This week at Copacetic Customs...

[tr@shM4gik]

Customer's Marauder body we sprayed in Evergeen Metallic nitro. Neck was made by Musikraft but they left off the sanded-in swoosh and sent the headstock flat. So i meticulously filed and sanded in a beveled swoosh to the best of my ability. Turned out stellar if you ask me!

That's my Marauder! It looks phenomenal! I love how the headstock swoosh came out.

[JVG]

Damn. Wanna see the latest instalment, but the pics aren’t loading for me!

I see the pics in every other post….weird.

[copacetic]

Damn. Wanna see the latest instalment, but the pics aren’t loading for me!

I see the pics in every other post….weird.

Probably bc there are more pics on that post than ive ever put in one before

Maybe give the page a minute to load and theyll show up haha

[copacetic]

Howdy Gang!

Trying to get back to weekly posting after letting my OSG activity slip. Thanks to everyone for all the kind words and warm "welcome back" (even tho i never actually left haha)

Got some really sweet stuff to share this week, most of which was teased in previous posts, but now i can finally share the glamour shots

Finished up Feelgood Guitars' newest model/shape: Gardenia. This is our take on an "S-type" guitar, for offset nerds like ourselves.
Finished in Lilac Frost Metallic nitro with a matching headstock, XII pickups and Offset vibrato (could also be made with a standard strat trem of course!) This is definitely one of my favorite shapes ive designed yet, and Boris did a fantastic job bringing it to life!
















Also finished up just last night: This rad Dreamweaver II sold within an hour of posting!! Roasted Poplar Guitar Form body, GFS Surf 90 Pickups (modeled after Dearmond Dynasonics), simplified switching, offset vibrato, Burgundy Mist Metallic Nitro. Eat your heart out














Last but certainly not least! Had the pleasure of doing the paint work for a customer's RAD Guitar Form Marauder project in Coke Bottle Sparkle. Was only commissioned to do the paint work for this one unfortunately, as the owner is a mad scientist and wanted to play around with wiring/switching options and put it together himself. Still, i did a little extra work on the neck and fitted everyhting together so i could take the prettiest glamour photos possible. This finish took me over half a year to complete... Large metal flake is NO JOKE! Still, its pretty damn rewarding getting to see the finished product, even if i cant play it
NOTE: this is a Fender neck and the customer wanted a Fender decal installed which he sent along himself. It already said Fender before painting it anyways... Dont sue me Fender!!!









Thats it (for finished stuff with pretty glamour photos anyways) for this week! Hopefully next week i'll remember to make a post with the cool stuff that gets completed. We'll see
Thanks for looking!!!!!

Group pics and another pic of Javier's starcaster build for fun:

[Shadoweclipse13]

These are all great! That S-type is the best iteration of an S-type I've ever seen! No Strat jack, better vibrato, more comfy-looking shape. Is it actually offset, or is it just with offset-accoutrements?

[Daitong II]

Always wonderful work. Was really sweating that burgundy marauder. The sparkle deal is very drool worthy.

[Daitong II]

I know I'm not Copacetic but I had to share his latest YouTube video featuring my new Dreamweaver. Can't wait to get it tomorrow!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCLwd0RAZ2I

[copacetic]

Howdy gang! Been a while since i checked in so i thought id give everyone a little update on what weve been working on. There's a lot, so i'll try to just pick the highlight reel pics, but more pics can be seen on my instagram if you wanna more of any of these!

First off, as a general update, Ive been working basically 7 days a week since late january, as i got behind on work during the holidays and it started to snowball, with lead times dragging a bit for basically all of my customers. I am happy and relieved to say that Ive finally caught up (for the most part, with exception of a few things being annoyingly slowed down by humid, rainy weather) and hope to have a quicker, less stressed workflow now, which means i will be posting here more regularly and have more time to be a part of our little community. I was also forced to finally get a new phone after my old one finally crapped out on me, but the benefit of this is i got a nice new phone with multiple large hi-def cameras and tons of storage space, so I am able to make youtube videos with much more ease now, and my photos should look better than ever!

