Sparkle Motion Guitars Custom Builds and Projects

Talk about modding or building your own guitar from scratch.
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Lost In Autumn
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Re: Sparkle Motion Guitars Custom Builds and Projects

Post by Lost In Autumn » Mon Jan 17, 2022 7:07 pm

SignoftheDragon wrote:
Mon Jan 17, 2022 8:56 am
Mmmmmmm.....

Surfcaster 12 in something sparkly.... Matching headstock?

I have one that's a little banged up that I'm seriously considering adding some bling to.

Mmmmmmm.....

(Dreaming about colors)
I’d be happy to help.

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Re: Sparkle Motion Guitars Custom Builds and Projects

Post by Lost In Autumn » Fri Jan 21, 2022 2:24 am

Progress: I've got about 16 coats of Crystalac BriteTone on it and it's starting to look pretty decent. A couple more sessions and it will be ready to cure.
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Re: Sparkle Motion Guitars Custom Builds and Projects

Post by Lost In Autumn » Tue Jan 25, 2022 3:03 am

clear coat is finished, now we let the finish cure for 3 weeks before leveling and sanding. I've also begun finishing the neck, which is from a Starcaster
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Even though it's nominally 25.5" scale, the Starcaster neck won't work with other Fender bodies, as the neck pocket is about 1/4" closer to the bridge. The neck screw holes match up, though, so it's a simple matter of lining up a neck routing template and giving it a trim:
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a gratuitous backside shot:
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another shot of the top & binding:
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Re: Sparkle Motion Guitars Custom Builds and Projects

Post by Lost In Autumn » Fri Jan 28, 2022 3:08 am

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I’d had a bit of a run pushing the boundaries my skill set and trying new techniques, so I didn’t hesitate to try a new glitter application method on this DiPinto Galaxie Safari II. It didn’t work very well. The color was splotchy, with random dark patches and it didn’t even out with clear coat, it got worse. Chris DiPinto suggested that we could sell it as a second, but I wasn’t having it. When I apprenticed as a carpenter, many, many years ago, my mentor had a saying that he was quite fond of: “Perfect is good enough,” and by golly, it is. I figured out what went wrong, leveled it out and applied a 2nd coat using the tack-it method, after watching an embarrassing amount of glitter tumbler videos on youtube. It turned out better, but still not quite good enough. I settled on a hybrid method, combining tack-it glitter base, then mixing more glitter with Crystalac Britetone clear. I think this is gonna work
Last edited by Lost In Autumn on Sat Jan 29, 2022 7:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Jazzmastervsjaguar
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Re: Sparkle Motion Guitars Custom Builds and Projects

Post by Jazzmastervsjaguar » Fri Jan 28, 2022 4:21 am

Oh man that Dipinto looks gorgeous! Well done.

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Re: Sparkle Motion Guitars Custom Builds and Projects

Post by JagChat » Fri Jan 28, 2022 9:26 am

Some awesome looking finishes - well done!

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Re: Sparkle Motion Guitars Custom Builds and Projects

Post by Lost In Autumn » Sat Jan 29, 2022 3:17 pm

this one was a long time in the making- I'd had a few spares laying around and I started spraying it this past summer; I finally got around to finishing it this past week. I've really liked Fender's Noventa series, but I figured I could maybe do it better: presenting the Soma S 90 3, the perfect antidote for these anxious times.
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I began with an ordinary strat-style body, but enlarged the rout for soap bars. I installed a trio of Lindy Fralin Hum-Cancelling P90s, Steel Pole in the bridge and middle positions and an AlNiCo pole soap bar in the neck, with a Stew Mac S-type Mega Switch and 1 Meg CTS Emerson Pro pots. It's also got a 52.5mm string spaced tremolo bridge (I prefer it to vintage spacing) with Graphtech String Saver saddles and a brass block. It's finished with enough chartreuse sparkle glitter to make a blues lawyer deeply uneasy.
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The neck is a modern c shape, with 22 medium frets and a 12" radius, with a GraphTech nut & string tree and Wilkinson EZ Lok tuners.
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Re: Sparkle Motion Guitars Custom Builds and Projects

Post by pscates » Sat Jan 29, 2022 8:23 pm

I love that sparkle green.

