Worthless without Pics
Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 3:14 pm
First the bad news: my camera ate my homework. I had weeks of photos on my camera, including the entire process of restoring the Gibson ES125. Need I even continue? Well, I tried to continue the clown (cherry) burst all the way around, and cover over not only the BIG hole, but also the little holes on the top. I used Fender blonde (with amber on top) to mask the clear amber with an opaque amber--to hide the drill holes and chisels were, and then Dakota around the edge.
It might have worked,
had I separated each color with two coats of clear. That would make it possible to wet sand the spit edges of whichever color was on top without getting into the stuff underneath. Mixed together, they melted nicely, but I could not control the wet sand, and ended up exposing the clear amber (and beautiful cracks). Upon seeing the real amber, I decided the whole thing looked a bit like a Coney island ball toss or a tarted up madam. The blonde was believable, but stiff looking. So what the hell, I painted the front of it Chuck Berry red. It is almost spectacular.
I also drilled the Mandocaster for the neck and a string through bridge, and drilled the Gretsch Corvette TOM bridge. I couldn't find any reliable info on bit sizes, so I figured out how to determine them myself. I am no Robert, Cooterfinger, Zion, Aug, or DDDave, but I fucking drilled some straight up holes, and it feels like a superpower. I owe it all to many mistakes and having a drill press. OMG mahogany is a pleasure to work with. The holes are as crisp as factory. Once the torrential rain stops, I will be painting the Gibson clears, Corvette red, Mando Fiesta, and a few possible dark horse surprise guitars to be named later. If Malik's legendary Teleguar ever arrives, we can break out teh ORANGE!
I will post new aftermath pics as soon as I can get some--maybe tonight.
It might have worked,
had I separated each color with two coats of clear. That would make it possible to wet sand the spit edges of whichever color was on top without getting into the stuff underneath. Mixed together, they melted nicely, but I could not control the wet sand, and ended up exposing the clear amber (and beautiful cracks). Upon seeing the real amber, I decided the whole thing looked a bit like a Coney island ball toss or a tarted up madam. The blonde was believable, but stiff looking. So what the hell, I painted the front of it Chuck Berry red. It is almost spectacular.
I also drilled the Mandocaster for the neck and a string through bridge, and drilled the Gretsch Corvette TOM bridge. I couldn't find any reliable info on bit sizes, so I figured out how to determine them myself. I am no Robert, Cooterfinger, Zion, Aug, or DDDave, but I fucking drilled some straight up holes, and it feels like a superpower. I owe it all to many mistakes and having a drill press. OMG mahogany is a pleasure to work with. The holes are as crisp as factory. Once the torrential rain stops, I will be painting the Gibson clears, Corvette red, Mando Fiesta, and a few possible dark horse surprise guitars to be named later. If Malik's legendary Teleguar ever arrives, we can break out teh ORANGE!
I will post new aftermath pics as soon as I can get some--maybe tonight.