Sarah Ryan inspired Fender XII and Jazz Bass

[mayfly]

Allright,

We've done enough homework to let this cat out of the bag.  It all started when I saw an image of the work of a young artist, Sarah Ryan.  She's the one in the middle:

She works closely with the gentlemen on the right, Creston Lea.  Together they create things like this:

As soon as I saw that, I knew that I wanted one!  So I got in-touch, first with Creston, then with Sarah.  Turns out that neither were interested in the project, Creston didn't want to make just a body (He's much more interested in complete guitars), and Sarah didn't want to paint anything that was not made by Creston. 

Sooooo....

Time to punt.  I started making inquiries.  All of the usual suspects were involved, including our own Mr Tonar. But it turns out that the answer was pretty close to home.  The Bass Player in my band, Dosh, is a talented life drawing artist.  She has done many pencil/paper commissions, often charging big bucks (close to $1000 for an original).  She's the one holding the bass:

One day, I was over at her house and saw this:

Yep, she painted it.  The project was on!

More to come...

 

[Nando Vallart]

C'mon, you have put NOTHING out of the bag

I'm sure it'll be awesome!!!

 

[tfarny]

It really is an addiction, inn'it man.....
Can't wait to see it.

 

[blue313]

Ahh, the picture begins to come into focus! 

I love actual folk art on instruments.  :icon_biggrin:

 

[mayfly]

Allright,

the first order of business was to do a bunch of test boards.  The first was created by our Mr. Tonar, who shot a board with such high gloss black that it looked like a mirror.

Tonar wet sanded half of it, and sent it too us.  Unfortunately, the acrylic paint that Dosh likes to use didn't stick.  At all.  Not even on the sanded side.

So, I picked up a chunk of alder, sanded and sealed with Seal Coat, and handed it to Dosh.  She hand painted the background then a Sarah Ryan style flower and handed it back to me.

I shot it with some rattle can acrylic, which generated this:

I tried a top coat of Seal Coat on another board, and unfortunately it melted the acrylic paint.  This is the before shot:

The after shot was, er, melted.

We figured that if we stuck with acrylic, we'd be golden.

Now at this time, Dosh was complaining about the latest bicycle her husband bought without telling her, etc, etc. so I said "Gee, why don't you build a bass - you could paint it any way you like". She was suddenly in with both feet.

More test boards are in the works, as well as designs for both.

 

[Kostas]

..."Gee, why don't you build a bass - you could paint it any way you like". She was suddenly in with both feet.

More test boards are in the works, as well as designs for both.

Interesting projects, I'm waiting for your next move.

 

[SlingBass]

...waiting...waiting...

 

[Finch]

if you want to paint acrylic over a (oil) finished surface, your gonna need to gesso it first. for sealing the acrylic paint after the artwork is done, I just use a spray on poly. Ive heard of people using Krylon Clear Acrylic as well, not sure how that will react to an additional rub on finish.
Examples of hand painted acrylic art on guitars

 

[Finch]

if this were me, I would just gesso the entire guitar, then paint it black acrylic, then paint my design, OR add black dye straight to the gesso, and paint on the design. Then spray on the poly. Personally I would avoid high gloss, because if your at a gig with bright lights, the reflection off the guitar is going to distract from the artwork. My bass is sprayed with Satin, so that the wood and artwork is very natural and visible looking. Mendy is getting a semi-gloss, just enough sheen to make it pretty but the artwork still dominates the guitar under bright lights.

 

[mayfly]

Thanks man.  I'll try various sheens of poly on a new test board.

Also - the parts are on order.  We've got:

Alder Jazzmaster body, extra light weight
65/12 neck, maple/rosewood, sperzel tuners and roundback 59 profile.  Straight 10" radius - I'm unlikely to be bending strings on this sucker and will use a capo a lot.  I also want it to be easy to dress frets because I want the action to be super low.  Rickenbacker 360/12 low actually.

Alder Jazzbass body, extra light weight, with a battery box.  having been plauged with Dosh asking to borrow my tuner for the last 12 years, I'm building one into her new bass!

Misc hardware, bridges, pickguards, etc.  The only things left to order are the pickups and the bass neck.  Some discussion going on around the latter.  I'll likely use lipstick pickups for the 12string.

 

[AprioriMark]

Here's an idea...use the energy from your disappointment at not being able to control the art and craft of Creston and Sarah and have you and your style-copyist dream up some NEW kind of idea, instead of just producing a copy of someone's art that you claim to be a fan of but are unwilling to support as a patron (I'll wager you'll spend almost as much making your lame copy as you would just having them make you one). Lame, lame, lame. Treating what they do as just a sort of MP3 to be downloaded and copied is bad karma at best, and ultimately kind of evil.

What's even more evil, lame, and downright pathetically laughable is acting like what they do is such a unique and special snowflake.  As a point of fact, Mayfly's friend's art looks better to me in the first place.  Congrats on trying to manipulate the, um, market(?) to sell more of your (or your friends') not-that-original-yet-still-interesting artistic projects.  Those value judgements are mine, as yours were your own.  The OP didn't have to name-drop the artists in question (and thus giving both credit for inspiration and free advertising), nor did he make a big deal out of how ridiculous it is to try to force a potential patron into something they don't want.  He didn't imply that they did; I'm saying that you are.  Ffs, he didn't even mention cost as an issue at all, and you show your foolishness by acting like it was.