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Re: Sparkle Motion Guitars Custom Builds and Projects

Post by Lost In Autumn » Mon Jan 31, 2022 3:15 am

This DiPinto Galaxie Safari is abut 10 coats of clear into the process and is developing a nice holo sheen.
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Re: Sparkle Motion Guitars Custom Builds and Projects

Post by Lost In Autumn » Sat Feb 05, 2022 3:37 am

I'm really digging the color shift here! It's got two more sessions to go before it's put aside to cure.
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Re: Sparkle Motion Guitars Custom Builds and Projects

Post by Lost In Autumn » Mon Feb 07, 2022 3:30 am

Finishing this coral red Music Man Stingray body in strawberry sparkle for a customer:
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but it has a few dings that need attention:
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easy enough! all sanded and ready for finish!
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Re: Sparkle Motion Guitars Custom Builds and Projects

Post by Lost In Autumn » Sun Feb 13, 2022 5:27 am

applying glitter glue:
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Glitter applied:
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after drying and burnishing, we have gliftoff!
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Re: Sparkle Motion Guitars Custom Builds and Projects

Post by Lost In Autumn » Sun Feb 20, 2022 4:26 pm

I realize that I'm in the distinct minority of offset guitar aficionados when I admit that I'm not a fan of the Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster. While it did have one of the sweetest necks I've ever played on a Squier, try as I might, I just couldn't get into it and believe me, I tried multiple bridges: Schaller & Mosrite rollers, multiple pickups: Bootstrap Lake Surfers & Lindy Fralin Hum Canceling Jazzmaster pickups; I even tried it as a 12 String, but try as I might, I could never connect with it. That said, the Fender Japan J Mascis Jazzmaster is a thing of beauty:
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The used prices on it aren't obscene, but even though it doesn't have those muddy, overwound P90's or a tremolo that's in the wrong position, it still has one of the more problematic features of its Squier sibling: that awful Adjust-o-Matic bridge and it's mismatched radius. J may like his action sky high, but I'm not a fan. I figured that I could, if not do better, put my own spin on the guitar. I've detailed the build earlier in the thread, here I've got it mocked up after leveling sanding and polishing the body:
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The guitar has a Starcaster style neck that I've modded to fit the standard fender 25-1/2" scale body; I've experimented with painting the neck, while leaving the fretboard in clear maple. The jury is still out, but I find it oddly compelling. The body is semi-hollow construction made from white ash, with tone chambers right and left, but no f-hole. Beneath the gold anodized aluminum pickuard, I've added a pair of Lindy Fralin Hum Cancelling Jazzmaster Pickups (ironically, pulled from the Squier J Mascis Jazzmaster I had, before I sold it), with twin 1meg CTS volume pots, with treble bleed circuits. In lieu of a rhythm circuit, I've opted to replace it with dual tone controls and a series/paralell switch. The neck has 1meg, with .22uf cap, while the bridge has a 500k mini pot, also using a .22 uf capacitor. The tremolo is a Fender AVRI unit, de-branded with a Faction Guitars plate, with a Staytrem collet and tremolo arm, as well as a Staytrem bridge. The neck still has a couple weeks of curing to go before it can be polished, but it will have Kluson vintage tuners and a Graphtech nut and string tree.
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Re: Sparkle Motion Guitars Custom Builds and Projects

Post by Lost In Autumn » Wed Mar 02, 2022 3:10 am

A few months ago, I had a prospective client approach me about spraying his early 70’s swamp ash Fender jazz bass in a bronze sparkle, relic finish. I had an idea to do a shoreline gold undercoat with several coats of clear, before laying the bronze glitter. That way, when we did the relic, it would show the gold undercoat in addition to the ash beneath, as we wore away the clear. This idea was ultimately abandoned for a brighter color, but I haven’t been able to let the concept go. I’ve had this ‘86 ash mij jazz bass since the early 90’s and it’s come by all of its patina, finish checks, scrapes, dents and dings honestly. It’s a legit, real deal relicalready, but I think we can make it more interesting. I'll be working on this intermittently over the next few months, I expect to have it done my late May, early June.
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Re: Sparkle Motion Guitars Custom Builds and Projects

Post by Lost In Autumn » Sun Mar 27, 2022 11:46 am

I've run into a bit of a snag with the MIJ Jazz Bass. It turns out that it's a veneered body made from about 20 pieces of a lightweight wood that resembles mahogany. I haven't decided whether to continue with the project or get an ash body and more or less start from scratch.

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