a very slow and nerdy lipstick JM build thread (DONE - Page 5)

[marqueemoon]

Hoping this works. This is my first experiment with using Dropbox as an image host and apparently I’m doing it wrong.

These pictures are over a month old at this point. Even the updates are super slow.

This is after about 6 coats of Tru-Oil. I used the sock-wrapped canister as a sanding block along with some synthetic steel wool on the upper horn.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nx1n00w4k94bo ... 20Wool.jpg

Here it is after wet sanding with 1000 grit and steel wool.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gfc36pirpjmjf ... 20Wool.jpg

I've done a few more coats since these were taken, but it's gotten about as dark as it's going to. I'll knock it back down to a matte look for the final finish. Since I didn't do anything to fill the grain any glossiness really highlights inconsistencies. The neck has ended up a very similar shade.

I also ordered my pickguard from WD yesterday. I went with single ply tort. I was planning to shield the pickguard anyway and I think copper tape showing through a little might look kind of cool. II'll probably degloss the back side of guard to hide any seams/tape application sloppiness.

The piece of gear I've been waiting to sell recently did so I should have some more funds to play with soon. I also recently picked a Fender molded Jag/JM case with the TSA latches, so provided this guitar turns out as well as I hope it will it will have a secure home.

[Steadyriot.]

Hoping this works. This is my first experiment with using Dropbox as an image host and apparently I’m doing it wrong.

These pictures are over a month old at this point. Even the updates are super slow.

This is after about 6 coats of Tru-Oil. I used the sock-wrapped canister as a sanding block along with some synthetic steel wool on the upper horn.



Here it is after wet sanding with 1000 grit and steel wool.



I've done a few more coats since these were taken, but it's gotten about as dark as it's going to. I'll knock it back down to a matte look for the final finish. Since I didn't do anything to fill the grain any glossiness really highlights inconsistencies. The neck has ended up a very similar shade.

I also ordered my pickguard from WD yesterday. I went with single ply tort. I was planning to shield the pickguard anyway and I think copper tape showing through a little might look kind of cool. II'll probably degloss the back side of guard to hide any seams/tape application sloppiness.

The piece of gear I've been waiting to sell recently did so I should have some more funds to play with soon. I also recently picked a Fender molded Jag/JM case with the TSA latches, so provided this guitar turns out as well as I hope it will it will have a secure home.

Body is looking good!
I think the copper foil will really make the pickguard pop. I don't think seams would be all to obvious but you could slightly rub the back of the guard down with steel wool (or acetone to frost it but that's more tricky and easier to mess up!).

(I fixed the pictures for you, dropbox's a bit of a mess when it comes to that so the url's are ugly as all but it works.)

[marqueemoon]

Thanks for the picture fix.

Yeah I asked WD to send some scrap material so I can experiment with some methods for making it opaque. Steel wool is the plan if it’s needed.

[marqueemoon]

Pickguard arrived yesterday. It lines up with the bridge posts and they got the pickup routs correct.



Can't say I'm thrilled with the quality of the tort though. I expected a little better for what it cost. There's no bevel and no finishing work whatsoever to the edges. I think it will pop a little more with copper tape on the backside, but I'm hoping I don't screw that up.

Still waiting to see what's up with that Swope vibrato to see if it's something I'll be able to swing. I'm a little concerned about being able to get enough height out of the pickups, so if I can avoid jacking up the bridge to get a good break angle that would be good.

[s_mcsleazy]

gotta love baseball bat ash

[601210]

Huh, I'm hoping it's just a little dirty cause that looks really rough. Surely they could have gone around the edges and holes with fine grit sandpaper at the very least?

I wonder if no bevel is their standard treatment for single-ply.

[marqueemoon]

Huh, I'm hoping it's just a little dirty cause that looks really rough. Surely they could have gone around the edges and holes with fine grit sandpaper at the very least?

I wonder if no bevel is their standard treatment for single-ply.

Plastic is still on it, and I didn’t make any effort to clean it. I think I have some plastic polish kicking around somewhere and some buffing attachments for my Dremel. Not the end of the world, but still a little disappointing.

[parry]

I think the single ply is going to look really good, once it's all done up. Good choice!

[ThePearDream]

This is going to be really cool. Have you considered aluminum tape instead of copper? The aluminum would be a more neutral background, letting the lighter areas on the tort show up better.

[marqueemoon]

This is going to be really cool. Have you considered aluminum tape instead of copper? The aluminum would be a more neutral background, letting the lighter areas on the tort show up better.

Yes. It will be easy enough to overlay it on different materials to check it. I even had them send some sample pieces for this purpose. I’ll probably use some steel wool on the back of one to give it a matte finish to compare.

[marqueemoon]

Tort experiment. The sample on the left is deglossed on the back with steel wool. The one on the right is shiny. As you can see there's not a hell of a lot of difference. Wrinkles in the foil are still visible. More or less the same with the matte side up.



I might go full matte though. Anybody have any tips. Even 000 steel wool is leaving pretty significant swirl marks.

Finally got a check for my consignment sale, so things are starting to happen on the parts front.

[marqueemoon]

Been thinking more about the shielding situation and had a left field idea. What if I used a plate like this under the guard?

https://reverb.com/item/17995582-005-44 ... ter-guitar

The lipsticks are centered where polepieces would be on a standard JM pickup so I don’t think there would be any interference there, and I kind of like the idea of ghost image of a standard Jazzmaster layout being visible through the guard.

Given that there would be a decent sized gap around the pickups I’m wondering how effective this would be as actual shielding though. Could I link the aluminum baseplates to it somehow?

[rumfoord]

You know how you can do chemical etching on glass?

I don't. But, um...that?


Ghost JM pickup shadows sounds kind of cool to me too.

[marqueemoon]

Did someone say nerdy? Pricing mostly redacted to hide my shame.



Doh! I don’t have a switch in there.

[marqueemoon]

I got some important bits from a fellow OSGer and ordered some knobs today. I went on an hours-long search for the perfect knobs and kept coming back to these reproduction Westone knobs.



I think they'll look really good with a few years of funk, err... patina on them. All other hardware will be nickel/stainless. Don't want to overdo the brass thing.

Gotoh vintage/locking/staggered tuners are also on the way which I'm pretty excited about.