Trying to love the unlovable

[JD01]

That looks great.
You're going to fairly extreme lengths to build a guitar to stick on a stand and use as an ornament.

[Greg_L]

That looks great.
You're going to fairly extreme lengths to build a guitar to stick on a stand and use as an ornament.

That's true. But maybe I'll start using it more if I like how it turns out. Maybe. Probably not.

[WhiskeyJack]

It's really hard to get a good pic or vid of how sparkly this thing is getting, but here's a try anyway.



The glitter shit is now buried. There's a noticeable thick enough layer of clear across the whole thing. It's still bumpy and orange-peely, but I can now start the level sanding process. I think I can get it smooth now without burning through the clearcoat. It looks pretty cool in person.

I can see it. It looks awesome man! I think you are going to love these next few steps. It's shit hard work but once you start polishing dude... oh baby!!!

[Greg_L]

So I've started level-sanding this thing. I wet-sanded the back with 400 grit to knock down the heavy texture of the glitter under the clear. It seems to have worked out great so far. It's very very smooth and level, but there's still a nice layer of clearcoat on it. So now I'll do the top and sides to get the whole thing smooth as glass and then.....more clear.

[Lt. Bob]

[Greg_L]

Ok here it is wet sanded to 800 grit.



Still dull obviously but it's flat and smooooooth as glass. I can already see some of the depth I'm hoping for in the flake. I've got a few tiny little bad spots but they were test areas that will be covered by the pickguard. The parts that will be visible seem like they're gonna be pretty good. At this stage, for having never seriously done this before, I'd say I'm way better off than I expected to be.

Now that it's truly flat and level, the next step is a few more thick coats of clear which should lay down really smooth. Then sand and polish.

[Tadpui]

Looks like a million bucks, man!

[rayc]

NOICE!

[JD01]

Thats excellent. Well done, mate.

[Greg_L]

Thanks dudes. I guess it's not bad, so far, for a total hack like me. There's still time to fuck it up.

I found a little bubble/imperfection in the glitter coat, and it's right on the end of the upper horn near the strap button location. I'm thinking it's something to do with how I'd hang the guitar to dry after glitter bombing it. That glitter spray is a strange product and I suspect gravity and/or the way the solvents flash off had something to do with it. It's not bad though and it's not in a bad spot, so fuck it. I'll bury it in more clearcoat.

[vomitHatSteve]

Shiny!

[Greg_L]

Here's after a quick new coat of clear.



It's hard to get on vid in here but the depth and sparkle is really starting to pop.

[rayc]

Glossy and even...well done.

[Greg_L]

Glossy and even...well done.

Thanks. I have high hopes now, which is probably a bad thing.

It's still gonna get several more coats of clear, then final sanding and polishing.

[WhiskeyJack]

Looks badass chief!! good luck with the rest of it.

this was my favorite part man. Like watching Frankenstein's monster come to life. Great vids can't wait to see the final bit.

[Armistice]

Yeah, it's looking great. Can't wait to see it all done and with all the hardware back on - will look very nice. I think that video should have Greg playing a few Eric Clapton licks... so we can see if the gold flake has affected the tone.

[Greg_L]

There is only one gold strat player I'd ever try to cover....

[Armistice]

Ah, now I know why you're making a spangly gold strat... (you probably mentioned that already)

[Greg_L]

Ah, now I know why you're making a spangly gold strat... (you probably mentioned that already)

Lol he's not the only reason, but he's a good one.

I wanted to try a difficult finish. I have a decent paint gun and big ol honkin air compressor but I didn't wanna use all that. I'm not good with it anyway. I've painted car parts here and there - never a whole car. I wanted to rattle-can something metal-flakey and see if I could do it. The color is definitely Dick Dale inspired.

[JD01]

I'm patiently awaiting my punked up cover of Nitro.