Jim Bonnell's Danelectro Convertible

[Jim Bonnell]

Awhile back I decided I wanted to build a Danelectro Convertible style guitar. I headed off to Home Depot to get the basic materials. When I started to put the body together I realized I was just short a couple small pieces of 2x6 of having two bodies so I found some suitable scrap and set off to build two. One would have the standard "Brazilian" <G> Masonite top and the other an X braced spruce top. I though it might be interesting to compare the two. The first is finished and has a spruce frame and Masonite top and back. The neck is limba. The fingerboard is Pau Ferro. I wanted to wind the neck pickup myself but could only find parts for a Strat sized lipstick pickup. I ended up using a Guitar Fetish pickup. I wanted a pickup and preamp for the bridge but I didn't want to spend a lot on an experiment. I bought an Artec piezo and preamp for about $35.00. I ran the two pickups to seperate jacks so one can be run to an acoustic amp and the other to a standard amp. I believe a Y cable can be used to run both to one amp but haven't tried it yet.

[Jim Bonnell]

When I was trying to decide on a finish for it I ran across a picture of Clapton playing a Danelectro during his Blind Faith days with a hand painted finish I took inspiration from http://home.provide.net/~cfh/dano.html.

[Jim Bonnell]

After a little experimenting this is what I came up with.

[Jim Bonnell]

Didn't get all the pictures to post for some reason.

[Jim Bonnell]

Does this only post one at a time?

[Jim Bonnell]

And the back.

[Jim Bonnell]

Neck

[Jim Bonnell]

And matching shoes.

[Jim Bonnell]

I'm having a little problem with the tone pot on the preamp but I'll order a replacement pot tomorrow.

[Steve Senseney]

Love the shoes! The guitar is nice too.

[Alan Peterson]

Atsa spicy meatball!

Somewhere - whether here or under "Glues & Finishes" - you're going to have to describe how to create that finish.

[Jim Bonnell]

Thanks Steve and Alan. The finish was easy and kind of relaxing. First I sealed all the edges of the body with a couple of coats of Z-Poxy to hide the end grain and seams. Next I gave it one coat of white gesso (artist supply or craft stores). Next I dabbed on small splotches of different colors of fluid acrylic paints for a base coat. If you buy the tubes of acrylic instead of the fluids you'll need to thin it mostly for the next step. I next used a very cheap artist brush about 1/2" wide and a short stick of some kind to whack the brush against. Hold the stick near the body, dip the brush in the paint then hit the brush against the stick to produce splatter. Alternate colors and angle of splatter. Practice on cardboard till you get the effect you like. If I was to do it again I would thin the paint a bit more to get more splatter and less specks. A tooth brush dipped in paint will produce tiny little specks when you run a tongue depresser across it if you want that look. I then applied Target Coatings Superclear 9000 waterborne polyurethane. (no polyurethane on shoes <g>) I checked with Target about what finish I could use over acrylic and this was suggested because of it's clarity. After it cured I found no need to sand or buff. I used mostly Golden acrylics because of the quality and great color selection but it's pricey. I also used some cheap neon colors from Micheal's craft store. I think the cheap paint will work fine if you find the colors you want.

[Mark Swanson]

I like it Jim, and I think you achieved the effect you were looking for....I think it looks great up close, but from further away it just loses its effect when all the colors run together seen from a bit of a distance.

[Jim Bonnell]

Thanks Mark. The pictures didn't come out to good. It does look much better in person, but you are right about it all running together at a distance. If I were to do it again I would go with larger splatter.

[Dave Anderson]

Another great electric Jim.Beautiful job on the finish ! I hope I get a chance to play it.