Mistakes were made...

[rrobbone]

I've taken most of this summer off from building guitars. I just got tired of it and I wanted to do something else. I stopped at one hundred bodies made, and I've sold 98 to date. Who'da thunk I'd have those kind of sell-thru numbers, huh?

I quit production for a while to build an arcade and give myself some time to decide if I want to turn this into an actual business (I don't).

Making an electric guitar body is a process with many steps. Sometimes, these steps go awry. All in all, I've ended up with about a 10% B-stock rate, and a 0% defective/unusable rate. Not bad, in retrospect - seeing as I am not a CNC machine.

So if you're following the math, you know that I've got about 10 B-Stock bodies lying around. Lots of different reasons fot it: some have mis-aligned jack holes, some have router bites, some have your normal alder knots and cracks. On all of them, all of the vital measurements line up - they are perfectly functional as far as assembly and set-up are concerned.

What to do? I don't want them around anymore. They're in the way and taunting me. They judge me in their silence, I can tell.

I'm got going to build them out, I have enough guitars. So they're just collecting (a lot of) dust sitting around in the shop. Naturally, I thought I'd take a page out of Kurt's book. I'll fix 'em up, make 'em purdy and sell 'em as B-Stocks with full disclosure, very tempting prices, and no returns.

So I painted them, left them to flash and went to Lost Lake for a few days. I came home to this:

These were perfect spray jobs when I hung them. What you see is what's left after I took a Scotch Brite to them to scrub away the loose, balled up paint. Needless to say, I am having a very difficult time adjusting to this arid climate as far as painting is concerned. I'll figure something out, but in the meantime: I have options, hence the poll.

[ID10t]

Are they still newly enough painted and not polyed that some chemical paint removal could be employed?
And let me assure you I barely know what I am talking about.

I hope it works out, at least you learned. I wondered about your building. I hunted your Reverb page down when I was contemplating a super strat build and figured something was more important.

[LightWingStudios]

None of the above..."B Stocks" have...character.

[rrobbone]

Are they still newly enough painted and not polyed that some chemical paint removal could be employed?
And let me assure you I barely know what I am talking about.

I hope it works out, at least you learned. I wondered about your building. I hunted your Reverb page down when I was contemplating a super strat build and figured something was more important.

Chemical stripper almost always leaves a residue behind. Painting on top of what's left behind is risky at best, although I've seen it work for some jobs. In my experience, it causes bubbles and pits in any subsequent finish work and I don't like to use it. If I'm starting over, I'm afraid it requires a ton of sandpaper.

I need a decent spray rig, but I'm concerned about the results not being decent enough in my little shop to warrant the investment. I'll need some new ideas for the next round.

As for a superstrat: I have plans to make some Strat 6-point bridge and FR-type templates and learning to use them this fall/winter. I like a string-thru, but I want a few more options available (for myself, mostly. I like superstrats, too ). I wasn't going to document my builds here at the new place as it takes a lot of time. Perhaps I'll post small updates in the project threads. Before covid hit, I was going to move into ash as a material as well. I'm seeking out new lumber suppliers, as they guys I've gone with haven't had much to pick from lately.

Thank you for seeking me out and giving me the chance at your business, I do appreciate that. Sorry I haven't had much on offer lately, I was just focused elsewhere. All is well, I'm happy to report.

[rrobbone]

None of the above..."B Stocks" have...character.

Damned nice of you to say, but these have waaaaay too much character!

[ID10t]

Are they still newly enough painted and not polyed that some chemical paint removal could be employed?
And let me assure you I barely know what I am talking about.

I hope it works out, at least you learned. I wondered about your building. I hunted your Reverb page down when I was contemplating a super strat build and figured something was more important.

Chemical stripper almost always leaves a residue behind. Painting on top of what's left behind is risky at best, although I've seen it work for some jobs. In my experience, it causes bubbles and pits in any subsequent finish work and I don't like to use it. If I'm starting over, I'm afraid it requires a ton of sandpaper.

I need a decent spray rig, but I'm concerned about the results not being decent enough in my little shop to warrant the investment. I'll need some new ideas for the next round.

