LP, Tele, Jazz Mashup. "the Preacher". FINISHED on page 7.

Talk about modding or building your own guitar from scratch.
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AWSchmit
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Re: A long overdue project. Les Paul/Tele/Jazz Mashup. CBS H

Post by AWSchmit » Tue Feb 07, 2017 8:01 am

I'm thinking that a spray adhesive will work best, but I'm still not sure it won't wrinkle. Another idea I had that I didn't read online (which makes me think it might not be a good one since no one is recommending it on craft sites) is too lightly spray a few coats of acrylic clear on both sides of the paper in order to seal it before gluing... Any thought son that?

AWS
I finally finish building a guitar, go to play it, and then remember, "oh yeah, that's right. I suck at playing... Why did I build another guitar again?"

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Re: Les Paul, Tele, Jazz Mashup. CBS Head

Post by Con-Tiki! » Tue Feb 07, 2017 11:21 am

i use super 77 constantly. on a smooth surface, you can get great, flat adhesion if you scrape it with a putty knife. if the surface is a little uneven, or if the paper you're using is delicate, you cn get the same result by scrubbing it with a brush.
not a paint brush, something stiffer, like you'd use around the house.
experiments are your friend...
(Christopher, also)
I've been to one World's Fair, a picnic, and a rodeo, and that's the stupidest thing i ever heard come out a pair of headphones.

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Re: Les Paul, Tele, Jazz Mashup. CBS Head

Post by AWSchmit » Tue Feb 07, 2017 12:03 pm

Con-Tiki! wrote:i use super 77 constantly. on a smooth surface, you can get great, flat adhesion if you scrape it with a putty knife. if the surface is a little uneven, or if the paper you're using is delicate, you cn get the same result by scrubbing it with a brush.
not a paint brush, something stiffer, like you'd use around the house.
experiments are your friend...
Good tip, Thanks.
I finally finish building a guitar, go to play it, and then remember, "oh yeah, that's right. I suck at playing... Why did I build another guitar again?"

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Re: Les Paul, Tele, Jazz Mashup. CBS Head

Post by AWSchmit » Wed Feb 22, 2017 11:29 am

My wife.... For some reason. keeps wanting to buy me a guitar. Some how she thinks I'm so awesome at being a husband and a dad (I'm not really) that she thinks I deserve something nice to which I will remind her that I got a $350 amp for Christmas and then she says, "Yeah, that was for Christmas!" As if I deserved a $350 present (again, I didn't) So every time she sees a guitar for sale on facebook I'll get a text that says something like, "Do you like Epiphones?" or "You like Les Pauls, right?" God bless her, she tries real hard... lol. Anyway inevitably I will always come back to the fact that I have an awesome guitar project I need to finish I just don;t have the time and then she'll say, "OK, we'll make time." So today I bought some really cool wrapping paper to put on the front and back of this body:

Image

So finishing should start sooner rather than later.

Another nice development came yesterday. Myself and the family where shopping yesterday about an hour away and when we were going to the next shopping spot my wife pulled up to the Pied Piper (a music instrument store that may only exit in WV, not sure though) and said, "Well?" then I said, "what?", then she said, "Get out." So I said, "Why?", then she said, "you'd rather hang out in a guitar store than go to Carter's wouldn't you?" to which I said, "yeah". So she said, "well, get out and enjoy yourself." (if you can't tell she's pretty awesome)

I go in and what do I see? A Squier Jazzmaster with the Duncan Designed pickups as I have for this project. A set I have never tried first hand. So I grab it and asked to play it with the Fender Pro Jr. they had on display. Even though the pliability of that guitar wasn't fantastic, I loved the way it sounded. So I think I will be good to go with these pickups. I've been toying with the idea of getting the bridge pickup rewound (yes before even even playing it, :fp: ) or getting p-90/s instead. I'm glad I haven't did either because I think I'll like these just fine. So that's it. Hopefully I'll more updates soon.
I finally finish building a guitar, go to play it, and then remember, "oh yeah, that's right. I suck at playing... Why did I build another guitar again?"

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Re: Les Paul, Tele, Jazz Mashup. CBS Head

Post by AWSchmit » Thu Mar 09, 2017 7:30 am

Well... I took a few steps forwards and then a few steps back... The good thing is I learned a couple lessons.
On with some pictures and commentary...

Last Saturday I spend the day putting paper on my body:
Image
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The last picture shows the body after everything was trimmed and after a single coat of sealer was sprayed.

So far it's looking good right? Well.. (sorry, no pictures for the rest of the stuff) ... After the step shown in the last pictures I used some filler to fill in some spot that still needed taken care of before any more finish went on. After that I sanded everything back and it was looking great. Occupationally it would kind of look like the paper was lifting, mostly around cut out on the front and I was press them back down, but I really couldn't tell if I was moving anything and eventually I just convinced myself that the paper wasn't lifting and it was just my imagination. So I took the body back up to the shop to put some more finish on it to get it ready for the black burst around the edged. Since it had several layers of lacquer on it I left it in the shop in order to not fill my house with it's smell. The next day I went up to spray some black burst and the paper had lifted all over the place and would not restick. I tried bringing it back to the house, in the hopes that it had absorbed moisture from the air would go back down. It didn't. So I tried heating those areas in the hope that it would reactivate the glue a little and let me press them back down. Still didn't work.

So it's likely going to be a redo sometime in the future. But I think I've learned a thing or two. 1.) I think the paper needs sprayed with sealer, both front and back and left to cure for a while before being applied to the body, and 2.) I need to not fold over the paper into the cavity as I think this start a lot of the lifts on the front. So next time after everything is glued down really well, all the paper will be cut flush with the body.

