First Build - DC Junior

PhilKing

Actually, you are responsible for 4 of the guitars in that picture.  Two you made and 2 you restored (the 60 cherry DC Junior and the 55 Les Paul Custom).

WezV

PhilKing said:

Actually, you are responsible for 4 of the guitars in that picture.  Two you made and 2 you restored (the 60 cherry DC Junior and the 55 Les Paul Custom).

I remember the other 3 more for some reason... Don't think I ever got many pics of the singlecut finished

PeteC

Wow !   Great pic and fine collection

And thanks yet again @SteveRobinson - much appreciated 

roberty

PhilKing said:

Not all juniors, but all of them are wraparounds

The oldest is my birth year 54 Goldtop, the newest is the @WezV neck through DC with a Mojo Blade P-90.

Great collection there mate. Is the bigsby aftermarket? Thinking of maybe putting one on my own custom. It's a neck repair '57 RI with hardly any original parts. What do the holes look like and what did you do with the ground wire? Mine would be pushing 11lbs with a B7 and I do wonder if the break angle over the bridge might be a bit steep. Apologies to OP for thread derailment

PeteC

No worries - it’s all good  

PhilKing

roberty said:

Great collection there mate. Is the bigsby aftermarket? Thinking of maybe putting one on my own custom. It's a neck repair '57 RI with hardly any original parts. What do the holes look like and what did you do with the ground wire? Mine would be pushing 11lbs with a B7 and I do wonder if the break angle over the bridge might be a bit steep. Apologies to OP for thread derailment

It's a vintage bigsby, but not original to the guitar.  The bridge has a double set of adjuster wheels, with one set against the body to help the posts.  @WezV can let you know how the ground wire is run, as he restored it after an old neck repair and binding disaster.  It did mean that I picked it up for a good price, but it did need a lot of work.  This is thread that @WezV did on the restoration https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1991213/#Comment_1991213

WezV

It had the ground wire drilled to the tailpiece hole, which still works with a bigsby

roberty

@PhilKing awesome thanks. Looks like I commented in the thread, was so long ago but coming back to me now

Andyjr1515

Ref stain, @PeteC , you know with care you can still slurry after staining?  Trouble with tinting oils, often it just becomes a 'hint of'.

If you're interested, I'll dig out some examples and some hints and tips.

PeteC

Yes please @Andyjr1515 ;
that would be really good.   

I have received the red aniline dye powder I have been waiting on for a few weeks. I planned to use this together with the tiniest hint of purple dye I already have to stain the Mahogany junior body after Rustins grain filling and sealing, but I am also wondering whether a VERY small amount of red dye would help tint the Danish Oil I have and whether I could then use this mix to oil slurry the Idigbo body.   I have plenty of Idigbo offcuts to test it out on before committing.  One question puzzling me is whether the oil slurry will be sufficient to grain fill the Idigbo as the grain on that body is quite open compared to the other (mahogany) body. 

All tips and hints gratefully welcomed ! 
cheers 

MattNovak

No hints or tips I'm afraid, but I'm after a similar finish on one of my builds so I am following with interest - really great build @PeteC , enviable skills.

TTony

Great work @PeteC ;

The attention to detail and thought process is amazing.

Andyjr1515

PeteC said:

Yes please @Andyjr1515 ;;;
that would be really good.   

All tips and hints gratefully welcomed ! 
cheers 

OK - a quick run through.  If general questions, queries spin off from this, I'll post it as a separate topic.  But in brief.


You know me - if someone says, 'you can only slurry and buff natural woods...'

Well, given a few do's and don'ts, you CAN slurry and buff stained product.  And it is properly stained and will not come off on your fingers.  But there is a 'but'.  And the but is that I have only done this extensively to date using Tru-oil (although I have then added a further finish on top in some cases).  So, while I can't see any reason why it wouldn't work with Danish Oil - it may not.


I used the method on this wonderful @GSPBASSES double cut.  In fact, this was my first go - it was my own guitar so I knew I could gig it and make sure it was really going to work:



And this, Gibson LPJ - that used to be a white - for a semi-pro who I knew would be extensively gigging it (and would give me warts and all feedback):



And in both cases, the necks are stained too.  And no - it doesn't wear off on your hands.

The method is based on @WezV 's slurry and buff technique, but the tweak is that I am basically slurrying tru-oil with hardened tru-oil rather than tru-oil with sanding dust.

Simple steps.  I do the following:
1.  sand to finish sanding quality.  I don't use grain filler.

