What do you do when life gives you lemons? You build a Ratt Rod...

[War_in_D]

..at least that's what I'm calling this guitar. 

Well, things didn't quite go as planned and in the immortal words of the great Bob Ross.."There are no mistakes, only happy accidents."  Sorry, this is long but a lot has happened in the last 24 hours. LOL

I had my body stained and ready to seal yesterday. I decided to use my hvlp gun to spray Zinssers bulk sealer/shellac on the body yesterday thinking that it would go on smoother than spraying from premade aerosol can stuff.  Much wider fan pattern and all that.  It went on in less coats but didn't lay down any better so after it was all said an done I was still going to have to sand before putting on clear.  I let it dry, and started the sanding yesterday afternoon.  Well, I ended up sanding through the stain on a small part of the edge of the front of the guitar.  It kinda looked like a natural binding, so I thought I'd give it a go around the entire edge... Yeah, that was no bueno. LOL  By then, I had about 3/4 of the body done and it really wasn't looking too good.  I was having a really hard time around the horns.  So I decided to just sand back the top again and give it another go as I wasn't really happy with the color the body ended up with anyway.  Sanded back, then added some Angelus honey and yellow and the top was looking pretty decent so I let it dry last night.  The only issue was that I had lost the defined edge between the top and the black on the back I had before I started my little "natural binding" experiment. 

Fast forward to this morning.  I'm getting everything ready to shoot the clear and that undefined edge is really messing with my OCD.. So, I thought to myself.. Screw it!!  Patina paint job it is!!  Out came the sander and I just started going to town.. LOL  I'm pretty much a gear head too, and I love guitars so this is my take on the two things I love..  And the name Ratt Rod.. well, you only need look as far as my avatar to see where that came from.  :laughing7:  I'm a big Warren Dimartini fan (note the humbucker/neck single pickup routes).  So, without further adieu.. I present to you..

The Ratt Rod.. well, the body anyway.  :toothy10:

 

 

[AirCap]

Sure looks plasticky-shiny. You going to level it and buff it out?

 

[War_in_D]

Sure looks plasticky-shiny. You going to level it and buff it out?

Yes, it will be cut and buffed but it will need time to cure.  Planning on tackling that next weekend.  These pics were taken shortly after the last coat of clear.  The 2K auto clear will also flow out and "level" as it sits to a certain degree. 

Also worth mentioning, with the sanding that was done there were spots that weren't sealed, etc.. so the clear soaked in more in those areas. Mainly along the end grain.  The whole point of the guitar is not perfection though.  That went out the window when I decided to take the sander to it and give it "patina". LOL 

 

[rgand]

I like what you're doing with it. The 'soft binding' look is cool.

 

[Rick]

I think it’s looking good.  After you buff that, it’ll look smart and no one will have one like it.

 

[War_in_D]

Thanks for the kind words.  Already have all black hardware on hand for it, and just ordered the pickups.  Will have a black/creme Dimarzio Super 3 in the bridge, and a black Dimarzio Injector in the neck.  After the cut/buff, the rest of the assembly should go pretty fast.

 

[zebra]

Funny you had the idea to make a fake masked binding by sanding around the edges.  I just did that on an Ibanez beater last week...I managed to have a really clear, neat, well-defined line all around, but it got sloppy when I wet sanded too aggressively.  The end result ended up being ok - it looks a little too much like a home relic job, but I still feel good about the overall effect. 

 

[Michaelga]

I like the color! It's a nice, warm shade of brown. It looks similar to the color of Koa.

 

[War_in_D]

Just waiting on some wet/dry paper to get here and then the cut/buff will begin.  Planning on getting it done this weekend, and then trying to get it all put together.  I've got some ideas floating around in my head.  Thinking about maybe trying to hit it again with a little rougher paper in spots to give it more of a relic look.  I've never really tried my hand at the whole relic thing, anyone got any suggestions? 

 

[Cagey]

In my experience, the whole relic thing ends up looking like a toupée. Everybody can see it's a fake but you. If you want it to look worn and well-played, then do a good job building/finishing it, then wear wear the little rascal out by playing the snot out of it.

 

[War_in_D]

In my experience, the whole relic thing ends up looking like a toupée. Everybody can see it's a fake but you. If you want it to look worn and well-played, then do a good job building/finishing it, then wear wear the little rascal out by playing the snot out of it.

Duly noted, and I respect your opinion.. but that's the beauty of building your own guitar isn't it?  As long as the builder is happy with the end result, it doesn't really matter what others think of it or if they approve of what the builder did?  After all, people are building these guitars for themselves right?  I see a lot of guitars that I don't necessarily "like" or maybe aren't my style, but I don't feel the need to come on here voicing my own personal displeasure with what the builder decided to do with their own ideas and creativity.  I choose to keep my mouth shut because spewing negativity doesn't add anything productive to the conversation.  With regard to that.. My opinion doesn't (and shouldn't) matter to the person building their own guitar, because while I may not like the way a guitar looks.. it more than likely wasn't built to try to gain my approval.  You get my meaning?   

Did I start this build with the intention of it ending this way?  No, I didn't.  But here is where I'm at, and I'm OK with that.  :icon_thumright:

 

[Cagey]

True enough.

 

[War_in_D]

Finally got the Ratt Rod finished, with the exception of the wiring.  Hoping to have that done by this weekend.  Had to travel some with work, and weekend chores get in the way so I've been working on it bit by bit.  Anyway, for better or worse.. here it is. LOL  I'm pretty happy with it overall, but I'll be honest.. it didn't turn out like what I had in my mind.