Blackguard Telecaster Build - Parts List

[Motor]

Thank you for your help WildTele!

Your generosity with your knowledge is much appreciated. When smart people talk, I was taught to keep my mouth shut and listen. I've re-read your comments four times now, and I will be referring back to them as I proceed.

Cheers,
Motor

PS - I applied the light Bartley grain filler using the instructions ehawley posted on his 53 cnc build thread. I am biting my nails. I took pictures of the process (including my test chunk of ash). I'm a little nervous about this part of it. If you'll bear with me, I would like to refrain from posting pictures until I have had a chance to sand off the grain filler. It looks very dramatic and brown right now. The grain is popping nicely, but you can't really see it because it looks like someone smeared the guitar body in reddish-brown pudding. If it works as nicely as my test strip, all of that will be sanded away, and what will be left will be the nicely filled grain. At least I hope.

This stuff is sticky and nasty, that's for sure.

[Motor]

OK, so here is a quick sand job on my test of one coat of Bartley light grain filler. The concern was that it would be too dark. The reason I bought the light is that the grain is pretty in this ash body, and I didn't want the chance for a Mary Kaye haze effect underneath the amber clear lacquer. Boris kindly offered me some strategies to mitigate the Mary Kaye hazing, but I stilll went with the light.

Here is my test strip:


Here is the front of the body after two coats and a quick sanding. Note the smudging. That is where the hand sander melted the grain filler, and then it started hardening again into this nasty shiny hard junk that is very hard to get off. I ran out of 400 grit sandpaper (6 full sheets, constant clogging):


Here is the back:


I personally like the way it looks. I have quite a bit more work to do to get the smudges off, but I am confident I can remove them.

Let me know what you think. I'm guessing that the reviews will be mixed?

Cheers,
Motor

[Motor]

PS - I already tried taking a rag soaked in mineral spirits and wiping at the smudges. No dice. It's just going to take a ton of sanding to power through that stuff.

[Motor]

Here is the coat progress so far:
- 4 shellac sanding sealer
- 2 light grain filler
- 1 shellac sanding sealer
- 4 amber shellac (cut with 50% denatured alcohol)



Issues:

- Amber shellac is spotty so far. Need up to 8 more coats I'm guessing.
- There are some missed spots in the grain filler. Should I blast those with more shellac, or should I the grain filler again in the small spots?

[Motor]

Question: The white paper pickguard cutout kinda makes it look like a 72 thinline. Do you think that looks ok, or should I go black? Black is the classic.

[Motor]

Had good luck with the body today. 12 total coats of amber shellac look nice. I need to sand out a few runs, but I'm ready for nitro after that. For other newbies, I have found that it's easier to avoid runs if you move the sprayer from side to side rather than up and down.

Two problems with the neck today, one of them major:

1) Minor issue. I was doing fine with the Behlen maple jet spray, but then I got carried away trying to even it out in a few spots and it got quite dark. Not sure if I should leave it or hit it with some steel wool. It kinda looks cool paired with amber shellac body, but it looks more like a G&L Honeyburst neck than a Fender neck.

2) This is the bad one. It was hot here today and my hands got sweaty and I sadly lost my grip and dropped it onto concrete from about 3 feet up. There is a pretty good dent at the very tip of the headstock. I should be able to sand it out, but I'm not happy about it and am kicking myself for being careless.

Other than that, I am happy with progress so far.

[Motor]

PS - No more waffling on the pickguard color. It will definitely be black bakelite.

[Motor]

No progress on the body today. It's still not dry from yesterday. Here is what it looks like after 12 light coats of amber shellac. One nice thing about the alcohol base is that it melted a small run or two.

It's quite a difference from the picture with 4 coats. There is intensity and depth to it now. I realize that this color might not be for everyone, but I like it:



Neck: I removed the color coat and took it back down to the nitro. I need to fix the dent in the headstock anyway. It gave me an opportunity to smooth out a few small runs. Boris was absolutely correct when he said that a very light mist coat or two of Behlen maple is all that you need. I got carried away and paid the price. Better to fix it now than to hate the color. It turns orange when you put too much of it on. Plus, a lighter neck will look great with the amber shellac body.

[Motor]

You can see a little orange peel where the camera flash is hitting the body. I found that it was easy to remove this with a little fine steel wool.

