Starcaster build! (Again) (finished p.6)

[gishuk]

Heres how things stand at the moment after one round of dye, sanding and then another round of dye. Not fully dry in this photos which is why some areas look a little blotchy, they aren't now.

Im pretty much happy with the back and sides as they are now, but I want to work on the top a little more to get some of the purple to show through a bit better, but overall I think its not bad for a first try at this kinda thing!

[ludobag1]

Don't forget varnish will wet this then it will be more darker
love the back ,the top show less figuring

[gishuk]

I think the back is just a more figured piece of wood, but I'm going to try and bring some more of the figuring out in the top. It will have a tru-oil finish over all this which should add depth too.

[ludobag1]

carefull true oil darken a lot and go to yellow amber with age then your blue will become green

[gishuk]

Im ok with a bit of green over time I think

I hit the top with some steel wool and pulled off some of the blue which really shows a lot more of the grain figuring now. Its still not as pretty as the back but its a lot closer now. Im happy with how it looks. Also started to scrape the binding, really makes the colours pop with the white binding, still need to touch up a few areas and around the horns where I had to fill a couple of pinholes in the binding.

Its not quite turned out how I pictured it in my head,but its fairly close and for a first time doing colours im quite happy

[ludobag1]

as i said before it is easyer to put stain diluted than sanding
you can also only put some water on a piece of cloth and pull the stain to make it more even
the result you will have is the result when it is wet

you re on good way

[gishuk]

Started the tru oil process. This is going to take a while so won't be many exciting updates but heres how it looks under the first coat, really starting to show the depth of the the figure.





I also really didn't like how the black control cavity cover looked through the soundhole so I got some maple veneer to cover the back of the plate. Through the soundhole now you can barely tell theres a control cavity at all, but no trying to wire pots through a tiny hole.

[601210]

I wish truoil were available in my country, I love how it makes the grain pop.

[solfege]

I love this guitar so much.

Question: did you stain the back or is that just layers of tru oil?

[gishuk]

Thanks man

The back is stained too, first with a brown then sanded back and stained again with amber, with the brown highlighting the grain.

[gishuk]

Haven't had much to update as theres only so many photos of mildly different amounts of tru oil that can be taken, but I think its pretty close to being done at this point. One or two more coats and I think I'll call it good enough. Its not perfect but im pretty happy with how it looks, has a nice deep shine to it and the grain has really popped.

Almost time to do the electronics, my least favourite part.

[Marc]

Looks really great - you are clearly gifted! I used to make RC Aeroplanes. I gave up that hobby when I was around 14 and took up playing guitar... (expensive - you crash a plane and the rebuilding costs grounded me for weeks as only on pocket-money). Fast Forward 30+ years and looking at DIY guitar builds I wish I had kept going with my transferable woodworking skills as I'd be making guitars myself by now!

[hpr_hpr]

I wish truoil were available in my country, I love how it makes the grain pop.

Danish oil has the same effect . . . it doesn't 'build' really but the visuals are close if not the same, add a coat of paste wax for extra protection.

[gishuk]

Looks really great - you are clearly gifted! I used to make RC Aeroplanes. I gave up that hobby when I was around 14 and took up playing guitar... (expensive - you crash a plane and the rebuilding costs grounded me for weeks as only on pocket-money). Fast Forward 30+ years and looking at DIY guitar builds I wish I had kept going with my transferable woodworking skills as I'd be making guitars myself by now!

Thanks!

I came at my first guitar build without much in the way of woodworking experience at all but its been a fun process to learn. Wish I had a proper workshop though, everything ive built has been done on a little folding workbench and a drill press in the back of my garage

[Marc]

Looks really great - you are clearly gifted! I used to make RC Aeroplanes. I gave up that hobby when I was around 14 and took up playing guitar... (expensive - you crash a plane and the rebuilding costs grounded me for weeks as only on pocket-money). Fast Forward 30+ years and looking at DIY guitar builds I wish I had kept going with my transferable woodworking skills as I'd be making guitars myself by now!

Thanks!

I came at my first guitar build without much in the way of woodworking experience at all but its been a fun process to learn. Wish I had a proper workshop though, everything ive built has been done on a little folding workbench and a drill press in the back of my garage

Sorry - only just saw your reply. With the results you are getting I guess you will be building more? I think you should! I doubt I will ever start DIY guitar builds but I would like to become a skilled refinisher (no relics!). I'm going through a bit of a mid-life crisis at the moment and thinking about what I could do outside of the website industry. One thing I would like to learn to do for a living is respray cars and, if I go down that path learning how to do guitars properly would be on my radar. That is a few years away though.