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Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 5 2008, 11:33 PM

Hey there everyone.

Due to the latest trend on GMC of re-painting and re-making guitars (scalloping necks etc), I became encouraged to start my own little project.

In some years I want to build my own guitar from scratch, but I don't really have the money for that now, I believe. So that will have to wait some years.

What I'll be doing for now is just to remake my very first guitar, which is/was a Hohner Stratocaster Copy, which I haven't used for many, many years. It has just been in the closet collecting dust.

I don't know what this project will end up with, but it doesn't really matter - the guitar almost couldn't get any worse.

Anyways: Here is my starting point... feel free to laugh, but please don't comment too much.

Posted by: JeroenKole Aug 5 2008, 11:38 PM

What are you going to change/remake?

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 5 2008, 11:38 PM

I have no idea!

Going to take it all apart now, then sand, get all paint of etc... then we'll see where it takes me.

Posted by: Déjà vu Aug 5 2008, 11:38 PM

I wanted to do that to my Squier! But, I chickened out ! I wanted to put fake leopard fur around the body, A miniature 8 ball around the the whammy bar, and a miniature siren on the neck over the strings. I don't know why... But, I thought it would have been pretty ridiculous.

Posted by: superize Aug 5 2008, 11:40 PM

Maybe i will try to do something with my old guitar

As you said it cant get any worse

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 5 2008, 11:42 PM

Exactly! And it may very well be a good learning.

Posted by: JeroenKole Aug 5 2008, 11:42 PM

Just a quick advice, sanding the paint of gives a lot of mess. And if it is cheap paint you can probably remove the top layer by just chipping it of with a knife. There are special knives for that and they are actually pretty cheap. The ones that you use to cut from you and generally use to remove paint rests on the wall, and tape from the window.

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 6 2008, 12:02 AM

Thanks for the advice. I'll see to it tomorrow - it's in the middle of the night now, so I'm only going to take the guitar apart now, then take the next step tomorrow.

Okay, guys! I'm sitting here with something I don't really know what is and what it is used to. Could someone explain this:

Oh, and look at the difference in colour on the pick guard... HAHAHA!

Posted by: JeroenKole Aug 6 2008, 12:04 AM

I believe that is used to adjust the thruss rod. But i'm not sure myself :/

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 6 2008, 12:10 AM

I thought the truss rod was the one at the other end of the guitar.

And what about the whole next to the adjuster? What is that for? There was nothing in there at all.

Posted by: JeroenKole Aug 6 2008, 12:13 AM

That hole is very important. At least, in the manufacturing department. They put a hook through that hole when the guitar changes departments and when it is being spray painted.

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 6 2008, 12:16 AM

Cool!

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Aug 6 2008, 10:18 AM

Thats a interesting information to know I didn't know that , makes perfect sense though..
Looks like your having a lot of fun Caelumamittendum, but what are you plans for guitar after you strip it down ? Painting , changing parts etc ?

Posted by: USAMAN Aug 6 2008, 10:24 AM

I believe thats a micro tilt....
fender use to use them. Google it.

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 6 2008, 11:34 AM

Thanks, USAMAN.

I googled it and you were right.

I have no real plan for now, that's the fun of it

I will strip it down - already got the front side done - then I will probable re-paint it in some funky way and maybe install new pick ups. I never realised there was place for humbuckers underneath the pick guard, because it has always just had single coils. So I might just get some nick humbuckers and a middle single coil or something. Besides that I will also scallop the neck.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 6 2008, 11:55 AM

Do HSH per example,scallop the whole neck,
new painting and finish of course.
Good thing is you don't play this guitar
so you can really experiment on it,
it's gonna be fun I can tell.

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 6 2008, 12:17 PM

Yeah, I was thinking HSH or HSS. Not sure yet though.

I'm going to scallop the whole neck, yeah and new painting and finish.

And yes, that is exactly why I chose this guitar. It may bring new life to it. And besides, if I like the scalloped neck I could do it on one of my other guitars. And to add to that, buying some nice pick ups will last for a long time. If I one day decide to do a guitar completely from scratch, I could use the pick ups in that.

Getting the paint of is kinda tough though.

Does any of you guys know how to adjust the micro-tilt? And could you give a thorough explanation?

So, I got the paint of the front body. Next step will be the back and then the sides and all.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 6 2008, 12:42 PM

I wanted to suggest maybe without pickguard this time
but yeah,there are holes between pickups.

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 6 2008, 12:44 PM

Yes, I was thinking about having it without the pick guard. Will see what I can do about that

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Aug 6 2008, 01:05 PM

Hey man, congratulations on your project, the guitar looks very nicely sanded!

Any ideas about the paint? Maybe some patterns, like for example I watched a nice trick on discovery biker episodes when they put women stockings on wood and paint over them, and then when they put them off you have like a great net pattern

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 6 2008, 03:38 PM

That's a nice suggestion. I don't really know yet.

