Guitar Build Pt. 5

So here is the fifth coat of tung oil on the guitar. Not looking too bad. I plan on finishing the can and then getting into the electronics.

This week has been pretty awesome. I saw my friend Owen perform his new project on Saturday and it was awesome. I also got to check out the Brand New Life at Tate St. Fest. It was fun! Plus we had a chance to have dinner with Jed. I am about to head out to school and take my first Music Theory exam. I'm slightly nervous, but I have studied the heck out of our materials, so I think I will be okay.

Guitar Build Pt. 3 (and 4)

So I have added two more coats to the guitar. This pic is after the third coat of tung oil.

And this one is after the fourth coat.

I planned on adding a coat a day, but I got behind doing other more fun things (hanging out with my friend Matt and having dinner with Ma). The guitar is starting to look way more finished in person. The crap cell phone photos don't really do the gradual gradations in hue any justice.

In other news, this looks to be a really exciting week/weekend. Tomorrow I am hanging out with Jed and going to Tate St. Festival and then going to the Green Bean to see my buddy Owen's release party. I work tomorrow and will be highly caffeinated for these two events. Also, the Wall is being shown at the Carolina theater Thursday, so I'm looking forward to that. And I have an exam next week. It seems exciting when I think about it, but writing it out just make Sat. and Thur. sound fun. I'm sure I will enjoy all of it though.

Guitar Build Pt. 2

So today I invested in some gloves from the dollar store to hopefully prevent having the stickiest hands ever like I unfortunately had yesterday. It worked moderately well. The first coat was a barely noticeable difference from the bare wood, but today's coat was a little help. I will be honest and say that this angle makes it appear a deeper hue than it really is. I would be happy if this is how it ends up. I plan on adding coats until at least this batch of tung oil is gone. It is a relatively easy process, if a little time consuming. I'm hoping for a nice natural satin look that seems almost vintage (think Garcia's Alligator guitar). Tomorrow or Wed. I plan on starting on some of the wiring. I am still debating just using the stock bits or creating my own pickguard, sticking on the Mariposa pickups I have, and wiring in new pots and a decent 5 way switch (or even going crazy and sticking a fancy Brian May inspired switching system). I will honestly probably go for the stock setup, but it never hurts to dream a little!

ZOMBIESSSSS!!!

ZOMBIES!!!

From the Mall

Pretty sky

Guitar Build Pt. 1

Okay, so here are the first pics of the build. I didn't take any of the unassembled guitar because I was lazy, and these are just some really blurry pics from my cell phone. I think that I am going to leave the neck alone and just leave it as unstained wood. It feels really smooth and comfortable. I attached the tuning keys on the headstock (yay). I sanded the body down with progressively finer grit sandpaper and then used some canned air and a cloth to get all the dust off. I put on the first coat of tung oil and buffed it this afternoon. I plan on having the guitar look really natural, but will put at least 4 or 5 coats of oil on it. Hopefully that will darken it up a little bit. The body is super light and is made of paulonia (no clue what kind of wood it is). It feels like balsa. There were some dents and scratches in it from the factory. I tried to sand out some of the smaller little dents and big swathes of wood came away. Oops. This is just a cheap little build so I'm not very worried, but I still would like it to look at least halfway decent :)

I will apply another coat tomorrow and possibly fiddle with some of the electronics (although I don't really have any confidence there!). I am thinking about trying to make a different pickguard but the drop in easiness of the pre assembled one will probably appeal more to my lazy nature.

Guitar Project

I will be starting my guitar project soon. It is a strat kit that Ems got me for my birthday. I have assembled most of the supplies/items/tools I think that I need and will begin construction this week (hopefully). I hope to document the build in this blog with photos and some commentary. School is going well, with Music Theory being my fave class. I look forward to our trip to Seattle soon. We have spent some quality time dining on coupons and raiding the free bin at Ed McKays.

Birthday

Wow. I'm old.