2.  stain it (you know me, I generally still use fountain pen ink, although the LP did use some Chestnut Spirit stains)

3.  apply a decent tru-oil coat and leave overnight

4.  apply a second tru-oil coat and leave for 24 hours.  These two coats are important, because these are the ones that will soak into the stained wood and 'seal' the stain

5. apply a third coat of tru-oil, using 400 - 800 edited 1000-2000 grit emery (or micro-web is good too) as with slurry and buff, except I am being GENTLE with it   I am particularly careful at the edges and corners not to start sanding into the stain and wood.  I just want to slurry the tru-oil above it!

6. wipe off like the early stages of slurry-and-buff but I don't buff yet.  Leave overnight

7. repeat 2 or three times, finishing with a light buff of the final application


This is how it comes out - note on the cloth that yes, there is a touch of stain that has lifted with the slurry, but I have been very careful not to remove the stain enough to start seeing the wood colour itself:

 

Close up, you can see that the slightly-coloured tru-oil slurry has done a pretty good as a clear grain filler:





Here's the neck:


And although I sometimes then add another finish over the top (in the first picture of the finished guitar you can see that I've given the body a light gloss coat of Ronseal), I always leave the necks just buffed like the above with no extra finish.  And I have never had one yet where the colour has come off onto mine of any other player's hand (and I do always ask!).

Finally - I've even realised that where I have caught an edge and the stain has lightened a touch, I can just sand that area down to the wood, add some more stain and then blend it all in with a mini-version of the same approach.

So - like all these things, I am sure that I've gained the little tweaks and techniques that my trials and experiments have taught me so would never say it's going to be a cinch and that anyone trying it out for themselves is guaranteed to have it work as well, but in terms of 'can it be done?', then yes...certainly it can.

PeteC

Hi folks....

after 3 weeks of DIY jobs on the house and garden with SWMBO .....

Finally came round to drilling the tailpiece stud holes on the Idigbo DC junior this morning after setting up the intonation and bridge position last night -  only to find that the bushings are 11.6mm and the nearest brad bit I have is 12mm.  Tested on some Idigbo scrap and they are too loose - definitely not a press in with the drill press situation... Damn.  

Any quick and dirty ways that any of the luthiers here can recommend - for instance would a bit of titebond do the trick and still let me pull em out later if need to ?   

There’s only a tiny amount of play in the studs but they are definitely not as tight as I wanted. 

All advice much welcomed 

cheers all. 

PeteC

Oh and @Andyjr1515...   thanks so much for the finishing tips - very much appreciated 

I Handnt got round to saying thanks

Andyjr1515

PeteC said:

Hi folks....

after 3 weeks of DIY jobs on the house and garden with SWMBO .....

Finally came round to drilling the tailpiece stud holes on the Idigbo DC junior this morning after setting up the intonation and bridge position last night -  only to find that the bushings are 11.6mm and the nearest brad bit I have is 12mm.  Tested on some Idigbo scrap and they are too loose - definitely not a press in with the drill press situation... Damn.  

Any quick and dirty ways that any of the luthiers here can recommend - for instance would a bit of titebond do the trick and still let me pull em out later if need to ?   

There’s only a tiny amount of play in the studs but they are definitely not as tight as I wanted. 

All advice much welcomed 

cheers all. 

No problem ref the finishing tips, @PeteC   I am regularly distracted on similar missions 

You could line the stud holes with some veneer - even in just half a quarter of the circle, which would give you 0.6mm extra tightness.

Happy to send you a piece for nowt if no-one comes up with anything better.  If so, just pm me your address.

SteveRobinson

PeteC said:

Any quick and dirty ways that any of the luthiers here can recommend - for instance would a bit of titebond do the trick and still let me pull em out later if need to ?   

I don't think that's a good idea, they need to be tight in the wood. You probably need either a 7/16" bit, or different anchors.

Are the threads US or Metric? I can see what I have in my stock of anchors.

PeteC

I’ve borrowed the studs from a new Wilkinson compensated wraparound which I didnt much like the look of when it arrived, preferring to use the Faber Lightweight Ali tailpiece I recently tapped for the grub screws you kindly sent Steve.   Looking online I think they are M8 threads.  They are definitely spec’d at 12mm but actually measure about 11.5 and 11.6mm external.  

PeteC

@Andyjr1515 - thanks.  If I can’t buy any larger studs I will pm you.   

sawyer

What about Faber studs? Feline guitars stock them in different sizes and lengths metric/imperial.