The next BFT recipe

[-CB-]

I think the acronym TFG should be, BFT instead... so without further adieu, I ordered up another thinline body today.

This one is swampash, with f/hole, black bound front and back.

Been thinking about the recipe for finishing, and have in my mind, a thinline I saw at Milton Arfin Music, in Brooklyn, back in 73.  Right across the street from the Pink PussyCat Lounge, Uncle Milty had lots of cool stuff, and there was a 69 type thinline and 72 type thinline there.  The newer one was light ash color, but the older one... looked like ash (even to my young eye) and not like the mahogany ones.  Maybe a custom color, I dunno.  But it was sort of like this:

This is a subtle redo of the mockup I posted earlier.

I recall the dark amber finish, binding and dark dark grain.  I recall the tortie pickguard.  The pickups and controls and bridge are my own preference...that guitar had a regular tele bridge and pickups, and I dont recall the controls, but I'm sure they were stock as is.

I think I can grain fill in dark brown or black, then hit it with some Zinsser Bullseye Amber shellac for color.  The amber shellac has just about the shade I'm looking for.  Fortunately, shellac will act as both sealer and base for our buddy, Mr Nitrocellulose Lacquer.

Thoughts?

 

[RLW]

Looks great to me, although I'd lose the humbucker pickup cover and change the tuners to black. I really like the body color.

 

[-CB-]

My humbuckers do not cavort around naked like a bunch of raggle taggle gypsie children.  They gotta have covers, and... I forgot to change the tuners to black in the mockup... yes they'z gonna be blackuns.

 

[Shmoopie]

i take offense to that, my grandma's third cousin's nephew's son's dog was a gypsy, and he understudied for lassie. and almost got the part as the taco bell dog until the illegal immigrant chiwawa showed up. that thing didn't even have a license.  :toothy12:

 

[givememytoys]

pickguard looks great with that neck

 

[Nando Vallart]

-CB-
This web site is yours????
http://www.blueshottub.com/

 

[nathan a]

Lookin good.. Is that a solid rw neck there? Or is that supposed to be goncalo? Or what

 

[jackthehack]

Who do you think you're talking to? Goncalo, of course...

 

[sundin4prez]

can someone tell me where i can make a picture of my future build like the one at the top of the page??

 

[-CB-]

Ya know, you can only do "so well" with a mock up.  That is - you have certain choices they give ya and try to get close to the flavor of what you want.

The neck is here, its finished - except hardware and final nut tweaks.  Its goncalo.  A rather straight and uneventful grain back, but a lighter and streakier fretboard.  I grain filled the back - but only one application.  The front of the headstock got the full treatment of three applications sanded back nicely.  Goncalo is very open pored wood.  The neck back is dyed same brownish color.  Not too dark, a medium brown. 

I brought the dye up to the edge of the fretboard, and left the board itself lighter, and I think it looks ok that way (too late now to change it).  Same thing with the filler.

As always, pics dont do it justice - the lighting etc, background, sorta hard to get it "as it looks".

You can see pores on the fretboard - yup -  and I also went light on the clearcoat there.  I think it has ... three or four coats, while the back and headstock have more like six or eight.  I want the fretboard finish to wear.  On my other W goncalo neck, they did it in clear satin, and it polished up to a fairly glossy finish on the neck's back, just from hand rubbing.  Same on the fretboard itself, you can see where the fingers play the most.... its all shined.  But, a lacquer finish thats relatively thin, worn after some playing... might be nice.  We'll see.

As for the rest of it - the body's on order.  I've got the grain filler inbound.  The ash body will be filled with StuMac medium brown filler.  This is going to be a full treatment - ash is very porous, so at least three fill sessions.  I like to wipe in the last filler coat with my finger tip... seems to work well.  I am toying with - either amber toner (on hand already) or Zinsser amber shellac over the filler.  I've got some wood here, not ash, but some oak.  I'll try the filler and do two test swatches on it to see how the color goes.  I might use the shellac AND the toner, dunno.  Shellac can be very orange, and the toner is .. well its the amber neck tint (but Mohawk's label - I can get that locally for next to nada).  I want a slightly orangy look, but not too much so.  Whats in the mock up is maybe a bit intense.  What I needa do is see how it looks next to the neck wood, and also with the tortoise pickguard.

Soon as the body gets here, we'll be starting in earnest on testing and such.  No need testing until the pickguard gets here etc etc.  Also gotta see that body grain, that'll have something to do with it too.

 

[jackthehack]

Look great CB; you got a pic of what it looked like nekkid? The last couple of Goncalo necks that came and quickly went on the Showcase looked too pretty natural to finish, but we know how you are about nekkid components on your axes...

 

[-CB-]

I didn't take pics of it....  but it was lighter, not grain filled.. er.. ya know...  as it was before the lacquer fume fairy came to visit.*












*I am NOT the lacquer fume fairy!!!!!

 

[jackthehack]

I'm sure Vic's frantically looking for a pic of you shooting lacquer he can Photoshop a tutu on...

 

[Nando Vallart]

-CB-
This web site is yours????
http://www.blueshottub.com/

is?

 

[Alfang]

can someone tell me where i can make a picture of my future build like the one at the top of the page??

CB- give us a link please for the guitar generator  :toothy10:

 

[-CB-]

yes thats my website - served from six inches off my starboard elbow here, with a linux server

the links for the guitar builder websites are here someplace....

http://www.nymphusa.com/kisekae/kisekaeE1.asp

Thats one of em

 

[Nando Vallart]

Do you know one with Les Pauls 1958 Junior?
Look this:

 

[Nando Vallart]

Those one was just for give to everybody here something to change and build something of their own...
But I'm thinking in copy Mr.-CB- and Mr. Vic and do it in my Tele:

 

[vic108]

Very very cool design there CB and others!

That software makes yer dreams come true
(well, that and WARMOTH!).

But the design doesn't have to live in yer head!

 

[jackthehack]

Did you cut'n'paste a pic of the spalted maple you have into that mockup?