Kustom Kraft 1830 Tribute Guitar

[B3Guy]

So, here is my latest project! Started with a body blank, angled pocket and TOM-Stoptail already routed in mahogany. The neck is also Warmoth, but from eBay, and it's a conversion scale neck to match the guitar that I'm trying to replicate. I pulled the pickups off of my ratted out Kustom Kraft.

 

[Great Ape]

That is Cool...Great job so far! :icon_thumright:

 

[GilgaFrank]

When I see the name Kustom I think of those wonderful amps covered in padded naugahyde. I'm not sure that would work on a guitar but I'd love to see it happen.

 

[B3Guy]

Here's a pic of what an original looked like, then mine stripped down, and finally Jimmy Hendrix playing one back when he was in the army.

 

[B3Guy]

Here's all the finish stuff in cans from ReRanch. I don't have a spray setup yet, but when I do another guitar, I'll probably roll that into the cost. This go-round, I got a router. Also, a closeup of the pickups that caused me to impulse-buy the guitar in the first place (these things sound AWESOME.)

The real question though: Gorilla Vanilla or Smoke Green? (It's gonna get some custom pickguards from Spitfire Vintage Tort.)

 

[ChristopherG]

When I see the name Kustom I think of those wonderful amps covered in padded naugahyde. I'm not sure that would work on a guitar but I'd love to see it happen.

Since naugas were put on the endangered list it has been hard to get quality hides. Most of what is on the market is moth eaten and natty.

Cool guitar man.

 

[B3Guy]

Ah yes. The great Culling of the Naugas.

 

[B3Guy]

A few more progress pics:

 

[B3Guy]

Pick guards are here! The body is hanging up with a few coats of sealer on it, waiting for a few more tomorrow.

 

[Great Ape]

Holy Crap! That's the most gorgeous pickguard material I've ever seen! That guitar is looking exquisite! Seeing the pickguards, I can now, with total enthusiasm, say GORILLA VANILLA!! 

 

[B3Guy]

Alas, the smoke green has been sprayed, and has stolen my heart! The neck is getting lots of yummy amber tint, and the headstock face will be getting gorilla vanilla'd.

I'm currently in my evil lab, waiting for paint to dry and working on this axe's super-secret special hidden feature.

 

[Great Ape]

Uh-huh, uh-huh, I MEANT to say Smoke Green :toothy11:...anyway, that's gonna be KILLER!

 

[ghotiphry]

I smell a GOTM in the works...

 

[B3Guy]

Some progress pics from the painting process. Never done this before but it seems to be going well. Not sure how smooth I should have the color coat before shooting the gloss. I wet sand some, but there's always some texture re-introduced when I spray a new coat. The Retrench Neck Amber aerosol is awesome! So is the Gorilla Vanilla and Smoke Green! Can hardly wait to gloss it up the next coulee weeks...

 

[Cagey]

Not sure how smooth I should have the color coat before shooting the gloss. I wet sand some, but there's always some texture re-introduced when I spray a new coat.

Surface prep is everything. If the base is not smooth, the end result won't be smooth. That said, every coat up to the last one is going to have a certain amount of "orange peel" texture to it. It's more or less unavoidable. You have to level it out before the next coat, though, or it'll get worse. Once the last coat gets sanded level up to some higher grits (usually about 1500 - 2000, then take some rubbing compound after it, then you buff it. It'll be beautiful.

 

[B3Guy]

Ok, cool. Should be fine then. It's been block sanded wet with 400 along the way ever since the sand n seal. Now that I'm on color, I switched to 800, but it's really just orange peel TBH. I've got two whole cans of gloss that should give me plenty of coats in which to perfect the finish.

I'm planning to finish off the can of color and shoot several coats of gloss before I sand any more, just so that I don't go through my color coat.

 

[Cagey]

Good plan. Just be careful around the edges. Without you increasing the pressure at all, the pressure will still increase in those areas due to the smaller point of contact. It's very easy to sand through with little or no effort.

 

[B3Guy]

I've been lucky that the sides/edges don't need any sanding, not after primer anyway. They're really smooth. Just the large flats of the front/back are getting a bit of orange peel.

End of the day, I want it to look good no doubt. But it's handmade, and there are lots of little details that give that away, which I like.

 

[B3Guy]

In other news, Gorilla Vanilla for the headstock face was undoubtedly the right decision:

 

[rgand]

I like the way this is going. Looking forward to the finished pics.