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Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 5:05 pm
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We all admire your dedication to a project most of us probably would have binned rather than fixing!!!

On an aside, only hoping for a slight derail here, not a hijack, but does anyone have any idea where a guy could get a kit body for an archtop, like a gretsch style? No problem getting unfinished Strat , tele LP etc solids, but no idea where a guy could get a hollowbody electric.

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Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 7:48 pm
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It's become daily routine to check this thread every day for what's new. Ceri its amazing watching what you're doing with this... Although this is coming from someone who gets excited when I put new pickups in and they work on the first try :lol: .. Very cool project so far... can't wait to see her when she's finished


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Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2009 8:15 pm
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Ceri wrote:
Lastly, on the "like a Fender but not a Fender" theme: the color of this Strat is going to be similar to a nice '60s Sonic Blue.


Oh, yes, you've had Sonic Blue on your mind for quite some time, right!? :wink:

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Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 7:51 am
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Ceri wrote:
Hi belphedeus (good day!): now there you touch on a part of this that's important to me. It is vital to be clear that we're not trying to fake a Fender here. The ethos of this is to make a guitar that's like a Fender, but not a Fender.

Hi Ceri....yeah, faking was never on my mind.I like this kinda topics where its very constructive meaning we (fellow members) get involved in discussions and Q & A's stuff as the project get along the way....very interesting!

Wow looking good with the updates so far!The choice of parts are excellent and i really really cant wait to see the final produce.

And Ceri please document the process of the painting for the bod....i really like to see how its being done from sanding it smooth, filling the holes etc etc...

Great work Ceri!!

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Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 8:07 am
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Another fine installment Ceri !! I am thoroughly enjoying this thread! Thanks!


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Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 10:57 am
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Couple of matters arising: Twelvebar, if you discover an archtop kit please let us all know. Stew-Mac do a couple of acoustics, though neither with a cutaway: but definitely no archtops.

The closest I know of is this:

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Video,_DVD/ ... ction.html

Not what you had in mind, I'm afraid. But certainly on my "to get" list...

Belphedeus: probably doesn't need saying but just to be absolutely clear I didn't remotely imagine you were interested in pirating activities. Just taking the opportunity to spell out my own thinking on that matter regarding this kind of project, for readers in general. Just because this kind of activity occupies a potentially grey area, doesn't it?

Orvilleowner: yes, I have!

Cheers - C


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Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 11:19 am
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Next. Very small "installment" today. I did plenty of sanding and scraping to prep the wood. I read Dan Erlewine (somewhere or other) talking about the advantages of scraping over sanding for this so I took the opportunity to give it a try and, yes, the results are good. Very easy to produce a nice level surface around the pickup cavities, for instance.

However, still necessary to sand the wetted wood first, to lift and remove the fibres.

Since this body is definitely not getting a transparent finish (obviously!) I also took the chance to experiment with some new (to me) mahogany colored grain filler. I've compared this body to sapele (African mahogany) at my local timber yard and it looks the same to my eye. It is certainly much paler than other raw (South American) mahogany I have, though that may have darkened over years.

Anyhow, this is waterbased grain filler which I find vastly preferable to the oil based stuff. If you ladle it on too thick then any time later you can just take a damp cloth to it and "re-activate" it, gently lifting it away where you don't want it. So much easier than all that exrta sanding that oil based grain filler always seemed to involve (for me, at any rate - clumsy oaf).

I then did a washcoat of nitrocellulose, as a sealer layer prior to the build coats to come. Here's what it looks like:
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Partly the clear nitro and partly the grain filler (which turns out to be much darker than this "sapele") have darkened the whole thing considerably. It's got a very "fake tan" look to it right now: just what I was trying to encourage BigJay away from on his HWY 1 neck!

I have a sapele based project at the back of my mind for the future. I'll remember to use a paler grain filler (and obviously take rather more care putting it on and taking it off again).

BTW: can you see small spots of wood putty around some of the screw holes, correcting tiny bits of tearout? Brand new set of drill bits used in a pillar drill - and yet still some tearout. Good grief...!

Next: the build coat / primer...

Cheers - C


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Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 11:28 am
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Ceri, did you use a piece of glass to scrape with? I've used glass before on furniture and it does the job well. If not glass then what? Looking good my friend! 8)


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Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 11:35 am
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fhopkins wrote:
Ceri, did you use a piece of glass to scrape with? I've used glass before on furniture and it does the job well. If not glass then what? Looking good my friend! 8)


Hi Hop: I've never heard of using glass as a scraper before. That's very interesting, where does that technique come from?

I used this Veritas scraper. It comes with this strange black plastic thingy which is in fact a jig to draw it through against a blade which can be set at any angle you require in order to produce a burr on the edge of the scraper.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp? ... =1&jump=44

Simply because I am too clumsy to make a burr the proper old-fashioned craftsman way. :oops:

Cheers - C


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Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 11:53 am
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I saw the glass used in a furniture re-finishing program on television and also an old painter showed me the technique of using glass. He was working in a carpenter shop and would go to the broken glass bin in the shop and pick out pieces with a sharp/straight factory edge and in a scraping/pulling motion over the old finish removed several layers at once of old finish without the use of chemicals etc. If you get a chance try it on a piece of finished wood and you'll see how good it works. Oh well, I was just wondering. Thanks.


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Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 11:56 am
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fhopkins wrote:
...Thanks.


Thank you. Very interesting - I have some broken bits of glass somewhere at the back of the greenhouse. I'll get scraping!

Cheers - C


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Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 12:01 pm
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I noticed with the sapele body i just stripped of parts. It is very delicate, the slightest slip on contact results in wood chips.

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Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 2:06 pm
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I seem to remember Dan Erlewine (to whom you referred earlier,) suggesting using glass microscope slides as a scraper, since you can bend em a bit for the contour edges.
Oh and i actually plan on getting that DVD. I have contacted all the major kit makers, and not one of em makes a hollowbody electric kit. They all sent prompt return emails, and suggested someone to check, but basically they cross referred to each other!!

Looks like I will be making an arch top at some point. need to get my current painting projects done first. But I have to spray outside, and its still below freezing pretty much every day here.

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Posted: Wed Feb 11, 2009 7:41 pm
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Ceri, I hope you don't fill the grain too well, as a little shrinkage with a thin finish is nice.

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