Superfreaky Part IIa ~ Luthiery Laboratories

July 8, 2020

Superfreaky Part IIa

July 8, 2020

I finished the shaping with a big metal file and 80-grit. Then finish-sanded 100-150 and cleaned out the fret slots. 150 is good enough for now. For final finishing, I'll take it up to 320, which is smooth but leaves plenty of 'tooth' for the finish to grab onto. I wouldn't go any higher - the surface becomes too smooth.

Finally I put several coats of poly wet-on-wet on the fretboard, to build up a single thick layer of plastic. That will give a nice thick protective covering over the stained surface. That will need a few days to harden-off, then I can smooth it down, install the frets, and give it a thin top-coat, and also finish the rest.

Uncategorized, 07/8/20

« Superfreaky Part II « » Superfreaky Part III »

Rickenbacker 4001 Bass 1

This one is kind of a joke and an experiment in just how cheap you can build a guitar. The body is dry-erase board over plywood - no finish - with Tolex side binding. Dry-erase board is Masonite covered with Melamine. The neck is 100% Radiata pine, even the fretboard. The "inlays" are glitter and CA glue. The pickguard is the other side of the dry-erase board - 'chalkboard'. The pickup mount is a 57 cent switch plate.

More: Rickenbacker 4001 Bass 1 ...

Building Necks

My take on necks

When you play a guitar, are you tightly clutching the neck, or are you holding mostly air? Even if you tightly clutch the neck, does the actual shape really matter? As long as it does not present any obstacles to movement, the answer is NO. So what is all this fussing over neck profiles? MARKETING, that's what. The actual curve around the back of the neck is fairly irrelevant, apart from the overall thickness.

More: Building Necks ...

Silvertone 1457 "Rescue" Guitar

This is a real Danelectro Silvertone 1452 from the 1960s. When I got it, it was a sad box of parts. Some hillbilly had stripped it, by rubbing it on the sidewalk, I think. The fretboard had delaminated, and the old repair had simply made the problem permanent. I repaired the neck and fixed all the other issues, replaced the lipstick tubes, which had split, and clear-coated the whole thing in modern poly. I was not able to fully repair the neck, there's just not enough wood left, so I don't keep it under tension. The pickguard is stained dark for contrast. I cleaned tarnish off the old metal bits with oven cleaner, and replaced all the corroded fasteners with shiny new stainless ones.

More: Silvertone 1457 "Rescue" Guitar ...