Yew-topped SG-style Guitar * Finished Pics!

[Maude]

Wow, I didn't realise how quickly a spokeshave would tear it down. As you say very easy to get carried away I'd imagine. 

That purple heart is very purple. Will it silver a bit or does it stay quite vibrant? 

[Andyjr1515]

4 minutes ago, Maude said:

Wow, I didn't realise how quickly a spokeshave would tear it down. As you say very easy to get carried away I'd imagine. 

That purple heart is very purple. Will it silver a bit or does it stay quite vibrant? 

Stays pretty vibrant for at least a few years, based on builds I've done in the past - although I am told that it eventually morphs to more a reddish-brown.

Interestingly, when you first cut it, it is quite light brown and then the purple develops over a few hours as it is exposed to light.

[Andyjr1515]

Well, this probably looks exactly the same as the previous photo, but to the dedicated air-guitarist tester (me), it actually feels completely different

You can see in the top photo, @Maude , how brown that stripe looks.  By the morning it will be a deep purple.

Going to leave it now until the morning.  The one thing I might do for the aesthetics is bring the heel transition further into the body - although playing-wise it actually feels fine right up to the 24th fret on the bass strings.  These things are best left to gestate a while.

[Andyjr1515]

The first coat of Ronseal is on:

With the way I do varnishing, it's sort of done when it's done.  Might be next coat, might take 5 or 6!

[Andyjr1515]

Second coat and the back is there.  I know that if I put another coat on it will get worse and not better:


The top...hmmm...close:


There's a couple of small (and inconspicuous) areas where it will probably polish up when it's fully hardened.  While I could do another coat, I don't actually want it to end up too thick.

I'll have a look in the morning when it will be hard enough to handle properly so I can see where the light catches it and decide then

[Geek99]

Another amateurish knock-up job then... kit from China was it ?

😭

[Richard R]

1 hour ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Second coat and the back is there.  I know that if I put another coat on it will get worse and not better:

How?? 🤔

[Geek99]

1 hour ago, Geek99 said:

Another amateurish knock-up job then... kit from China was it ?

😭

That mark guy off eBay ... it’s you, @Andyjr1515 isn’t it ! I claim my £5 

[Richard R]

1 minute ago, Geek99 said:

That mark guy off eBay ... it’s you, @Andyjr1515 isn’t it ! I claim my £5 

A sort of luthier Jekel and Hyde. In the day and early evening a mild mannered and careful craftsman. But by the light of the moon... beware!!

[Andyjr1515]

Thanks for the comments and feedback, folks...however Covid-lockdown-cabin-fever-hallucinatory they sometimes get  .  

I'm going to let this cure for another day or two before I make the final judgement on whether the next stage is to polish (which will be after a week or two of curing) or a final 2000 grit flattening and a couple of final, final coats.

The reason for that judgement (and I have to make it every time I do gloss this way) is that you can't - in fact you mustn't - buff this type of poly varnished finish as you would with, say, nitro spray.  The reason is that each application of nitro and similar, melt into the previous dry coats.  This type of poly varnish doesn't.  Each cured layer is a distinct layer.  So if you buff - cutting through layers, you expose the under layers and you can get unsightly contour marks.
But you can polish a poly varnish done this way.  The polishing works on the final coat - it smooths minor lumps and bumps, dust buggies, light brush ridges.  It needs to be rock hard before you do that otherwise even this risks cutting through to underneath layers.

Either way, I can get on with finishing the rest of it, because if I do a final flattening and a couple of light top coats, it needs at least a week hardening first anyway.

It's very close though and so this may not need anything more than the final polish.  
This is always a decent test:


I never worry about the finish sinking into the grain - I think that actually enhances the organic feel - but there are a couple of non-grain lumps and bumps that - again - may polish out or might need flattening.  

But, whatever, this is going to end up as eyecatching as I had hoped at the beginning   The obligatory mockups

So while that's curing, next focus is oil and buffing the neck, levelling and crowning the frets and positioning and fitting the tuners

[Maude]

I really like how you do the finishes on your builds Andy, it always amazes me that it is brushed/wiped on. It seems a very organic finish that really complements the natural wood. 

Top work 👍

[SpondonBassed]

1 hour ago, Maude said:

I really like how you do the finishes on your builds Andy, it always amazes me that it is brushed/wiped on. It seems a very organic finish that really complements the natural wood. 

