Les Paul Prototype Build

WezV

Yeah, i am pretty happy with the way its gone.  I carried on and did the rest.  really happy with the neck and back, I always struggle a bit with the sides but i think its mostly there.

I wasn't originally planning on a heavy relic - but i am fairly glad i decided to go that way.   I have some acid and ferric chloride coming in to finish the hardware ageing.   I also got a load of slot head gretsch pickup screws as they will look much better on the pickups than P-90 screws.  The gretsch ones are flat and wide rather than a prominent dome shape


the vinegar hasnt done much to the bronze powder and i don't want to soak it all in chemicals so i may fake some green.  I have some teal waterbased ink that may be good for wiping into the cracks... we will see

PhilKing

Can't wait to see the final result.

PhilKing

I'm seriously thinking of bringing you the 55 Les Paul custom to refinish - that looks so convincing.

WezV

well its still only my second les paul top like this so i might not be ready for that one just yet.


I have done the first staining session on the cracks and wear.   first i did green, then a dark wood stain



i carry on wiping on and wiping off for a bit - then it will get rubbed back with 0000 wire wool  and a tinted wax to finalise it

WezV

just realised i have forgotten to add some dings... just wear and crazing at this point- i will add a few before the next staining session

PhilKing

I like it without the dings.  It looks like just age and playing wear

WezV

Yeah, I think it needs a few subtle ones though

WezV

I still need to add more age to the parts (and swap for a more appropriate bridge) but i couldn't resist putting some bits in place


lets have some pics

WezV

and some different light

WezV

Thoughts for the next steps are all about colour and consistency.

at this stage the dark crazing is too consistent across the whole top.  Needs to be lighter in the low wear areas.  Then I need to see if I can get some green in the high wear areas.  

A rebuff with white white spirit should lift some of the darker stain

I got close with the green using a water based ink, but the next step totally removed it.  I need to see if I can lock that in

Danielsguitars

I know white vinegar and salt worked to darken a top, someone else did it and he left it on all night, it went really dark
i thought something like that would work but just on specific areas

i'm not keen on the bit in between the pickups on yours but the rest looks good, I really like the dark checking lines

i'll be working on mine this week but fretboard needs doing first, I'll post up anything of use if you want

WezV

its the consistency of the darkness that isn't working for me yet, but its all part of the process and i think i am reaching the final stages

i decided a lot of the top needed to be lighter, keep t he dark checking on the top half, so i roughly masked off some areas


  i only left the maskign tape on for a minute, then removed it to ensure i didn't get hard lines.   First step was to give it a good buff  with white spirit, then i decided to rub down with bronze paint tryigng to get it in the cracks.  This started to give the lighter areas i was after.

I also have some copper and bronze reactive paints so i decided to rub a bit of that into the area i want green.   that has been wiped down with vinegar.  it looks terrible at the moment but i know this paint will turn green so i am not worried

bad lighting but i think you can see its looking more naturally varied in colour



and here is the reactive paint
 

WezV

and i hope everyone likes my change of avatar 

Danielsguitars

That's looking good, that dark bit is what I was trying to say in a roundabout way just not very well described as usual

i found something called green patina so I'm going to try that if I can find some 

stickyfiddle

WezV said:

and i hope everyone likes my change of avatar 

I thought you were a womble until I clicked on it!

WezV

plastics:

its going to deviate from 52 spec a bit here as i wont be getting bone coloured plastics or extra tall knobs - i am using the closest modern equivalent and the plastics are definitely more cream - but closely match each other and i think thats more important here.  plain white or ivory blank P-90 covers don't exist, yet

anyway, it still all needs a bit of age

3 aged knobs vs 1 new


a jackplate


amber switch tip (i think i need to rebuff it slightly)


and the plate

WezV

all parts were physically aged first, polished to 1200g/0000 wire wool then coated in colron liquid scratch cover and buffed clean after a few minutes

normula1

very impressive

WezV

end of  play yesterday



VS end of  play today
 

WezV

Well i am happy with it

There is always a danger in showing in progress relic pics.  They go through a few stages of looking worse before they start to look better, but sometimes its difficult to forget the stages you have seen before.

thats why many won’t show these bits of the process