Delivery Any Day Now (All Finished)

[PhilAngus]

I will post photos of this one when it arrives and of progress during the build and finish.

This is an artists impression. It should look roughly like this when finished, machine heads are gold with the antique green pegs (Schaller) and the neck inlays are pearloid stars, and bound with pearloid.

It will also have the gold Hipshot bridge, which (after doing some homework) should fit the rout for the Vintage Standard flat mount Stratocaster. I have gone for the 1.25 version of Hipshot over the 1.75 as it also has the 720 mod to lower the neck as there is no scratch plate.

Artists Impression:

Real Thing:

Quilt Top Ordered:

Spec is:

Body:

Model: Chambered Telecaster®
Orientation: Right handed
F-Holes: None
Scale: 25-1/2"
Wood: Quilt Maple on Swamp Ash
UC Front Laminate: LT1694
Rout: Rear Rout
Pickup Rout: Mini Humbucker (Neck), None (Middle), Mini Humbucker (Bridge)
Controls: V-V-T-T-Upper Tog (LP®)
Bridge: Vintage Standard Stratocaster Flat Mount
Jack Rout: 7/8" (22mm) Side Jack Hole
Neck Pocket: Strat® with 720 Mod
Mounting Holes: Standard 4 Bolt
Binding: Pearloid Binding
Back Binding: Pearloid Binding

Neck:

Style: Warmoth
Construction: Conversion Angled 24-3/4"
Orientation: Right Handed
Neck Wood: Birdseye Maple
Fingerboard Wood: Indian Rosewood
Nut Width: 1-11/16"
Back Shape: Standard thin
Fret Size: SS6150 (Stainless)
Tuner Ream: Schaller (25/64" 11/32")
Radius: 10-16" Compound
Scale: 24-3/4" Conversion
Fret #: 22
Mounting Holes: Standard 4 Bolt
Pre-Cut Installed String Nut: GraphTech Black TUSQ XL - Standard Nut
Inlays: Pearloid Star
Side Dots: Mother Of Pearl Side Dots
Binding: Pearloid
Finish: Clear Gloss

 

[gjacob]

Deep quilt with double-pearloid binding, birdseye neck with pearl binding...that's going to be one flashy guitar.  Can't wait to vote on it for GOTM.

 

[DangerousR6]

.. :headbang1:

 

[PhilAngus]

Thanks for the encouragement guys, I wasn't sure if I had gone a bit OTT with it to be honest. I thought by posting the impression and the top I chose it would be interesting to see what it's like when it arrives and what it's like when finished. It needs to be a success as it will have cost about 1,800 dollars all in!

The plan is to have a green dyed top, first with black to raise the grain then sanded, leaving the edges slightly darker. Then the green added. Following that, a little yellow around the centre to lighten and shade some of the green, followed by clear cellulose lacquer. I will then then use an amber coloured cellulose lacquer for the back and sides. I will need to seal the grain for the back and sides first as it is swamp ash, but the maple top should be fine as is, dyed then sanding sealer and lacquered. If I can get it to look anything like this I will be more than happy!

 

[gjacob]

I would strongly recommend getting some small stock of curly maple and do a sample run before touching your body.  Paint is easy to fix, dye not so much.

Rockler or eBay should allow you to get a 1/4" piece of maple reasonably.

http://www.rockler.com/curly-maple-sold-by-the-piece-1-4-thickness

 

[PhilAngus]

I would strongly recommend getting some small stock of curly maple and do a sample run before touching your body.  Paint is easy to fix, dye not so much.

Rockler or eBay should allow you to get a 1/4" piece of maple reasonably.

http://www.rockler.com/curly-maple-sold-by-the-piece-1-4-thickness

I take your point and appreciate your input. I do have a fair bit of experience with wood dye and have already practiced on a light piece of wood to get the right dye / water mix worked out. The only thing I have never done is apply a black and then sand back and then apply the colour. However, there are many Youtube examples of this and it should be relatively straight forward. I intend this initial black coat to be a fairly weak mix and if necessary do it in stages rather than put too much concentrated on and end up having to strip it all back with excessive sanding. The black layer should be subtle with shading so that it gets lighter round the middle than the edge. The edge should not be too dark though!  :toothy11:

GregCT's excellent Green Burst Strat is more or less the result I'm after, perhaps just a little lighter and more yellowy green towards the centre like the gorgeous PRS above. http://unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=24195.0

 

[PhilAngus]

Arrived today.