As for a superstrat: I have plans to make some Strat 6-point bridge and FR-type templates and learning to use them this fall/winter. I like a string-thru, but I want a few more options available (for myself, mostly. I like superstrats, too ). I wasn't going to document my builds here at the new place as it takes a lot of time. Perhaps I'll post small updates in the project threads. Before covid hit, I was going to move into ash as a material as well. I'm seeking out new lumber suppliers, as they guys I've gone with haven't had much to pick from lately.

Thank you for seeking me out and giving me the chance at your business, I do appreciate that. Sorry I haven't had much on offer lately, I was just focused elsewhere. All is well, I'm happy to report.

Since I still barely know what I'm talking about....

How long have you waited between chemical stripping and repainting? Maybe chem strip them and let them "off gas" for weeks to months. They shouldn't taunt you and can be considered a work-in-progress and a scientific experiment.

[Gear_Junky]

What do they say about jazz? If you play a wrong note... play it again and make it look like it was deliberate? Something like that. If you are still into the hobby, embrace what happened and make it a feature. If you are done, then sell or trade as is - let it be someone else's project. I'm not sure where you are with the whole hobby.

I like the gumby-looking greenie and the non-beveled SG, among the others.

[Chocol8]

I have a wood burning stove and winter is coming. That’s when things like these get “repurposed” into a nice warm house.

The cheapest easiest option is full disclosure and then sell them cheap to someone else who can fix and finish. Honestly, if you get enough to cover shipping you may be ahead of the gave vs investing time and money into finishing guitars you don’t want.

[rrobbone]

Are they still newly enough painted and not polyed that some chemical paint removal could be employed?
And let me assure you I barely know what I am talking about.

I hope it works out, at least you learned. I wondered about your building. I hunted your Reverb page down when I was contemplating a super strat build and figured something was more important.

Chemical stripper almost always leaves a residue behind. Painting on top of what's left behind is risky at best, although I've seen it work for some jobs. In my experience, it causes bubbles and pits in any subsequent finish work and I don't like to use it. If I'm starting over, I'm afraid it requires a ton of sandpaper.

I need a decent spray rig, but I'm concerned about the results not being decent enough in my little shop to warrant the investment. I'll need some new ideas for the next round.

As for a superstrat: I have plans to make some Strat 6-point bridge and FR-type templates and learning to use them this fall/winter. I like a string-thru, but I want a few more options available (for myself, mostly. I like superstrats, too ). I wasn't going to document my builds here at the new place as it takes a lot of time. Perhaps I'll post small updates in the project threads. Before covid hit, I was going to move into ash as a material as well. I'm seeking out new lumber suppliers, as they guys I've gone with haven't had much to pick from lately.

Thank you for seeking me out and giving me the chance at your business, I do appreciate that. Sorry I haven't had much on offer lately, I was just focused elsewhere. All is well, I'm happy to report.

Since I still barely know what I'm talking about....

How long have you waited between chemical stripping and repainting? Maybe chem strip them and let them "off gas" for weeks to months. They shouldn't taunt you and can be considered a work-in-progress and a scientific experiment.

Admittedly, not very long... but always long enough according to the label. And always frickin' problems with any subsequent coats. I'm just not a believer in chems for anything but cleaning brushes. It's far easier to find a way to make mistakes work for you than to clean up a big mess.

[rrobbone]

What do they say about jazz? If you play a wrong note... play it again and make it look like it was deliberate? Something like that. If you are still into the hobby, embrace what happened and make it a feature. If you are done, then sell or trade as is - let it be someone else's project. I'm not sure where you are with the whole hobby.

I like the gumby-looking greenie and the non-beveled SG, among the others.

I agree. See pic/post later in thread.

[rrobbone]

I have a wood burning stove and winter is coming. That’s when things like these get “repurposed” into a nice warm house.

The cheapest easiest option is full disclosure and then sell them cheap to someone else who can fix and finish. Honestly, if you get enough to cover shipping you may be ahead of the gave vs investing time and money into finishing guitars you don’t want.

I think I've gone with Option 3. Firewood isn't an option - at the very least I can build them out for myself. They are still useable guitar bodies, after all, and I worked just as hard on those as any A-Stock. Now, if the neck isn't aligned properly or I've completely borked it in some other way on a piece... it's the firepit for those. I haven't had that happen yet. So far, I've always avoided the big mistakes and managed to pull the little boo-boos out of the fire, literally.

