Two projects: Prehistoric Mustang/Petrified Jagmaster

Post by **Mike** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 10:01 am

That skin turns my stomach. Do not want.

Narco Martenot · Post by **Narco Martenot** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 7:02 pm

Haha.

Narco Martenot · Post by **Narco Martenot** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 8:07 pm

I just finished the strap, which consists of a worsted wool and emu skin outter, with a silk lining. I did it in the style of a shooting jacket:

The neck is almost complete. I will probably add some colour here and there, but it is complete for the most part.

This is the final copper/ostrich mockup before I make final adjustments:

I need to figure out how I am going to copper plate all of the hardware -- there are so many screws!

Does anyone have any tips for electroplating?

Mr.Ripley · Post by **Mr.Ripley** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 8:22 pm

That neck is absolutely amazing

Do you have any photos of the process you use to create that effect?

TideBleach · Post by **TideBleach** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 8:33 pm

Mike wrote:That skin turns my stomach. Do not want.

pretty neat though

Narco Martenot · Post by **Narco Martenot** » Wed Jan 14, 2009 10:15 pm

Mr.Ripley wrote:That neck is absolutely amazing Do you have any photos of the process you use to create that effect?

Thanks.

I have video footage: http://www.youtube.com/user/dannynanner

The most recent videos are of myself doing miscellaneous work to this guitar.

Basically, it involves a lot of knife work. I use acrylic paint, but when doing this, I paint as if I am using oil paints. If you have ever watched Bob Ross paint, it involves a lot of the same technique that he used to create mountains and snow effects.

For me, it is usually like this: bare wood --> stain wood with very thin acrylic paint --> paint strokes --> thick coat of clear (or several) --> scratch/add more paint/whatever --> clear --> repeat until you are happy with it.

It's never exactly in those same steps, but I think you get the point.

The main focus should be depth. It needs to have depth, so expect to give it about 20 or more coats of clear with paint in between a lot of those coats.

Narco Martenot · Post by **Narco Martenot** » Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:23 pm

Copper plating the bridge:

Mr.Ripley · Post by **Mr.Ripley** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 1:06 am

Wow thatâ€™s a really interesting process! It's pretty amazing to see someone put some much love and effort into their guitar. The vids were pretty cool to in their own kind of way. Are you an art student or practicing artist or is this some kind of hobby cause your really good at it.

oh yah +1 for gilmor girls intro in the first video

Narco Martenot · Post by **Narco Martenot** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 3:57 am

Thanks. And no, I am not an art student -- I never went to art school. All of my videos are just recordings of my everyday life, and the way I see and think things should be.

Reece · Post by **Reece** » Sat Jan 17, 2009 4:05 am

Mike wrote:That skin turns my stomach. Do not want.

+1, I'm not sure why but it really makes me queasy.

Maybe it's a sign I should become pescetarian or something.

Narco Martenot · Post by **Narco Martenot** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 3:10 pm

I have decided to make the top copper plate work as a proximity control to kill the sound when it is touched. The guitar will also have a booster of some sort -- i am not sure which circuit I want to use yet, though.

Mo Law-ka · Post by **Mo Law-ka** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 3:43 pm

this project is really ambitious!

i like it a lot; its certainly not something anyone will see more than once.

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 10:45 pm

i agree with mo, its not something that i would seak out personally nor want in my collection but it is very cool and inovative.

luke · Post by **luke** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 11:02 pm

In many ways it's beautiful, in many ways it's disgusting, but this is one of the most fascinating projects I've seen. The paint job is immense, I look forward to seeing the end product.

Narco Martenot · Post by **Narco Martenot** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 12:51 am

Not much has been done to this within the past week or so, but I was able to take some decent photos today. I am still applying coats of clear, and finishing up the copper leaf logo on the headstock; and then all that is left is to figure out all of the electronic details. I have a bunch of other projects going on as well (new pedal board involving 114 poppy flowers and many yards of ostrich embossed cowhide...), so this might not be completed for another few months.

Narco Martenot · Post by **Narco Martenot** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 2:52 am

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 2:58 am

Amazing work. This is one of the most interesting projects I've seen. I LOVE it.

bamonte · Post by **bamonte** » Fri Feb 06, 2009 6:41 am

Crazzzy project, never seen a pickguard like that ever but nice work. Very interesting stuff.

Narco Martenot · Post by **Narco Martenot** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 2:05 am

After the final coat of clear and polishing:

This was extremely tricky -- I had to apply the copper leaf adhesive with a needle because it's so small -- it looks much better in person to the human eye, I think. Then again, I am legally blind, so maybe it doesn't! haha.

Now I am waiting to order the electronics, and waiting for some copper rod to arrive to make inlays out of it.

Also, I started working on the pedals that I intend to keep for my new pedal board, which I am basically starting from scratch. I have decided against buying a bunch of single pedals and opted to go for a Line 6 M13 -- I had no idea such a thing existed until the other day (I have not kept up with new gear in several years). The M13 seems like a no brainer when considering I had intended on spending $500+ on modulations and time effects. Have no fear, the M13 will receive a special paint job as well.

matocaster · Post by **matocaster** » Wed Feb 18, 2009 3:28 am

Narco Martenot wrote:What do you think of the GFS Lil Killer? The "hot" model has a 15k output.

All of their pickups are priced very low, which seems very questionable to me; but it would be great if these were actually nice.

I have the "Modern 10k lil' killers" in a few of my guitars, I have to admit they are simply the best money I have ever spent on pickups hands down. I was blown away as I am a boutique hand wound pickup snob (i'm willing to admit it) but I had Duncan jb jr's and duncan little 59's in them before $75 each and these blew those away at just $25 trust me you cant go wrong, but imo the modern 10k has better tone.