I might go 4 more light coats. I'm pondering the possibility of adding two or three drops of walnut alcohol based aniline dye to the next batch. If anyone has experience with what this might do to the color above, please let me know.

[WildTele]

Thank you for your help WildTele!

You are most welcome Motor! :)


Keep up the good work--looking fwd to seeing the end result!

Later

[Motor]

OK, I got the neck back to where it was before I blew it by spraying on too much maple tint and accidentally dropped it -- both on the same day.

Boris kindly told me how to apply the Behlen's maple jet spray. For whatever reason, I got crazy with the spray can trying to blend a few areas, and blew through a half can instead of just lightly misting it.

It looked horrible. Here it is with half of it removed with steel wool:


Here is the ding in the headstock:


Here is the headstock after sanding out the ding:


I need to add a few nitro coats again, then mist with jet spray, then do the final nitro coats. There is the added benefit of some slight relicing around the frets (I left a little bit of the dark spray around a couple frets . . . a very tiny bit). I also left a little bit of the ding visible to remind me to be careful next time.

Total cost of these mistakes - $4 in maple spray and 4 hours over two days
Experience gained from lessons learned - Priceless

[mowcheeba]

Must say I admire your courage...I wouldn't do my first paintjobs
on a 1-piece USACG body and neck.
Looking forward to see the end result....keep up the good work.

[Motor]

mowcheeba,

Thanks for the encouraging words. I have great admiration for the craftsmen on TDPRI who do such wonderful work. There's tremendous artistry and skill behind what is displayed here. People have spent years mastering this.

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel with the finish job. I'm getting nervous about the wiring and the setup.

Cheers,
Motor

[carbonti]

First post, hello everyone...

I have a project or 2 with USACG necks and have followed your build with interest. You're doing great. As a rookie at DIY nitro/finishing, I've also learned from my mistakes.

Only 1 comment: the pic of the neck looks like the headstock has not been reduced in thickness. The USACG necks I have worked with are greater than 0.560" in thickness so I have had to block sand the back of the headstock to bring it to spec. If you don't do this, the Gotoh vintage tuners will be "shorter" when installed due to the incorrect greater thickness of the headstock.

If you're using a different tuner set and have adjusted for the headstock thickness, well then nevermind, you've got it under control. Look forward to the continuing story of this build.

[Motor]

Hi carbonti,

Thanks for the comments. What measurements were your neck headstocks? I sent Tommy a note and this was his reply.

I hope to see photos of your projects posted here soon.

Cheers,

Motor

--------

> Thursday, September 18, 2008 11:52 AM
> From:Tommy Rosamond
>
> The heads are .560" give or take a few thousandths.
> You should not have to sand down the head at all.
> The high E tuner will normally just clear to string
> and wind it up but it works.

[carbonti]

As per Tommy, it seems that the necks should be spec'd to .560" headstock thickness. As long as yours also checks out that way then no worries.

My strat neck was thicker, dunno why. I put a caliper on this neck last night, didn't do such a great job planing the back as it's ~.570" on the low e end tapering to .550" on the high e end. Now you know that added headstock wood will add magic mojo to the tone-a happy accident like original PAFs.

Its Reranch nitro'd now so I won't know how it sounds or plays for a month or 2.

[Motor]

Yeah, I can relate to the headstock irregularities, thanks to the ding I put in mine. haha.

I look forward to seeing your project. Definitely post pics.

Cheers,
Motor

[Motor]

Made good progress today. Sanding on body amber shellac is complete. Some lighter coloring along edges, but that is expected. Added a coat of clear shellac sanding sealer. Start on nitro soon.

Neck stripped of all orange, added a coat of clear shellac sanding sealer. Will build up some nitro coats before adding a LIGHT misting this time of Behlen maple :)

[Motor]

Question: How many feet of each of these will I need to do one guitar:
- white cloth-covered wire
- black cloth-covered wire

[Motor]

Good day today. Four coats of nitro on the body and on the neck. No runs in the finish today (knock on wood). Deft nitro is a much finer mist than the shellac that I've been using, so it is easier to apply.

