Wilkinson Scimitar 6 (Schizoid Musiclander)

[Cagey]

I think if it was me, I'd try another 8 - 10 coats of clear, sanding in between to get the thing more or less levelled out. Some of those scrapes/gouges won't fill, but they'll shallow out some. Plus, you'll get rid of the orange peel and add layers over the metallic in areas where it's clearly thin. Apply final clear coats, then finish sand, then buff.

Problem with that idea is, it's almost as much work as a complete job, less the stripping and filling.

I like Rgand's idea of just finish sanding it, buffing it out, and living with it, but it doesn't look like it would survive that much attention. Liable to make it worse. Could do it anyway and call it a "relic" finish...

 

[fdesalvo]

Get a can of spray max 2k clear, prep the surface, and go to town. We can walk you through.

 

[Fat Pete]

This one's now back on track. Ended up sending the body to Paul Neild of Retro 169 here in the UK. Nice job he's made of it too.

Decided against the burst idea and went with ocean turquoise metallic (the photo looks more like lake placid blue, but it is more turquoise in the flesh).

A few jobs to do before it's complete but will hopefully be making good progress soon...

 

[rgand]

I love that color, Pete. He did a really fine job on that. Looking forward to seeing it progress. Especially since I like a pickguard on the front.

 

[Cagey]

I agree. Blue is tricky to get right, but it happened with that one. Gonna be a beauty!

 

[Great Ape]

GREAT SAVE, PETE!!!

 

[Fat Pete]

Slight update. Time for one of the jobs I hadn't been looking forward to - and one I now think should have been done earlier - drilling the extra-large screw holes for the scratchplate. Extra-large because I'm using threaded inserts.

I'd tested beforehand, for best bit size, avoiding cracking the fragile nitro finish, methods for making sure the inserts went in straight etc etc. All seemed to go ok, if they look a bit ragged and oversized, that's just where I've used a countersink bit to avoid chips (the 2 holes between the pickup routs are more tests).

Unfortunately, despite all my testing, I wasn't prepared for how far off-centre the little b@$tards have ended up. I think 2 of the actual screw holes are where they're meant to be. As Cagey is fond of saying, time to invent some new swear words! It means a bit more work and expense - so what's new? - but that's between me and my (scratchplate) maker.

Speaking of scratchplates, this project has always been all about the plastic, so here's a little teaser:

Oh, for anybody asking why I'm going overboard in using threaded inserts for the scratchplate, well you're just not paying attention are you!?
:icon_jokercolor:

More anon...

 

[fdesalvo]

Really exited to see this moving forward.

 

[jmcecil]

wow, love it!

 

[Fat Pete]

This project's been overtaken by some snails scratch-building a short scale fretless bass but there is a little progress.

Round the back the trem cover has now been joined by a control cover.

If I say so myself, I'm very pleased with my headstock nameplate design. This went through a lot of steps to get to this. As well as the actual plate echoing aspects of the (moderately bizarre) scratchplate, I like the way it breaks the angular arrow headstock into curved parts - the 'negative space' is reminiscent of a Tele. Should I stop waffling on now?

Two guitars worth of wiring to do next, but there should be more updates soon with extra plasticky goodness.

 

[rgand]

Darn good-looking so far. A Musiclander is what I will probably build next. I like the way you set it up for a front pickguard, which is similar to what I keep thinking about. I await the finished pics, even if it takes a while. :glasses10:

 

[BigSteve22]

- the 'negative space' is reminiscent of a Tele. Should I stop waffling on now?

Don't stop now brother, keep waffling, ESPECIALLY if the waffling looks this good.

I'm really impressed with the way the plastic on the headstock looks. Would I be asking you to reveal a trade secret if I asked who does your scratch plates?

 

[Fat Pete]

Thanks both!

...I'm really impressed with the way the plastic on the headstock looks. Would I be asking you to reveal a trade secret if I asked who does your scratch plates?

Definitely not. These (and the plastic parts of Beast) were made by Scratch-It! - The Original Scratchplate Company. I highly recommend them - but, they're based here in the UK. I'm sure they ship internationally though. Tell Tim I sent you!

 

[Vallhagen]

Should I stop waffling on now?

...that headstock idea, and implementation, is absolutely brilliant! I dont think i like the original design (its called "arrowhead", right) at all, but you really made something out of it. I'm impressed!

 

[BigSteve22]

Thanks for the link, Pete. I'll definitely be contacting them in the future.

 

[Fat Pete]

Somehow about 10 weeks has passed without any progress on this. Christmas, 'working' on the next project, some other excuse, yada yada yada.

Anyway, found a great new technique for shielding guitar cavities - just using a small but very precisely sized, shaped and positioned piece of copper foil achieves the same result as painstakingly shielding the entire cavity! If you believe shielding is pointless, then this is true. If you're a shielding advocate, then hey, I'm just kidding. It's just there to provide an 'automatic' connection for the trem ground.

Wired one of the scratchplates - messily as always (but it works):

Maybe I should have shortened the wires :doh:

Creamery Sonic 60s look great, but are not easy to photograph.

More soon...

In the meantime, here's a picture of a knitted owl and a felt whale.

 

[treyhaislip]

That looks awesome! Great job and love the neck and inlays! Looking forward to the progress!

 

[rgand]

That looks awesome! Great job and love the neck and inlays! Looking forward to the progress!

The guitar looks good, too. :icon_biggrin:

Nice work, so far. I'm following this since I want to do a Musiclander with a pickguard myself one of these days.

 

[fdesalvo]

Nice!!  A well shielded control cavity will stop cellular interference from propagating through your amp during a solo. Ask me how I know lol.

 

[stratamania]

This forum needs more owls and whales  :icon_thumright: