NGD - it's only taken a year ...

TTony

Sometime last summer, when the sun was shining and the roads were  melting, I bought a guitar from a man on a street corner.

I really can't remember who it was (sorry!), but it was someone here.  The guitar was (is?) a GSP LP Jr, that the seller had decided wasn't for him for whatever reason, so he'd sprayed it, unsprayed it, and decided to move it on.

It even came in a handy little case ...



With plenty of experience of Graham's work, and a liking for simple things, I decided to spend some money and get this one done properly, so  off it went to @Rexter for some spraying ...





That was sometime late last summer.


And then life threw a curveball or two or three (including some shit-filled exploding ones) in our direction, and all things guitar  - and forum, and most  other non-essentials - came to a grinding halt.     Coming out the other side of those now, so it seems fitting that this is also emerging from the darkness of my dusty workshop.


I'd asked Jon to do a  *thin* coat.  I wanted to see and feel the grain of the wood, rather than having it smothered under layers of paint.  And that's just what he did - perfectly.




That last pic really shows the finish beautifully - it's that thin.    I'm expecting, with a bit of playing, it'll start to naturally wear through in places ...

Also, if you look at the bridge, you might be thinking "that's low". 

It is.  In fact, the bridge post inserts are "counter-sunk" into the body by about 5mm so that I could get the bridge low enough  to get the action down low too.  That 5mm made all the difference, and, after sorting the nut and truss rod too, this is now a beautiful player.  Not sure what bridge was originally intended for this, because that's one of the lowest profile wraparounds I could find, and it was too high for the set neck angle.

I had bought a dogear P90 for this,  but that sat too high on top of the body, so that'll go onto something else another day. The pickup I used is one of BKP's  True Grit boot camp units, which - so far - sounds pretty bargaintastic.

I was surprised at how good the intonation is.  Who needs individual saddles!

That's right - no pickguard.  I don't like them, but thought I'd probably need to put one on this to hide the neck join.  But somehow Jon managed to do a thin coat with enough depth to hide the join, so no  horrible piece of cheap black plastic required.




So, it's taken about a year since that street corner meeting in the City heat of last summer, but this is now done.


Might have to do another now.

roberty

Nice work @TTony particularly with the tricky setup. I love wraparound bridges and they do intonate really nicely. I think the fact that they aren't notched contributes something to the sound. The strings are not anchored to a sharp point. Vibrato and bends get a sort of vocal quality

terada

I REALLY like this. Superb

poopot

Like the colour!...
What’s happened to the fretboard?

1979

Lovely job

stonevibe

Nice looking Jr. Great paint job, looks ace!

TTony

Cheers guys.

Just been back out to the workshop, looking around at all the timber that I'd accumulated through the years (luckily, I didn't sell it all off  - though I thought about it), and I think there's enough out there for another guitar or two.

Actually, there's probably enough out there for another 10 or 12.  But 1 step at a time

Tenebrous

Jr's are my favourite LP models, and that's a beauty. Happy NGD!

thegummy

Looks fantastic, especially that thin finish. Top class.

I'd have thought just a bridge pickup would be limiting personally.

Sassafras

Are those Evo Gold frets or just a trick of the light?

Teyeplayer

About to start a similar gsp taken in trade from another member. Though mine won’t be nearly as well finished I’m intrigued by the bridge issue. I’ll be in contact if I find this is also too low with the neck angle  -hoping yours was a one off and not a common problem. 

TTony

thegummy said:

I'd have thought just a bridge pickup would be limiting personally.

Know what you mean @thegummy ...


... but limiting in a good way - saves all that messing around with switches

Sassafras said:

Are those Evo Gold frets or just a trick of the light?

Just a trick of the light @sassafras. ; Just standard frets, but my workbench light makes  all the colours a little off.

Teyeplayer said:

Though mine won’t be nearly as well finished I’m intrigued by the bridge issue. I’ll be in contact if I find this is also too low with the neck angle  -hoping yours was a one off and not a common problem. 

Measure it carefully before you start @teyeplayer. ;

I can't believe that its a recurring issue with GSP's builds - I've not encountered it on any others - but if you measure it carefully you'll easily see how much clearance you've got for the bridge height.  It was a simple fix when I'd realised what the fix was (the holes were deep enough, so I just needed a piece of dowelling, cut down to the same diameter as the studs, and then held the dowel on the top of the studs and banged the dowel in to the hole, just far enough so that the top of studs were about 5mm below the top of the guitar).

Teyeplayer

TTony said:

Measure it carefully before you start @teyeplayer. ;

I can't believe that its a recurring issue with GSP's builds - I've not encountered it on any others - but if you measure it carefully you'll easily see how much clearance you've got for the bridge height.  It was a simple fix when I'd realised what the fix was (the holes were deep enough, so I just needed a piece of dowelling, cut down to the same diameter as the studs, and then held the dowel on the top of the studs and banged the dowel in to the hole, just far enough so that the top of studs were about 5mm below the top of the guitar).

Sounds pretty straight forward, thanks for the advice.

Jez6345789

Hi do like the finish
Was it just a white coat or was there additional clear coats. 

Moominpapa

Minimalist and classy - happy long-awaited new guitar day!

Winny_Pooh

Very cool, does need a tort gaurd though

timmypix

That is stunning! I wish all guitars had finishes that thin, I adore being able to feel the wood* through the finish. Hope it's all the better for the wait and anticipation.

*stop sniggering at the back.

Jalapeno

Lovely.  Duly WOW'd

Chris_J

GSP?

rexter

Hey @TTony ; looks fantastic and thanks for the mention! REally glad you found time in your crazy schedule to get it done and hope you're enjoying it 

Re the finish, pretty different to how I would normally do a TV white as Tony isn't really one for lacquered guitars (still the case?) so a simple finish. Think it was pretty much just some semi opaque white lacquer I mixed up, no grain filler and we went without clear coats so that the colour would stay white, rather than yellow with age.
Normally I'd spray a light coat of sealer, then white lacquer, rub with black grain filler, tinted clear coat (if required) then normal clear coats...

Answering for Tony on this one @poopot so apologies, but the previous owner had managed sand off the edges of the fretboard at the join with a ROS when stripping the guitar by the looks of it  unless it's some new kind of super comfort contour!

This body and neck was so light it blew me away. Great work by @GSPBASSES as ever

poopot

@rexter thanks for that, was wondering if it was an attempt to correct the wrong neck angle!

@ttony would a shaved down dog ear cover fit in there?