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WezV · July 2015

here is the burst back, just about where I want it to be. nearly enough lacquer on to start leveling off and buffing.

JohnB · July 2015

Is that RPC ? or cellulose?

WezV · July 2015

this is brushed on cellulose sanding sealer, levelled of and then sprayed with rattle can nitro from rothko and frost

I did have some other brushing lacquer i was going to try, but once I had decided on the dark burst it really needed to be sprayed (even though i have tried to keep a hand rubbed burst look)

hopefully today I will get it levelled off again without sanding through - then it will get buffed

WezV · July 2015

here it is in buffing stages. I am not aiming for perfection here and am purposely buffing early, this will mean it sinks in a bit quicker over the next few weeks, it may also mean it needs a rebuff later

but i also realised I had forgot something. I was originally going with a side mounted jack, but i never drilled the hole!!!

so I eitehr need to drill it in the side very carefully as per the original plan, or add an extra hole to the plate in the SG jack location

controls are going to be 3-way switch on upper horn. volume and tone for each pickup and a master volume at the front

Shark_Eyes · July 2015

Really like the burst on that, quite unusual.

WezV · July 2015

here is the front again - the pickups and rings are just some i had lying around, they are not fixed in position yet.... but i wanted to see how it would look with black pickups and rings- now i have gone for a non-zemaitis style of finish I may as well carry on with the deviations

WezV · July 2015

also - with everything in that pic it currently weighs 6lb 5oz

its going to be a light one!!

Andyjr1515 · July 2015

WezV said:

here is the front again - the pickups and rings are just some i had lying around, they are not fixed in position yet.... but i wanted to see how it would look with black pickups and rings- now i have gone for a non-zemaitis style of finish I may as well carry on with the deviations

This just gets better and better, @WezV The rope etching is a master-stroke...

WezV · July 2015

yeah, I think its set it off nicely without making it too fussy, although it is a bit rough in places I am happy with the overall look

so I started putting it together, it will all be going apart again for final polishes but there were quite a few things i needed to test on this

There are a few issues to sort, but that's not unusual with a one off guitar at this stage

The good news is it went together really well, most things fit where they should and without doing much set up work at all I had a playable action of 1.2 - 1.3mm. very unusual to get that low on a 24 fret neck without some serious buzzing. it will be set a bit higher than that, because i don;t like it stupidly low - but its nice to have that as the lowest point. it intonates well too

The bad news, tailpiece hasn't aligned nicely - need to move it a bit. Not too much bother. the bottom tone pot hole is too close to the cavity edge, luckily there is plenty of room to open that up a bit. I cut one of the string slots on the nut a bit our of alignment so a new nut will be needed. the 19th fret side dot is obscured by the metal plate - didn;t take that into account when setting neck alignment - no fix for that now

all in all I am very happy, its already a great player and sounds really lively unplugged. now to take it apart and start final shaping and polishing on all the bits of metal!!!

Next to an epi for size reference

and some Knoptions I can't decide on - Ebony, satin chrome, reflector, alu & plastic???

Rocker · July 2015

Re the knobs, I like the lower knob best of all. This is a fantastic build. Congrats on your wonderful work.

Andyjr1515 · July 2015

I like the one furthest to the left...

IvisonGuitars · July 2015

Andyjr1515 said:

I like the one furthest to the left...

Me too. Bit more like the 'originals'.

When do I pick this up??

WezV · July 2015

i have ordered the gibson style ones now, and stocked up on knurled pots. My john birch has the 70's stereo style ones -

as for the originals, they vary a fair bit.

here is an 80's with black pickups, black rings and gibson style knobs. the whole guitar is much more liek a standard les paul with the shape, hardware and 22 frets - a les desirable zemaitis if such a thing exists

http://drewberlin.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/1980s-Zemaitis-Metal-Top-Dragon-2.jpg

this is the more complete zemaitis package. note how he slots straight through the binding, i decided not to copy that

http://www.cranesmusicstore.com/images/large/snZEM78_01_03.jpg

most reissues seem to favour a plain metal knob

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/5c/f9/b2/5cf9b2f6e7e7caeed3c3552bd99fb9fd.jpg

mine is not really a copy of any particular Z, although i used this picture for the shape - enlarged a bit and tweaked the curves

on that basis i would have gone for the stereo style knobs, but I have changed the finish and kept the engraving simpler???

Shark_Eyes · July 2015

It's looking really good, I never realised the waist was so narrow until you posted the side by side.

WezV · July 2015

it does make the epiphone look particularly tubby

hobbio · July 2015

It's this knob for me.

ThePrettyDamned · July 2015

Wow, that looks amazing. I like the bottom knob the most.

I love the burst! How do you go about spraying rattle can nitro? Do you need to have a special spray area or could I just set a few wood boards up in the garden?

I'm a bit wary, but wouldn't mind trying nitro...

DartmoorHedgehog · July 2015

That looks superb @WezV. Haven't looked at this thread for a bit - it's coming on really well. In my opinion it looks really good with the amount of engraving you've done - I wouldn't put any more on myself, although the originals all look to have more.

WezV · July 2015

ThePrettyDamned said:

I love the burst! How do you go about spraying rattle can nitro? Do you need to have a special spray area or could I just set a few wood boards up in the garden?

I dd it in the garage, hung up by the doors so i could get some ventilation. you can do it in the garden, but if you are planning a light colour you will have major issues with flies and dust.... and maybe neighbours

WezV · August 2015

just having a play with these two

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