The
finishing process:
I
followed Carvin forum member Guit Fiddle's advice, and raised
the grain after sanding the body. This is done by wiping the
wood with a damp cloth and letting it dry. This caused the
grain to pop out, after which I sanded it off. Apparently
this makes things easier later, because then you don't have
to deal with the grain popping out as you apply the stain
or oil.
The
wet body - dayum, that's some nice grain thar!
(Friday,
8/29/03) I 've started the finishing process! So far,
the neck has been oiled and the body has one rather heavy
coat of purple Woodburst
wood stain, mixed with a little tung oil and turpentine (also
recommended by Guit Fiddle - thanks!) It is splotchy right
now, because swamp ash can absorb stain unevenly. I plan to
sand some off to enhance the grain, and possibly re-stain
to darken it. Either way, the grain will show through the
stain, and I will build up several coats of tung oil over
it. I'm loving the color so far! I like purple.
Headstock
Stained
body hanging out with neck
I
couldn't resist getting a preview...
(Saturday,
8/30/03) I ended up sanding off as much color as possible,
to leave the grain dark and lovely and ready for the tung
oil.
After
a whole lotta sanding
With
the pickguard, just to see...
Then
I put on the first coat of pure tung oil, tinted with a little
of my purple stain mixture. As I build up the coats of tinted
oil, it should turn into a nice berry stain, or as Pete says,
"it looks like you rubbed blackberry juice all over it."
It's not going to look exactly like the thick, rich purple
pictured above - I think the oil will add some yellowish color
to it, giving it a weathered look.
First
coat of oil
(Sunday,
8/31/03, morning) I added more color for the second coat,
to make it darker. It's still not as purple as I'd hoped,
so on the third coat I'm going to add a bunch more color and
see what happens.
Second
coat (a little blurry due to the fan blowing and making
it swing ever so slightly, I took this without a flash because
the natural light better represents the color)
My
super-high-tech guitar drying system, for those who are wondering,
consists of a 3-guitar stand and some coat hangers. I put
some bubble wrap from the packaging underneath for protection
in the unlikely event that the body should fall (you never
know when an earthquake will strike!) I also have a fan blowing
nearby, to assist in drying and general air circulation because
this stuff is pretty smelly and toxic. Although the pure tung
oil by itself smells rather nice, like nuts. It does come
from a nut after all. I wonder if it's good for cooking? Anyway,
yes, this is in my living room next to the piano and some
drum gear.
Drying
system
(Sunday,
8/31/03, late evening) Here's the 3rd coat. Looks mostly
the same, it's getting a bit darker in color. Next time I'm
going to try for even more color.
Third
coat
(Monday,
9/1/03) Now we're talking! Here's the 4th coat, this
time I went back to my almost pure color mixture, with a little
tung oil and turpentine. I let it sit to soak in for 8-9 minutes,
then wiped off the excess. This is getting closer to what
I want. After 24 hours I'll give it more.
Fourth
coat, adding color only
(Tuesday,
9/2/03, afternoon) This may be the last coat of color,
I think it might be just about where I want it. I really loaded
it on this time. I'll let it dry for 24 hours and see how
I like it. If I do, then I'll start loading on the pure tung
oil.
Fifth
coat, adding color only
(Wednesday,
9/3/03, late evening) I let the color dry for a good
36 hours. Now it's time for some pure tung oil! I ran over
the whole body very lightly with a little steel wool to smooth
things out. At this point, if I'm not careful the color will
scrape off. Hopefully this won't happen once there's a good
build up of tung oil to seal it all in.
First
coat of pure tung oil, drying
(Thursday,
9/4/03) Next day it's dry and flat, here's the second
coat of just oil. I'm hoping to get it to a somewhat glossy
state.
Second
coat, as it soaks in and before wiping the excess
Closeup
of the grain while wet with oil
Hanging
to dry
(Saturday,
9/6/03) Now you're bound to think I'm nuts. Must be all
the nutty tung oil. I was going to let it dry for a few days
and then put on several coats of wipe-on polyurethane for
a good hard semi-glossy finish. But I just wasn't happy with
how the sides of the body looked, so I got crazy with the
steel wool, then started with the sand paper until I got much
of the color off the sides.
After
sanding most of the color off the sides
And
the bottom
(Sunday,
9/7 and Monday 9/8) Then I began restaining all around.
