The chintzy experiment (plywood)

[Greg M]

I've decided to use everything except the body from my first partscaster to construct a mostly plywood bodied version. The body ended up being 1.7" thick. I hollowed it out and used some black walnut for the back of the guitar. I didn't take pics of the body before putting it together unfortunately but here are a couple of pics.

The materials

The big piece is furniture grade plywood, the small piece is 1/4" birch ply, and the other is the walnut cutoff.

Here I'm routing the pickup cavities. You can see the laminations and the Timbermate filler on the sides.


Also part of this experiment is that I'll be trying a cheap attempt at a sparkle finish. This is gold sparkle wrapping paper. I'm going to try and glue it on. We'll see how well that works


Wish me luck

[xardoz]

Good luck!

[OpenG Capo4]

Interesting to see how the glitter paper works out. I had a similar idea about using the stuff they wrap drums with to cover a guitar.

I have an '80's vintage Strat copy and P-bass, both with plywood bodies. The Strat copy weighs as much as a Les Paul, the P-Bass weighs as much as an Iowa class battleship.

[Greg M]

Originally Posted by OpenG Capo4

Interesting to see how the glitter paper works out. I had a similar idea about using the stuff they wrap drums with to cover a guitar.

I have an '80's vintage Strat copy and P-bass, both with plywood bodies. The Strat copy weighs as much as a Les Paul, the P-Bass weighs as much as an Iowa class battleship.

I put the neck on and all the hardware today and this thing weighs next to nothing.

I also put the sparkle paper on with LMI white glue. Then about two hours later I stripped it off again .

What I learned: that glue dries too fast and putting the paper on is a two man job. To avoid wrinkles/air pockets, one guy needs to hold the paper off the surface while the other uses a roller of some kind to flatten it as it hits the glue.

Any advice on glue to use would be appreciated.

[nosmo]

Maybe you could try to put it down the way they lay formica. Use several dowels laid on the body to keep the paper from sticking. Start at one end and pull the dowels out as you work your way to the other.

Question - If this is a chintzy build, why did you use walnut? And since you used walnut, why did you use it on the back? And again, since you did use walnut, why are you covering it up? Can you tell I like wood?

I like the paper too. I hope it works out.

[Greg M]

Originally Posted by nosmo

Maybe you could try to put it down the way they lay formica. Use several dowels laid on the body to keep the paper from sticking. Start at one end and pull the dowels out as you work your way to the other.

Question - If this is a chintzy build, why did you use walnut? And since you used walnut, why did you use it on the back? And again, since you did use walnut, why are you covering it up? Can you tell I like wood?

I like the paper too. I hope it works out.

I'm not covering the walnut, it will be clear coated. And the wood was free so you can't get more chintzy than that. If I had used it on the top, it would have been covered.

I like wood too, it's just a "see what happens" build.

[nosmo]

Originally Posted by Greg M

I'm not covering the walnut, it will be clear coated. And the wood was free so you can't get more chintzy than that. If I had used it on the top, it would have been covered.

I like wood too, it's just a "see what happens" build.

That 'splains it! I like your idea even more now. I love natural wood grain, but having it on the back with a cool finish works for me too.

[Greg M]

The second method of gluing the top on worked better but not perfectly. I used Elmer's spray adhesive and actually put it on a bit thick. So naturally there were some bubbles. I pierced them with the tip of an exacto blade and squeezed the air out so now it looks okay. Sprayed some Krylon clearcoat on just to keep the sparkles from shedding. But I'll be brushing on KTM9 to build up the clear.

[udimet720]

You can use decoupage... It's a very thick glue made for this type of application. But, you will need to let it dry well. Often used for fabric or paper finishes. You can also try regular wood glue.

[brewsterallen]

Glimmer Birthday Paper Cool Stuff !

[kidmo]

Very interested to see how this turns out. Clever...
Subscribed!

[Greg M]

Kidmo, love your signature . He's a vampire hunter too you know.

[kidmo]

Originally Posted by Greg M

Kidmo, love your signature . He's a vampire hunter too you know.

And a time traveller!

[Greg M]

Progress report.

Been laying on the finish, which is KTM-9 from LMI. It's a water based finish which I'm brushing on with cheap foam brushes. So far so good--I'll probably be done in a day or two then give it a week at least before buffing and polishing.







The sides had to be covered of course, because plywood is made to look good only on the face. So I used this new stuff called Ultracool binding. It's about 2" wide and I cut it down to 1.25". Some people know this product as "black duct tape" .

More to come. I'm pretty satisfied with it so far, especially considering the lowball pricetag. We'll see how it turns out soon.

[glen smith]

That back looks great!

[Greg M]

Well, here she is in all her gaudy, sparkly glory . Still dealing with a grounding issue (always seem to be dealing with a grounding issue) but it sounds pretty good. Nice spankin' country tone.

It will surprise no one that the duct tape "binding" is extremely easy to dent. But I'm not too upset about that. It looks pretty, but it just isn't very hearty. It will take on a nice vintage look pretty soon .

Very happy with the KTM9 finish, and I'm sure I'll be using it again.

[oramac7891]

I like it!

[Muzikp]

Yep didn't expect such great results when I started reading this thread. That turned out fantastic. I might look for some of that sparkle paper.

[DCzysz]

I agree with Muzikp. This is awesome.

[TeleMan59]

Originally Posted by DCzysz

I agree with Muzikp. This is awesome.

+1 even the wife thought it was cool!