Star Swirl *** 1st build

ludobag
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Re: Star Swirl *** 1st build

Postby ludobag » Fri Nov 07, 2014 1:10 pm

looks really good ;)

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Re: Star Swirl *** 1st build

Postby reverserite » Fri Nov 07, 2014 1:48 pm

I love sparkle finishes, and your "Deep Night Stardust Sparkle" finish I see here on the neck is simply remarkable...

A+!

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cmiller0034
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Re: Star Swirl *** 1st build

Postby cmiller0034 » Fri Nov 07, 2014 9:14 pm

I like my Reverb Drippy, but not my Paint!


Thanks everyone for the positive comments. And yes, it does look like the Hubble photos a bit, that's what I was going for anyway. Space is just so... Spacey it always looks cool. :)


Painting on the body is ongoing. Urethane finish was used for the top coat instead of the Dye. I happened to have an unused quart of Boulevard black on hand from an unfinished Carbon fiber hood project. There was a lot of clogging with the thick Clear coat for the neck so I used some reducer in the mix this time around. NOW I HAVE THE OPPOSITE PROBLEM. Man this stuff is runny and causing me alot of grief. Its probably doesn't help that the body is suspended instead of on a stick where I can turn it and keep the clear from building up. Here are some pics.


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This stuff is great. Its from the Northern nation of Canada where Maple Syrup flows like wine. I got it from a nice older guy at a paint and bodyshop supply store, who builds and paints his own guitars. He was really helpful and gave me lots of suggestions. Mike had pics of tons of his project to show me when I came into the store. Talk to Mike Gordon at Smart shoppers if you are ever in the Louisville area and need paint.

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My trusty Paint blasting weapon of choice for a few years

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Helps knock the chill out of the are and creates a comfortable environment for my baby to hatch

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Urethane is a messy business and I spend most of the time in Prep or cleaning my gun after each use. But is is tough.

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Always wear protection while dealing with harmful chemicals kids.

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Ehhhhhgghh! Rubbery clumps, runs and horrible orange peel.

I like my Reverb Drippy, but not my Paint!

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Sand Sand Sand

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My Guitar Gently Weeps :cry:

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I dug too greedily and too deep and this is the disaster that I reaped

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That's as deep and flat as I was willing to go. Didn't want to go through he topcoat the way I did through the bottom of the guitar.

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This is how I repaired the mistakes, we will see how it looks when the paint is dry Sunday

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Ooooh. This is going to look Very Cool 8-)

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Apparently permanent marker run when exposed to wet urethane... wish I could have made a waterslide label. Everyone I know are too cheap to replace cartriages in their inkjets and I tossed mine a while back in favor of a laser printer. It fires Hot Lazzzzzors! Not really, but it will melt waterslide paper.

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I reduced the reducer used by half to eliminate the runs. Well it still was quite runny even with light coats. :roll: It was'nt as bad as before and I tried to dab the runs at the bottom so the wouldn't tun into a semi hardened mess. I guess painting just isn't my strong suit.

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It does not take long for this paint to dry but I'm giving it two days to set before I wet sand it and see how it looks. In the meantime those frets need leveling, crowning and polishing.

Stay tuned.
"If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."- a wise man

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cmiller0034
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Re: Star Swirl *** 1st build

Postby cmiller0034 » Tue Nov 11, 2014 9:09 am

I HATE THIEVES!

If you have been following my posts you know my Garage was broken into by some stupid thief. They made off with a bike a mallet and various things I guess they grabbed on their way out. Well now that its time to finish up my guitar, I went looking for my double sided diamond fret crowning file and its no where to be found. I have torn the garage apart and my room and its missing along with the three sided file I ground the edges off for fretwork. The last time I saw them they were sticking to a magnet I keep above my workbench in the Garage. I guess the thief made off with those too. :evil:

The eBay seller I purchased the double sided diamond file from ($25 a good price) seems to no longer sell them and I'm up a creek without a diamond file. I cant recrown hardened stainless steel frets with a regular file! What is that guy going to do with a diamond crowning file anyway? Thieves suck, stupid thieves even more so.

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"If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."- a wise man

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cmiller0034
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Re: Star Swirl *** 1st build

Postby cmiller0034 » Thu Nov 13, 2014 1:41 pm

Frets Must Wait


Replacement for my fret crowing file will take a month to get here. I decided to try one of the Japanese LittleBone 400grit all in one fret files. I hope is works ok, Probably wont work as well as my other fret file but it was 22 bucks, and StewMac is charging around $80 :roll:




Might as well do the wiring while I'm waiting.

took a few shots of my Bro in Law's "Studio" when I was showing him how far along I was on the project.

