Hey Ceri,
No problems on the questions...I'm always happy to share! As I've learned refinishing, I've tried some "by the book" methods and pretty much had to find my own way...and that way is a bit unorthodox but it works for me. Once I got the body stripped, I used some aerosol sanding sealer from Lowes. With this one I didn't really bother to use any grain filler...tight enough grain that I figured the lacquer would fill it (and it did). Once I got it sealed, I used Minwax "Gunstock" stain and then used some black acrylic to darken things up a bit. The acrylic also brings out the grain just a little more too which to me is kind of nice. After letting it dry really well, I gave the whole thing a really good rub down and then I used "Duplicolor Universal Black" (yes, car touch up paint) thru a Badger air brush to do the burst free hand. In the past I've tried the template thing for doing the burst and it really just didn't work for me...free hand with an air brush gives me much better results. Anyways, after letting that dry, I used an aerosol acrylic lacquer for the clear coats. I've actually gone kind of thin on this one (compared with other guitars I've done where I've done as many as 10-12 coats of clear). I only did 3 coats of clear with this one with some fine wet sanding (400 and 600 grit paper) between coats. Basically this should be similar to the Highway 1's, except it's going to have more of a glossy look when she's done (I think).

Accept for the acrylic "craft paint" which I essentially used as a second stain, it's all lacquer...but it's all acrylic lacquer which is why I was able to get away with using the hobby paint without any funky issues.

For the final polishing I'm going to use 400, 600, 800 and 1000 grit wet/dry paper to wet sand, then I'll follow that up with rubbing compound, polishing compound and finally some 3M swirl remover to give it a nice gloss. Not sure if you've ever refinished a guitar or not but if you haven't guessed, you have to -LOVE- sanding! LOL!!! Some day I may invest in an arbor buffer but for now I have to do it the old fashion way with lots of elbow grease.




Well...personally I plan to be around for -at least- another 500 years or so, so lemme know how it turns out! .


BTW...once I get this one done, I think I'm going to redo my old Frankenstrat as a 12 string. She was one of my earlier refinishes and I screwed a few things up and I've been debating what to do, so I think that's going to be my next project.

Thanks for the kind words and support!

Hi lomitus: yep, I've finished one or two...

Be sure to come back to this thread and post some pornographic pics of that axe when she's up and running, won't you?

Cheers man - C

The Warmoth website is a great place to see naked, unfinished wood bodies.

Some poplar is green, some isn't.
Some ash is green!
I can't figure it out.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Here is a link to some pine wood guitar bodies,
http://www.google.com/images?ndsp=20&hl ... rt=40&sa=N

conclusion

I dont no fhop could be Alien lumber left on Earth

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

I work in the construction field and also do some woodworking. We have a kitchen display made with alder. Seeing it finished I would have to say that's what it looks like. Poplar I have seen white, to gray and sometimes (often) it will have green bands mixed in. The grain on poplar is often less pronounced than in your stripped photo. I am by no means an expert but I would have to say alder or even red birch but I haven't heard anyone on this forum mention fenders made with birch of any kind. Nice job.

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With every mistake we must surely be learning..

Music is the space between the notes.

Thanks for the comments. Yea, I'm pretty convinced it's alder at this point...the grain, the color, the weight, the density, etc., all seem to indicate alder.

At this point I'm also positive this isn't a genuine Fender body either....if you follow the ramble back a ways, I had been told by the guy I bought it from that it was a pre-80's American Fender body...it isn't. Most likely a lower end import from somewhere around the mid to late 80s.

Technically speaking Fender does actually use quite a bit of birch...if you look up the tree family "Betulaceae", alder is actually part of the birch family...just one of the little tid bits I learned these last 2 weeks .

Peace,
Jim

Thanks I learned something today. That makes it a good day.

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With every mistake we must surely be learning..

Music is the space between the notes.