What type of Guitar finish.

[Bucksnort101]

OK, here goes. Not the best pictures in the world, but will give you an idea. Headstock has my initials in "Gibson" style lettering. Back also has a sunburst type finish. Back of neck has no finish on surface your hand would run along, I may add some Tru-oil to that unfinished surface, but it sure is smooth to the touch the way it is.

 

[Elvis]

Wow, that's a beautiful guitar.
Us drummers might call the "G" on the headstock a "Drop G", as it is similar to styled lettering Gretsch once used and the "G" was written similarly.

 

[SaparotRob]

That's a beautiful work of art.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Your finish guy did a good job on the cherry sunburst. No clownburst there.

I love that fretboard. It's not rosewood -- what is it?

 

[Bucksnort101]

Your finish guy did a good job on the cherry sunburst. No clownburst there.

I love that fretboard. It's not rosewood -- what is it?

Thanks to all for the comments. I told the builder of the guitar to finish it in a Tobacco burst finish, not too red (don't like Clown Burst much either). He sent it from Canada to California to have it finished. In bright sunlight it appears more red, but under room lighting it has a more brown tone.
I actually have a second set of book matched Curly Maple boards that are a twin of this top. Bought them both of EBay for $35 a set. Not sure what I want to do with the 2nd set.

Fretboard is actually Pao Ferro. Seeing it more and more on less expensive guitars, even some Gibson guitars have it now.



Comments: Pau ferro is a wood of many names, and is sometimes called morado—and because the wood is so similar in appearance and working properties to rosewood, it is also sometimes referred to as Bolivian or Santos rosewood. The wood has been used in various capacities as a substitute for the endangered Brazilian rosewood (Dalbergia nigra).

Although the wood is not technically in the Dalbergia genus, pau ferro (Machaerium species) is botanically very closely related to true rosewoods, both being subdivided within the Fabaceae family into the tribe Dalbergieae and even further into the subclade Dalbergia.[2]​ Additionally, the pau ferro contains the same sensitizing compounds found in rosewoods[3]​—it's about as close to a true rosewood as a species can get without actually being a Dalbergia species. (copied from wood-database.com)

 

[Marcel]

Is the top a veneer or really flamed maple?

 

[Bucksnort101]

Is the top a veneer or really flamed maple?

It's a thick flamed maple cap. Picture of the unfinished guitar was sent to me by the builder (Precision Guitar Kits in Canada) before they sent it to the finisher. You can see in the pickup cavities where the maple cap and mahogany mate together. Nice thick cap. Like I said I also have a twin set of maple boards to the ones used for this guitar. Seems to me they are just under an inch thick.

 

[special ed]

What kind of adhesives are used making guitars?

 

[Bucksnort101]

What kind of adhesives are used making guitars?

Some still use old fashioned Hide glue. Any good wood glue will work for mating wood, many just use yellow Titebond glue. Super glue is used for other things, like gluing frets into fingerboard, but not necessarily needed.

 

[Marcel]

It's a thick flamed maple cap. Picture of the unfinished guitar was sent to my by the builder (Precision Guitar Kits in Canada) before they sent it to the finisher. You can see in the pickup cavities where the maple cap and mahogany mate together. Nice thick cap. Like I said I also have a twin set of maple boards to the ones used for this guitar. Seems to me they are just under an inch thick.

View attachment 837659

Oh wow. Nice!

 

[Bucksnort101]

Been sidetracked lately, major bout with vertigo in August and been helping put in a walk in shower for my father who broke his hip this spring so time has been limited for my projects. Hoping to order new Bumblebee capacitors, reverse taper audio pots, and bus wire next week so I can build a true lefty wiring harness. Need to open up the control cavity holes for my hardware as the holes were drilled for smaller diameter parts. Need to be careful as not to damage the finish when opening these up.

Also debating whether or not to add a pickguard to the guitar, while I like the look of a pickguard it would be a shame to cover up any of that curly maple.

 

[Marcel]

Been sidetracked lately, major bout with vertigo in August and been helping put in a walk in shower for my father who broke his hip this spring so time has been limited for my projects. Hoping to order new Bumblebee capacitors, reverse taper audio pots, and bus wire next week so I can build a true lefty wiring harness. Need to open up the control cavity holes for my hardware as the holes were drilled for smaller diameter parts. Need to be careful as not to damage the finish when opening these up.

Also debating whether or not to add a pickguard to the guitar, while I like the look of a pickguard it would be a shame to cover up any of that curly maple.

I like my LPs with pickguard, but I would indeed be hesitant putting one on this.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

I bought my 73 used, and the pickguard was not on it. Over the years I owned it, I came to prefer the naked look, but when I took the pickguard off my Ibanez after purchase, I noticed within about a week that I was scratching the top with my vigorous strumming, so I put it back on. I can go either way, but I'd hate to mar that beautiful top with scratches.

 

[Bucksnort101]

Yes, I've been neglecting this project again for a while. Just ordered new "BumbleBee" caps for the tone circuit in the wiring harness. Going to start cleaning up my workbench tonight so I can finish up some other projects before the parts arrive.
Need to decide if I'm going to tackle installing the nut on the neck myself of have a professional do it, as I don't really have, nor want to spend the money on the tools I need for that job.
Got this Tele clone that I've been collecting parts for over the last year or so and need to get that finished up as well.

Then I need to start playing more as well. I really need to start going to lessons, or signing up for on-line lessons so I can progress more. Don't really like one on one lessons that much and would prefer to do things on my own, but thinking one on one may force me to practice more.

