ThePearDream's Coyote/Voyager builds (Completed Pics on Pages 7 & 10)

[ThePearDream]

I have my wiring diagram all drawn up.



I purchased an American Pro Jaguar rhythm plate that has the single slide switch opening. I will drill a hole for my parallel/series/series bright switch and use the existing switch opening for my "rhythm circuit" tone switch. The rest is pretty typical stuff.





Also, since the maple neck already has it's decal, this guitar will be named "Quasar".

[MC3]

I just went through this whole thread, what a rad rad project, and you have the coolest guitars.

I love that Always Sunny quote on the maple headstock too

[ThePearDream]

Thank you MC3, I appreciate your kind words.
Good catch on the Sunny quote. I am a huge fan and have easily seen each episode dozens of times.

In the last few days I've managed to get the contours carved, removed some extra material, sanded to 150, and made the pickguard. The body is now a svelte 3lb 14oz (1.75kg), or a whole 12oz (0.34kg) lighter than the previous body. The maple neck is still on my Jaguar for the time being, so I used the neck for my Jazzmaster build for the pictures. The grain is pretty nice for a $30 poplar blank.





I was planning the do the finish myself, but considering that winter just started - it could be awhile. I may take advantage of GuitarPaintGuys' Xmas sale and have them do it for $190.

[smjenkins]

That's looking really good Doug! I'm interested to hear what those pickups sound like.

[Rgand]

This is another good one. Have you considered clear or vintage tint for the finish?

[ThePearDream]

Thanks Mike. I had the pickups in a project previously, but didn't like them. I'm hoping they'll work well in a short scale though.

Rgand, it doesn't show up in photos, but the body has the typical poplar green tone to it. It is pretty consistent though. I'll wet the body before final sanding and see how it looks.

[Rgand]

Rgand, it doesn't show up in photos, but the body has the typical poplar green tone to it. It is pretty consistent though. I'll wet the body before final sanding and see how it looks.

The coloring being consistent, maybe you could tint the finish with a bit of red to cut the green. Even so, it would probably look fine. I have a piece of poplar for my next build and the green in it isn't anything to cause a problem.

[ThePearDream]

Rgand, it doesn't show up in photos, but the body has the typical poplar green tone to it. It is pretty consistent though. I'll wet the body before final sanding and see how it looks.

The coloring being consistent, maybe you could tint the finish with a bit of red to cut the green. Even so, it would probably look fine. I have a piece of poplar for my next build and the green in it isn't anything to cause a problem.

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of the natural finish. The idea that poplar has to get a solid finish is such a deeply rooted piece of conventional wisdom. I love to break those rules. Worst case scenario, I can still put a color coat on top. If I go that way, I'll keep my maple neck where it is and pickup an Allparts Jaguar neck for this one and try out my headstock design.

[Rgand]

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of the natural finish. The idea that poplar has to get a solid finish is such a deeply rooted piece of conventional wisdom. I love to break those rules. Worst case scenario, I can still put a color coat on top. If I go that way, I'll keep my maple neck where it is and pickup an Allparts Jaguar neck for this one and try out my headstock design.

I think clear and transparent colors will look fine on poplar. The grain in some poplar is quite striking. Even with green streaks, it could still look nice. This piece definitely needs to show its stuff.

[ThePearDream]

Since my last post I did the final sanding. I had done some reading on "sun tanning" poplar, it seems that poplar is fairly responsive to UV exposure. Since it was too cold to do any finishing work, I let the body hang out on a sunny window sill for a few days with periodic rotations. Even though it wasn't particularly warm, and the days are short, we do get a lot more UV at my altitude (6,500 ft/1.98km). After a few days the green faded away and the tone became much more pleasant.

Here it is with a few coats of sanding sealer.



I'm still painting it IBM though (It has a few coats applied as of this writing). But I will definitely be doing more with poplar in the future. If I can get a hold of some with funky grain colorations and/or mineral streaking, I'll keep it natural.

Also, I decided to take a new path on the neck. I couldn't resist the siren call of a matching headstock, but didn't want to open up the neck pocket to take the slightly wider Squier neck. I have an Allparts Jag neck coming on Monday, so I will reshape the head as shown in my rendering and paint to match.

So, back to this:


I need to go back to finding a name too. I have some spare "Height" decals that I bought on my last Rothko & Frost order and am going to attempt to make my own decal for the model name portion. I've been slowly figuring out how to make text with the right curvature in Inkscape, I just need some decal paper for my laserjet and the name. The color make me think of 60s space exploration and experimental aircraft, so I'm mining those topics for names.

[Rgand]

Since my last post I did the final sanding. I had done some reading on "sun tanning" poplar, it seems that poplar is fairly responsive to UV exposure. Since it was too cold to do any finishing work, I let the body hang out on a sunny window sill for a few days with periodic rotations. Even though it wasn't particularly warm, and the days are short, we do get a lot more UV at my altitude (6,500 ft/1.98km). After a few days the green faded away and the tone became much more pleasant.

Here it is with a few coats of sanding sealer.

I like it. The wood looks to have a nice patina to it. This is something I haven't heard about. When I get my poplar body cut and sanded, I'll give it a few days in the sun to see how it reacts. The piece I have is fairly interesting and it might benefit from some tanning. I have used sunlight to darken leather pieces. The sunlight will darken leather much like they would over time anyway so it's a way to speed that process. I would expect wood to react much like that. Thanks for the idea.

[ThePearDream]

Definitely try it out, your blank looks like it could have a lot of potential. I think I may do an experiment - I'll grab one of the cutoff chunks and mask a portion off, then park it on the window sill for a few weeks. I'll post the results.

Here are some shots with the color on. I used Duplicolor Avignon Blue (an 80s Honda color). I looked into Reranch, but their IBM looked really dark, same with Gracey's.




There are a few spots where it seems that there isn't enough sealer laid down, but I'm moving forward anyway. Perfection is the enemy of done. The important thing is that I'm improving my skills, and gaining knowledge and experience.

I'll let the body hang out until the next warm weekend, then clear coat with Deft lacquer.

[Rgand]

That's a really nice shade of blue. Good choice. I like IBM and similar blues.

[ThePearDream]

After two weeks of sporadic sunshine:

I taped off the bottom half with blue painter's tape.
Interestingly, the green seems to have disappeared from both areas, but after carving into the surface, I found green. So there may be an interaction with the air, such as you would find in woods like purpleheart.

[Rgand]

That's a substantial difference. Thanks for doing the test.