Trying to love the unlovable

[JD01]

That looks great, greg. Its very gold!

[Greg_L]

That looks great, greg. Its very gold!

Ha thanks. Yes very gold. I'm curious to see how much the basecoat will matter under the glitter coat.

[JD01]

It does look super smooth though. You're really going to town on this one.
How long until you build your own guitar from scratch?

[Greg_L]

It does look super smooth though. You're really going to town on this one.
How long until you build your own guitar from scratch?

I can still see some imperfections that would not let this gold basecoat be the final finish. If I were to stop here it wouldn't be good enough. My thought all along has been that the heavy glitter will cover and hide the little things I didn't get perfect in the sanding and smoothing process. And also, I don't care that much. It's pretty good but not perfect. The metallic of the flat gold coat really shows the little things that aren't quite right.

As for building my own...if I did it wouldn't be "from scratch". I'm not sourcing my own wood and cutting out my own bodies and necks. I do not have the desire or tools for that kind of operation. Unlike amps, I couldn't build a guitar from scratch that would be better than a factory built guitar. I could never build a Les Paul clone that's better than an actual Les Paul.

But I will build a kit. I'm looking at some hollowbody kits that could be a cool project. I want a White Falcon, but I sure as hell don't want to buy one, so I might build a Falcon-style kit.

[JD01]

It does look super smooth though. You're really going to town on this one.
How long until you build your own guitar from scratch?

I can still see some imperfections that would not let this gold basecoat be the final finish. If I were to stop here it wouldn't be good enough. My thought all along has been that the heavy glitter will cover and hide the little things I didn't get perfect in the sanding and smoothing process. And also, I don't care that much. It's pretty good but not perfect. The metallic of the flat gold coat really shows the little things that aren't quite right.

As for building my own...if I did it wouldn't be "from scratch". I'm not sourcing my own wood and cutting out my own bodies and necks. I do not have the desire or tools for that kind of operation. Unlike amps, I couldn't build a guitar from scratch that would be better than a factory built guitar. I could never build a Les Paul clone that's better than an actual Les Paul.

But I will build a kit. I'm looking at some hollowbody kits that could be a cool project. I want a White Falcon, but I sure as hell don't want to buy one, so I might build a Falcon-style kit.

Fair enough - you just seem to really have the dedication to put into these sort of projects, I reckon you'd ace a guitar build if you could be arsed.
Maybe you need a holiday to Crimson in Dorset!

I'd enjoy watching you do a kit build though, I don't think I'd ever do one myself. I just don't think I have the time or the patience to make a good job of it.

[Greg_L]

Fair enough - you just seem to really have the dedication to put into these sort of projects, I reckon you'd ace a guitar build if you could be arsed.
Maybe you need a holiday to Crimson in Dorset!

It's funny you say that...the guy that did the frets for this project is in England literally right now and I told him to try to register for a class at Crimson.

I do have mechanical aptitude and a familiarity with fine precise measurements that would be useful in building a guitar from scratch. Years of machining racing engine parts to tolerances less than the thickness of human hair has to be useful right? I generally have a good gut instinct for what has to be perfect and what can be fudged a little when it comes to building things. I just don't have the desire or wood-working equipment to do a guitar.

I'd enjoy watching you do a kit build though, I don't think I'd ever do one myself. I just don't think I have the time or the patience to make a good job of it.

I'm sure you could. How difficult can a kit really be? Especially something like a Fender style kit with a bolt-on neck. The hard work - the measuring and cutting and shaping - is already done. It's just putting parts together at that point.

For the hollowbody I have in mind I'd want just the body and neck. A pre-drilled body and neck that I can glue together myself. That's it. I'll pick my own Bigsby and pickups and electronics and hardware and stuff. The kits all come with a bunch of crap though. If I can find a kit supplier that will sell me just a body and neck at a discount I'd be all over it.

[JD01]

I'm sure you could. How difficult can a kit really be? Especially something like a Fender style kit with a bolt-on neck. The hard work - the measuring and cutting and shaping - is already done. It's just putting parts together at that point.

For the hollowbody I have in mind I'd want just the body and neck. A pre-drilled body and neck that I can glue together myself. That's it. I'll pick my own Bigsby and pickups and electronics and hardware and stuff. The kits all come with a bunch of crap though. If I can find a kit supplier that will sell me just a body and neck at a discount I'd be all over it.

