Finished my Baja Tele - (Video pg13)

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 6:48 pm

Home Depot only had up to 600 sandpaper. I went to AutoZone and they had 1000 sandpaper. I will give those a try tonight and do my final sanding and touchups.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 4:41 am

I think I finished painting tonight. The overall paint job is not quite as translucent as I might have liked, but you can still see the grain and it looks good. I hope to clear coat tomorrow.

I also got the Fender Tele Decal from Cooterfinger today. Thanks for sending it to me. I hope to stick and clear coat it tomorrow as well.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 4:43 am

Do any of you shortscalers who have Baja Teles ever shield the body?

I have shielding paint but wanted to know if I really need to or if it helped?

serfx · Post by **serfx** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 5:12 am

shielding always helps. always.

*note: i do not have a baja tele

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Fri Jul 16, 2010 4:35 am

I finished painting. Unfortunately, I will be out of town for the next 3 days so the clear coat will have to wait. But I thought I would leave you with a teaser. Fiesta Red and Daphne Blue is such a sexy pairing. My current and next project guitars.

Phil O'Keefe · Post by **Phil O'Keefe** » Sat Jul 17, 2010 7:26 pm

Sexy pairing indeed!

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 2:27 am

I was about to clearcoat the body, but i found two spots I missed, so I had to paint them.

I tried applying the waterslide decal on the headstock and it tore into 2 pieces. I got it lined back up and I am waiting for it to dry. Hopefully I didn't ruin it. The joy of noob guitar building.

This is officially my 1000th post on Shortscale. Hopefully many thousands more to come.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 5:55 am

3 coats of Nitro clear applied. Going to need more for sure. I am going to wait until tomorrow to clear the decal just to be sure. I got it to lay smoother after it dried a bit. I definitely learned about waterslide decals and how not to apply them. The end result looks great so no worries.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 5:48 am

Good news is I misted the Fender decal and it looks fantastic. No runs or decal problems. Bad news is I put another 3 coats of nitro clear on the body and I don't think I will have enough to finish. Letting the grain show through requires more clear coats and I might have enough left for 1 or 2 coats left. Let's hope it's enough or I will have to order more.

Post by **Mike** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 9:25 am

Refinishing can try the patience, but keep at it, it'll be worth it I'm sure.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 1:28 pm

Mike wrote:Refinishing can try the patience, but keep at it, it'll be worth it I'm sure.

Thanks. I recently refinished a table for my kids, so at least have some idea how long a process clear coating can be.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 5:19 am

I had enough clear nitro for 3 more body coats(9 total) and now I have to order more. I was able to finish spraying the decal on the headstock. Looks mint. Thanks again to Cooterfinger for the free decal. It's the correct decal for a Baja telecaster. Luckily for me I live right next to where Guitar ReRanch is located so I will call and see if I can pickup another can tomorrow.
Before Nitro

After nitro

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 6:12 am

Decal looks great! The whole finish is coming along nicely, keep at it.

Gabriel · Post by **Gabriel** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 9:51 am

That looks great, I can't wait to see how its going to look when its finished!

cooter · Post by **cooter** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 12:19 pm

Decal turned out great. Glad you could use it. Nice job.

George · Post by **George** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 12:26 pm

Wonderful. If you left the nitro with 3 coats would there be any benefit to it aging sooner, or would it crumble too quickly like a leper?

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 12:37 pm

GeorgeF wrote:Wonderful. If you left the nitro with 3 coats would there be any benefit to it aging sooner, or would it crumble too quickly like a leper?

I have done a total of 9 coats of nitro on the body. It needs more because the translucent parts of the body are covered enough to be glossy. Less paint takes more gloss. It would be unfinished it I stopped now.

George · Post by **George** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 12:38 pm

Oh sorry, miread the post

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 7:14 pm

I am waiting for two more cans of clear nitro to come in so I thought I would lay some of the parts back on just to see how it looks. Looks totally hot.

Since I am in a holding pattern for the moment, I thought I would go ahead and install the Gotoh locking tuners and the new nut. My understanding of the new nut install is its simply a glue in procedure followed by some reaming of the string grooves. My nut I bought has a square in the middle of the underside. Am I supposed to sand that off? I assumed it shouldn't be there but I am not sure.

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 7:22 pm

Those pre-slotted nuts wont be cut thick enough, they're only "pre" slotted. A well cut nut is probably the most important factor on the guitar's playability and tuning in my opinion. It'll have to have the right height to clear the first fret but not feel like its set up for slide. If you don't have proper files i'd recommend having it set up by a luthier or get yourself the right tools and practice.

Finished my Baja Tele - (Video pg13)

Which guitar should I NOT build out of Ash?