STUMPY

[Slackjaw]

STUMPY started out as a black walnut stump that had been curing for 10 years in my neighbor's shed. I literally hauled this stump, bark and all, to school on my bus! It had to be made from several laminates since the log had cracks throughout. You know how you know exactly where you were and what you were doing when you hear of some earth-shattering news? Well, I was sanding on this body at my neighbor's house when I heard on the radio that RR had died in a plane crash.

Anyway, this guitar was first clear-coated in Flecto Varathane, and then towards the late 80's was given a hideous pink burst. Then in the early 90's, I proceeded to wet-sand the body with the intention of taking it down to bare wood and starting over, but liked the patterns I was making and stopped there... and here we are (still ugly!).

The neck is Warmoth, 1 3/4 nut with a hard V contour. My plan is to strip this thing down to bare black walnut (to be clear-coated), round over the sharp edges, and have it routed for a neck pickup. It will be getting a pair of p-rails, and the hardware will be gold/cream. I ordered retro cream tuner knobs directly from Schaller (I got ivoroid for BIG RED), and will have a cream retro/Explorer style pickguard made...

 

[Slackjaw]

Initially, the pickup hole was cut with a mortising bit on a drill press. Funny, you can see where the bit started slipping. At some point later, it needed to be enlarged for a different pickup, so I went at it with a chisel. This is very close to being an issue, since some wood was torn out under the mounting ring holes in the process, and the small shelf of wood left there has cracked. Fun times!

 

[Cagey]

Seems like you might save a little money on sandpaper and a lot on time with a quart of paint stripper. Keep a lotta paint dust out of your lungs as well.

In any event, the Walnut is almost certainly gonna look good.

 

[Slackjaw]

Yeah, I did exactly that (use stripper) when I took my V down to bare wood several years ago, and it made quick work of it. It's still a lot of work though, and this time I'm letting someone else get dirty...

 

[Cagey]

Good deal. The easiest way to strip finish is still a pain in the shorts, so if you can get someone else to do it, that's a Good Thing.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Got a bit of a vibe reminiscent of Akira Takasaki (Loudness) from his Killer guitar line some years back.

 

[swarfrat]

Yadada yada yada... :sad:  PAINTED WALNUT?!?!

 

[Cagey]

Hehe! Yeah, what the hell.

But, hey. Don't try to pretend you didn't do stupid stuff when you were younger. Besides, you probably had to have been there. Lord knows I've wrecked perfectly good things in the interest of instant gratification. And not just for myself.

I once stripped and refinished a guy's '58 Tele and shot it with fire engine red Imron. I once stripped and refinished my '61 Melody Maker with brush-on poly. I yanked the neck off a '60s era ES335 and bolted it to a Silvertone solid body, and threw the hollow body away because it fed back too much. Stupid? Perhaps, in retrospect. But, at the time, it seemed like the thing to do. Back then, they weren't "vintage" instruments. They were just old junk that you bought because you couldn't afford something new, and could see some potential to mold it into the thing you really wanted. 

 

[Slackjaw]

Got a bit of a vibe reminiscent of Akira Takasaki (Loudness) from his Killer guitar line some years back.

It was more inspired by Buck Dharma's guitar, which I saw when BOC played Oregon Jam 80. I just took my own V design, added an arm and cut off a leg:

 

[Slackjaw]

Yadada yada yada... :sad:  PAINTED WALNUT?!?!

LOL... well it was the 80's! Anything "raw wood" was a 70's throwback at the time. And it didn't quite go with the hair (my other guitar player):

 

[Cagey]

Holy rat's nest, Batman! Have him hold that pose while you repaint the guitar, him, the room... use epoxy paint - it cures up pretty hard, so he won't be able to escape <grin>

 

[swarfrat]

Even in the 80's, I wouldn't have done it. Of course, I wasn't cool at the time, I was just ahead of my time. Or behind. Or 90 degrees out of phase on the cool cycle is probably more accurate.

 

[TonyFlyingSquirrel]

Got a bit of a vibe reminiscent of Akira Takasaki (Loudness) from his Killer guitar line some years back.

It was more inspired by Buck Dharma's guitar, which I saw when BOC played Oregon Jam 80. I just took my own V design, added an arm and cut off a leg:

OOOOOhhhhh  Yes!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn-8n4QKUS4

 

[Slackjaw]

Truss rod cover not necessary, but I think it adds something:

 

[Re-Pete]

Truss rod cover not necessary, but I think it adds something:

Could confuse the hell out of a later repairer though?  :icon_biggrin:

 

[DangerousR6]

Yadada yada yada... :sad:  PAINTED WALNUT?!?!

ya, that's what I heard... And thought, he did what???? :icon_scratch:.... :doh:

 

[stubhead]

Buck Dharma's guitar there looks quite a bit like a massacre'd Gibson Firebird, although my spies indicate it was actually a "Balestra Vulcan." People used to be proud to play strange guitars.

(Do NOT do that search unless you wish to descend into unalloyed weirdness... :icon_scratch

 

[Slackjaw]

Still some work to do, but... progress!!

 

   

     

   

 

[stratamania]

That must have taken some work getting the finish off and to that stage...

 

[Slackjaw]

Indeed... Mike said he had a heck of a time. The automotive paint wouldn't budge, and he had to use a heat gun...