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Custom neckplate

Doug,

Are you able to help with design work?

I've got a couple of ideas but my artistic talents end at just about being able to hold a pencil, let alone draw anything.

Are you able to come up with a design if I was to make a few conceptual / idea suggestions?

Also - as my guitar is going to be laced with the dreaded gold stuff - are you able to offer the plates in a gold or brass finish?
 
Nope, it's no problem:
warmoth-body-back-web.jpg
 
Oh, happy day! Now, pack 'em! Ship 'em! Put wheels on 'em! Get 'em outa there! Gotta bill 'em! Oh, wait. Those are mine.

Cool. I bought a body/neck combination from our favorite supplier for just such an occasion, and since they were both showcase items that didn't need finishing I expect they'll be here within the next couple months. It seems UPS likes to take that stuff home and fondle it for a while before they give it up.

Incidentally, how much trouble did you have finding an anodizing service? I did some searching, and actually learned quite a bit about doing it myself if I wanted to (apparently, it's not too difficult). But, I don't anticipate doing it often enough to justify even the relatively low cost of setting up to do it myself. Thing is, I'm not finding anybody locally who'll do one-offs. There are services around here, but they're more production-oriented so I wonder if I'm searching for the right thing. Maybe I should be just calling around to machine shops?
 
I got my truss rod covers anodized, but they don't do on off's, they have a minimum charge or a minimum quantity. it's like pick one or the other..  But it cost me a pretty penny to get them anodized, and that was just one color.. :dontknow:
 
Yeah, that seems to be the case around here as well.

It's not tough to do. For what you're doing, you could probably get away with an investment of about $200 I would guess. Maybe a tad more. I don't know how long the chemicals last, but they're not the expensive part. Biggest cost is the power supply, and for small-scale work you can get by with a decent battery charger. Those can be had for $50-$100, depending how nice a unit you want. After that it's containers, chemicals, and a few simple odds and ends.

The larger problem in my mind is the need for hot/cold water and space. At some points you need cold water, which is easy, but the hot water needs to be 140 degrees plus, so your water heater isn't going to supply it. That means you need some other way of heating it. Plus, there's one caustic chemical - sulfuric (battery) acid - that you really don't want to spill or have dripping around.

The color thing is surprisingly easy. You usually only see a few colors of anodized aluminum (red, blue, black), but as it turns out, you can do any color you want.

I don't know what you paid to have it done, but Google it. Maybe it's something you could do yourself and save some production cost, and perhaps even add as a service to your repertoire for people who'd like to do one-offs.
 
How about powder coating?

I have an old tremolo I'd like to restore... was thinking about getting it powder coated.

What do you think is more durable or resistant to sweat/acid - anodizing or powder coating?
 
I'm sure they'd both be fairly resistant to sweat/acids.

However, powder coating isn't much different than spray painting; it's just a different process that doesn't involve solvents and their environmental difficulties. Its list of advantages benefit a manufacturer much more than a user, and those that advertise it in such a way as to make it sound special or superior are just playing on people's ignorance. It's actually a cheaper way to coat things.

Anodizing is different in that you're actually creating a finish from the material itself, so it has a special bond. In the case of aluminum, you're creating a surface coated with aluminum oxide, which is very hard (it's used to make abrasives such as sandpaper and grinding wheels), and then dying that to get colors. So, it won't chip or flake off like paint, and can take some substantial abuse. So, if those were my only choices, I'd anodize.

Thing is, while it can be done, it's difficult to anodize materials other than aluminum and that's not a great material to make trem parts out of. For one thing, it work-hardens quickly and easily and wants to crack rather than bend, so a trem arm made out it probably wouldn't last very long at all. Never see aluminum springs, right?

So, really, your choices are between powder coating/spray painting or plating, with plating being dramatically more robust. If you're not allergic to nickel, plating with that instead of chromium is more forgiving of acids or caustic chemicals, and it won't oxidize or rust. Downside is, it's not quite as attractive.
 
Hey, Doug - I feel the need coming upon me.  I'll shoot you an email to inquire about pricing.


But since we're among friends, what kind of ideas does the peanut gallery have for a black telecaster double-bound in cream, and a solid black gloss pickguard?


I may name her Black Betty.


Thoughts?

 
Bagman67 said:
Hey, Doug - I feel the need coming upon me.  I'll shoot you an email to inquire about pricing.


But since we're among friends, what kind of ideas does the peanut gallery have for a black telecaster double-bound in cream, and a solid black gloss pickguard?


I may name her Black Betty.


Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Whoaaahhhh, black betty bam-balam...
 
Bagman67 said:
Hey, Doug - I feel the need coming upon me.  I'll shoot you an email to inquire about pricing.


But since we're among friends, what kind of ideas does the peanut gallery have for a black telecaster double-bound in cream, and a solid black gloss pickguard?


I may name her Black Betty.


Thoughts?
Click to expand...
What color hardware you going to have Ian...?
 
DangerousR6 said:
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
What color hardware you going to have Ian...?



Chrome.  Gotoh standard tele bridge, yer basic control plate and two flat-topped knurled knobs, and a chrome-framed GFS Dream 90 with a black bobbin on the body; chrome'n'black PW tuners.

 
Bagman67 said:
DangerousR6 said:
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
What color hardware you going to have Ian...?



Chrome.  Gotoh standard tele bridge, yer basic control plate and two flat-topped knurled knobs, and a chrome-framed GFS Dream 90 with a black bobbin on the body; chrome'n'black PW tuners.
Click to expand...
That will look just smashing... :icon_thumright:
 
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