MIMF

I figured rather than putting up a new thread every time I finish a guitar, I'd just add photos to one ongoing thread. I'm not going to include many words, or many pictures of different angles or anything, just my favorite photos of each guitar. If anyone wants to see more photos, or talk about specific details or building techniques on anything, I'll be around to answer.

Natural finish flame top Oceana DuoTone.

Blue sparkle Oceana Junior.

Red sparkle Oceana Junior.

Green sparkle top with pearl white back Oceana DuoTone with custom tailpiece.

Gold top Oceana semi-hollow.

I call this one the "Balinese" model. All-over gold with added binding and tailpiece.

Black Oceana Junior with TV Jones PowerTron Plus.

Wow, they are awesome...you must build these babies pretty fast! Are you building everything by hand, including your necks?
Explain how you're doing your sparkle finishes too please.

Seeing Soundgarden back on the scene, it makes me think that Kim Thayil would ditch his Guilds for one of your Oceanas.

How does that "Balinese" feel on a strap?

These are some mean, retro machines, Paul.

Mark Swanson wrote:Are you building everything by hand, including your necks?
Explain how you're doing your sparkle finishes too please.

I do have a CNC machine in my shop, which obviously speeds things up considerably. I can and have built completely by hand with routers and templates, and even with a CNC you'd probably be surprised how much I still do by hand. But I'm fortunate to work in a shop with some major machinery.

So the sparkle finishes are a lot of fun. I don't know if there is anyone else doing them like I do, and you guys are lucky, cause I wouldn't share this technique on any other forum.

I spray the guitar until it's level before starting the sparkle. That's typical, of course you would do that when applying any sort of color, besides a stain on raw wood. I mask off the area to be sparkle finished, including 1/16" fine line masking tape over the top edge of the binding. Now here's the part that might surprise you. I mix the glitter, which is only as big as .008", about half and half with waterbase lacquer. I spray it through a turbine HVLP gun with a big 2.0 mm tip. You have to spray really fast and be mindful of it getting too wet. Let it sit just long enough that the shininess disappears. This is the water evaporating, and you don't want to spray it until the water is gone. It takes about four coats. After the final coat, watch again for the water to evaporate. When it's "dry" immediately unmask it. Clean up any glitter that got in places it wasn't supposed to and wait overnight before you top coat it. I top coat with lacquer, which with a normal .015" glitter, would take forever to bury, but the .008" glitter doesn't take nearly as long.

Jason Rodgers wrote:How does that "Balinese" feel on a strap?

You know, I was surprised at how well it balances and how not-awkward it is. I thought it was gonna be this crazy off-center thing that would place the neck in a very unnatural position, but that's just not the case. I doubt many players would have a hard time adjusting to it.

I forgot to mention, the real reason why I use waterbase lacquer to spray glitter finishes? Because it cleans up with soap and water!

Nice work!

Wow.

That blue one and green one are both real sweet.

There is a certain organic look to that design that just kicks!

So the sparkle finishes are a lot of fun. I don't know if there is anyone else doing them like I do, and you guys are lucky, cause I wouldn't share this technique on any other forum.

I have done a couple of sparkle finishes too. Last February I finished a present for my son, a left-handed Jazz Bass with green sparkle finish. In July I finished a red sparkle guitar with which I was supposed to to participate in the $100 Local Materials Challenge. I missed the deadline and finished the guitar later just for fun.

This is how I do the finish: I spray the guitar with primer/filler, masking the spots I don't want painted. I wet sand the cured primer with 800 and 1200 grit papers and check the surface for scratches and dents. If I find any, I fill them with light putty and sand the spots carefully with 800 & 1200 grit papers. I dilute 2-component clear lacquer with thinner in a 1:1 ratio and mix one tablespoon (15ml) of 100 micron silver flake with 250 ml of clear. I spray the flake on the guitar with a 6 Bar pressure at 2 or 3 passes, letting the surface dry for 10 minutes between coats. I keep whirling the spraygun horizontally to prevent the flake from landing on the bottom of the can.
When the flake coat is nice and even, I tint thinner with Stewmac's Color Tone stain and add 10-20 % of clear lacquer to the mixture. I spray just as much tint on the flake as I need to achieve the tone and transparency I'm after. I had previously trouble finding good transparent tints that mix with thinner, but these stains solved my problem and I love using them.
On top of the tint I spray up to 7 layers of 2-component clearcoat and wet sand between coats. The last coat is then wet sanded with 1200, 1500 and 2000 grit papers and buffed with a sponge buffer attached to a random orbital sander. I buff 3 times with Farécla G3 paste compound and twice with G10 finishing compound. Finally I give it a rub with carnauba wax and a soft cotton cloth. The result is a mirror-like shine. It's a lot of work, but it pays off.

And by the way, Paul - those Oceanas of yours are gorgeous.

Here's one of my latest.

Oceana Junior with black hardware in cherry red with a nice quilt Maple top.

I became the subject of a video recently as well. It came out really good, and I think you guys will appreciate it.

http://vimeo.com/56064220

Very nice guitars! Are the tailpieces handmade?