 

[Marcel]

Yes, I've been neglecting this project again for a while. Just ordered new "BumbleBee" caps for the tone circuit in the wiring harness. Going to start cleaning up my workbench tonight so I can finish up some other projects before the parts arrive.
Need to decide if I'm going to tackle installing the nut on the neck myself of have a professional do it, as I don't really have, nor want to spend the money on the tools I need for that job.
Got this Tele clone that I've been collecting parts for over the last year or so and need to get that finished up as well.

Then I need to start playing more as well. I really need to start going to lessons, or signing up for on-line lessons so I can progress more. Don't really like one on one lessons that much and would prefer to do things on my own, but thinking one on one may force me to practice more.
View attachment 873998

Find yourself some buddies to play with. Teaches you way more than lessons.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Hey, Bucksnort101 -- you really don't need any special tools for a new nut if you buy one pre-cut. Assuming your Partscaster there is of standard Fender dimensions, you can find replacement nuts precut for several different sizes and neck profiles. I recently upgraded my Squier Strat with a new roller-nut, roller trees, Wilkinson tuners, and a loaded pickguard:

Spoiler

Starting out:

Cut the finish around the old nut if it's present:

Again if it's present, break the glue holding it in place with a mallet and block of wood. Gentle!

Now fit the new nut into the old slot. You may need to file the slot a little bit if the new nut is too big; you may need to shim the slot if the new nut is too skinny. Either job is simple and requires simple tools you probably have on your modeling bench.

Here's how my headstock looked after the work; I had to file the nut slot just a tad. The replacement process to about 45 minutes, all told:

Then I cleaned and polished the frets, oiled the fretboard, installed the new wiring harness, and voila:

 

[Bucksnort101]

Hey, Bucksnort101 -- you really don't need any special tools for a new nut if you buy one pre-cut. Assuming your Partscaster there is of standard Fender dimensions, you can find replacement nuts precut for several different sizes and neck profiles. I recently upgraded my Squier Strat with a new roller-nut, roller trees, Wilkinson tuners, and a loaded pickguard:

Spoiler

Starting out:

View attachment 874003

Cut the finish around the old nut if it's present:

View attachment 874004

Again if it's present, break the glue holding it in place with a mallet and block of wood. Gentle!

View attachment 874005

Now fit the new nut into the old slot. You may need to file the slot a little bit if the new nut is too big; you may need to shim the slot if the new nut is too skinny. Either job is simple and requires simple tools you probably have on your modeling bench.

Here's how my headstock looked after the work; I had to file the nut slot just a tad. The replacement process to about 45 minutes, all told:

View attachment 874006

Then I cleaned and polished the frets, oiled the fretboard, installed the new wiring harness, and voila:

View attachment 874007

View attachment 874008

The Tele clone has a nut installed, it's a black Tusq nut so it's hard to see in the picture. The Les Paul clone needs a nut, I bought a pre-made nut that should have fit, bit it's a little too narrow for the neck.
Am thinking it may need a nut custom fit to the guitar. That's a little beyond my comfort zone.
Nice work on your Strat, btw... Been thinking of getting a lefty Squire Classic Vibe Strat to fiddle with. How do you like the humbucker in the bridge postion?

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

The Tele clone has a nut installed, it's a black Tusq nut so it's hard to see in the picture. The Les Paul clone needs a nut, I bought a pre-made nut that should have fit, bit it's a little too narrow for the neck.
Am thinking it may need a nut custom fit to the guitar. That's a little beyond my comfort zone.
Nice work on your Strat, btw... Been thinking of getting a lefty Squire Classic Vibe Strat to fiddle with. How do you like the humbucker in the bridge postion?

I like it, but I've never had much use for single-coils at the bridge, the sound is too brittle for my music -- but if you like chicken-pickin' a humbucker may not be for you. I got that layout to allow for both r&b and heavy-rock sounds in a guitar that doesn't weigh a lot.

As an aside you didn't ask about, installing the roller parts has made trem use much more stable tuning-wise. If you like using the whammy, definitely look into it. A Tusq nut should probably be slippery enough to be tuning-table, but the roller trees will still help if your playing involves a lot of bending.

Love the top on that Tele too, BTW. Is that also a solid piece?

 

[Bucksnort101]

I like it, but I've never had much use for single-coils at the bridge, the sound is too brittle for my music -- but if you like chicken-pickin' a humbucker may not be for you. I got that layout to allow for both r&b and heavy-rock sounds in a guitar that doesn't weigh a lot.

As an aside you didn't ask about, installing the roller parts has made trem use much more stable tuning-wise. If you like using the whammy, definitely look into it. A Tusq nut should probably be slippery enough to be tuning-table, but the roller trees will still help if your playing involves a lot of bending.

Love the top on that Tele too, BTW. Is that also a solid piece?

Don't use a trem much at all, in fact I think I've actually only put it on my Strat once or twice .
Tele body and neck were from Warmoth guitars. Main body is a nice piece of roasted alder, with lightening chambers cut into it, then a thin curly maple cap glued on. If you can see in the picture instead of a routed binding around the body edge, it was actually masked off when the finish was applied to leave a natural curly maple faux binding. Looks really nice up close.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Don't use a trem much at all, in fact I think I've actually only put it on my Strat once or twice .
Tele body and neck were from Warmoth guitars. Main body is a nice piece of roasted alder, with lightening chambers cut into it, then a thin curly maple cap glued on. If you can see in the picture instead of a routed binding around the body edge, it was actually masked off when the finish was applied to leave a natural curly maple faux binding. Looks really nice up close.

I love that sort of "binding", much more than the plastic strip stuff. Warmoth makes good stuff -- in fact, I looked at some of their necks for the Squier work I noted above, but decided against it when the nut-work produced results well enough to make me not want to mess with it any further. At any rate your Tele looks like a nice bit of work, and a Tusq nut should work great for a non-trem guitar.

BTW what is that fretboard?

Post up your work as you go, and happy playing, bud.