I have learned a few more things that I would like to pass on to newbies:

- Deft makes you feel dizzy. Make sure your organic vapor mask fits properly.
- It is *much* easier to deal with a run immediately -- let that coat dry, then completely sand out the run. You can't do it later so either deal with it right away or you will live with it forever.
- If you are hanging your guitar body and neck vertically when spraying, then you should move the spray can from side to side. Up and down lead to more runs for me (not sure why).
- Warming the spray cans in 120 degree water for a minute or two before spraying reduces sputter.
- Don't forget to turn the can upside down and spray for 5 seconds to empty the nozzle after each use.
- Start your spray stream off the body and move it onto it once the stream is steady. Move the can faster rather than slower. Hold it 10 inches or so from the target.
- The horn and dips and curves can be quite tricky. Don't overspray these or you will get annoying runs in the finish.
- If you buy steel wool in the mixed pack (fine/medium/coarse), make sure no loose coarse wires are clinging to the fine grade.
-

[Motor]

Another good day.

Started off today with some 0000 steel wool over everything, then naptha, then tack cloth.

Finish - Holy smokes, if I knew a few short weeks ago what I know now about spraying, I would have saved myself a lot of time. I'm getting better at not getting runs in the finish.

Newbies - The horn is your enemy for runs in the finish. Don't overspray the horn, or you will be sad. Just like with women, those seductive curves will get you.

Today, I got the light Behlen maple misting on the neck that I meant to do the first time. This is hard. Be careful with that stuff. If you move your hand unsteadily, it will cloud up and go on thicker in certain places. You will be tempted to come in then and blend, but don't do it. The stuff darkens up after a few hours. Walk away from it, take a break.

This time, I held back, and I am pleased with the results. Between a light misting of maple and the slight yellow of the shellac sanding sealer, I have a slightly less than ghost white neck, which is just fine with me.

Then I blasted the neck and the body with 5 good coats of nitro.

Good times.

Cheers,
Motor

[Buckocaster51]

This is another great thread that I have somehow overlooked.

Great job!

Looks like you are getting pretty near everything pretty much kind of sorted out.

You are soon going to find out that "first twang" on a guitar that you built is a pretty good feeling.

[Motor]

Thanks Buckocaster!

You make some of the most stunning guitars I have ever seen. Reading your Emeraldcaster thread was one of the main things that encouraged me to give it a try. You seem to get a lot of joy out of what you do. If you guys are having this much fun, I wanted to give it a shot.

My only problem now is figuring out how I am going to afford my new habit of building telecasters. I already have the next one in mind.

Cheers,
Motor

[Motor]

Here is the neck back to where it should be. I think I only have 5 more coats to go on the neck and it is done. That will equal about 1 to 1 1/2 cans of nitro on the neck. Is that enough?



The body I figure needs 10-15 more coats, which will be a total of 2-3 cans of nitro. That's about 20 coats. Is that enough?

[Motor]

Last clear coats went onto the neck and the body today. I think I went through 4 cans of nitro total over the past few weeks. That is about 1.5 cans on the neck, 2.5 cans on the body.

I also could not resist the temptation to mist the neck one more time, only slightly darkening it this time. Phew! I feel more confident with the maple mist now. You just have to go slowly on that one.

I'll start ordering the rest of the parts next week and will be sure to post pics.

Cheers,
Motor

[Motor]

Here is where she stands today after all color and nitro coats have been applied. Sitting on my hands for a month is going to be very difficult now as I wait for the nitro to cure before finish sanding and buffing:

[Motor]

More:

[Motor]

More notes for newbies (these are going to seem obvious to the old timers, but I will state them explicitly to hopefully save you some head scratching):

- Check out the flaming maple stripe at the 13th fret. I thought that was a sanding flaw for the longest time. Don't oversand! I didn't, but I sure thought about it at first because I thought I had messed up.

- Regarding flaming in general - depending on the light, shadows, and how you are holding the wood, you will look at a patch and say to yourself, "Self, that patch does not have enough finish on it." But if you slightly turn it, you will see that it is just a natural feature of the wood, some parts are brighter, etc. Rather than rush to apply more finish, you should make a mental note of it, then come back to it and look at it later.