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Cousin being goofy on a track. Pretty nice recording space actually for a converted guest room.
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Wiring the Ground on the Bridge. I decided to drill another hole specifically for that wire to the control cavity.
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I always Shield my Guitars
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the white ground wire and new route. I just used black leather dye to color the already painted body.
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These knobs compliment the paint quite nicely I think.
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"If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."- a wise man

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cmiller0034
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Re: Star Swirl *** 1st build

Postby cmiller0034 » Sat Nov 15, 2014 3:48 am

Wiring and Pup tests


I have been messing around with the wiring while I wait for my Fret crowning file to arrive from the Land of the rising sun.

Trying to go by the Schematics on the forums :? and making a few Modifications here and there for my own purposes.

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With this setup I can change Capacitors with ease. Test out different tones. I use these sockets whenever possible.
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A half baked Pickup loosely installed just to test the wiring
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Alligator clip nest
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I forgot to put the magnets on the Pickup in the first test and the output was really low :lol: After puting the Mags on, North poles facing the screws this thing came to life. Keep in mind there are only 5 strings on the Guitar and I did'nt bother to tune it for the test.

(please excuse my messy room)




I personally think is has a more Fender like sound than Mosrite. I dont know. :o I have other pups to test. This thing is half way finished so its still all up in the air. Hopefully I can repicate the sound I'm looking for.


What do you guys think? :?:
"If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."- a wise man

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panther
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Re: Star Swirl *** 1st build

Postby panther » Sat Nov 15, 2014 12:30 pm

I love it. I suspended work on my Mosrite when I ran into the break angle issue with the strings. It appears yours is exactly what I ran into. My plays great, but I just wanted to correct that issue before the final finish stage on mine. But it appears I can now proceed. I had considered adding a small rod between the tailpiece and the saddle to run the strings under, to obtain more wrap around for the strings at the saddle. The only drawback is losing originality. I hand made my Tremolo, and thought possibly I had made an error somewhere. But I guess not.
In the attached photos is the Tremolo I made. It isn't final grind and polish yet, I wanted to make sure it was right.

Dan

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"The More People I Meet, The More I Miss My Dog"

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cmiller0034
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Re: Star Swirl *** 1st build

Postby cmiller0034 » Sat Nov 15, 2014 1:02 pm

[quote="panther"]I love it. I suspended work on my Mosrite when I ran into the break angle issue with the strings. It appears yours is exactly what I ran into. My plays great, but I just wanted to correct that issue before the final finish stage on mine. But it appears I can now proceed. I had considered adding a small rod between the tailpiece and the saddle to run the strings under, to obtain more wrap around for the strings at the saddle. The only drawback is losing originality. I hand made my Tremolo, and thought possibly I had made an error somewhere. But I guess not.
In the attached photos is the Tremolo I made. It isn't final grind and polish yet, I wanted to make sure it was right.

Dan

I look forward to seeing your Guitar in action Dan :) I increased the angle of the heel and moved the bridge back a few MM to get the strings where I wanted them.
Right now I'm really wanting the be able to make my own Pickup Covers. I'm not satisfied with the tone I'm getting out the Pups I have made and want to continue tweaking the design. Problem is the price on these covers and rings have gone up dramatically for some reason. I only have a few to play with so Im looking into somehow making my own.

I dont know how to make molds but I have a bunch of Polyurathane plastic from a car body kit and I want to use that stuff to make covers. Wonder if its possible to do at home. Thought I read a forum somewhere that someone made their own covers years ago.

How did you build that trem? Because it looks awesome! I would love to learn to build and know nothing about metalwork. Could you make a quick rundown or ever better a long rundown of how you made it? :D
"If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."- a wise man

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panther
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Re: Star Swirl *** 1st build

Postby panther » Sat Nov 15, 2014 6:44 pm

I used to make clear plastic dial covers for vintage radios. I built the equipment my self, using the old Mattel Vac-U-Form idea. Google vacuum molds. You can buy them, but like me, I think the simplicity is well withing your reach. The sheets are readily available also.
BTW, the body of my Mosrite, is entirely resin. I made the mold then poured in resin with a Urethane foam interior. Still a bit heavy, but next time, I'll make it better.
Below, is a link to my build.

Dan

viewtopic.php?t=4264
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cmiller0034
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Re: Star Swirl *** 1st build

Postby cmiller0034 » Sat Nov 15, 2014 11:35 pm

panther wrote:I used to make clear plastic dial covers for vintage radios. I built the equipment my self, using the old Mattel Vac-U-Form idea. Google vacuum molds. You can buy them, but like me, I think the simplicity is well withing your reach. The sheets are readily available also.
BTW, the body of my Mosrite, is entirely resin. I made the mold then poured in resin with a Urethane foam interior. Still a bit heavy, but next time, I'll make it better.
Below, is a link to my build.

Dan

viewtopic.php?t=4264



Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. Vacuum molds :geek: I got some research to do then. That Guitar body is Resin? I was just in Hobby Lobby this afternoon looking at the resin mold equipment and seems a little impractical and expensive. Guess I was wrong! I'm not really even sure what resin is, or if you can make pickup covers out of it. That build of yours is prolific, its going to take me a while to read through it. :lol:

Thanks again Dan
"If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy."- a wise man


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