TO'd Chambered Strat - fininshed pics 8/7!

[kevin-san]

Hello all ... I've done a bunch of nitro guitars in the past and sadly no longer have a place to spray paint. So, I thought I'd give it a go with a TO finish as I really like the look/feel of tru-oiled necks and I can do this in my apartment.

Body is a Warmoth chambered strat, routed for a Wilkinson trem. I plan on all black appointments with a warmoth flame maple/ebony neck. Not sure about pickups yet although I need quiet ones so it's either single coil sized humbuckers or noiseless strat pups.

To fill the grain I used TO and 320 grit sandpaper around a pinky eraser to create a slurry of oil and wood, then let it sit 5-10 minutes and wiped it across the grain with a coffee filter. Took about 5-6 times to fully fill the grain. After it was filled, I applied TO with sandpaper on a pinky eraser moving up in grits each time - 400, 600, then 800. I let it sit a couple days, sanded it smooth with 800 then 1000 grit and applied another 2-3 thin coats of straight TO with a coffee filter. When that's all cured I will sand it down with 1200-2000 grit and polish it up.

It's a lot of work but coming along nicely!

 

[kboman]

I believe Roadhouse Pickups make some relatively decent hum-free str*t pickups, just ask around a bit here

 

[KainThornn]

She's a beaut!

 

[TroubledTreble]

Nice piece of wood! I really like the feel of an oil finish. Should make that ash look very warm and natural. What method are you using to apply the oil?


*Edit* Saw my pups mentioned. Thanks kboman! While I don't make stacked or "noiseless", what I do make is almost noise free. I can also add some shielding which makes them dead quiet.

 

[kevin-san]

Nice piece of wood! I really like the feel of an oil finish. Should make that ash look very warm and natural. What method are you using to apply the oil?


*Edit* Saw my pups mentioned. Thanks kboman! While I don't make stacked or "noiseless", what I do make is almost noise free. I can also add some shielding which makes them dead quiet.

Sandpaper slurry and oil for grain filling. Straight oil and a coffee filter for the finish coats. Coffee filters work great for applying oil ... no lint and they're CHEAP!

 

[DangerousR6]

That's awesomeness..... :headbang:

 

[Corey P.]

I have and love the EMG SA set in my Strat, super quiet and great range of sounds.

 

[llmtelecaster]

That looks great. But what does it mean to "fill the grain"?

 

[line6man]

That looks great. But what does it mean to "fill the grain"?

Exactly what it sounds like.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grain_filler

 

[kevin-san]

6/4 update - I sanded back a bit to level out the surface some more and put on another 4-5 very thin coats of tru-oil. It's got a nice sheen now and will polish up nicely (I hope)!

It'll be ready for final sanding with micro mesh and then some polishing next weekend.

I finished the neck this week also using tru-oil. Lookin' pretty good ... it's flame maple/ebony board, standard thin, compound radius with 6150s. The flame isn't as crazy as it was on my last tele neck but the wood is a near match with the ash body (kind of dark for maple).

Love the streak in the ebony:

I'll design and print up a headstock decal this week then bury it under nitro on the headstock face next weekend.

After much consideration and youtube/online reviews, I decided on a set of Bill Lawrence "Wylde" Pickups.

For anyone interested, here's a good link to tru-oil finishing for bodies:

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=711780

 

[jackthehack]

ccasion14: Sweet? Why are you adamant about noiseless PUs for that? I'd slap a set of FCS Fat 50's in that build.

 

[kevin-san]

I already have a strat with the Gilmour set (not EMGs but the SSL-5/CS69/CSFat50s combo) as well as a strat with VVG SP-90 (strat-sized P90s). Not so much interested in the noiseless part but more about the humbucking part. Something nice and thick.

 

[rapfohl09]

Wow, this thing is going to be beautiful! That is a really great looking piece of ash.

 

[kevin-san]

Here she is ... I have no idea how many coats are in the finally tally as I did 2-3 coats, sand back with 800, repeat with 1000, repeat with 1200 and then gave it a final spray of TO cut with mineral spirits and hit it with micromesh after letting it cure for a couple weeks.

Ended up going with Bill Lawrence L-280 / L-280 / L-290 pickups. They're pretty fantastic.

 

[crash]

Nice write up.  Beautiful guitar too.  I am using the same TO technique on a build, also with BL pups(microcoils).