- If you look right next to the fret wire in the first, second, and third frets, you can see a tiny bit of the orange from where I oversprayed the maple the first time and had to start again. I decided to leave this in for two reasons - I thought it looked kinda cool and added a relic quality, and also because it is very difficult to sand right next to the fret wire. In all my fingerboard sanding aside from a light de-whiskering with water on day one), I was very careful to not sand through the finish - you don't want to screw up the radius on the fretboard. Even though it is against conventional wisdom, I found that it's more efficient to sand against the grain on the fretboard so you can keep a steady hand near the fret wires, then come back through and lightly sand with the grain to blend it it. I was using 0000 steel wool the whole time, so we are not talking about deep scratch marks anyway.

-

[Motor]

- It's easy to sand a little too deeply through the color coat around the edges. You can see where I did that in a few places. I decided to leave it because it looks authentic and will get that way later anyway, but if you don't like this look, go extremely lightly around the edges when you sand. Going back over just the edges with another layer of shellac would be very difficult to blend.

[Motor]

- You can see another optical illusion on the neck. In some of the photos, it looks like dark spots of the maple tint. That is just shadows, don't be suckered in like I did and overspray around those spots. If you move your light source, you will see that the dark spots are not there.

[Motor]

Steel wool over the body and neck today to remove shine. A few of you fine gentlemen wrote that roughing it up helps the nitro cure quicker by allowing it to off-gas.

Buckocaster and guitarninja helped me determine that I need 1 foot each of black and white cloth covered wire. Buckocaster noted that I need to get several feet because there is no way I am going to stop at one. He is a wise man!

[Buckocaster51]

Originally Posted by Motor

Steel wool over the body and neck today to remove shine. A few of you fine gentlemen wrote that roughing it up helps the nitro cure quicker by allowing it to off-gas.

Buckocaster and guitarninja helped me determine that I need 1 foot each of black and white cloth covered wire. Buckocaster noted that I need to get several feet because there is no way I am going to stop at one. He is a wise man!

I don't know about "wise."

"Experienced" might be a better descriptor.

Keep up the good work.

[ehawley]

Motor...that is going to be one fine looking guitar...I personally love the color that orange shellac gives the bodies!...That's some great looking grain also!
Keep up the great work!
Cheers
ED

[ajgus]

That body turned out great! She's gonna be a beauty!

[Motor]

You guys are too kind. Thanks!

Placed my order today for these:

Don Mare
6.1 k neck with nickel / silver cover
7.0 k bridge
Alnico 5, slightly waxed

[Motor]

Just placed my order for this stuff:

- Gotoh Kluson staggered 6 inline vintage chrome tuners
- Glendale double cut chrome Blackguard bridge plate
- Glendale Twang saddles (2 brass, 1 aluminum)

Tight budget forces me to wait till November 1st to purchase the rest of the stuff. I'm sure the rest of you guys can relate. Wouldn't it be nice if we could buy all the guitar stuff we wanted? I'd need a big place to put it all.

Cheers,
Motor

[Motor]

I was just re-reading this thread and my other posts. 20 or more people have helped me out and saved me time, money, frustration, etc.

You guys are great. This is what community is all about. Thank you!

[Motor]

I couldn't resist doing a little wet sanding today. My rationale was that I would be scuffing it a bit again to help the nitro off gas some more. I wet the sandpaper and followed some of the techniques shown in Home Grown Tele's reranch orange fircaster esquire thread.

I lightly went over the body with some 600 grit. No major issues or sags. Will wait for 2 more weeks to go 800 up to 2000 grit. I'm also re-reading Wild Tele's instructions on sanding again so I do everything right.

I intend to be very cautious of sanding through the finish. Don't want any problems at this point. Too close to the end!

Cheers,

Motor

[Motor]

I wet sanded the body with 800 grit today. Worked fine. Also did the neck with 800 grit (skipping 400 and 600). That was fine too, but the finish is thinner on the neck so I have to be really careful.

I also got my accordion folder going with all my sandpaper. I will be 3% more efficient now in all my sanding tasks:


I received my Gotoh Kluson staggered vintage inline chrome tuners today. They didn't have any packaging or instructions, other than bubble wrap, zip locks, and the bill. I guess that is fine. I was surprised to see that they are not six different heights. They are small (E and B) medium (G and D) and large (A and E) :

[Motor]

You can see them in action here:

http://www.glendaleguitars.com/PFM10.jpg