Greetings folks,
My second now-it's-finished post today. Some years ago I purchased a Squier Silver Series from
@impmann here, with the intention of refinishing at some point. Originally I planned to do a Chromeboy affair, but that will have to wait. The Burning Water from Tyler guitars is one of my favourite finishes, but a little out of my budget, so why not have a go?
As well as the body refinish, I sanded the back of the neck to bare wood, and re-shaped the profile to be a bit more V-ish. Osmo Poly-X oil went onto the neck, and slinky it now is. I also tried my hand at rounding the fretboard edges, which worked to an extent.
Onto the body. This is how it looked before I died any work. The black paint from a previous owner (not Impmann!) had never really hardened and covered some thick plastic. I had hoped that the wood underneath might be amenable to a burst, but whilst the grain is lovely enough, there were marks all over it as if someone had attacked it with a Phillips-head screwdriver. Similar indentations were on the scratchplate. So that had to go also.
The body
https://i.imgur.com/MHjsWbp.jpeg
Sand-back and adjusting the body carve
https://i.imgur.com/mvRFnE5.jpeg
Filling in the pock-marks. Many times.
https://i.imgur.com/e9q629X.jpeg
First coat of sealer
https://i.imgur.com/6fnWDYC.jpeg
Blue
https://i.imgur.com/0aAmXMr.jpeg
PRS-a-like effect not very well done
https://i.imgur.com/TKwyENb.jpeg
Red on top
https://i.imgur.com/6SIipm5.jpeg
Several colour coats later, I started to selectively sand through the layers
https://i.imgur.com/WofY4dh.jpeg
Layers sanded through, I wanted to add a broken metallic fade, so masking up and a base black coat
https://i.imgur.com/iYUC4Fi.jpeg
Masking off and some hard edges to soften
https://i.imgur.com/heGlDry.jpeg
The body now finished (rounded off with a few clear gloss coats, smoothed, and a final satin coat), it was time for electrics. Initially I used some Creamery Tri-Sonic-a-likes, but these were only a stop-gap before the final pickups arrived. It has been wired with separate tone control for bridge and mid+neck. Different capacitors for each.
https://i.imgur.com/MHT2UdS.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/u2MQ4rv.jpeg
However, I had ordered a set of slightly higher output SC's from the most excellent Stuart Robson of Sunbear Pickups. Beautifully aged with a dark-blue top plate under the nickel open covers. Beautifully packaged, and beautifully sounding.
https://i.imgur.com/wGk6Xeh.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/ognR3Hk.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/yyAb2qA.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/9yfoJdb.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/oxXD5OO.jpeg
Ok, not sublte, but I think it works aestheticaly, and I'm over the moon with the sound and playability after the tweaks. At some point, I am going to replace the frets as I prefer wider/taller. However that would only be to satisfy my curiosity and desire to fiddle.
Comments, critique, queries all welcome
Adam
Comments
Nice one!!!
There's just one thing I would have done differently given your parts choices - I would have the 47nF cap for the neck and the 22nF for the bridge and middle - I think that gives a wider range of tones, making the neck deeper and the bridge/middle more midrangy, and makes the neck & middle much more different from the bridge & middle. You may use the different settings for different sounds than I do though.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Feedback : https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/58125/
Glad you avoided the bare bum cheek on the original. Hate that ....
Cheers - im glad I waited till I 'knew' what to do with it. The pickups it came with need a repair as one of the windings had snapped. The Sunbears are stunning though, both sonically and aesthetically.
@ICBM - i will try swapping the capacitors over, it shouldnt take long to do.
Thank you all for the kind words - I will try and record some sounds on my phone this week, though I shall get the excuses in early for the quality of the playing!
I really must try and record some sounds this week.
Cheers,
Adam
Oh nice work ! Do I score bonus points for noticing that you’ve effectively snuck an extra Tyler finish in there with the cheeky “Jimburst” on the horns ?
Cheers Bob
Do you mean anything at all like this???
https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/180903332109007-2074494--tyler-guitars-japan-studio-elite-hd-p-jimburst-over-bur