Bridge pick up. . .

Necking on. . .

The next day the next was attatched. Again pretty straight forward. The neck sloted into the pre cut pocket on the body and was bolted on with four screws and a metal bracket.




When I first got it the neck fit perfectly into the pocket, but six months of sitting in the conservatory, where it gets really hot in the summer and really cold in the summer, something either swelled or contracted which ment it no longer fit. I managed to get it in with out having to chisle anything though.

I used a match stick through the holes to check they were lined up properly.





Once screwed on there was a little gap between the neck and the body which I was a bit worried about. This can affect the transfer of energy from the strings to the body and reduce the amount of sustain. I couldnt get the screws any tighter, me mate Paul had a go and couldnt either, I was worried about knacking up the screw heads.



So we removed the screws halfway and rescrewed them in which pulled the neck and body closer together making the join more flush.



Jobs a good'un, starting to look more loike a guitar.

Machine heads. . .

The next day a started to assemble the head stock. The machine heads were canny easy to put on, straight through the pre-drilled hole, a washer and a bolt then tighten. Then a screw secures it to the underside.

and on they went:

All done.

Bit of a buff. . .

Sick of the bad weather I scrapped the plan to put more clear coats on and just got on with it.

From now on I promise not to mention any of the following words: spraying, coats, clear or lacquer. Which might make reading this garbage a bit less dull.

Right, I got me sel some T-Cut type paste (for taking scratches out of cars) and started to buff the body.

I wasn't sure it would do anything to be honest but I was chuffed with the result, I guess its like sanding with really fine paper, I should have started with a low grade paper then worked me way up to get a shine but I couldn't be boshed to mess about so I went straight for this stuff. I spent about three or four hours in front of the tele one night and buffed seven shades out of it.

The shine before buffing:



The shine after buffing:



End result: A decent shine but the lack of clear lacquer coats that a sprayed will make it more likely to get bashed but I've made me peace with that.

Reet. . .

I got a bit sick of waiting for good weather so Ive just got on with it.

Since the last post I managed to get about 5 coats of clear on and got a finish that I was pretty happy with. I was showing off on this telecaster forum that I go on to ask questions and they all said it wasnt very good!!

I got an 'orange peel' effect that they said was pretty normal but it needed wetsanding and more clear coats applied and they said to repeat that till I had a pure flat surface ready for polishing.

Look at the shine on that!!! If you look closely you can see an effect like the skin of an orange.

So I wetsanded the clear coat, which took the shine off but did make it nice and flat. I used white spirit as a lube instead of water as I was worried about water getting in the screw holes and warping the wood.

I got a bit carried away with getting a flat surface and sanded through pretty much all the clear coat like a proper der brain!

I did get a nice flat surface but no shine and no clear coat left (which lets you keep sanding to get a nice shine without sanding through the colour coat and protects the guitar from knocks and dings).

After wetsanding: very little clear coat left and the shine has totally gone.

I followed their advice and put another couple of clear coats on (which took about a month since the weather hasnt been good) This time no 'orange peel' just a few dust specks in the finish. I'm supposed to keep repeating this process until I have a flat shiny finish.

Spraying. . .

Was going to video the whole sesh, but I only remembered half way through so I'll set the scene. .

. . I just done the back, was the best coat I ever seen!! Turned the bad boy over and started on the front, got half way through and thats where we pick up the story. . .

Getting on. . .

Emptied me shed and the workmate just fits in.






So now I can spray again (as long as it doesn't rain as me shed leaks) I have to bring it indoors after as I don't trust the shed, full of dust and cobwebs and that!

Did one more coat.

One more colour coat I reckon then the clear's gannin on.

Promises promises. . .

Im getting a bit of Jip from folk for taking too long building the guitar.

So plan is:

* Try and spray in my shed (which will save me having to rebuild the effing booth, which will then save me about a week and a half)
* Work out a way to the hang the guitar vertically in the shed which will save having to use the workbench to clamp the guitar (as my shed is about the size of a wheely bin)
* Do a coat a night after work so I can get the paint job finished as soon as possible
* Build the damn thing

Me Granda got me to promise that it would be done by Christmas, which I agreed to.

