'59 Strat tribute/clone finish (first) and build

[stratamania]

Please don't tell me you are trying to turn it orange?

Also please tell me pets are not put into tanning booths in the USA...

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Lol, no on both counts. It's a UVB bulb for testing products for yellowing. In this case I'm using it to yellow the lacquer.

The tanning bed thing was a bit of a joke, I've never gotten close to a tanning bed other than walking by one at the store. That's a shipping box from our dogs food, happened to be the box I had here.

 

[Chad11491]

Please don't tell me you are trying to turn it orange?

Also please tell me pets are not put into tanning booths in the USA...

Our cat loves the tanning beds. Unfortunately we left her in a bit long once and now she's a bit charred.

 

[stratamania]

I think we need to stick to roasted maple, they probably smell better than charred cats :laughing7:

Any way I look forward to seeing the result of the ageing process.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

It's only been in there 4 days (2 days on each side) and there's already a noticeable difference - not a huge difference but it's enough to be noticeable.  I think it's going to work perfect.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Update on the lacquer aging process - it's working great :cool01: .  I've had it under the UVB light for 2 weeks tomorrow - 1/2 of the time face up, 1/2 face down.  So this is after approximately 160 hours of UVB light exposure.  I took the back cover off and took a pic.  It's kind of subtle but if you look closely you'll see the outline of it in the first pic where the lacquer hasn't yellowed.  For the second pic I took that same picture and used preview to crank the contrast, etc to really show it. 

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Update on the aging - this is after another 72 hours.  Far more visible now - when you look at it there's no doubt that it's lighter behind the cover plate.  Very happy with how it's going, another 2 weeks and I think it should be where I want it.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

I also picked up an 80's tweed case off ebay that had an interior configuration that looked like the 59's that I was finding online.  I cleaned it up, shellac'd with amber tinted shellac, and then covered in a couple coats of aged clear nitro cellulose lacquer and then clear satin.  Masking everything off took 3 1/2 hours - ugh.  It was way more work that I anticipated but I'm very happy with it! 

The pic on the wood floor is what it looked like when I received it.  The others are after I finished my work.

 

[PhilHill]

Nice!    :headbang: :headbang:

 

[rgand]

Great job opn that case.  :icon_thumright:

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Thanks.  It just didn't feel right putting it in a new case.  Last piece of the pie is a 59 amp clone I'm building :headbang:.  Going to be 2 or 3 months probably before that's done though.

 

[rgand]

That'll be a cool setup. I'd love to see a photo that amp when it's done, too.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

I'll post on here for sure. I'm hoping to have it done by the next owner finished GOM and it'll be in the pic. It'll be a clone of a Fender Princeton 5f2-a 5w tube amp with a 10" Weber speaker and a cabinet sized right between a Champ and a Princeton. All the parts except the cabinet will be here Saturday. I'm getting the cabinet made by this guy: https://amprestoration.com/fender-relic-cabinet/ . I sent him pics of the guitar and he's going to match it up looks wise. I asked for about 10% less than this one. Ordered the cabinet a week ago and he said it would be about 10 weeks.

 

[rgand]

Thanks. That'll be a nice combo.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

The cabinet and speaker arrived thursday and it looks and sounds awesome!

I'd finished the chassis a couple months ago. To oxidize the hardware I used muriatic acid fumes. Bought NOS knobs and fuse holder, repro tube chart, and repro Fender badge. Haven't decided if I want to use the badge. Optimally I'd have a Faux badge but they are way too expensive to have made. I think I prefer the badge but not sure about putting the Fender one I have on. It's a one off cabinet size - I doubt anyone would mistake it for the real thing.

I had a chance to play it for a few hours tonight with my Tele. Sounds GREAT! The Faux strat is off getting a bone nut and fret's levele. Can't wait to have the whole rig together!

 

[rgand]

That amp is outstanding! It has everything you need. I have a Fender Champion 100 that does everything anyone would ever want but it doesn't sound quite as good as a decent tube amp. All I ever use on it is tone and volume. It lacks a second instrument input. You have everything in that one. :icon_thumright: :icon_thumright: