ES-335 build

davros

Yeah, the mahogany neck is too nice to paint over, and I don't much fancy glitter on the neck with paint sinking over time to make it less smooth.

Collings do a nice job of the heel binding, I think they bind it after the neck is glued in, so it goes around the heel. I agree on the heel cap not being so pretty.

It's just an Argos fabric wardrobe, the zip has gone now and it has a thick layer of paint. but it gives me something to hang it in, keeps the paint off other things and the dust and bugs out!

davros

I quite like the contrast neck. Normally I do a natural back and neck together. ES-335s with maple body and Mahogany neck have always had a bit of contrast for transparent finishes - look at any blonde one.

I nearly bought one of these (until I decided to build on instead) and liked the blue/brown contrast.

WezV

you see, I think that Gibson example looks gross - a similar colour tone over the neck would look better, even with it being a much darker shade

it works much better on yours with a stronger blue and deeper mahogany

DartmoorHedgehog

WezV said:

you see, I think that Gibson example looks gross - a similar colour tone over the neck would look better, even with it being a much darker shade

it works much better on yours with a stronger blue and deeper mahogany

I completely agree with that.  Davros's one looks much better.

davros

BobHillman said:

Looking good. Is the sparkle on the binding as well?

No sparkle on the binding, unless I missed a bit when scraping it off!

markblack

Loving the look of this and envious of your talents... Looking great. 

GoldenEraGuitars

davros said:

I quite like the contrast neck. Normally I do a natural back and neck together. ES-335s with maple body and Mahogany neck have always had a bit of contrast for transparent finishes - look at any blonde one.

I nearly bought one of these (until I decided to build on instead) and liked the blue/brown contrast.

Looks like someone had a mishap on a Sunday afternoon guitar project with some cheap wood dye. What an awful finish.

Smashing work @davros , order another 3 or 4 cans of clear though, you’ll definitely need them. Flake is brutal to bury at the best of times.

davros

I haven't put the order in yet, but I think you might be right Scott, especially with the postage cost. I'll stick 4 cans in the order - nearly another £100!! I think it's about time to get a spray rig.

GoldenEraGuitars

davros said:

I haven't put the order in yet, but I think you might be right Scott, especially with the postage cost. I'll stick 4 cans in the order - nearly another £100!! I think it's about time to get a spray rig.

I usually spray with a Devilbiss SRI pro light. Sometimes when I spray flake, I do the initial clear coats with the GTI gun instead which has a larger air cap. This means I can pass more material onto the body after the flake has gone on. It helps to bury it quite quickly, but at the same time it still takes a lot of effort. The good thing with spraying like this means I can increase the amount of lacquer to thinner ratio which is something that is lacking with aerosols. The one real I have about flake is if you think you’ve sprayed enough clearcoat just add some more anyway.. It will not do it any harm, especially if you haven’t cut it back yet. 

davros

Thanks for the tips, this will be the last flake for the foreseeable, not because of the finishing effort but because I already have 2 out of 11 glittery guitars, probably don't need more! Last time I just did the top and used a couple of cans just on that. The flake is very fine as it came out of a can, so hopefully a couple more cans will do it. Going to give the first 4 a week and knock the tops off the texture, then see how another couple of cans go.

The other consideration is bringing the level of the binding up to the level of the colour and glitter.

I also know that the lacquer is going to sink over time and however glossy I get it after a month of drying won't last. It will probably need a re-polish in a year, so need a little extra thickness for that.

elstoof

Someone at Gibson has been following this build 

davros

Except with a freaky pickguard! They're must have been some wierd damage to have put that on it. It would have been quite nice with a normal one.

No updates today, waiting for delivery of 3 more cans of nitro. I did lay some parts on it though, to see what it would like. The finish is still super lumpy hence the wierd reflections.

davros

Laid on 2 more cans over the last week, and sanded it back to be almost flat this morning, removing all the glitter texture. I just gave it one more coat, leaving me half a can for any disasters in polishing.

Now for about 3 weeks minimum wait before attempting to flat and polish. It's really sparkling now in the sunlight. Looking forward to get it finished finally! This is probably my longest build, about 7 months so far!!!

davros

Finally removed the sponge (yes it's an old car wash sponge) from the f holes. Delicate process to get the crispy foam through the f holes without chipping the delicate paint. Obviously missed covering one of the pot holes as there's a blue spot inside, but it can't be seen from the f hole. The sides of the F holes will be painted black as they're not very evenly painted and the foam masked the very bottoms. I've carefully sanded off the roughness from stuck foam and glitter. I don't remember whether last time I painted them with nitro on a brush or a posca pen. Posca pen is probably an easier and safer bet.

GoldenEraGuitars

Lovely job, that’s gonna be a superb guitar very shortly 

davros

Thanks Scott, I can't wait to have it finished now. I imagine you've got over the frustration of watching paint dry by now. Oh well, gives me some time to get the bathroom project progressed, that's been 6 months so far too and the wife is lining up the next job.

BillDL

Hah!  I had wondered what you were using to mask underneath the F-Holes. That was a really crafty idea that worked pretty well. 

GoldenEraGuitars

davros said:

Thanks Scott, I can't wait to have it finished now. I imagine you've got over the frustration of watching paint dry by now. Oh well, gives me some time to get the bathroom project progressed, that's been 6 months so far too and the wife is lining up the next job.

Yeah, waiting for that stuff to “do its thing” is annoying sometimes. I’ve obviously got a load of stuff in rotation for work purposes so I don’t usually hyper focus on individual bodies but when I do my own projects it’s a different story… I want it done yesterday.

Keep an eye on the shrinkage btw, you may need to add more clear in a week or 2 yet if it’s still not flat enough for you.

Sporky

That looks superb. Lovely work. 

Keefy

elstoof said:

Someone at Gibson has been following this build 

Please tell me that’s AI generated!