approach with lots of thin coats. The final stages outlined above do look a bit scary to me i.e. there seems to be obvious potential for it going wrong, and I'm a long way from being expert at this stuff... However, if I got to that point, I could see how I felt - if brave I could go with the remaining steps.
About the shims, I did understand what you were talking about - no confusion was caused, except perhaps by my later using the word in a slightly different context. Anyway, still thinking about things for the moment, and letting the first coat harden a bit more. Cheers!
_________________________
Graham, jazz guitar nut!
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#291421 - 05/01/12 12:28 PM
Re: Neck Alignment
[Re: Megi]
|
Ape09090
Old Timer
Registered: 01/12/11
Posts: 1188
Loc: South Wales
|
Is Tru-oil the same as Danish Oil by any chance?
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#291426 - 05/01/12 02:08 PM
Re: Megi's Stratocaster project - Finishing process underway
[Re: Megi]
|
Ape09090
Old Timer
Registered: 01/12/11
Posts: 1188
Loc: South Wales
|
I applied some Danish Oil to the pine floorboards in the room I'm sat in now a few years ago and the result was astonishing.
The blonde almost white pine started showing all kinds of red's and brown's on the first application of the danish oil and I was considering it as a finish or at least a stain for a guitar project although I admit a lot more buffing would be required to bring any kind of gloss to it for a guitar.
Graham,not mincing my words but that Telecaster looks like something you'd have to pay thousands of pounds for in a shop and that was your first build?
Amazing,really well done and congratulations.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#291433 - 05/01/12 02:58 PM
Re: Megi's Stratocaster project - Finishing process underway
[Re: Ape09090]
|
Megi
Old Timer
Registered: 08/07/11
Posts: 1271
Loc: Lincolnshire
|
Graham,not mincing my words but that Telecaster looks like something you'd have to pay thousands of pounds for in a shop and that was your first build?
Amazing,really well done and congratulations.
 Thank's Andrew, I am very proud of it - you should hear it as well, it's really resonant and lovely to play, my favourite solidbody guitar in fact, and I made it myself! When you look at the specs, I think it does hold it's own against expensive Guitars you can buy too - very nice maple neck, a really lovely (and very light-weight) one-piece swamp ash body. I think you can see how well the finish worked too. I think to myself that surely I would have to pay a lot to buy a guitar like that? Total cost was roughly about £450 - which when you think about it is quite persuasive. The strat will work out even cheaper to make than that too!
For me it's all a strong argument for the parts building route. I guess the downside is that the resale value is going to be disappointing - people tend to value a brand name when they are buying a guitar. So the best thing is to keep your own part build Guitars and be happy with them. Also, I think it is not such good value if you start with really cheap parts, you will spend less, but end up with nothing very impressive in the end.
Cheers for liking the telecaster though, much appreciated, and I hope the thread shows how it is possible for anyone to do something like this.
Edited by Megi (05/01/12 03:00 PM)
_________________________
Graham, jazz guitar nut!
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
Moderator: stickyfiddle
|
|
FREE Pre Sale
Personalised Setup worth £55
On every guitar sold (Since
1995)
Click on the Images For Further
Details
Acoustic Guitar Setup
Electric Guitar Setup
I have also created a page to help
explain, in basic terms, why a guitar sold by me will:
Play Better
Sound Better
Feel Better
Look Better
Stay In Tune - Longer Whether buying a guitar or otherwise, I hope you find the
information of value.
|
|
|
|