This is a forum of people who create art in all guitar-related forms all the time, and you would do well to not be so completely hypocritical and off-topic.  I actually wonder if you got a single fact correct in your entire post. 

This is me, refraining from saying what I would in person.  Grow up or go away.

-Mark

 

[Soylent]

I like mayfly's friend's work more myself too, personally.

You seem a bit angry there Mr Spencer.

EDIT*
Making something yourself, or with a close friend, is more fun than paying someone to make something for you. She seems very talented, the original artist, I'm sure she'll be ok without mayfly.

EDIT X2

And to quote Mayfly "Turns out that neither were interested in the project." So... yeah.. :hello2:

 

[m4rk0]

Here's an idea...use the energy from your disappointment at not being able to control the art and craft of Creston and Sarah and have you and your style-copyist dream up some NEW kind of idea, instead of just producing a copy of someone's art that you claim to be a fan of but are unwilling to support as a patron (I'll wager you'll spend almost as much making your lame copy as you would just having them make you one). Lame, lame, lame. Treating what they do as just a sort of MP3 to be downloaded and copied is bad karma at best, and ultimately kind of evil.

Luckily, Copying Ideas, shapes, colors, concepts is not a very common practice in Guitarland... :tard:

also, you are at risk yourself too... I am sure that Supermarket/Department store has their company name copy righted!

 

[Soylent]

Here's an idea...use the energy from your disappointment at not being able to control the art and craft of Creston and Sarah and have you and your style-copyist dream up some NEW kind of idea, instead of just producing a copy of someone's art that you claim to be a fan of but are unwilling to support as a patron (I'll wager you'll spend almost as much making your lame copy as you would just having them make you one). Lame, lame, lame. Treating what they do as just a sort of MP3 to be downloaded and copied is bad karma at best, and ultimately kind of evil.

Luckily, Copying Ideas, shapes, colors, concepts is not very common in Guitarland... :tard:

also, you are at risk yourself too... I am sure that Supermarket/Department store has their company name copy writed!

Not to mention, I think the name princeton reverb, you use for your email, is kinda fender's...  :laughing7:

 

[GoDrex]

Here's an idea...use the energy from your disappointment at not being able to control the art and craft of Creston and Sarah and have you and your style-copyist dream up some NEW kind of idea, instead of just producing a copy of someone's art that you claim to be a fan of but are unwilling to support as a patron (I'll wager you'll spend almost as much making your lame copy as you would just having them make you one). Lame, lame, lame. Treating what they do as just a sort of MP3 to be downloaded and copied is bad karma at best, and ultimately kind of evil.

You win! Douchey-est first post ever! Yay for you!

 

[Soylent]

Here's an idea...use the energy from your disappointment at not being able to control the art and craft of Creston and Sarah and have you and your style-copyist dream up some NEW kind of idea, instead of just producing a copy of someone's art that you claim to be a fan of but are unwilling to support as a patron (I'll wager you'll spend almost as much making your lame copy as you would just having them make you one). Lame, lame, lame. Treating what they do as just a sort of MP3 to be downloaded and copied is bad karma at best, and ultimately kind of evil.

You win! Douchey-est first post ever! Yay for you!

 

[blue313]

Here's an idea...use the energy from your disappointment at not being able to control the art and craft of Creston and Sarah and have you and your style-copyist dream up some NEW kind of idea, instead of just producing a copy of someone's art that you claim to be a fan of but are unwilling to support as a patron (I'll wager you'll spend almost as much making your lame copy as you would just having them make you one). Lame, lame, lame. Treating what they do as just a sort of MP3 to be downloaded and copied is bad karma at best, and ultimately kind of evil.

You win! Douchey-est first post ever! Yay for you!

He must be connected to the other two artists.  This level of hostility on a first post is a bit over the top.  :dontknow:

I guess he missed this part.

I got in-touch, first with Creston, then with Sarah.  Turns out that neither were interested in the project, Creston didn't want to make just a body (He's much more interested in complete guitars), and Sarah didn't want to paint anything that was not made by Creston.

 

[Soylent]

he's a guitarman listed on their webbing page.

 

[tfarny]

Don't let it bring you dooown,
it's only a douchebag posting.
Just use your cool friend's talents
and you'll have great guitars.

 

[AprioriMark]

First, you fail at quoting.  Good job.  I'm not reading that garbage (and it is) until you can learn how to use the internet.

Second, there is nothing original about nearly stock-style guitars.  Why you think it is baffles the mind.  I stand by what I said in my original post, and will add the you are nothing more than a fanboi who hasn't even created anything as tepid in nature as what the individuals that you are slobbering after have done. 

I will also add that I take no issue with her art.  I only take issue with you coming here just to talk trash to someone who's *actually* intelligent and creative.  Do they know that you're making a fool of yourself and throwing their names around?  Have some respect for those who you would be a lap dog for if you don't have self respect, and just stop posting here.  We do creative things here.  We don't whine about crowning someone king of the art world for making copies of Strats, Teles, Jaguars etc out of sub-standard woods (and they are, I looked through the image file on the website) and having a friend paint them well.

In short, lose the mullet, shave, and stop being a tool.

-Mark