 

[bagman67]

Sucks to be you, pal.


:icon_jokercolor:

 

[DocNrock]

Very nice, man!  Can't wait to see it when it's done!

 

[stratamania]

Look forward to seeing it come together...

 

[DangerousR6]

That is just awesome, I'm not one for green, 'cause "green ain't mean compared to red"...but I do like green quilt tops.... :laughing7:

 

[fdesalvo]

Mean Green!

I love that top - my fav maple pattern.  Good luck with the build - looking fw to seeing more pics!

 

[PhilAngus]

Let the dying commence (as I'm sure you all know, a bare dyed body isn't the most attractive looking thing, but I may as well post, warts and all). The green doesn't look quite so vivid in the flesh and actually looks rather nice, probably a bit more like the 'artist impression' at the top of this page.

More yellowy green to follow...

Tip of the day:

NEVER, EVER, EVER use duct tape (Gaffa Tape) to mask a guitar!!!

The glue on the back sticks to the wood when it is peeled off and it took me four hours, a lot of cellulose thinners and all my strength and a lot of patience to remove it. It was a f*****g nightmare to say the least. The most demoralising thing I have ever had to do. I do finally have it off now so will post the final dyed top tomorrow. The one good thing about this is I have used water based dye, so I was able to avoid too much contamination and disturbance of the top because any rubbing around the binding on the top using the cellulose to remove the glue hardly touched the dye.

 

[Cagey]

Judging by the pictures, you don't have anything to cry about - I think it looks great!

I can't believe you used duct tape to mask. Have you ever used that stuff for anything else? It always leaves a residue. The glue is not much more than gorilla snot, which is good for some things, but...

Anyway, next time, a little research into the multitudinous offerings from 3M will pay back handsomely. It's a bit more expensive than duct tape, but you don't have to worry about it. Their 218 series stuff is pretty good. Bends nice without wrinkles, is impervious to solvent, tolerates high heat, provides a very clean line, on an on. It's designed specifically for tricky paint work, comes in a wide variety of widths, etc.

 

[DangerousR6]

Judging by the pictures, you don't have anything to cry about - I think it looks great!

I can't believe you used duct tape to mask. Have you ever used that stuff for anything else? It always leaves a residue. The glue is not much more than gorilla snot, which is good for some things, but...

Anyway, next time, a little research into the multitudinous offerings from 3M will pay back handsomely. It's a bit more expensive than duct tape, but you don't have to worry about it. Their 218 series stuff is pretty good. Bends nice without wrinkles, is impervious to solvent, tolerates high heat, provides a very clean line, on an on. It's designed specifically for tricky paint work, comes in a wide variety of widths, etc.

Agreed, and for areas that tape just ain't making the grade, there's liquid mask...

 

[PhilAngus]

Final Green:

Headstock As Delivered:

After a rub down and black dye:

After rub down and greens added and blended:

 

[bagman67]

That's so badass.

 

[mark1178]

That's a purdy purdy guitar, and not just saying that because I'm partial to green.

 

[croquet hoop]

I was afraid that the first black dye would prevent you from doing something as vivid as the green PRS you showed initially, but the end result looks incredible. I love how three-dimensional the top looks — and the headstock is not shabby either. And that's from someone who's not usually fond of green guitars.

 

[PhilAngus]

I was afraid that the first black dye would prevent you from doing something as vivid as the green PRS you showed initially, but the end result looks incredible. I love how three-dimensional the top looks — and the headstock is not shabby either. And that's from someone who's not usually fond of green guitars.

Thanks a lot, it's nice to get such good positive feedback.  :headbang: