Musicmaster project - COMPLETE!

Zack · Post by **Zack** » Tue Nov 22, 2011 9:24 pm

Those finishes looks great, nice work.

Thom · Post by **Thom** » Tue Nov 22, 2011 9:27 pm

Looking very tasty, even though you went with the green over blue

Neck looks very nice indeed.

othomas2 · Post by **othomas2** » Wed Nov 23, 2011 1:24 am

Very nice sir.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Wed Nov 23, 2011 2:08 am

Nice job. Love the green. Can't wait to see the finished product. I am glad you were patient and stuck with it. It looks killer.

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 1:46 am

How do I get rid of these swirl scratches? I'm using the highest grade polish compound the auto store sells, and I cannot get rid of these. I have been polishing with a medium grade polish first, then the lightest. The marks have to be from the medium grade compound as they are swirl marks in the pattern that I polish. I am so frustrated with getting rid of these. Do I have to wax this thing or something?

The weird lines are reflections of the ductwork in my basement, disregard those. The swirling scratches I cannot remove, though. WTF, halp?

Joey · Post by **Joey** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 3:11 am

You may have to start over, start with a more aggressive rubbing compound... then medium... light... and finish it off with a swirl remover. If you are buffing by hand, it's really almost impossible to get it perfect. You really need a buffer. I have used pneumatic buffers hooked up to my compressor. But it's difficult to get the sides of the guitar with those type of buffers. Pedestal buffers are the best, but can run you around $250 - $500 for a decent set up.

StewMac sells "swirl remover", try it first... or check local auto shops and see what they have.

Are you doing this all by hand?

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I've used these in the past from Stewmac. I've seen them in auto shops also. $11 - $16 a piece. I've used them in my drill press, I adjust the pulley belt to slow down the drill press speed. High rpm, and the weight of the compound will instantly shred the foam. Or use it in a hand held drill.

I've been dreamin of a set up like this. 1725 rpm motor, with pulleys that step the speed down to 730 rpm... suppose to be the best speed to buff lacquer. But $500! You can build your own with your own motor, pulleys & housing. But I would use the StewMac arbors, since they are the longest one I've been able to find. You don't want a buffer with short arbors, it's to easy for the guitar to get thrown into the housing.

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 5:59 am

Meh. Yeah, I am doing this all by hand. I finally just said fuck it, got it as close as possible, then started cleaning out the screw holes and such.

Turned out, the finish came out in splinters much like taylor had happen with his neck.

I pressed on, I had gotten a touch up pen of the color I painted it, and just dabbed some touch up paint on the bits that showed.

This guitar isn't perfect, and I think at this point if I try to get it perfect while lacking the proper equipment to do so, it's never going to be. I'm moving on to the assembly.

I had to sand out the neck pocket a bit as the build up of paint and finish in there was making the neck not sit in the pocket. Once I got it in there, I marked the spots for the bolt holes, and drilled those out. Got the neck bolted on to the body now. Got the bridge and guard and control plate all on there now.

The only spot that really bothers me is the string through ferrules. When cleaning out the holes to get the ferrules in there, chunks of the surrounding finish came off also. I dabbed touch up on the spots but it looks rough, and the ferrules aren't all sitting flush in there right now. At some point I'm going to go back and redo that area, but for now I just want to get this thing playable.

Stripped another damn screw for the tuner pegs. I hate those stupid little screws. Luckily I'd bought a whole extra set of them the other day at the guitar shop. I'm gonna try to have this bitch together by end of the week. I can go back later and fix those little issues when I have the time.

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 7:28 am

Dammit. What is wrong with me?

I went back and popped out the ferrules for the bridge, sanded the rough around the holes, sprayed more clear. The holes are a bit wonky, but oh well. I want it to at least look kinda decent.

Polished the headstock and finished the neck by getting the tuners installed. Just needs a nut and I just realized, a string tee. I think I have a spare roller tee around I can install.

Mages · Post by **Mages** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 7:32 am

yeah, I have no idea how to get the string ferrule holes looking all clean and nice either. I had trouble with that on my tele. how do people do that?

Johnny Noir · Post by **Johnny Noir** » Mon Dec 05, 2011 7:57 am

awesome work, can't wait to see it finished

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Tue Dec 06, 2011 4:57 am

Yeah. I couldn't wait to see it finished either. So I spent all evening putting it together.

► Show Spoiler

I shielded the pickup cavity with copper tape, ran a line of it up under the bridge, then ran a bare wire through the wire hole over to the control plate, more copper tape up over the body so it contacts the control plate itself. It's not wired just yet, need to finish that. Borrowed a 500k pot from my SuperSonic that I wasn't using since I took out the neck pup on that. I still need to go buy strapbuttons, more pickguard screws, and that's really about it. I need to cut a nut for it now, and finish wiring, and it'll be set to go.

Yeah, it might not be perfect. you can see a few of the string through ferrules on the back are a slight bit off. But it's pretty damn close at this point. I want to play the fucking thing already.

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Tue Dec 06, 2011 5:21 am

Lookin good!

String ferrules are trickier than I figured, I messed them up pretty bad on a tele body.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Tue Dec 06, 2011 5:44 am

Looks really hot. You've done a great job. I had ferrule troubles on my Tele as well. Just do your best and if you are happy, that's all that matters.

It feels so good when the project is done and the rockin' commences.

serfx · Post by **serfx** » Tue Dec 06, 2011 5:49 am

looks really nice, what's the toggle switch do? tone cut? coil split?

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Tue Dec 06, 2011 6:04 am

Switch is gonna do series/parallel for the bucker. Much like a coil tap, but should be closer to an actual single coil in resistance and still hum-cancelling.

I'm happy with the ferrules. Maybe at some point when I make my next dream guitar, I'll take this one back apart and redo the ferrules and shit. But for now, I just wanna finish the nut, wire it, and play it.

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » Tue Dec 06, 2011 5:49 pm

Looks great man. I feel your pain with the ferrules, mines are totally wonky. I gots no drill press and no patience!!

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Tue Dec 06, 2011 6:18 pm

I missed your swirl probs... have you used a final finishing compound like 3M swirl remover? Everything I've ever read on doing glossy guitar finishes by hand suggests it for the final step.

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Tue Dec 06, 2011 6:21 pm

paul_ wrote:I missed your swirl probs... have you used a final finishing compound like 3M swirl remover? Everything I've ever read on doing glossy guitar finishes by hand suggests it for the final step.

No, but this might be exactly what I need! Thanks!

Pens · Post by **Pens** » Tue Dec 06, 2011 6:23 pm

I just noticed that the neck looks a lot blonder than it is IRL. It's really a lot more tinted than it appears in them photos.

taylornutt · Post by **taylornutt** » Tue Dec 06, 2011 6:32 pm

Pens wrote:I just noticed that the neck looks a lot blonder than it is IRL. It's really a lot more tinted than it appears in them photos.

This picture shows the color pretty well

I had the same situation with my neck. I ended up making it so dark in the end it was pretty noticeable.

Before

After