I think I'm calling it a day now, though, as I need to send out some job applications and go watch football with my dad.

Anyways, I got the back done alright too. Gonna need a lot more sanding both on front and on the back. It still feels a bit rough.

By the way... any other suggestions for finish patterns?

EDIT: Ahahaha! Just looked at myself in the mirror. I have dust all over my self. In my hair, beard, nose, ears etc. If I scratch my beard there's dust floating in the air in front of me. What a nice feature

Posted by: JeroenKole Aug 6 2008, 03:58 PM

hello kitty finish?

but let's be a bit less silly here. What would your personal taste be. Ie. what would you absolute not want to have as a finish?

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 6 2008, 04:09 PM

I would like something like this:

http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/holoflash.htm

Posted by: rockztar Aug 6 2008, 04:23 PM

Yeah BEVAR CHRISTANIA!!! HEHE har også sådan nogle mærker på min Parker Nitefly

(DANISH)

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 6 2008, 04:24 PM

Well, that was back then, 5-6 yearsa ago.

I'm not too much into all that now.

Posted by: Darfuria Aug 6 2008, 04:28 PM

Fantastic project - and all of this is inspiring me to work on my Squier, though if it went wrong I'd be so very sad. I love that guitar.

Posted by: Henry Dietzel Aug 6 2008, 04:33 PM

Thanks for sharing Caelumamittendum. You have inspired me to start doing this to one of my guitars that's also been collecting dust
I look forward to seeing your progress. Let me know how you make outhttp://www.projectguitar.com/tut/scal1.htm This is something I've never done but think I want to attempt.

Posted by: g-forcelover Aug 6 2008, 05:27 PM

I did that to my squire. I didn't re paint it, but i used tape and made it a frankenstien. Then i cut the pickguard off, exept where the knobs are. also, i scalloped the neck. its looks amazing!

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Aug 6 2008, 08:42 PM

Keep us updated sandman

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 6 2008, 09:43 PM

Will do. I just realised inhaling all that dust isn't healthy, so I got a mask and glasses and all now

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Aug 6 2008, 09:48 PM

Useful tip : drink some milk after that job - it will diminish the sand negative effects

Posted by: JeroenKole Aug 6 2008, 09:50 PM

Well, If you can get the right materials it would certainly be cool. But it's a very difficult process, especially for the beginner.

Personally I'd start out with a color I like and add a few artistic touches to it like a simple graphic or blotches of a diffrent color of paint.

What wrong with bright color basecoat, tape the pattern over it and darker tone over it. Simple spray can work that doesn't involve much except for spraying, sanding and cutting/removing tape.

But it's not my guitar

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 6 2008, 09:56 PM

Thanks for the tip, man!

I'm not working on it more untill tomorrow. I taped up the fretboard though, will need a second layer.

Following this guide:

http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/scal1.htm

Posted by: JeroenKole Aug 6 2008, 09:59 PM

yup, sure is a good guide. might want to remove the dots and replace them though, as you'll probably go trough them.

Posted by: Nick325 Aug 6 2008, 10:00 PM

you should do a swirl paint job http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/swirled.htm

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 6 2008, 10:03 PM

Thanks for the tip. As said I have no idea yet what I am to do. My father suggested just letting it have the woody-finish.

It's all about having fun and learning for me, as the guitar was basically a 50 dollar guitar.



I did see it and think about it. But it looks a little difficult to gather and do.



Well, I don't even know if I wanna replace them. Who needs dots anyways?

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Aug 6 2008, 11:45 PM

Heheh now your becoming professional
This project is very inspiring I like that holo finish

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 7 2008, 12:04 AM

I'm thinking this guitar might even become a fave guitar to play

We'll see.

Anyone have any suggestions what I can do to the neck besides scalloping?

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Aug 7 2008, 12:27 AM

Well maybe you should consider having new custom dots installed

Posted by: Darfuria Aug 7 2008, 12:46 AM

It's a longshot, but you could always send it off to http://www.truetemperament.com/

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 7 2008, 12:48 AM

Seen that site before. Not gonna do that with such a cheap guitar and neck as this This is a DIY project.

Thanks for the suggestion though. Might do it some day on a better guitar.

Posted by: Darfuria Aug 7 2008, 12:55 AM

Would make it a freaking awesome guitar though!

I'm tempted to do it with my Squier. Get an awesome paint job, commission a friend to do some stencil art work and get a dragon or something on it, get some awesome pickups and then get a true temperament neck. Haha, it'd be beautiful.

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 7 2008, 12:57 AM

Indeed. I'm just not prepared to throw in a lot of money on this at the moment

Posted by: Jmguitar64 Aug 7 2008, 02:57 AM

looks like some competition, may the best paint job win haha

same here, i spent around 40$ on the supplies.But im not sure weither new pickups would be worth it..