Top work 👍

It's reminiscent of coach painting.

When you see how good a hand finish can be you wonder why folk don't insist on it.  Granted, no-one wants adverts hand-painted on coaches or buses in the 21st century but there is still a place for the craftsman in the right setting.

Agreed.  "Top work"

[scrumpymike]

For people like me who appreciate objects that show-case the natural beauty of wood, this is a real delight!

[TheGreek]

Love this...

[TheGreek]

Am I the only one to see what looks like a dog?

 

[Richard R]

1 hour ago, TheGreek said:

Am I the only one to see what looks like a dog?

I think that's an example of what @Andyjr1515 meant here:

8 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Thanks for the comments and feedback, folks...however Covid-lockdown-cabin-fever-hallucinatory they sometimes get

😃

 

[Simon.]

Crivens, Andy! That is stunning work.

[JohnDaBass]

Andy that's  an absolute stunning body,  sublime finish, and work of art, you are a real genius with the patience of Job😎

You are a beacon for us mortals to aspire. 

[Andyjr1515]

You are all very kind

In terms of yesterday's activities, first thing I did was drill the tuner holes.  Matt was happy with the compromise of strings bending at the nut to retain a more traditional headstock shape.  I always draw headstocks full-size and only when I physically have the tuners at hand!  Been there, done that!

 

I then started the treatment of the neck.  I will be using the Tru-oil slurry-and-buff method - fabulous for necks - but recently I've started using Danish Oil rather than Tru-oil (although I still use Tru-oil for the bodies).
Reason is that I've found that over extended playing, the tru-oil necks sometimes get a bit grain-furry where they are most regularly used.  All it needs is a quick rub down with some micro-web or similar to sort it, but I've found that decent Danish Oil applied in the same way gives the same organic silky smooth result, but appears - certainly on the ones I've done this way - to be just a touch longer lasting before you need to re-buff.
The main thing I have found with both, though, is that the wood needs to have absorbed a decent amount of oil before the slurry and buff starts.  I usually apply at least two generous coats of oil to soak in and fully dry first:


And this is how it is this morning, dry and ready for the slurry and buff process to begin - probably starting with 400 grit emery to be applying the Danish Oil with. This is broadly the colour it will now stay at:


Again, the light stripe of the maple veneer is subtle but really adds to the look of the fretboard join.  I think @Jabba_the_gut 's builds were the first ones I saw using such thin veneer for demarcation - my previous ones used to be much thicker - so a nod of thanks to letting me pilfer that little gem : 

I'm pleased with the heel - it is the great, great advantage of through-necks, particularly with slim bodies, in spite of some of the challenges of doing them.  Matt should find this very nice to play.  Oh - and even with the tuners fitted and no body hardware...it balances!  Phew!    

[Owen]

3 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

All it needs is a quick rub down with some micro-web or similar

My (!) builder taught me that the finest finishing abrasive is a sheet of clean paper and I have used that several times to smooth off stuff.

Check me out offering advice in the build forum!

[Pea Turgh]

I saw a program on the tellybox once where a cricket bat maker finished off the bats by rubbing them with a big old cow bone.

[SpondonBassed]

1 hour ago, owen said:

My (!) builder taught me that the finest finishing abrasive is a sheet of clean paper and I have used that several times to smooth off stuff.

Check me out offering advice in the build forum!

You're not wrong.

Plain white paper for your printer has china clay as one of the constituents.  It's a bit like jeweller's rouge.

[SpondonBassed]

59 minutes ago, Pea Turgh said:

I saw a program on the tellybox once where a cricket bat maker finished off the bats by rubbing them with a big old cow bone.

If you have an old cow handy that's fine but it's a little wasteful of livestock.  A whole packet of printer/copier paper is only a fiver...

Cricketers.  Cuh!  This is just not cricket.

[Maude]

Perfect for Steinberger basses then. 

[Andyjr1515]

3 hours ago, owen said:

My (!) builder taught me that the finest finishing abrasive is a sheet of clean paper and I have used that several times to smooth off stuff.

Check me out offering advice in the build forum!

Actually, great advice.  The rough side of brown packing paper is also fantastic as a slightly rougher 'flour paper'.