LONG PAINT RANT/UPDATE INCOMING FOR THE SPARKLE NERDS AMONG US:
I have also been working very hard on figuring out how to make large metal flake finishes more feasible so i can offer them again. As much as i love the look of large flakes, they are just such a pain to get them laid down flat, and as a result clear coating takes forever and builds up quite thick as you have to fill in the "valleys" between the flakes with clear coat to build up an even gloss finish. So with metal flake, getting them to lay down flat when initially spraying is the ultimate key to success.
I've tried spraying large flakes mixed in with clear coat (best option, lays down pretty flat, but really hard to get the right amount of flake to clear to air ratio, and clogs guns like nobodys business even with proper sized tips-- ruined 2 guns with large flakes, takes forever to build up an even coat, wasted tons of material and $$ and flakes in the process) and shaking flakes onto wet clear coat (works well, but the flakes dont land perfectly flat, leading to aforementioned peaks and valleys that need to be filled. Also leads to a lot of flake waste, and flakes need to be "smoothed out" in between coats -- lot of extra work and time, plus this method also takes forever)

But the one method ive never tried is a dry flake gun. These work by spraying a wet coat of clear like you normally would, then using a gun that just shoots air and flakes in your choice of color onto the surface. You can use higher air pressure when shooting the flakes dry as you dont have to worry about balancing your air to liquid output along with controlling the amount of flake youre spraying (easier and faster to get full, flat coverage) and the higher air pressure "forces" the flakes to lay down flatter supposedly. In the process of my research i also learned a bit about metal flake color theory, and how to use color-matched basecoats to allow the use of less flake to get full, even coverage. This is partly why i have struggled with many colors like Coke Bottle Green or Dark Blue Sparkle, as i havent ever found a basecoat that is quite a perfect match for these colors, and i have always gone either too light or too dark with it. By taking the time to find properly matched metallic basecoats, and finding a wider variety of colors of flakes from new manufacturers, i can avoid having to spray a WHOLE SOLID COAT of flakes to get full even color and coverage, and can use the flakes more as a topcoat/accent coat, leading to easier, flatter application and much quicker lead times and lower costs to boot, while still giving that huge gaudy metal flake flair...
So it would seem the one thing i havent tried, may be the key to success--at least for me-- with large flake sparkle jobs. Its clear everyone has their own favorite method to do these, but there is more than one way to skin a cat as they say. I'm investing in a dry flake gun and doing better research on matched basecoats for all the sparkle colors i can dream up. Hoping to put sparkly guitars in more hands this year!
END OF PAINT BABBLING. lol

On to the guitars

Speaking of sparkle guitars, you guys may have seen the new YT video Sonny posted to the thread showcasing his new 24" scale Dreamweaver II in Penny Sparkle. This was a really, really fun build for me as I got to experiment with a fun new color idea: Copper Sparkle. I was still dealing with limited colors of flake being available to me at this time, but there were some copper and bronze colors that fit the bill and were available in a small enough size to work without clogging like crazy. So i looked thru my swatches and found a really cool color code that matched the flakes perfectly IMO: Liquid Copper. Its technically classed in paint books as a metallic pink, but very much has a copper/penny vibe to it, so i thought itd bring a cool pinkish vibe to the finish. Im stoked with how it turned out to say the least! Even though these are "small" flakes, the sparkle on this one is LARGE! This proved my theory that you can get a much cooler and MORE sparkly result by actually using LESS flake and taking time to find a course metallic basecoat that perfectly matches the kind of color you want, rather than going with something thats "close" and getting it there with heavier coats of flakes. Other cool details on this one include: 24" scale length (Guitar Form innovation we were the first to try!), espresso burst neck finish, full size jazzmaster vibrato arm cut down to proper height to function with the mustang-style vibrato arm, and flat-pole handwound ToneHatch strat pickups with aluminum covers, top mounted to retain the jag vibe. All the chrome makes it look straight out of outer space! BIG thanks to Sonny for his trust on this one and letting us cook up something so rad






That last photo brings us to the next completed build: This rad hardtail string-thru version of our Space Cadet in a new metallic burst finish called "Angel Burst" consisting of a rose gold metallic base with an angelic gold "halo" or burst. Matching headstock AND pickguard to just send it over the top a bit more! This one is also for a forumite, ainm! Always get the coolest ideas from you guys, i shouldnt be surprised anymore haha. XII pickups flipped along the "y axis" so the two halves are on opposite sides from how they normally are. Mustang wiring in place of the standard two slider switches. This turned out pretty cool so i'll probably make Mustang wiring the standard option now. Maybe 5.0 wiring to be a little different?
String thru hardtail with fanned ferrules that follow the shape of the lower bout. Inspiration here was the Squier Venus! Mastery Bridge perfectly guides the angled strings inward and makes for a rock-stable instrument. Really really pleased with the aesthetic of this one! Angel burst will have to be kept in rotation i'd say.