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 7 2008, 03:04 AM

Haha. No competition here

I'm not even sure where I can get holographic material anyways.

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Aug 7 2008, 02:24 PM

You can do it SRV style, he found letters for his guitars at truck stops. Talk about life on the road, what a character

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 7 2008, 03:12 PM

Using chemicals to get the paint off on the difficult places:



Oh, and I got the neck taped up for scalloping:



Gonna go start on that now, while the chemicals do their work on the body.

Cool! Didn't know that. But "SRV" is a lot cooler than "BSL"

Posted by: Darfuria Aug 7 2008, 03:20 PM

Only because SRV is well-known. BSL would be equally cool if you had the same reputation

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 7 2008, 03:21 PM

But if I don't get the same reputation it will just be plain weird!

By the way - any idea where I can buy holographic paper on the Internet? Cannot find it anywhere.

Posted by: Darfuria Aug 7 2008, 03:43 PM

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=holographic+paper

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 7 2008, 04:51 PM

Been there, done that. Don't seem to find any that fits the bill. They are all with stars or equal.

Posted by: Darfuria Aug 7 2008, 05:29 PM

Here maybe

http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/50188759/Holographic_Paper.html

Posted by: Toni Suominen Aug 7 2008, 09:34 PM

Cool project dude, I'm really interested about the scalloped neck when you get it done, I've always thought it's a cool thing!

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 7 2008, 09:35 PM

I'm very interested too!

I never got started on scalloping, as a lot of things got in the way:

More news on getting an apartment, playing over some backing tracks, and last and most important, I don't have the right tools to scallop correctly.

I did a little more sanding, but I stopped as I got a bit bored with it

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 8 2008, 08:34 PM

Damn cut-aways are being bitches!

I everything sanded roughly except for one cut away. My hands started hurting and feeling very weird, so I stopped for today after a good 2 hours.

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 9 2008, 09:46 PM

I got the guitar pretty much sanded alright. Still need a bit of sanding with an even finer one, though it has already gone through both a rough and a fine quality. Still feel it has got to have one more.

Started on the neck also. Did a minor operation on the headstock to make it more Parker-like. Started scalloping but found that it was not very succesful without the right tools. Will buy some soon.

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Aug 9 2008, 09:53 PM

Post a picture of that Headstock job ?
Yeah I suggest not trying to do scalloping without right tools (unless you have spare neck)

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 10 2008, 10:36 PM

I haven't done much lately. I might go shopping for the right tools tomorrow, if I can find it. Here it is all in all as of now:



Still got a long way to go.

Posted by: bubbalicious Aug 10 2008, 10:44 PM

looks pretty good i was thinking about doing the same is it hard

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 10 2008, 10:57 PM

Takes a lot of time. I haven't got to the hardest part yet, which will be scalloping the neck.

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 13 2008, 01:40 PM

I'm off to my girlfriends house tomorrow for a couple of days, so I won't get to work anymore on it 'till Monday.

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 18 2008, 09:46 PM

Alright. Been away from the project for a while and will continue to be, due to some very interesting days coming up concerning my (hopefully) future apartment. It's just too exciting - so exciting that I don't get anything done besides anxiously waiting.

Posted by: bubbalicious Aug 29 2008, 10:32 PM

anymore pics

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 29 2008, 10:37 PM

Still not getting on with this project, as I don't have the right tools, unfortunately. I'm going to a football tournament from tomorrow till Sunday, so I won't be back or have time before Sunday evening.

That said, I won't be getting on with this untill I get the right tools. I might buy those on Monday. Not quite sure, as I'm quite low on cash. I wouldn't mind getting all the sanding done this week at least. The rest of the work probably won't be THAT dusty and could probably be done in my hopefully new apartment/flat. What I'm talking about here is sanding in between...when making the finish on the guitar.

I know I've become pretty lazy with this, but my mind has been on many other things lately. Unfortunately...

Posted by: Juan M. Valero Aug 30 2008, 08:35 AM

hey, looks cool !!!! Good luck mate !!! if want to paint it like I'm doing just call me I try to help you

Posted by: wrk Aug 30 2008, 09:01 AM

Completely missed this topic ... good work so far!

My Strat was a result of something like this. It was a cheap and completely useless guitar when i got it. Most work i spend on the neck by taking away a good amount of wood from the backside. I didn't really know what i do at this time, means the possibility that the truss rod could break through didn't cross my mind . It turned out to be perfectly shaped for me.

I think by taking off the color you got yourself in the worst (but most creative) work of giving your guitar an update, but you did most of it already, so you reach the fun part of painting.

The Parker style head looks interesting and definitely better then the one from Hohner, i just hope it will resist the tension as it's wood and not carbon ... i wouldn't like you to have an painful experience with your headstock .. ... but i guess it will be ok, just a though.