I think the main problem is that I don't have a decent "workshop" area, so when I get time to work (which wouldn't be that often) I'd have to get all my kit out, get it set up, do a bit of work and then put everything away again afterwards... its not like I could do a little bit of work when I get a spare hour. Imagine trying to record if every time you wanted to you had to unpack all your gear and set it up and then put it away again afterwards. You'd never get anything done!

[Greg_L]

I think the main problem is that I don't have a decent "workshop" area, so when I get time to work (which wouldn't be that often) I'd have to get all my kit out, get it set up, do a bit of work and then put everything away again afterwards... its not like I could do a little bit of work when I get a spare hour. Imagine trying to record if every time you wanted to you had to unpack all your gear and set it up and then put it away again afterwards. You'd never get anything done!

Yeah that's a pain. I do all of my amp work in our mostly unused dining room but I can't just leave everything set up in there permanently. I get a few weeks at a time and then the wife starts noticing.

[WhiskeyJack]

Man that looks awesome as is. I'd be content with just that alone. Can't wait to see it with the glitter bomb!!!

[Lt. Bob]

That looks great, greg. Its very gold!

Ha thanks. Yes very gold. I'm curious to see how much the basecoat will matter under the glitter coat.

It'll matter a lot because inevitably there will be flakes turned sideways where you can kinda see 'thru' the flake ..... it's not like you'll actually see the base coat but the tiny places you can see thru the flake would be dark making the finish seem darker ..... whereas the gold base coat will make the finish seem brighter
I only did the flake thing to model cars and a Mosrite bass ..... but even that little bit made me aware that the basecoat under flake has a big effect on how the luster of the flake appears even though you never really see the base coat

[rayc]

NEXT photos please.

[Greg_L]

First quick dusting of glittercoat going on today....





Hard to take a good pic of it, but just one quick coat has it pretty sparkly.

[WhiskeyJack]

shit man love it!!!! that looks awesome!!!

[Greg_L]

shit man love it!!!! that looks awesome!!!

Ha thanks I hope it turns out good.

On a super clear bright and sunny day like today it was pretty trippy painting this thing. The glitter flying through the air made like a prism effect and it was hard to see what I was doing.

[WhiskeyJack]

shit man love it!!!! that looks awesome!!!

Ha thanks I hope it turns out good.

On a super clear bright and sunny day like today it was pretty trippy painting this thing. The glitter flying through the air made like a prism effect and it was hard to see what I was doing.

sounds like a missed opportunity for tiktok or something. Still looks great as is. I think it will look killer with the a hefty clear coat on there.

[Greg_L]

sounds like a missed opportunity for tiktok or something. Still looks great as is. I think it will look killer with the a hefty clear coat on there.

I can already tell it's gonna take a lot of clear. This stuff is literally dry glitter suspended in a spray medium. It's pretty finicky and nasty. It comes out in huge blasts or barely at all. It lays on with a lot of texture.

Second heavier coat hanging to dry in the garage.

[Lt. Bob]

I did that Mosrite in metalflake by pouring metalflake onto wet lacquer and then clear over it.
Took a zillion coats cause it was like painting a sieve .... never did get it smooth.

You will but you didn't sprinkle metalflake on it!

[Greg_L]

I did that Mosrite in metalflake by pouring metalflake onto wet lacquer and then clear over it.
Took a zillion coats cause it was like painting a sieve .... never did get it smooth.

You will but you didn't sprinkle metalflake on it!

I know a guy that did a motorcycle helmet like that. He sprayed a very wet coat of clear and then actually threw handfuls of metalflake at it by hand. Then cleared it again very thick and polished it. It came out really pretty good.

[Greg_L]

So I'm shirtless today, because this is Texas and it's 70 something degrees, and I'm walking around the house shirtless like usual and my wife starts laughing at me. Apparently I'm covered in a fine dust of glitter and sparkling like a sweaty stripper. Sexy. Time for a shower.

[Lt. Bob]

I did that Mosrite in metalflake by pouring metalflake onto wet lacquer and then clear over it.
Took a zillion coats cause it was like painting a sieve .... never did get it smooth.

You will but you didn't sprinkle metalflake on it!

I know a guy that did a motorcycle helmet like that. He sprayed a very wet coat of clear and then actually threw handfuls of metalflake at it by hand. Then cleared it again very thick and polished it. It came out really pretty good.

that's what I did ..... fairly largish flakes and I used silver, blue and red flakes ....... I masked it off and just did the red .....,... then I covered that and wet the places for silver and did that and then the blue ..... looked great but I didn't have tools or the skills nor the patience to get it smooth