[pic heavy as fuck] James's backyard goldtop day spa

Self built and self assembly ;)

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Re: [pic heavy as fuck] James's backyard goldtop day spa

Post by Single coil »

It was either guna work or it wasn't hahah
Contingency plan was "just buy the fuckin overlay", make the headstock solid behind it and carry on, but no. Things are behaving (ish).
werdna wrote:Well at least I can still make toast in the bath without anyone telling me it's unsafe.

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Re: [pic heavy as fuck] James's backyard goldtop day spa

Post by willow13 »

the holes "ripping" like that isn't uncommon. I normally clamp spare wood either side and then drill the holes or use a Step Drill Bit
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Re: [pic heavy as fuck] James's backyard goldtop day spa

Post by Single coil »

The bloke at the cinema suggested masking tape over the holes prior to drilling.
I mean - I know that now lol
werdna wrote:Well at least I can still make toast in the bath without anyone telling me it's unsafe.

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Re: [pic heavy as fuck] James's backyard goldtop day spa

Post by willow13 »

Single coil wrote:The bloke at the cinema suggested masking tape over the holes prior to drilling.
I mean - I know that now lol
you can still get ripping with tape so don't stress over that
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Re: [pic heavy as fuck] James's backyard goldtop day spa

Post by H671 »

Some points to consider.

For a clean hole in wood, use a spur point drill bit and a piece of wood clamped at the back
to stop chipping on the break through.
Spur point drill bit.jpg
Pilot holes are normally only used when drilling metal & other hard substances and the bits are increased in
diameter - this stops the drill bit grabbing & keeps the hole centralized.
With wood you normally always start with the largest diameter and go down in size.

A drill press would be a better choice for this job, but not everyone has access to one, so in this case if you
work with a template and a hand held drill, then a pilot hole is going to be the only way get some degree of
accuracy, but use one smaller that pilot on the spur bit.
Another way to start a hole in wood accurately is to run the drill in reverse first to create a depression, then switch
to forward.
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Re: [pic heavy as fuck] James's backyard goldtop day spa

Post by Single coil »

I don't have any of those flash drill bits. Or a press. :/
I could've run it backwards though. Oh well. Now I know.

Bit of a fuckup day today all round really - will post update later on.
werdna wrote:Well at least I can still make toast in the bath without anyone telling me it's unsafe.

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Re: [pic heavy as fuck] James's backyard goldtop day spa

Post by Single coil »

Headstock was so very nearly cured - It wouldn't be long before I could start getting it to the we can put decals on now stage. I huffed and I puffed and I thought Oh fuck, let's do something with the truss cover cuz I have to use it again.
I wanted to sort of dull it to match the satin on the headstock (and the dull everything else and so on) so I hit it with 800 grit I think.

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Today I learned the cheesy gibson lettering thing is right on top! Shit yeah. Bollocksed all that right off and was left with this.

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Hello there, completion. I can smell you a mile away.

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Although, I was starting to wonder about the whole black headstock thing.

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It was still a little tacky, so I left it. However, the devil had work for these idle hands, so I dulled the old chrome pickups down for the fuck of it. Not aged per sé, but not ... Just have a look.
Left is dulled, right is before being diddled with.

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I eventually got in there with the really fine stuff so they were nice and even and not covered in scratches. I think they look pretty cool now.
Picking a sandpaper and arguing with myself about using the scouring pad got really thing really fast - But you all saw that coming.
I think I went green scouring pad - Heavy ish duty, but not as heavy as sandpapers.

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Shit picture, but there were lots of vertical scratches. I ummed and ahh'd about it and hit it with 800 grit.

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Alright. Now we're gettin' somewhere. Hit it with the 1200 afterwards.

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Well, shit. It actually looks pretty good. Ok, how can I improve on this?
Oh yeah, the sides, and that ... Weird masking line thing ... Hmm.

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Hrrm, and the reverse side.

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I had at it all with the chunkier stuff to smooth out the sides of the volute area, then with lighter stuff and the scouring pad (versatile as fuck, honestly) to try blend the horrid mushy filler bit I don't think I'll ever be rid of.

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Then I thought, ya know, fuck it, let's do the neck properly.
Sanded the buggerry out of it with the strong scourer for that lovely silky satin effect.

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I ended up cutting and polishing it to even it out - Still felt nice and devoid of friction afterwards. Don't think I got pictures of it, mind. Not on purpose anyway.
Thinking of the headstock reverse, I had a dig about the weird old tins of ... The weird old tins in the shed. I came up with this.

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I needed something to put it on with though. Fuck knows where my brushes are, so this had to do.

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Almost looks like a candy apple headstock.

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Bruno didn't seem to mind the occasional reeeeeeee of the palm sander. He was more interested in barking at the tree moving about in the wind. Moron.

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Me knob's gone.

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I'd had enough of whatever I was doing by now. I was pissing around with car parts too, and that wasn't going well. I clearly hadn't had enough to not have lunch in the house. Shed sammies ftw.

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Then I guess I wanted to scour something. The super light grade scourer had had enough and ... Well, it wasn't ideal.

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Earlier on in the thread, I mentioned that if the headstock looked like a dodo's dick, I'd pull the black off the sides and simply leave it on the top.
Well.
I concurred that the headstock did indeed look not unlike the phallus of a dodo bird, so off came the sides. Once I'd got most of the heavy shit off, they sanded really nicely.

Until: Disaster.

I masked along here so I wouldn't get pva on the newly polished display side - Two tiny thin bits fucked off on me so I had to glue them back on. Bastards.