He didnt state which Christmas though!!!!!

Bin a while. . .

The guitar builds been on hold for a few months due to the fact that I lost me temper with the booth and ended up wrecking it. It kept blowing across the garden and the missus was worried it'd end up on the roof of the house or something!! She woke me up one Sunday morning and told me to sort it out so I brayed the hell out of it with a hammer and ended up slashing the plastic.

Great move - as I had no where to spray the guitar after that. What a knob!



The olympic white colour was far too bright, looked more like I'd used Tipex to paint it and it looked daft against any of the scratch plates. I tried to take the edge off the Tipex colour by spraying a coat of tinted lacquer but it went on far to thick and totally covered the white. It looked the colour of Pete Doherty's fingers. I didnt bother to do the front since I knew I wasnt going to keep it that colour.



So I got me sel some vintage white cans but before I sprayed those cans I had to sand off the tinted coat back down to the white layers so the nicotine colour wouldnt show through.



*Half way through sanding off Doherty's finger marks*


Anyway, we went to me parents in laws house for a week and Kev's got a canny big shed so I did a few coats of the vintage white in there.





*After five coats of vintage white*



So that's where its at at the minute, probably needs a couple more vintage white coats and then the clear lacquer can go on.

Ch Ch Ch Changes. . .

Just to prove that after a long drawn out two months we're finally starting to get somewhere.

Naked at the start. . .


Three coats of Olympic white, it only took three day to get this colour. . .



where as it took nearly six weeks to get to this colour, nine coats of turdy blonde. . .


You know the phrase a bad workman always blames his tools well I am blaming my tools for this one.

Olympic white. . .

Got sick of the invisible blonde so Ive invested in a more manly paint. This stuff goes on like a dream and actually changes the colour of the guitar, so Im over the moon with it. I should have got this colour at the effing start and saved me self time and money and more importantly my confidence would still be intact.

First coat



Second coat



Third coat



Look at that bad boy, pretty white in my book!!!

Getting close. . .

Eighth Coat . . .



Nineth Coat. . .



Right, finished the second can and its starting to look a slightly lighter shade than it was about a month ago. One can is supposed to make it look like this, clearly mine doesn't but I dont fancy forking out another 15 pund plus 5 pund delivery for another can of invisible blonde or what ever the colour isn't.

Im waiting on delivery of a scratch plate, when it arrives I'll check the colour against the guitar and then make a decision on what to do next. Ive got a few avenues I can go down:

1. Bite the bullet and buy another can of white blonde and try and get a whiter blonde, if such a thing is possible.
2. Spray the tinted lacquer over the white blonde and go for the butterscotch blonde I was originally going to go for.
3. Be happy with the white blonde as it is and start the clear lacquer coats.

The truth is that Im starting to get impatient and I want to get on with actually making a guitar. Colour wise, Im going right off the butterscotch blonde colour, I think Ive seen enough butterscotch Telecasters in the last couple of months to see me right up untill Im the age of Keith Richards and whilst we're being honest Im starting to get sick of looking at Telecasters all together. My eyes are going tele shaped!!

More coats. . .

Sixth coat. . .



Seventh coat. . .

Pair of cans. . .

New cans have arrived, another can of white blonde and some clear gloss lacquer. I emailed the chap I got them off about the crap finish the first can of white blonde was giving. He checked the batch and apparently theres nowt wrong with the batch, its down to my bad technique Im afraid!!!
The plan at the moment is to put another half a dozen coats of the white blonde on and see what it looks like then clear coat it if it looks ok.



Ive been reading the tele forum and the fellas on there reckon I should be warming the cans before using them. This is supposed to increase the spraying pressure, make the paint and solvent mix better and make the coat dry quicker. I asked the paint chap if this was a good idea and if this was the reason I was getting a crappy finish - He said it wasnt and there was no need to warm the cans first - so I had a go anyway.



I had some paint left in the first can so I had a go with that, I put the can in hot water from the tap - didnt make an ounce of difference, still cack!!!!!