Keep it up .. i would love to see the final result.
Good luck !!

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Aug 30 2008, 09:03 AM

Oh! I've been thinking about it actually. I'm no paint artist and would probably have to practice a bit first!

How would that work out on the woody finish, or would there need to be any specific finish underneath to do that? (I don't know the English word, but I do realise that there need to be some sort of...layers of something on the wood)

Posted by: Juan M. Valero Aug 30 2008, 09:15 AM

yeah, you will need to varnish it, that's what I'm doing with my guitar after painting it

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Sep 1 2008, 08:09 PM

Finally got around to get the right tools:

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Sep 2 2008, 01:31 PM

Those are nice tools! how's the work going?

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Sep 2 2008, 01:55 PM

Been busy with phone calls and practicing vocals for Smoke on the Water today But I will start tonight.

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Sep 2 2008, 03:43 PM

Now your on the right track Can't wait to see progress

Posted by: Henry Dietzel Sep 2 2008, 05:31 PM

You are still going to attempt the scalloping right? The
way it looks is you were waiting until you could buy
the right tools. Having the right tools is always key.
This is something I wanted to attempt myself so I am
curious how it ends up for you.

The project looks like it's coming along great so far
can't wait to see your final pics

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Sep 3 2008, 09:01 PM

Better keep y'all a little updated.

I started on the scalloping yesterday and got 4 frets "done", another 4 today. So that's 8 all in all. Still needs finer sanding etc. as well as the remaining 14 frets.

EDIT: On another note I think I ruined some of the...ehr...fret-thingies... but I'll have to check on that once I get the guitar done. Then I will just try and make it work and maybe sand all of those to get them proper.

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Sep 3 2008, 09:50 PM

Looks pretty good from here Good job man!

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Sep 3 2008, 10:33 PM

Thanks! Not sure if I scalloped too deep, but we'll see.

Posted by: Juan M. Valero Sep 3 2008, 11:05 PM

Looks really good !!!! too much better than my scalloped neck !!!

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Sep 3 2008, 11:14 PM

Thanks, Juan. I did notice that your guitar has a scalloped neck too! Did you do that yourself?

As I said earlier on, I am not too sure about the finish anymore. Getting the holographic paper seems quite a hassle, and this amidst me starting on a new job and moving to my own apartment has caused some delay.

Posted by: Juan M. Valero Sep 4 2008, 06:27 AM

yes, I did it myself but I'm also not sure about the finish...
Don't worry about the fret-thingies, I also had problems with them but when I put the strings I notice that they works good

Posted by: Praetorian Sep 4 2008, 01:59 PM

Awesome job man! That scallop job looks professional! By the way... what is BEVAR CHRISTANIA?

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Sep 4 2008, 02:55 PM

Youth foolishness.

And thanks.

Posted by: TheOldOnes Sep 4 2008, 03:03 PM

I have a question concerning the scalloping of your frets.

I recently scalloped the frets on my old ephiphone guitar and it seems that I may have to adjust the truss rod a bit. Has anyone had that problem when they scalloped their frets?

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Sep 4 2008, 03:11 PM

Have not come to the point of re-installing everything on the guitar yet, but I may just run into the same problem, as I've made quite some changes to the neck. It also makes sense that there would be need of an adjustment, as you take away some of the wood which the truss rod is supporting.

Posted by: Alex Lewis Sep 5 2008, 12:01 AM

if you want something really original google project aurora they make custom pickguards and you can have them glow round the edges i got one in red on my old guitar looks fantastic

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Sep 5 2008, 12:29 AM

Not sure about that yet. Will have to think about it when I get back at the body work.

I scalloped five more frets tonight. Sure takes a while. Still have from the 12th to the 20th to go. Did 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 21st and 22nd today.

Posted by: Juan M. Valero Sep 5 2008, 07:33 AM

I notice that the fretboard has a different curve since I scalloped the frets, but I didn't need to readjust them 'cos actually now it works better than before doing the scallop !! it was fantastic

Posted by: buttmonk Sep 5 2008, 03:42 PM

The only guitar with a pickguard I have ever thought "wow, a guitar with a pickguard that actually looks good" was a custom built Carvin Bolt and the guy put a carbon fiber pickguard on it...They are not too difficult to find... But some of those Aurora jobs look pretty good too...

Posted by: Roadside Sep 5 2008, 06:24 PM

missed the topic a bit:) Good job, til now! I always wanted to start or remake my own guitar but I´m kinda too busy at the moment! keep us updated, it´s fun to see the progress!

Posted by: Caelumamittendum Sep 5 2008, 06:44 PM

I'll probably be getting a lot things on my hands for the next few weeks and won't be home much, so I'll hopefully have the scalloping done by Sunday evening. The rest will remain to be done for some time in the future, unfortunately.