Sounds like loads of fun Gyrt but I am sure it will turn out fine in the end ! One day at a time, one coat at a time.
Keep at it bud, at least youāre learning
If you let the paint dry youāll be able to wet and dry out the dust and rough bits.
Yeah. Itās going to be sanded down to the wood.
But thatāll give me a great starting position again.
On to better an bolder.
Hi Gyrt I see you have a nice little project coming along nicely here, read it with a lot of interest! How did you decide on the pickups and what way you did it? Listening on youtube, reading reviews? Quite interested to see which web you used too as I am now on the road of buying some pickups for my strat and I am confused where to even start!
Hello adi,
my research is mostly based on what other members here have contributed, what i can find on yt, read from reviews, and the information thatās available on the sites of the manufacturers.
And still i havenāt made an ultimate decision on which pickups/humbucker iāll get. Thereās just so much to choose from.
One caveat though, iāll have to make sure i order from some europe based retailshop, or i get taxed. (Except for the guys over at Iron Gear, they handle it before shipping).
Iām not sure what you mean by what web iām using though. Just a browser and a search engine. Thatās it.
Seeing that you have a strat, a good starting place, i think, would be Fender itself.
Maybe this can help:
Adi
Assume you mean website ? You wonāt go wrong here
Good sound, good quality, UK based and very reasonably priced.
Yes thatās what I meant, I went through earlier posts and I saw yours as well which is my favourite so far - not gonna lie splashing more than Ā£200 for pickups to my less than Ā£200 guitar seems a bit like an overkill to me so Irongear pricing is really affordable and sound samples do look great! Thanks Toby appreciate the link
Hammer Heads and a Smokestack went into the old Affinity.
Need to go for a proper listening session with my headphones on and will make the best call then
Small update.
Just gotten round to sanding the neck and the body (again).
But this time around, i started with a coarse one (150 and ended up with a 600).
Applied primer (again).
But this time, and oh what a difference there is in products, i really got a good feeling about the primer. This time around, i went an bought a different brand and it shows.
Where the first can seemed to contain colored water, this one had some pretty good stuff in it. The way it immediately stuck was very different to the previous one.
So now the parts are drying in the garage. Better temperature there than in the garden shed.
Since i have only the weekends to work on this project, things are going slow.
Tomorrow iāll be painting the neck and body again.
For this iāve also bought cans of a different brand. Iāll see how thatāll work out.
Things iāve learned today:
Sanding = itās good to start with something coarse and finally end up with a finer paper.
When youāre done with the sanding, be sure to clean the part youāve sanded, wiping any dust. Also, donāt forget to blow out the cavities. Because if you donāt, your spraycan will. (forcing you to start all over again, because those paint particles will find their way into your fresh applied paint.
Painting:
Donāt rush into things. Keep a good distance from the object your spraying.
Applying fine layers save time.
Start with the sides and be careful not to spray too much at once. (again, fine layers).
As soon as the paintās applied, move the painted object to a somewhat warm room. (at least 15Ā°C. Below that, itāll take days to dry, if ever).
Donāt touch the object with your hands for at least 2 - 3 days. That way the paintās hard enough to handle. (if youāre lucky and you know someone who has a spray booth, things can go much faster)
Canāt wait to apply the colour (again) tomorrow.
Thanks for the updates. Such a project is beyond me, both my technical ability as well as my interest that shapes how I spend the most precisou resource viz time. But I do find it fascinating to follow along.
Sounds like itās coming together, yep take your time, donāt rush it
Small update: way overdue.
Who knew that using masking tape would be so difficult? Even the slightest crevice and the paint will find itās way in. Unbelievable.
Last weekend i spent a good 2-3 hours, just masking of the parts of the body and the neck i didnāt want to paint, making really sure that this time, there were no places where the paint could seep in.
And i thought i nailed it. I went really carefull about it. Checked twice.
So i used a spraycan (black) and applied the colour. A day or 2 later (iāve learned that you donāt remove the tape after 10 minutes or so, no matter what the can says). i removed the masking tape, only to learn that there are still!!! places (yet small ones, so it might be curable without starting all over AGAIN), where the paint has creeped in where it shouldnāt.
Iāll post some pictures later on this week. Itās been too long.
So the overall idea now, is to go with the flow. Wysiwyg.
If i canāt cure the imperfections then iām going to apply the clear coat. Donāt know how thatāll turn out with these temperatures nowadays, but iāll see. Maybe iāll set up a heater in the shed, just to make it a bit more pleasant to work there.
If the clear coating turns out ok, because i have no idea how thatāll behave coming out of a can, then itās hardware next. Ordering stuff, removing the hardware thatās in place now, soldering in the new hardware and hopefully, donāt cause any electrical problems in the house. (maybe do that in the shed as wellā¦ It has itās own circuit breakersā¦ ).
Anyway, pictures first. Keep an eye out, theyāre coming this week. Donāt expect too much, as this is still a learning processā¦
And two moreā¦
Itās not perfect, iād say itās a good third try, but like i said, iām going to apply clear coating and see how that will behave.
Itās looking really good GrytPipe. Love the colours.
I agree with you on the sandpaper and the masking tape. Lessons Iāve learned doing a lot of DIY.
Try your clearcoat spray on something else before you take to it on your guitar. That should give you some idea of how it sprays and how it covers.
Aha! Thatās a good piece of advice indeed, thank you.
Would you spray it on another piece of wood, or rather some other material?
If you still have some primer and main coat, Iād spray those on a piece of wood and then try your clearcoat to see how it works/looks.
Nice work ,ā¦just a little longer ā¦it keeps you off the street, itās been safer there for a while nowā¦
Keep the fun for the last bitā¦
Greetings,
Yep. Got some left indeed. Iāll see whatās what this weekend.