Stratocaster Project - 8 - New Finish

A few months ago I painted my Stratocaster kit bright red using rattle cans.  It took a lot of paint and a lot of lacquer and a long time to dry.  When I sanded the finish I wasn't really all that happy with it so I decided to repaint using nitrocellulose lacquers.  Tonight I started the wet sanding and polishing process.

I started with 600 wet and dry sand paper, then moved to 1200 and then 1500 before using abrasive polishing compounds gradually working through 3 different compounds and then a bit of car polish!

There is still a long way to go but early indications are that this is going to shine beautifully.

DLP Les Paul Prototype - 34 - Putting It All Together

After polishing the neck and body I decided to put the DLP Les Paul prototype together yesterday.  Now this is a prototype and I don't have high expectations.  It is the first scarf jointed neck I have made (mahogany with an oak fingerboard) and the body is made of MDF, it is also my first attempt at a nitrocellulose finish.

I started with the easy bits, the switch and pots which fitted fine and then moved onto the pickups.  They were originally installed in an Epiphone Les Paul Special model and I believe they are made by DiMarzio.  I drilled through to the rear cavity to accommodate the wires and drilled holes for the mounting rings.  This bit went fine.

I had to use epoxy to secure the new chrome pickup covers to the pickups and they fitted into the routed slots perfectly.

However then I moved onto the bridge and saddle pegs.  The holes had filled with paint and lacquer and were unwilling to take the pegs and with the body been made of MDF there was no give at all and I chipped the finish.  I had to use the drill to make the holes slightly bigger, however the largest bit I had was 10mm and it needed to be slightly bigger than that so with some perseverance i finally managed to mount all 4 pegs... and they are not coming out again in a hurry!

I installed the volume and tone knobs, its starting to look like a guitar now.  The theme is cream on black with a little chrome thrown in!

The pick guard needs a little fine tuning before it can be fitted.  I used the bench grinder to fine tune the fit before drilling the screw holes and mounting it in place.

Next I installed the tuners / machine heads.  This was a simple job, I used a straight edge and some Blu-Tak to hold the machine heads in position while I marked the positions of the screw holes.  I then attached the neck to the body... A guitar at last!

Now for the bone of contention... The body, been made out of solid MDF, is quite heavy so I routed out two compartments in rear of the body and made a cover out of an old radiator cover panel.  I have toyed with both silver and black but ended up painting it silver.  Remember, this is a prototype so comments are more than welcome, but I'm thinking of going back to black!

I put stings on and straight away noticed how low the nut was so I added a small oak shim and will continue fine tuning the setup over then next couple of nights.  I made a truss rod cover out of the same material as the pick guard which turned out really well.

There are some issues with the electronics... all the pots are wired backwards! I need to look at my circuit diagram again for that one!  there are also some imperfections in the paint including blooming on the head.  but once again this is a prototype and for me it's more about how it plays and sounds that a perfect paint job.

A lot of the dimensions are based on my Epiphone Les Paul Special Model, although I opted for 2 volume and 2 tone controls, so more like a Gibson Les Paul Studio I guess.

I would love you hear your comments, especially on the rear cover. I can't wait to get home from work now to carry on working / playing with it!

DLP Les Paul Prototype - 34 - Finishing the Finish

It's been over a week since I sprayed the nitrocellulose gloss clear lacquer on the DLP Les Paul Prototype neck and body so I decided to buff the finish on the body and the neck last night.

I started with 600 wet and dry, then 1200 and finally 1500 wet and dry.  Then I used 3 grades of abrasive compound to get rid of the remaining scratches and swirl marks before adding a little car polish to really get a shine.

There is some blooming on the face of the neck so I have rubbed the finish back and will lacquer is again, I'm told another layer will merge with the bloomed layer and allow the moisture to escape.  I just want to put this all together now and have a play!