Another completed custom build: This one is a super modern take on a vintage mustang. Clean Satin Black finish, Satin finished roasted maple neck with black block inlays and binding. Vintage style mustang pups, vibrato and wiring, but modern neck feel and finish. I dont do a ton of NOS Satin finishes, but this one was fun to tackle and see how cleanly i could execute it.




Back to sparkle/refin land, I finished up this RAD Tangerine Dream Sparkle refinish on this Performer Strat owned by Wes, who was sent our way by the dude of all dudes Bango Rilla of GoGoRillas fame and OSG Forumhood. Another "small flake " job with a LARGE amount of sparkle from carefully choosing a metallic basecoat. The closet clean relic with finish checking just puts it over the top imo





Another sparkly 6 string, this one has a bit fatter strings! Squier Bass VI refin in Turquoise Sparkle with silver metallic competition stripes. Possibly the first VI with racing stripes?? Ive definitely never seen one. Surely the first SPARKLE VI with racing stripes
Itll be getting a full makeover once the owner gets it back with a black pickguard, new knobs, tuners, and pickups/black covers, so i can only imagine how sweet itll look after that!






Finished up a pair of refinish jobs for a fellow Texan, Jason, who clearly has great taste! Matched a headstock on his CFM jazzmaster and Sprayed Aged/ambered Light Burgundy Mist on his beautiful 66 jag. Also aged some reissue hardware on his jag to match the old stuff. Super pleased with how the color and checking turned out on the jag!!







As usual, Competition Mustang finishes remain my most popularly requested finish by far. So much so that im working on a pair of Compstangs to sell right now. The KC/Teh Kurdtz mania is so hot right now its silly, but i will shamelessly pump these finishes out as long as people desire them. After all, they ARE some of my favorite finishes of all time and partly why i got into painting guitars in the first place. Also pictured: a blue 69 telecaster i refinished for Classic City Guitars. Those Blue Boys look sweet side by side!! Bright LPB on the tele, Dark on the compstang








Another fun one from recent weeks: Chris Louck's (forumite HNB) Jagmaster build! I call this one Scarface because of the resemblance to the Scarface poster lol. Chris did awesome work on the pickguard and headstock painting, it looks even cooler than i imagined it would when he described the project to me. Full thread on his build here: Two-Tone Jagmaster



Did our first resin tort pour over a pearloid guard on our friend Sophie's Cyclone! Really cool 3D effect that dances in the light and has a transparent vibe like real tortoiseshell. I mixed up a bit too much resin so i eeked out another jaguar guard which was promptly snatched up my another friend of ours Steve for his custom Jag build my apprentice Tyson put together. Funny how things work out sometimes! We also matched the headstock and sprayed a tinted nitro gloss finish on the Cyclone's neck, but i neglected to get good pics of it as i was rushing this one out the door due to being behind.





90s MIJ Jazz bass came thru for a refin/relic treatment. Heavy aged sherwood green revealing the original sunburst underneath, aging job to hardware, pickups, pickguard etc, and a most unique detail: a Jaguar style mute install. Took a lot of fiddling to get it working properly on a bass, but the result is a really cool little doohickey that allows an easy thumpy motown style sound at the flip of a switch. Inspired by Sean Hurley apparently, although i had no idea who he was before doing this mod haha.






That seems like a ton, so i wont overhwelm you guys with too many more pics lol. But here are some cool things im working on you can look forward to seeing in coming weeks:






Thanks for looking as always! Sorry it was such a long post haha. I'll try to check in sooner next time so it doesnt turn out so collossal, but i thought you guys would enjoy everything here and didnt wanna leave anything out
Til next time!

[Daitong II]

All amazing work as always dude.

