A very drawn out Partscaster build

[PHawley]

Hello everyone. I decided a few months ago that I should build a telecaster. I already have a Red MIM standard, but I wanted something more customized. My planned parts are as follows:

Mighty Mite body finished in Cadillac Green from Reranch (possibly fake binding too)
Fat Warmoth Goncalo alves neck with Ebony fretboard (10-16 radius)
Bigsby B5 kit
Fender Texas Special pickups
Pearl pickguard
4-way Switch
Heavy Knurled knobs
Reversed control plate
Schaller locking tuners

Hopefully the mockup from Kisekae will show up in this post.

Anyways, as I mentioned I was thinking about fake binding. I would be covering up the white primer when spraying on the green and then clearcoating after removing the tape. Would that work, or would the primer not be enough? I assume it would be, but I figured it'd be best to verify.

Also, due to being a student I have very limited resources, so the part aquiring will take a while. I already have the body, control plate, neck plate, 4 way switch, and strap locks, but that's only about 1/3 of the cost there. I might sell my my Gretsch 5122 to help pay for this, but from asking around locally nobody seems interested (my high school has a guitar club that meets every other week).

Any and all help going forwards will be appreciated. I see the creations on this forum and aspire to be able to match it someday.

[dutchgoff]

Go for it, what harm can it do. Personally I feel that the way to find out if something works for me is to do it.

[flatfive]

I like the design. When you say "fake binding", do you mean
the kind where a stripe of body wood is left unpainted, and
so looks like wood binding?

This is usually done with maple -- what kind of wood is the
body made of?

[PHawley]

The binding would be done by spraying primer over everything and then covering the primer with tape when spraying the green. The primer would act as the fake binding, not the wood (swamp ash).

[flatfive]

Originally Posted by PHawley

The binding would be done by spraying primer over everything and then covering the primer with tape when spraying the green. The primer would act as the fake binding, not the wood (swamp ash).

What are you thinking of using for white primer? The primer
I've seen is flat, not glossy.

[PHawley]

That's the sort of answer I was looking for. I'd want it to look like real binding, so if it would just be a dull white I'd be disappointed. I'll probably just go without any fake binding then. I still need to get most of those parts, but with the holidays coming up I can wait a bit.

[Zenzeypher]

I think if you mask it off right, leaving 1mm on the top and a 3 - 5mm on the sides it should look alot better then you've convinced yourself otherwise.

before I had my double bounds I pulled it off with white electrical tape ahaha, and I loved it.

Until it started coming off everywhere.

Id give it a go.

[cleatus]

The fake binding will work just fine. I used a similar technique on the LP studio. With the various sizes of fine line masking tape out there it is fairly easy. Being on a edge it will eventually chip and show but by then who cares then it is reliced

[PHawley]

Well the neck should arrive on Thursday and I'll make sure to post some pictures of it either that night or Friday afternoon. Instead of goncalo alves I got a rosewood neck with an ebony board. They had it in stock and there was a Thanksgiving sale so it didn't make sense not to.

I also got the Texas Special pickups and I have a question. The neck pickup screws are wood screws, so I assume they are meant to mount into the body. How do I go about doing this? Do I just screw straight into the body? Should I drill holes first? Any and all help is appreciated.

For the fake binding, I think I'll wait until the primer is on the body and then decide when I see what it looks like just plain.

[Jupiter]

You'll shoot clear over it all anyway, right? Doesn't matter if the primer is gloss or flat. I'd use cream though, instead of white. ;-)

I mean ivory!

[PHawley]

Yeah, there's going to be clear over it no matter what.

[PHawley]

Turns out the neck came today! Here it is on the body with all the hardware I have installed. Still need the Bigsby bridge, tuners, electronics, and paint. Hopefully Christmas will be kind to me.

[PHawley]

3 months later and I finally have paint on the body. I used Varathane sanding sealer underneath ReRanch's translucent blue. This was my first time spraying, so I'm in for a while of sanding to make the surface evenly colored, but I got the technique down a lot better by the end. I also started lacquering the headstock (leaving the neck unfinished). You'll probably notice some plugs on it. Let's just say I may have though I was a lot smarter than I am when I was drilling holes for the Schaller tuners.









Tomorrow I'll do the body sanding and then shoot some more clear.

[robaato86]

That's a pretty sweet looking guitar you have there (or will have soon anyway). Just wondering why you decided to go with the blue instead of the cadillac green? In any case, it looks great. Good luck with the rest of the build!

[PHawley]

The green that ReRanch had was a much more yellow and bright green than the one I thought it was. Blue came in a close second for what I wanted, but I just spent some quality time with some steel wool to get the color even, and I think I'll have to buy some more to finish the job. It went from really dark to very bright very quickly and the paintjob looks a bit unprofessional. I'll sleep on it.

[bullfrogblues]

I like the color, but the back looks like it could use more blue paint.
A good trick is to spray across the body one coat, then up and down the body the next, alternating until you get the desired color. Light coats each time and build the color slowly until you are more proficient.

Should turn out great!

[PHawley]

Yeah. I spent some time sanding and going up to steel wool. There were some places where small white stuff had gotten trapped in the finish and places where I was left with almost no paint at all. I ordered more color and continue spraying next week. Thanks for the advice. Ho far should I be from the guitar while spraying.

[sfcmark]

Originally Posted by PHawley

Yeah. I spent some time sanding and going up to steel wool. There were some places where small white stuff had gotten trapped in the finish and places where I was left with almost no paint at all. I ordered more color and continue spraying next week. Thanks for the advice. Ho far should I be from the guitar while spraying.

You should hold the nozzle far enough away so that the paint goes on heavy enough, but not so wet that it runs or drips. With the transparent, you may want it to go on slightly dry anyway. Your clear coats will need to go on much wetter.

[PHawley]

Well, a it's few weeks later and I have a finish that I'm much happier with. I think I am done with the clear-coating, so I hope to have this strung up by early May.




Also, I was wondering which pickguard to use. Either way I'll need a new one without the neck pickup holes, but for the general idea, white or pearl?





I'm leaning towards white, but I might have to wait to see everything together.

Here's the neck with those plugged holes re-drilled for the Schaller tuners by using the Stewmac pin drilling jig. It's not cheap, but I'd say it's worth it. (http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/T...Drill_Jig.html)





I got that with a whole lot of other tools for starting, and used some money from selling another guitar to get some other stuff too.









With the combined costs of everything, I better enjoy building as much as I think I will.

[coolpool]

If you're still considering the fake binding thing you may want to consider vinyl pinstripe tape. I did this with my son's LTD and it turned out pretty nice. The nice thing is that if you don't like the way it looks you pull it off before you shoot your clear and no harm done.
I like the pearl on that blue, FWIW.