Roasted Alder Koa Top Tele build....

[Cagey]

Pics and details are great. I know everybody appreciates them for the very reason you said - the situation may come up and it's good to see detail of how it's been handled before.

 

[KOABUILD]

I put the finishing touches on these tuner knobs hopefully they will be wittled down enough to feel comfortable, though I initially used a larger steel file early on to round off a large chunk of the width, these diamond coated files are definantly the way to go for accurate shaping of the Zinc Knobs, so if they still feel like I need to round them off a little more I at least know the easiest way to get there.

 

[Fat Pete]

I like your approach - where there's a will, there's a way.

 

[rgand]

Excellent finish work on those knobs.  :icon_thumright:

 

[KOABUILD]

Thank you guys, I did have to go back and refine the size a bit more and smooth for appearances, I removed and updated the last finish pics to show the final result, in the future I will order direct from Japan and get the tuners custom the way I want from the start, this is not a job I would want to do on a build by build basis thats for sure.

For the record I would also like to state that the Tuner knobs on these are made of Zinc not Aluminum as I had stated early on, I found that out visiting the Gotoh PDF catalogue which has extensive details for anyone interested.

https://www.g-gotoh.com/dl/files/Catalog-2018-En.pdf

 

[Rick]

Now that's custom! Nice.

 

[KOABUILD]

Installed, now I can relax...whew!  That was alot of late night coffee, and alot of RUSH and Pink Floyd albums worth of upclose and focused detail work.... with eyes not as sharp as they used to be....glad to have that behind me.

 

[rgand]

I appreciate good hand work. Sometimes it's the only way to get what you want. They look great.

It would be the ultimate if they could put the height adjustable posts on a locking tuner.

 

[BigSteve22]

Nice hand work on those buttons! For myself, I probably would have just ordered a set of S5 buttons, but they're just a smaller version if the L5's. The slightly altered shape of yours, really makes them stand out.  Great result!  :icon_thumright:

 

[Butternut]

Beautiful guitar. I love Koa. A few months back I built a Koacaster myself.
http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=29159.0

 

[KOABUILD]

Finished the guitar in my usual broken in, worn style.

Click link for Gallery pics:

http://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=30294.0

 

[rgand]

Oh, that's nice! I like the look you got on the body with the almost burst to it. :icon_thumright:

 

[KOABUILD]

Oh, that's nice! I like the look you got on the body with the almost burst to it. :icon_thumright:

Yep Rgand, that turned out to be the work of a few errors in multiple refinishes,trying to achieve a color I never quite got, and then a brain storm to age the guitar kinda like barn wood using Black Artist Chalks ground fine and rubbed into the wood and sanded back lightly, before clear coating with a mist of shellac to keep it there.
I was going to document the whole process but the wifey said I should keep some secrets to myself....

My end goal was to build a guitar whose neck and body looked old and worn but like they belonged together, although KOA is beautiful, I couldnt get the neck and body to match in a natural looking way, but I kept trying...... stripping and refinishing several times, then after the frustration of realizing once I had stained the KOA top a color that didnt work with the neck and finding it wouldnt take on a new color of stain, probably due to being saturated with the oil based color initially applied, I came up with the idea to age it by rubbing color into the grain and around the edges to give it more of a 3-D quality...which worked in that when I also rubbed it into the neck grain as well, it had a way of tying both the body and neck together in a way that finally achieved an aged, old, worn look of a neck and body well handled and used over time...kinda.... Like a good ole barn tool...lol  :laughing7:

 

[rgand]

Oh, that's nice! I like the look you got on the body with the almost burst to it. :icon_thumright:

Yep Rgand, that turned out to be the work of a few errors in multiple refinishes,trying to achieve a color I never quite got to and then a brain storm to age the guitar kinda like the barn wood look using Black Artist Chalks ground fine and rubbed into the wood and sanded back lightly before clear coating with a mist of shellac to keep it there.
I was going to document the whole process but the wifey said I should keep some secrets to myself....

It reminds me of a technique a friend of mine did for a lever-action rifle stock to look older. He sprayed it black then sanded most off before putting Trueoil on it. It was similar. I like yours a lot.

 

[KOABUILD]

Oh, that's nice! I like the look you got on the body with the almost burst to it. :icon_thumright:

Yep Rgand, that turned out to be the work of a few errors in multiple refinishes,trying to achieve a color I never quite got to and then a brain storm to age the guitar kinda like the barn wood look using Black Artist Chalks ground fine and rubbed into the wood and sanded back lightly before clear coating with a mist of shellac to keep it there.
I was going to document the whole process but the wifey said I should keep some secrets to myself....

It reminds me of a technique a friend of mine did for a lever-action rifle stock to look older. He sprayed it black then sanded most off before putting Trueoil on it. It was similar. I like yours a lot.

Yep there were times I was at the black spray paint door considering an easy paint it black fix, but I couldnt let the KOA top beat me.....believe me in this case the KOA complicated my build, I should have opted for an all Mahogany, or an all Alder body without an exotic top, I could have gotten the effect I was after alot easier and a tad cheaper to boot, just goes to show its a constant learning process.

 

[rgand]

Oh, that's nice! I like the look you got on the body with the almost burst to it. :icon_thumright:

Yep Rgand, that turned out to be the work of a few errors in multiple refinishes,trying to achieve a color I never quite got to and then a brain storm to age the guitar kinda like the barn wood look using Black Artist Chalks ground fine and rubbed into the wood and sanded back lightly before clear coating with a mist of shellac to keep it there.
I was going to document the whole process but the wifey said I should keep some secrets to myself....

It reminds me of a technique a friend of mine did for a lever-action rifle stock to look older. He sprayed it black then sanded most off before putting Trueoil on it. It was similar. I like yours a lot.

Yep there were times I was at the black spray paint door considering an easy paint it black fix, but I couldnt let the KOA top beat me.....believe me in this case the KOA complicated my build, I should have opted for an all Mahogany, or an all Alder body without an exotic top, I could have gotten the effect I was after alot easier and a tad cheaper to boot, just goes to show its a constant learning process.

It came together nicely. That's what counts.

 

[pirate]

Is there a build thread for this guitar? The body wood is amazing!

 

[KOABUILD]

This:

 

[KOABUILD]

Was done like this: Black Artist Charcoals and Chalks, scratched and rubbed into the body and neck, and then sanded back to taste, after: a light mist of spray shellac holds it in the wood, feel free to add a new stain coat any where along in the process and Repeat, English Chestnut being my favorite.

For realistic wear and tear you can do what I did and botch the finish job and sand and strip it back twice before coming up with this idea, several types of oil based stain applied liberally and haphazardly were just the ticket to help with the overall vibe of this guitar.  :laughing7:

 

[rgand]

That is a really good use of charcoal and chalk. The end result is quite pleasant. Thanks for sharing the photos.