I’m very happy with my Copper Sparkle Dreamweaver (the first guitar posted). The thing is so rad and sparkly. I’m surprised with the pickups. Strat quack with some bass. Really digging the guitar. Thanks again for the great build.

[DrippyReverbTremolo]

You Sir, are a Wizard. Thanks for the photos and the write-up.

[jasonpetzold]

LOVING my Burgundy Jag - I can't put it down. Looks so good, thanks!

What is the story with the Paisley Swinger? Would love to see some more pics of that

[N0_Camping4U]

Love these posts. Can't wait to see that green'd out charcoal frost build!

[HNB]

So good. Your work is just so good....

[Shadoweclipse13]

Fantastic as always!!! Easily one of my favorite threads, for the awesome ideas, and the pictures too!!! I can't wait to get another body or two ready to send you

[copacetic]

Howdy gang!!

Its been quite a week, but I've been very much "in the flow" as im sure you'll see!

(Small life update with some sad bits incoming, skip forward if you just want to get to the guitars LOL)

My parents and siblings called me Sunday morning to let me know our family dog Bella passed away from a sudden heart issue that came on rapidly. I was gutted to say the least. Bella was the goodest girl you could ever imagine. She was a pretty big German Shepherd, so she was naturally an "intimidating" guard dog to strangers, but to anyone she knew, she was the absolute sweetest, most gentle baby you could imagine. Always so polite and respectful of everyone's space, so gentle with kids, always down for a hug or a cuddle sesh.. But had a bark that would send shivers down the spine of any hardened no-gooder. I remember when my parents were cage training her as a puppy, her cage was right outside my bedroom door and i couldnt stand hearing her cry, so i would sneak her into my bed and let her cuddle up with me, much to my parents' chagrin. We were best buddies and inseperable after that. Anytime i was home, she would wait by my bedroom door until i let her in and she'd just plop on my bed and chill with me while i did homework or played video games. When i moved out, she was one of the things i missed most about being home. Every time I came back she would freak out and whine and kiss my face and roll around at my feet, like she couldnt believe i was finally back.. I wish I hugged her longer and tighter last time I saw her. Everyone pour one out for a damn good friend. RIP BB...



OKAY SORRY.. I hope that didnt bring down the vibe too much, she would never want anyone upset on her behalf. Just wanted to write a little something and share with my internet friends how amazing she was.

On to the guitars!!

I HAVe to start out with this one because it may just be my favorite build Ive ever put together. Got me out of my comfort zone in a really cool way and the results are mind blowing even to me! This beauty is a Feelgood Stinger, our take on the Swinger. A very cool dude named Raul who i believe is a forum member here commissioned this build and he obviously has incredible taste. He came to us with the idea of a Paisley burst finish with a matching headstock. Having done plenty of metallic bursts in the last year or two, i felt up to the challenge. It was a real pain to get the clear coat built up to a thick enough level to level it smooth, doubly so because its a nitro finish. But MAN is the payoff immense.. I admit I was skeptical when he picked the color of paper he wanted (metallic blue backing with red, blue, and green paisley pattern) and a teal metallic burst.. To me it seemed logical to match the metallic blue of the backing as you often see with paisley and flower finishes. But he wanted Teal and i admit, when i first sprayed it my jaw nearly dropped. Such an interesting combination of colors, i dont see how you could ever get bored looking at it. And its not just meant to look good, it plays like a DREAM. String-thru hardtail Toronado bridge with "bubba mod" converting to 3 compensated SS saddles to stay true to the Swinger DNA. Special Routing done by the master himself Boris Kusic AKA Kifla, with a large channel routed to easily guide the wires thru during assembly, then a piece of wood inlaid over the top and sealed to hide the wide channel. A genius move on his part that allowed us to keep the wiring hidden and the look ultra clean, while also keeping this one simple to assemble even with the added complexity of the clear guard/hiding the wiring. Sprayed the cavities with a metallic blue similar to the backing of the paisley paper so it would "blend in" as Raul requested we leave the middle pickup route empty and wire this one as a 2-pickup as he wanted to mod it himself with a special middle pickup. Pickups are Alnico Classics from GFS, and they sound absolutely incredible, strung with my favorite set of strings, Daddario Chromes flatwound 10-48's. Neck was made by our pals at Musikraft to Rauls spec: Thin D shaped neck fit for shredding, vintage radius and frets. Headstock reshaped and finish sprayed by us in vintage amber nitro with a polished unbleached bone nut. Finally, aged hardware & plastics and a light relic job with lots of finish checking complete the vibe!! If there was one build I wish I could keep around out of them all, this would be the one. I may just have to build myself a clone of it because.. Wow..



