I do have another few bodies a little too far gone (too ugly to save) that will be going the torched route and I'll be experimenting on those along the lines of a guitar finish I posted on the old forum. I want to try to recreate that finish.

[rrobbone]

To give a better idea of what Option 3 entails:

Oh yeah, I learned Procreate this summer as well so I can mock stuff up. It helps, I think. For example: Seeing this layout tells me I need to delete the wrist from the hand. Everything else should be fine.

May keep this one. I need a body for a baritone conversion. Or, I could just stick a Floyd on it and go hot rod. Again.

[Mossman]

I'm finding it hard to reckon what happened here by looking at the pics. If you lived in a humid climate, I would have probably blamed it on that. I've had more problems painting/finishing in humid climates than dry ones.

Did you find the paint all bunched up and crinkly on the surface? The only time that's ever happened to me was when I tried painting over a surface that was too smooth, and the paint didn't have anything to grab on to. But I doubt you sanded those bodies any higher than 230 grit.

I would probably choose either option #3 and try to make something "artsy" out of them, or just scuff them with 230 grit, wipe them down with acetone to remove any oils or residue, and try painting them a darker, solid color.

I would throw them in a fire before I would sand them back to bare wood.

[edit]

What is: "Shou Sugi Ban"?

[rrobbone]

I'm finding it hard to reckon what happened here by looking at the pics. If you lived in a humid climate, I would have probably blamed it on that. I've had more problems painting/finishing in humid climates than dry ones.

Did you find the paint all bunched up and crinkly on the surface? The only time that's ever happened to me was when I tried painting over a surface that was too smooth, and the paint didn't have anything to grab on to. But I doubt you sanded those bodies any higher than 230 grit.

I would probably choose either option #3 and try to make something "artsy" out of them, or just scuff them with 230 grit, wipe them down with acetone to remove any oils or residue, and try painting them a darker, solid color.

I would throw them in a fire before I would sand them back to bare wood.

[edit]

What is: "Shou Sugi Ban"?

The end result was as if the paint dried before it hit the surface. I know too well what that looks like, as it's happened to me before. It was powdery and wiped right off. It didn't look like that when I left them hanging. There were nothing but normal looking wet coat(s), absolutely no indication of anything going wrong. Whatever happened occurred as it was flashing. I can't find any other mention of that weirdness happening to anyone else across the webz. I've wracked my little brain for possible causes. I even toyed with the idea that it was something in the air of the shop once I close it up. I tried some Krylon to test the theory, but that performed as expected - perfecty normal. I'd stick with simple Krylon, but I really want a nicer color pallette to work with, so I've been buying low pressure "artist grade" stuff. I guess that's not happening anymore. I'm looking into DIY spray rigs soon, maybe I can still have the cake and eat it too. I don't quit on ideas, don'cha know.

Yes, prepped as normal. Primed and sanded to 220 grit, tried and true.

I'm certainly not burning these for kindling. I work too hard on these damn things.

Shou Sugi Ban is a Japanese technique for controlled burning of the surface of wood piece, followed by brushing the char off of the work. They've used it to waterproof and protect outer cedar siding since way back. It looks really cool if it's done well. I'm very surprised it hasn't been used to death for guitar bodies yet, though I've seen a few examples. I've done a few pine bodies with this technique, and they sold very quickly. A little research revealed that I sold them for too low a price, but it was so dead simple to do that I didn't feel right charging more for what was just burnt pine, after all.

I've got some ugly bodies set aside for this experiement, I just need to find some examples of alder shou sugi ban work as a guide for what to shoot for.

I'd like to figure this out:

[rrobbone]

More examples of Option 3 foolishness:

Pretty sure this is the way to go.

I only have one more decision to make: Should I spray another (Krylon) coat of paint in a contrasting color before applying any graphics? The idea being that it would cover those horribly misshapen bursts and I could sand it back to expose some of the paint underneath for accents, perhaps even to match the graphics.

Hmm.

[Mossman]

I even toyed with the idea that it was something in the air of the shop once I close it up.

That was my first thought, until you mentioned this:

I've been buying low pressure "artist grade" stuff.

I learned the hard way that when you go off-script with paint, you can't predict the results. When I painted the Fuchsia Strat, I used graffiti artist paint thinking: "paint is paint" and I asked the guy at the art supply store if it was compatible with polyurethane, and how long it took to cure, he said" "Yes" and "24 hours". The fact that almost all of the clear-coat has easily peeled off this guitar tells me that guy didn't know what he was talking about, and he just wanted to sell me a can of expensive paint (and the store was going out of business!).