Another Ukulele Project - Adding Finish To The Neck And Body

Just a very quick update on the Telecaster Ukulele project.  Over the past couple of nights I have been adding layers of Tru-Oil to the neck and body (including the fret board).  It will be some time before the bridge, tuners and pickup arrive so I cant really route the body yet.

I put on a thick layer originally and let it dry overnight,  then sanded it back with 400 grit sand paper, then added another thinner coat and let this dry overnight. last night I rubber the finish back with 0000 grade wire wool and added another thin layer.  i will keep doing this until I get a deep rich coat that shines.  Then i will let it thoroughly dry and buff to a nice glossy finish.

Telecaster III - 7 - Making The Neck Pocket

I have ordered some parts for this guitar including a truss rod for the neck, so I think it's time to crack on so I'm ready to paint and assemble when everything arrives.  Tonight I trimmed the end of the oak neck blank and rounded the corners.  I could have kept the end of the neck square as I intended to chisel out the neck pocket rather than route the hole.  So the choice is one of style not practicality. 

Once I was happy with the end of the neck I laid out the neck pocket on the body.  The first thing I noticed was that I had been a little too generous staying clear of the line when I cut out the body, meaning the neck sits in a pocket which surrounds the neck in the cut out, normally a Telecaster neck is not supported in this way.

I will have a think about this, maybe I will leave it as a unique feature or maybe I will shape the cut out to be more like a regular Telecaster body.

The surrounded neck will do no harm the sound transmission.  I used a fine saw to score and cut the edges of the neck pocket then carefully took away the material in the pocket gradually moving into the body.

Almost there... The pocket is nice and tight and will need a lot of fine tuning, but it is well past midnight so time to call it a night.  The neck goes about halfway into the pocket at the moment, I'm regretting making the neck round now!

Another Ukulele Project - Making A DLP Custom Pick Guard

I would like to make my guitars (and ukuleles) look unique as a way of making the DLP Guitars brand recognisable, so while the general shape of the Telecaster is unchanged, there is scope to be creative and individual with the pick guard.  With this in mind I have decided to use something like my idea below of an oval shaped pick guard.

I have ordered a pickup, bridge and machine heads for the Telecaster Ukulele so while I'm waiting for them to arrive I thought I would make a start on the pick guard.

I started off by making a rough cardboard template just to give me an idea of how much blank material I would need and general proportions of the pick guard.  I will be using un-etched single sided copper coated PCB to make the guard, leaving the copper side polished and exposed.  It should gradually darken with age.

I roughed out the shape, the material can actually be cut carefully with good scissors but I stopped well clear of the outline as it does have a habit of  splintering and splitting. I then used my bench grinder to gradually shape the pick guard.

Once I had the oval shape I marked the position of the neck and nibbled the material away with the bench grinder.  I then used files to get the neck cut-out perfect and finally finished the edges to give a nice even gap all round.

I will have to wait for the bridge and the pickup to arrive before I can do anything else with it, but I'm please with the results so far.

Telecaster III - 6 - Filling The Body

I am progressing slowly with the Telecaster body, filling, sanding then more filler then more sanding.  The super fine filler is doing a great job but it is very dusty.

Tonight I continued sanding mainly round the edges and then I started marking every imperfection I could see and continued filling in those areas.

It might look a bit mad but it helps locate all the imperfections and saves filler in the long run.

I will let the filler dry overnight and continue sanding and filling over the weekend until it is ready to be primed.  That will show up even more imperfections and I will start again!

Another Ukulele Project - Glueing In The Neck

I spent a little time sanding the neck and body earlier today and then applied a coat of sanding sealer, let this dry for an hour or so then sanded it back with 400 grit sand paper and then applied another coat.  Then everything was rubbed back with fine wire wool and another coat of sanding sealer applied.

After repeating the above a couple more times I decided to glue the neck in place, so I applied the glue and clamped everything in place and I will leave this overnight to set.