See you next time. AWS
I finally finish building a guitar, go to play it, and then remember, "oh yeah, that's right. I suck at playing... Why did I build another guitar again?"

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Re: Les Paul, Tele, Jazz Mashup. CBS Head

Post by Ben17e » Tue Mar 14, 2017 6:04 am

Went a totally different route w/ that paper! are you just spraying lacquer right on top? and it doesnt melt the print?

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Re: Les Paul, Tele, Jazz Mashup. CBS Head

Post by AWSchmit » Tue Apr 04, 2017 8:06 am

More updates.

I heated the paper and peeled it off and then set to reapplying new pieces using a mod podge method I found online. It was a scary method but it seemed to make good sense in theory, so I braved and tried it. I bought mod podge glue and spread it on the top. But before that I trimmed the paper to roughly the final shape, leaving about a 1/4" all the way around for slight wiggle room. I put the paper in a pan of water and then set it aside to blot off the underside. Once the top was covered in the glue I placed the paper on and used a brayer to flatten and even out the surface and remove air bubbles. Prewetting the paper kept it from expanding and wrinkling after coming in contact with the glue. Once placed and smoothed out, I flipped it over onto a dry flat tawel to let it dry slowly and keep from wrinkling. Amazingly this worked like a charm. I did the back the same way. After drying I completely cut away and over hang on the sides and cavities, the last time I tryed papering this body and pushed paper into the cavities thinking this would strengthen the bond, but really it just compromised the glue around those areas because I was putting strain on the thick paper. So this time I cut them flush and sealed with more glue.

As side note: If I were to do this again I would use clear acrylic medium instead of mod podge. The glue I used did not want to sand. It wasn't to melt and ball up when sanded. So it took a lot of clear lacquer to build up a tall enough surface to allow me to wet sand the surface flat. And it's still not perfect. So the lessen is, be sure your gluing method will sand easily before trying this.

As stated in the side note I put many layers of lacquer of the paper and it didn't hurt it what so ever. After that I wet sanded the surface with 400 grit wet or dry.

After that I brusted the edge using Testors black acrylic paint for airbrush. Worked much better than the crap I used before. I semi-bursted the neck pocket and pickup routes due to slight, but noticeable imperfections in the paper right around the cuts.
I started clearing the neck too, but no pics.
On with some pics:

Image

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What do you think?
I finally finish building a guitar, go to play it, and then remember, "oh yeah, that's right. I suck at playing... Why did I build another guitar again?"

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Re: LP, Tele, Jazz Mashup. Paper finish. CBS Head.

Post by joeld » Tue Apr 04, 2017 8:32 am

I absolutely love it! Looks so good!

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Re: LP, Tele, Jazz Mashup. Paper finish. CBS Head.

Post by AWSchmit » Tue Apr 04, 2017 9:47 am

joeld wrote:I absolutely love it! Looks so good!
Thanks!
I finally finish building a guitar, go to play it, and then remember, "oh yeah, that's right. I suck at playing... Why did I build another guitar again?"

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Re: LP, Tele, Jazz Mashup. Paper finish. CBS Head.

Post by Beef Bonanza » Tue Apr 04, 2017 10:32 am

That looks really good!

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Re: LP, Tele, Jazz Mashup. Paper finish. CBS Head.

Post by Stratelejazzuar » Tue Apr 04, 2017 12:17 pm

8) :-*

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Re: LP, Tele, Jazz Mashup. Paper finish. CBS Head.

Post by AWSchmit » Tue Apr 04, 2017 12:26 pm

Thanks for the love guys.

As an aside, if this is something you would like to try, check out fancy wrapping paper websites every so often. The paper isn't real expensive when compared to two can of decent lacquer in a rattle can. lol.
Here's where I bought mine: https://www.papersource.com/giftwrap/PS ... paper.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Wrapping paper is a good alternative to wall paper for a few reasons. 1. You don;t have to buy 50 square feet of paper. 2. Less expensive (probably relates to 1.) and 3. It;s not as thick or textured. Plus to do it my way you need paper that will soak up water completely and evenly.
One sheet did the front and back. Not sure how that situation would fair on a Jazzmaster though. Mine were shipped in a tube like a poster. The only down side is there aren't usually a whole lot of manufacturers or patterns to choose from. But it seems like every 6 months or so designs roll out with new ones replacing them. So if you don't find what you like now, check back later to see if there are new ones.
I finally finish building a guitar, go to play it, and then remember, "oh yeah, that's right. I suck at playing... Why did I build another guitar again?"

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Re: LP, Tele, Jazz Mashup. Paper finish. CBS Head.

Post by PixMix » Tue Apr 04, 2017 2:23 pm

AW, good call on the black rim burst, it really pulled the whole thing together. Nice work!

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Re: LP, Tele, Jazz Mashup. Paper finish. CBS Head.

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Tue Apr 04, 2017 3:39 pm

AWSchmit, this look killer!! It's giving me ideas too :ph34r: 8)
Pickup Switching Mad Scientist
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

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Re: LP, Tele, Jazz Mashup. Paper finish. CBS Head.

Post by AWSchmit » Tue Apr 04, 2017 4:05 pm

Shadoweclipse13 wrote:AWSchmit, this look killer!! It's giving me ideas too
Glad you like it. It's a great process. But learn from my mistakes and don't repeat them. Lol. Feel free to tap me for help or questions.

Aws
I finally finish building a guitar, go to play it, and then remember, "oh yeah, that's right. I suck at playing... Why did I build another guitar again?"

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