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Yeah. You.

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Didn't turn out too bad really; almost looks like it's supposed to be there.

Ahem ... In some lights.

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I managed to lightly scour and 1200 and cut and polish it all up again without losing bits. It came up quite nicely.

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I was really grasping at straws for what to do next. The cordless drill was just a smidge too big for the 1.5mm drill bit - It fell straight out. So my stepdad says "Here, use the other cordless".

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And fuck me, it worked really well.

So now there are tuner holes, still more fucking sanding and carrying on to do, and until such time as the decal set shows up, I can't really do anything else but sand and polish.
When I was drilling the little wee pilot holes for the tuner screws, I noticed the big holes were slightly on the piss.

Fuck.

Ahh well. They'll still be solid; hopefully I can dick around with the logo or something to try and detract from the fact the tuners have all had too many gins.
I'll figure it out. :lol:
werdna wrote:Well at least I can still make toast in the bath without anyone telling me it's unsafe.

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Re: [pic heavy as fuck] James's backyard goldtop day spa

Post by calling card »

I had one of those oops moments with the R33 re-riveting on the little vin plate on the R/H guard. The rivet popped and the gun with sharp rivet stem jumped and dug into my new paint. It's hard to move on but ya do, knowing it won't be the only one.
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Re: [pic heavy as fuck] James's backyard goldtop day spa

Post by Single coil »

Rough!
werdna wrote:Well at least I can still make toast in the bath without anyone telling me it's unsafe.

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Re: [pic heavy as fuck] James's backyard goldtop day spa

Post by Single coil »

Another day of grasping at straws for things to do the poor goldtop, and trying to fill time in between playing with car parts.
At the moment the headstock is ... Really just chasing its own tail. As soon as I've polished it and buffed it all up, I manage to make a mark in it and have to sand it all back again. Paint must be gettin' thin by now.
Anywhore. The show must go on, so I worried about the reverse and sides.

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I've oiled a guitar before. I didn't do it properly cuz I didn't quite know how, so it felt yuck, but it was a good shade. In amongst the tins of weird shit in the shed was a big pot of danish oil, as yet unopened by the looks.
Gave it a good shake (the tin :problem:) and sponged it on.

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You can sorta see the one patch where the tea stain actually took lol

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Volutey bit ... Well, I tried.

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Open book part was tricky, but I managed.

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Allowed a whack of time in between coats as per the writing on the tin.

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It sanded down nicely and kept its colour. I think it'll match the existing colour well enough once the poly is on. Still waiting on those sodding decals.
Now.
After ballsing up the headstock face again (gettin' real sick of that, you'd think I woulda learned by now), I managed to find my favourite sanding block.

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It's a block ... But it's bendy!

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Sand sand, scouring pad, 1200, rah rah rah, you know how that all goes by now.
Decided to cut it with the buffer. Worked really well, but ... Hmm.

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So now all the rags and buffing pads are soaking in the laundry tub in an effort to get all the paint shitfulness loose before a heavy machine wash.

After all that, it almost looks like a guitar again.

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Waiting on the decal set to show up. Takin' their sweet time. They're the only thing stopping progress as yet.
Knowing my luck, the bits I ordered for the tele will show up before them, but that's really just more content for me to post, isn't it? :lol:
werdna wrote:Well at least I can still make toast in the bath without anyone telling me it's unsafe.

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Re: [pic heavy as fuck] James's backyard goldtop day spa

Post by Lawrence »

don't quite know what to say...
SingleCoil your willingness to be honest is admirable. Ive had a few OMG moments in my building quest over the years and I tend to keep then quiet!

The thing I don't get...other than the fun of it....is WHY???

OK maybe the fun is reason enough.....cant wait to see the end game! Good Luck!
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Re: [pic heavy as fuck] James's backyard goldtop day spa

Post by Single coil »

Cuz I like the gibson headstock and I'm sick of looking at the epiphone one.
Quite happy for it to say epiphone though (because it is). My tele has a big name on it, but not much of it is still fender.
Not much of this is still epiphone but it had to start somewhere lol.

Honesty is the best policy, right?
If I got everything right the first time, I wouldn't learn anything, and this would be a halo thread for shit that goes perfectly all the time.

We can't have that.
werdna wrote:Well at least I can still make toast in the bath without anyone telling me it's unsafe.

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Re: [pic heavy as fuck] James's backyard goldtop day spa

Post by jimi »

Reckon you've gone about this the hard way...

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Looks like fun though... when I still lived with my folks and had access to a shed full of work working tools and no concept of "how hard can it be?" I managed a couple of dodgy home refinishes and a refret. Had some wood lined up for a home made guitar, but moved out before I got started.

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Re: [pic heavy as fuck] James's backyard goldtop day spa

Post by Single coil »

I did think about the method in your post (I have various similar pictures). Matching the black of the headstock would've been a real challenge, and I managed to break the logo, so that fudged that.

I love refinishing stuff. Wondering about doing my bronze rg, but not sold. It is for the gf to learn on and she likes the colour.

Should tidy up the tele too - new thread anyone?
werdna wrote:Well at least I can still make toast in the bath without anyone telling me it's unsafe.

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Re: [pic heavy as fuck] James's backyard goldtop day spa

Post by Single coil »

No progress or update of any description today, so here is something off the topless women talk about their lives compilation.

https://youtu.be/tjQiG6kbCTs
werdna wrote:Well at least I can still make toast in the bath without anyone telling me it's unsafe.

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