Paisley Build Update

[Skip Ellis]

Well, the binding went fairly well, but now I have a problem. Like a dummy, I trusted the color of the paint can cap instead of spraying on a test piece. I had decided to paint the sides of the guitar 'navy' blue which would match the dark background of the paisley fabric-instead it came out more of a 'royal' blue and I don't think it matches much of anything. I'm thinking of going ahead and doing the sides paisley. I also thought about painting the sides black-not sure how that would look. What do ya'll think? Help me out with some opinions here, folks.

[spankdplank]

That looks great so far. If you have the skill to do the sides paisley and let the binding show, I would.

[WrapAround]

Geez, that paisley pattern looks familiar....

[Colt W. Knight]

tough call. IDK. I would think putting paisley on the sides with that binding would be next to impossible to do really well, but if you did, it would be cool as hell.

[spicolli]

recess the sides a hair and go for the paisley on sides.

[ehawley]

Hmm.... Are you going to coat over the paisley? That would darken the overall look of the paisley. I would do a test piece with the lacquered top. (if that is what you are going to do) and see how it looks. It looks fine to me as is, but pictures don't really show the true colors!
Great job!!
cheers
ED

[duck]

Here is a pic of the blue paisley crook guitar I have. The blue is a metallic blue on the edge. I think yours looks good and will only get better once the clear is applied over the paisley. Maybe a blue tint in the clear as well?.....

[jt44tele]

That is a wild looking Tele.

[neocaster]

Would a transparent/translucent black over the blue bring it closer to what you're looking for?

[Skip Ellis]

Still have some cleaning up and trimming to do and I screwed up the pics, but maybe you get the idea. I think it'll be much better with some clear over it. From 3 feet it looks pretty darn good.

[andy__woods]

looks great from up here in Michigan too!

[Colt W. Knight]

looking good

[lennyb]

Nice ! me likey!

[beach bob]

A very cool looking tele project, Skip. When I was a kid, my next door neighbor and best pal Scott and I would hammer on bits of scrap wood in his Dad's basement. Scott's dad, however, was a master carpenter, and built cabinets and chests of drawers and such. We'd hang out watching the ol' man, fascinated at his handiwork. These build threads have me in the wayback machine, in awe of the very fine talents of the folks here, and also in awe of the truly great (and sometimes demented) guitars being built. Kudos to all.

What part of FL are you Skip? I'm in the burbs of Palm Beach county.

[Skip Ellis]

Thanks for the kind words!
Beach Bob - I'm on the other coast in Bradenton - it's sorta lost between Tampa and Sarasota. You can have a good time with scrap wood - this body is made out of 2x4's and some resawn 1x8 shelving. I probably don't have 12 dollars in the whole deal! It keeps me off the streets, though.

[Skip Ellis]

Finishing is underway! These pics show about 1-1/2 cans of clear on it and its starting to build above the fabric. I think about 2 more cans and I'll call it good.
I'm pretty happy with the way the sides turned out, but next time I'll put the side fabric on and trim it to the binding ledge before gluing on the binding - should make it a little cleaner. Trimming the side fabric to the binding up in the cutaway area was a real trick!

[Buckocaster51]

Looking very good.

I like the way you have done the sides.

[fuzzferatu]

Skip:

I tried the fabric covering on two bodies and gave up in frustration. I had sanded down the finish (they were scavenged bodies) and glued the fabric on with wood glue. Then I brushed lots of sanding sealer on both, and that is where I became hung up. A friend suggested I sand the sealer, so I did, and sanded through to the fabric itself. Oops! Eventually I gave up.

Did you skip (har har) the sealer phase and go right to clear coats? What brand of clear are you using?

Portland has many fine fabric stores that entice me with the prospect of funky guitar finishes. I'd love to complete a fabricaster project.

[axmaker]

Originally Posted by Buckocaster51

Looking very good.

I like the way you have done the sides.

me too. it's looking spiffier that 3 kittens in a red wagon.........

[Norrin Radd]

Damn that looks good. Nice work - I'm diggin' the sides too - very impressive.

[Skip Ellis]

Thanks, guys! This started out as an experiment so I'm learning as I go. I did not use any sanding sealer - I just started shooting on the clear - It's Rustoleum 'Painter's Choice' . I've been knocking it down very lightly with a Scotch Brite pad between coats. I washed the fabric to get rid of any factory sizing and glued it down with regular old Elmer's white glue. I also shot a light coat of white primer before I started. I can't help but think that Tite Bond might work as well or better. I tried several different binding glues - I've always used Duco, but for some reason this binding material (which was not designed for guitars) wouldn't react with it, so I ended up using Gorilla Glue Super Glue - it worked great - it's like a thicker liquid than you usually see and it stays where you put it.

[axmaker]

Originally Posted by Skip Ellis

Thanks, guys! This started out as an experiment so I'm learning as I go. I did not use any sanding sealer - I just started shooting on the clear - It's Rustoleum 'Painter's Choice' . I've been knocking it down very lightly with a Scotch Brite pad between coats. I washed the fabric to get rid of any factory sizing and glued it down with regular old Elmer's white glue. I also shot a light coat of white primer before I started. I can't help but think that Tite Bond might work as well or better. I tried several different binding glues - I've always used Duco, but for some reason this binding material (which was not designed for guitars) wouldn't react with it, so I ended up using Gorilla Glue Super Glue - it worked great - it's like a thicker liquid than you usually see and it stays where you put it.

have you tried this stuff?
http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Glues,_a..._adhesive.html
it's what i use, and it works great....

[Skip Ellis]

Axmaker - I have tried that and it works very well. The problem in this case is That I found a place that would sell me large sheets of plastic to cut into strips for binding but different colors and thicknesses are sometimes different types of plastic and they don't all react the same way to the same solvent. I tried Duco on this stuff and it wouldn't even stick to it. But..... it's like really cheap - a 3x5 sheet of 0.060" white was around 8 or 10 dollars - I couldn't turn it down. I also got 0.20" black and white and similar prices.

[Dennis68]

Ahh, all those nice dreamy paisley patterns!

[beach bob]

Originally Posted by Skip Ellis

Beach Bob - I'm on the other coast in Bradenton - it's sorta lost between Tampa and Sarasota. You can have a good time with scrap wood - this body is made out of 2x4's and some resawn 1x8 shelving. I probably don't have 12 dollars in the whole deal! It keeps me off the streets, though.

Ah yes, Bradenton. I get over that way for work once in a while; I also have several friends that live in the St. Pete area... The paisley looks great ...

[Dennis68]

Has anyone ever seen a Custom shop double-bound body Pink Paisley with some sort of pink paisley fretboard inlays and a pink swirl neck?? Sounds dreamy! I heard a few existed but have yet to ever see any. I think it would be a great one to own.