Next up, another custom ordered beauty from someone with amazing taste in offsets! This XII-6 string is for a cool cat named Lukas all the way from Germany! He envisioned an EXII body, with a 6 string neck, JM bridge/vibrato and mustang pickups in Aged Charcoal Frost nitro. I used a blueish toned CFM so that when i sprayed the tinted clear on top, it turned to a subtle greenish hue. A Very cool look that I definitely plan to return to in the future!
Wiring on this one is crazy! Basically a take on Mustang 5.0 wiring.. Youve got a 3 way toggle pickup selector switch, then one mustang slider is: 1.killswitch (all off), 2. parallel, and 3. series and the other mustang slider switch is: 1. Dark mode, 2. Out of phase, 3. In phase. With all 3 working in conjuction, you can imagine there is quite a myriad of combinations on offer. Amazing all the tones you can pull out of two "lil ol" mustang pickups.. The series option sounded nice and fat and warm like a smooth humbucker, while out of phase and parallel sounds like a classic mustang, and you can do practically everything else in between! Shows a lot about how people maybe tend to misconceive mustang pickups as weak and brittle due to their natural habitat with "whiny" phase wiring in shortscale guitars. Throw em in a 25.5" scale guitar with beefed up wiring, and they hold up with any strat pickup out there.









Another custom order i finished up this week, this Bilindacaster was commissioned by a cool dude named Kirk who i think is also a forum member (say hi if so!). This is the first time anyone has requested Tideburst on a custom order, and it being one of my favorite unique burst "concoctions," i was quite happy to know it had an admirer! Alder body, handwound mustang style pickups, mustang style wiring, AVRI vibrato, block inlays and binding with the requisite matching headstock and ultra light relic. Unique from mane to tail if i say so myself








It may seem almost blasphemous to some to do this to an example that had a -mostly- intact original finish, but what the customer wants, they shall get. And i'd almost guarantee this is one of the coolest examples of this model you'll see--refin or not. 1985 Fender Performer in Candy Apple Red nitro with a custom resin tortoiseshell painting on the original pickguard We were originally going to do a full matching headstock, but once i saw this bad boy in person and realized these came with a beveled edge on the "arrow" shaped headstock, (something that was never really noticeable in photos i had seen) i suggested doing a painted "swoosh" rather than a full matching headstock. And I definitely think it was the right choice. This way we preserved the original decal while adding the "custom, matching headstock" flair in a uniquely Fender way. Kind of a callback to starcasters, marauders etc.









Also, i realized i never posted this one (at least not that I remember LOL)
This was the first refin my apprentice Tyson did himself under my guidance. This was originally a Kurt cobain jaguar body and an AVRI neck, but the customer Steve, a cool local musician and friend of Tyson (and now mine too!) wanted a black nitro medium relic finish showing the sunburst thru a bit in the wear spots. He also wanted XII pickups and a new tort guard, so we had our friend Jeff Porrento from Lomic guitars make him a custom guard and I helped Tyson nail the finish work. He has sprayed primer and other things here and there on Copacetic projects, but never a full finish with color, clear, sand and buff, etc. I think he absolutely NAILED it-- the vintage mojo is strong in this one. It has since came back in for a new makeover with Novak Mustang pickups and a new resin tortoiseshell pickguard from yours truly. I neglected to get good pics as i was rushing to finish it up, but hopefully i'll get some more from Steve down the line It looks cool either way, so i dont mind posting it in the "old form"






Lastly, some extra goodies: bodies ive finished up, refinishes, customer shots, things that are in the pipeline, etc.









Thanks for reading my gargantuan posts as always! Sorry if the images take a bit to load, I just have a hard time narrowing it down to just a few
Til next time! Keep on rockin in the free world and hug your animals extra tight for me