The only thing I'm worried about is the edge at the bottom
of the front of the body, where I took a little too much off
and left some bare patches. I think the grain being so close
together in that area made it soak up a lot of stain, and
it's very different from the rest of the body. Hopefully with
a little more color applied it will blend in. I also gave
another very thin coat all over the body. I may have to live
with a little patchiness. That's ok, because I know how much
love went into it! Me and this guitar... we're going to be
good friends.
After
two coats of stain
In
another development, I have a switch on order from Carvin
that I need to wire up to the pickguard. It's an on/off switch
for the bridge pickup. Right now, it just has a coil splitter
switch. By adding the on/off, I can use it and the 5-way pickup
selector to combine any or all pickups. Gonna have to get
out that soldering gun after all!
(Saturday,
9/13/03 2am & 10am) Finally, a few minutes to start
the polyurethane process! I had some unexpected busy-ness,
so I didn't have a chance to get going on this. Not a bad
thing, since it gave the guitar plenty of time to become fully
dry. I got Minwax Wipe-on Poly (in clear gloss). I did one
last brush up with steel wool and removed all the dust. Then
I, well, wiped the stuff on. It's that easy! After two coats,
it's already looking shinier.
The
first coat, dry the next morning
Second
coat as it dries
(Sunday,
9/14/03) After a few more coats of poly I think I'm done
with this body. I've put on a total of 6 coats and it's developed
a nice gloss. It's not like glass or anything, but it's nice
especially on the sides. Since there is still some grain that
isn't filled, the front and back are not perfectly glassy
but rather shiny. I like it.
After
the 4th coat, dry
Here
it is with the pickguard after 6 coats
I
wanted to put something on the headstock but hadn't decided
what until just last night. My mom, who passed away last year,
was a calligraphy artist. My dad brought part of her collection
of rubber stamps to me when he visited me this summer. I found
some Chinese writing, and chose the characters for Love, Harmony,
and Forgiveness. These are some concepts that I have found
to be personally relavant in my life lately. First I stamped
directly onto the headstock with some purple ink, then I realized
it's probably water based and the poly would just wipe it
away. I wanted to coat it to protect it from rubbing off.
Besides, it was a bit too light. So I used a black sharpie
to fill it in, and now I think it looks great! I managed to
do all this and make it to two different rehearsals today.
Purple
Chinese writing
Black
Chinese writing
And
now with the neck!
(Monday,
9/15/03) She's done! I had time to do the assembly today,
and finished just in time for rehearsal in the evening. It
looks fabulous, plays great after taking the time set up the
tremolo and neck, sounds fantastic through my amp. With all
the pickup combinations I have a very versatile guitar.
The
first thing to be done was to wire a second switch to the
pickguard. The one it already had installed was set up as
a coil splitter for the bridge humbucker. I added an on/off
for the bridge pickup so I can combine it with the neck pickup
or even have all three pickups on at once. Pete did the handiwork
with the soldering gun. And figuring out how exactly to wire
it in. Thank you dear husband!
The
two switches
Then
I began the assembly. First I put on the strap buttons, then
put the foil lining into the control cavity. Next I screwed
in the jack plate. After that was "gently pounding"
in the studs for the trem.
Putting
in the jack plate
The
tremolo claw, this holds the springs for the trem
Installing
the pre-wired pickguard is really easy. You just put the proper
wires together and twist them using a wire nut. No soldering
necessary!
Twisting
the wires
Putting
the guard in place
Putting
tuners on the headstock
No
picture of me putting the neck on, but that's easy. And she's
done!
Finished
body
The
whole guitar on the bench
Headstock
Frets
In
setting it up, it can be tricky getting everything just so
while the neck is still settling in. Originally I had the
overall height of the trem too low (I misread the measurement
in the instructions), and it took some time to balance everything
out between the neck bow, the trem height, and the springs.
Eventually I got it just right. But I did have trouble with
one fret on the high E, which I finally figured out was just
that one fret
not sitting all the way down. I tried tapping it down, but
it didn't go. I will need to take it to a tech and he should
be able to get it fixed up in a minute or two.
The
high fret
Here
I am testing it out with my amp
Happy
with my purple guitar!
And
that concludes this story. Thanks to everyone who followed
along! It took a little longer than I expected, but it was
well worth the wait. What a fun project! I recommend the Carvin
kit to anyone who wants to learn about setting up a guitar
or bass. It's very easy to do, and you really only need a
few simple finishing supplies, and regular tools you probably
already have around the house. Thanks to the people at Carvin
for the excellent service too!
I
will play this guitar at tonight's gig (Tuesday 9/16/03) and
it may show up on video in the future. I'll link to it from
here if it does, so you can hear the guitar in action.
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