Next job is to decide how I am going to make this into an electric Ukulele, I have a spare pickup from a Stratocaster so I could attach that at an angle I guess, then I need to find a 4 string bridge narrow enough for the neck.  I will make a pick guard, and I will have to think of how to mount the volume and tone controls as well.

Another Ukulele Project - Neck Pocket

I continued to sand the body this yesterday getting rid of all the scuffs and knocks ready to prepare the neck pocket.  Normally the a full size Telecaster has a bolt on neck but I plan on glueing in the neck on this project.

I marked out the position of the neck on the body and then used a fine saw to cut the sides of the neck pocket and then gradually chiselled out the channel.  The neck is exactly half the depth of the body so the neck pocket was easy to get level as it is made of 2 laminated sides, I just had to keep chiselling until I came to the join.

The pocket is lovely and snug and unlike a normal Telecaster neck there is support all round the neck.  This should be in for a long time once it's glued in place.

Next on the list is to carve the neck.  It will be easier to do this before it is glued in place.  I use a rasp to rough out the profile at each end of the neck and then a chisel to smooth everything in between.

A little more fine sanding is required but for now the ukulele is is looking great and feels nice as well.

My son loves the natural wood so I think we will be just sanding everything and protecting with a couple of coats of nitrocellulose lacquer.  He also wants this to be an electric ukulele so I need to source some machine heads, a bridge, a pickup, volume and tone controls and a pick guard.

Another Ukulele Project - Cutting Out The Body

I spent some time preparing a template at work using the outline of a normal Telecaster but slightly increasing the width where the neck meets the body to accommodate the neck I have made.  The proportions still look good though.

I used the jigsaw to cut out the shape staying well away from the line as the jigsaw blade tends to lean over to one side when cutting curves.  This is not too much of an issue as I know what to expect and will sand the sides square with my drill and sanding drums.

Even though the body is pine it still takes some effort to cut the shape out carefully avoiding getting too close to the line and trying to keep the saw blade as square as possible.

Once the body was cut out I started smoothing the edges and squaring them to the top and bottom.

I'm making progress, below is the body next to a regular size Telecaster body.  I just have to concentrate on the cut outs by the neck.

Another Ukulele Project - Fretting Over Frets

I have been coating the little Telecaster fret board with Tru-Oil for the past week or so gradually building up a nice shine, tonight I decided to finally put the frets in as I am happy with the look and feel of the fret board now.

I was determined to make a good job of the frets and not to damage the fret board whilst installing the frets... the best laid plans of mice and men and all that... I learned tonight that the more accurate I cut the fret wire to size the more chance I have of it not going in properly.  If I cut the frets about 4mm oversize each end giving me quite an overhang they go in easily.

The fret board split in one place so I had to hastily glue it back in place and finally managed to install the frets without too many marks or blemishes on the fret board.  Practice makes perfect... I need more practice!  I then used my bench grinder to bring the frets almost level with the sides and then my home-made fret beveller to smooth the frets to a nice angle.  

Another Round Of Painting

I had a chance this weekend to get the paint gun out again and continue finishing the 3 guitars I have hanging in the garage, this is the Encore Bass, Stratocaster and DLP Les Paul prototype.  I noticed some very fine hairline cracks appearing in all 3 bodies and can only assume it is to do with the moisture content in the wood causing the bodies to change shape slightly and allowing the paint to crack?

So I sanded these imperfections out and then re-coated each body.  Each guitar has received 3 coats of colour this weekend separated by about  15 minutes between coats.

I removed the masking around the binding on the Les Paul Prototype and carefully scraped the binding with a razor sharp craft knife blade  revealing a nice contrast between the slightly off white binding and the black front and sides.

I haven't revealed all of the binding on the front of the guitar, just a very thin border about 1mm all the way round.  The effect is very subtle but pleasing.

Hopefully i will be able to start applying the clear coats this weekend if the weather stays warm enough although I have installed a heater in my garage to try and maintain a constant temperature down there.