C18 Q1 Cabronita Mustang - Cooderstang! Progress!

paulnb57

victorludorum said:

It looks good mate. The only thing that bothers me is the scratchplate/control plate combo. If it was me i would cut that scratch plate down a bit, remove the control plate and go for the traditional double knob cab look.

I get what you suggest and thought long and hard about the look I wanted to achieve, eventually deciding to go with the control plate as it is such an integral part of the Mustang vibe....

TTony

I'm not watching.


Just in case that body gets hidden under layers of paint

paulnb57

TTony said:

I'm not watching.


Just in case that body gets hidden under layers of paint

Like the control plate, much thought went into the planning of this, to the dismay of some, paint will happen, no sealer or primer though so it will sink into the grain....

In other news, Ms nb57 leaves for work in an hour, so the pillar drill will make an indoor, stealth appearance and luckily the Forstner bits just dropped through the letterbox.......winner!

I can see the first coat of paint going on tomorrow, as long as it's dry and the wind drops.....

rexter

paulnb57 said:

I think you are the only other person watching this!
The standard screws were too short when I did the Bridge mod to the Orange Mustang, so I ordered longer screws, lots of them!
With the amount of adjustment available on this build, I could probably use a Standard 24" scale neck if I dont like the 25.5"......

Hey Paul, this looks like it will be great! A unique take on the Mustang for sure. There are enough natural guitars in the world so I think paint is indeed a good plan! Looking forward to following the build.

Our worlds seem to be overlapping at the moment... I've recently resurrected my old DuoSonic with the vintage bridge I offered up to you a month or so back and the saddles that came from the Bigsby tele bridge I posted to you yesterday!

Had the same debate about bridge placement and using a 25.5" scale neck and came to the same conclusion - there's enough adjustment space to go back to a 24" neck if desired. Got a fat Allparts strat neck on there now and loving it. I also thought about using a rosewood neck and painting the headstock in Seafoam green to match which would have been yet another parallel! 

paulnb57

@rexter, it looks great!

rexter

Cheers Paul! Was too lazy to fill the Bigsby holes on the front of the body. Maybe one day I'll refinish it and do that but it's a real mongrel so I can live with it as a player.

WezV

looks good.

the only think I would change is the straight edge on the scratchplate, I think it needs to be 1/2" higher and be cut for the pickups, similar to a real cabronita, just to help tie the design elements together

paulnb57

So, a mixed day today, got home from night shift, got up at 13:00 when the boss went to work, grabbed the pillar drill and chuck key from the shed, slipped on the erm, slippery deck and lost the chuck key, forever entombed under the deck! Some choice words ensued......
So the control cavity was done with a cordless hand drill, I do not own a router so a series of interconncting holes gets the job done, also forstnered the wire route from pickups to comtrol cavity, drilled the bridge ground hole amd the nck screw holes not too pretty, but it gets the job done and is hidden anyway......

http://i.imgur.com/4jkrx9H.jpg

Gave the body a final rub over with 600 grit and suddenly this happened! Of course there is a small run, but its just the first sealer coat and needs a little love from the sandpaper anyway....

http://i.imgur.com/nwOjk42.jpg

simonbeckwith

That decking eats bloody everything, there's Lego under there somewhere! 

paulnb57

Night shifts and rain have temporarily stopped play....

AustrianJohn

paulnb57 said:

I know what you mean @AustrianJohn ;.....nothing is set in stone, I could soon strip the finish off the headstock..........was it yourself that did a natural finish on a Mustang some time back?

No, I haven't done a Mustang, but I do do natural finishes as I like a nice bit of wood.

paulnb57

Night shifts and dodgy weather are allowing a slight rethink...I'm not keen on the cut down scratchplate, so I think I will do a bit more traditional with a full scratchplate, sack the Cabronita idea and redo the headstock decal accordingly.......keeping the longer scale and probably a pickup selector switch on the lower horn like the Squier Bullets etc, then I can have tone where the pockup selector is now....
But now lookong at the photos from a quick mockup,  perhaps its the colour of the scratchplate and a reshape that @WezV suggested is in order.....white pearl perhaps? .....much thinking required

http://i.imgur.com/DT63aK9.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/SZ4t3xa.jpg

TTony

I'm with Wez.  

If the scratchplate were an inch or two taller so that it connected with the piclups, it might looks better.  Just mock it up with a bit of black paper to test whether you like the look or not.

The paint looks suitably thin though, so you're allowed that

WezV

a couple of quick ideas

a bit higher so the pickups slot in


a thinline tele style swoop



Its at this point i normally start playing with black card and scissors

WezV

i just realised the second one looks like a duck

eSully

WezV said:

i just realised the second one looks like a duck

ha, it does a bit, I really like the first idea though. That looks fantastic @paulnb57 - Looks like it will be a real quality guitar when done, following with interest

paulnb57

That first non duck, mockup looks much better, thanks @WezV now I need to a sheet of scratchplate and see if I can cut it accurately round the P90's, might have to buy a Router!....
Perhanps gloss black onstead of matte......paint needs one more as thin as possible coat......loving the look, but I had to spot grainfill a couple of pin holes/small voids typical of Swamp Ash...

Teyeplayer

I like this, there’s some interesting ideas coming through your design. If you decide to go even further down the cabronita idea, mojo pickups do some fantastic sounding p90 sized filtertrons that I can highly recommend. 

Roland

Now I prefer the curve of the duck. If it rose more steeply on the left hand side, extending the line of the metal, then it would look less like Daffy.

WezV

paulnb57 said:

That first non duck, mockup looks much better, thanks @WezV now I need to a sheet of scratchplate and see if I can cut it accurately round the P90's, might have to buy a Router!....

Still the corners of the pickup cut out, then saw and file out the rest...  not too difficult to do without a router.  But don’t let me put you off buying one, they are very useful 

tort could work.