Now the exposed paint reacts with the foam padding on my guitar rack... And I don't mean the foam is damaging the paint, I mean the paint is damaging the foam! Which makes me a little sketchy about playing that guitar for too long!

If there were anyone on this forum from the paint industry, they'd be quick to point out that spray paint isn't paint, it's a "coating". Only paint is paint, but I can't remember what qualifies something as "paint".

I'm certainly not burning these for kindling. I work too hard on these damn things.

I hear that, but sanding back to bare wood is even more hard work. I keep thinking of the expression about throwing good money after bad... But for what it's worth, I wouldn't burn them either, if I had made them.

Shou Sugi Ban is a Japanese technique for controlled burning of the surface of wood piece, followed by brushing the char off of the work. They've used it to waterproof and protect outer cedar siding since way back. It looks really cool if it's done well. I'm very surprised it hasn't been used to death for guitar bodies yet, though I've seen a few examples. I've done a few pine bodies with this technique, and they sold very quickly. A little research revealed that I sold them for too low a price, but it was so dead simple to do that I didn't feel right charging more for what was just burnt pine, after all.

I've got some ugly bodies set aside for this experiement, I just need to find some examples of alder shou sugi ban work as a guide for what to shoot for.

I'd like to figure this out:


20292753_1428649160548252_7118009138544756434_n.jpg

I would try everything I could think of, but I think the burning would look better on a stained or trans finish than on a painted one.

To answer your question in the other post; I would definitely add some more color and try to conceal the splotchy burst. Maybe channel a little Jackson Pollock? I think applying random graphics would limit the appeal for sale, though.

[rrobbone]

I even toyed with the idea that it was something in the air of the shop once I close it up.

That was my first thought, until you mentioned this:

I've been buying low pressure "artist grade" stuff.

I learned the hard way that when you go off-script with paint, you can't predict the results. When I painted the Fuchsia Strat, I used graffiti artist paint thinking: "paint is paint" and I asked the guy at the art supply store if it was compatible with polyurethane, and how long it took to cure, he said" "Yes" and "24 hours". The fact that almost all of the clear-coat has easily peeled off this guitar tells me that guy didn't know what he was talking about, and he just wanted to sell me a can of expensive paint (and the store was going out of business!).

Now the exposed paint reacts with the foam padding on my guitar rack... And I don't mean the foam is damaging the paint, I mean the paint is damaging the foam! Which makes me a little sketchy about playing that guitar for too long!

If there were anyone on this forum from the paint industry, they'd be quick to point out that spray paint isn't paint, it's a "coating". Only paint is paint, but I can't remember what qualifies something as "paint".

I'm certainly not burning these for kindling. I work too hard on these damn things.

I hear that, but sanding back to bare wood is even more hard work. I keep thinking of the expression about throwing good money after bad... But for what it's worth, I wouldn't burn them either, if I had made them.

Shou Sugi Ban is a Japanese technique for controlled burning of the surface of wood piece, followed by brushing the char off of the work. They've used it to waterproof and protect outer cedar siding since way back. It looks really cool if it's done well. I'm very surprised it hasn't been used to death for guitar bodies yet, though I've seen a few examples. I've done a few pine bodies with this technique, and they sold very quickly. A little research revealed that I sold them for too low a price, but it was so dead simple to do that I didn't feel right charging more for what was just burnt pine, after all.

I've got some ugly bodies set aside for this experiement, I just need to find some examples of alder shou sugi ban work as a guide for what to shoot for.

I'd like to figure this out:


20292753_1428649160548252_7118009138544756434_n.jpg

I would try everything I could think of, but I think the burning would look better on a stained or trans finish than on a painted one.

To answer your question in the other post; I would definitely add some more color and try to conceal the splotchy burst. Maybe channel a little Jackson Pollock? I think applying random graphics would limit the appeal for sale, though.

That's the thing that's got me stumped. I've used that exact same stuff for several dozen bodies prior to this year - in both humid and arid climates - with zero issues. Maybe they changed the formula. So, Krylon it is for the time being.

Believe it or not, the random graphic stuff and the fabric ones are my fastest sellers and most requested items.