My first burst.

And it's not exactly pretty, but I'm going to run with it. This week I grain filled the Explorer, applied sand & sealer then got it painted with the three tone burst and started the clear coating. I used Behlins spray cans I got at Rockler. After I had a smooth base of sand & sealer I shot it with their Natural Toner, which is sort of like ReRanch neck amber mixed with clear lacquer. It gave the mahogany a nice golden tint and helped even out the color overall of the different pieces of wood.

I tried the paper mask method to get the edges black and was pretty unhappy with the result. I used brown paper grocery sack and it wasn't stiff enough to give me a uniform edge. I think the method is usable, but think poster board(or foam core board) and very careful sizing is necessary to get a more predictable edge.

I pushed ahead though and applied some of their Walnut Toner to blend the natural and black. In theory and practice the colors look great, but the execution leave something to be desired on my part. I sanded some of the walnut off and tried to redo it for a cleaner appearance, but it still didn't turn out quite like I wanted.

The uneven black bugged me a lot though, so I broke out one of my old airbrushes and a can of compressed air I had sitting around and shot more black on the edges to give it a better look. That part turned out real nice. I think next time I'll either use the airbrush for the black and walnut, or try the cone spray tip on the walnut, because the directional tip it comes with was too concentrated to get a good fade.

I could sand it all down and start over, but I'm not inclined to. It looks passable and, frankly, I want to be done with it and move on to the next paint job before the cold weather gets too close. I learned a lot, found readily available colors that work real well on mahogany and am sure the next burst I do will come out just like I want. I'm thinking of the same color combo for my `64 Corvette, perhaps adding a fourth color they have called Dark Walnut to allow an even more subtle bursting effect.

I'll be putting on the final top coats of clear, weather permitting, next week and will get some shots of the Explorer to upload. I wanted to shoot some this morning for this update, but out net was down again at home, so I didn't take the time.

Uh-Oh

I finished building my first pedal kit this morning. And it works! It's a General Guitar Gadgets "Rodent" kit, which is a clone of the Pro Co Rat distortion pedal. It uses a OP07 integrated circuit chip in place of the original LM308, but supposedly they're pretty close and it can be retrofitted with the LM308 should I find one.

It only took some time last night and then again this morning to get it together. It was fun. I may be in trouble too. Way too many cool pedals to build out there, in kit form and not, plus modding Boss pedals. This could be a drain on the funds. I've already modded two Boss DS-1 Distortions. One sounds great...the other sounded pretty much like ass, so I did some more/different stuff to it. Better, but still not right.

Anyway, great projects in pedals. Soldering, assembly, and then painting....all the kinds of things my hands like to do. Here are some pics of the Rodent....I'll be trying it out at practice this thursday and then taking it apart to paint. I have a very cool idea on that front. Already have another of their kits at home, the Brown Sound In A Box 2 (BSIABII) and have the Digital Reverb on the way. They have a 20% off sale till tomorrow:)

From Pro Co Rat Clone

hmm...

From Explorer Kit

Back on the Explorer

Got back to work on the Explorer this week. Not a lot of time to do stuff this week and next because I'm kind of busy learning new songs and preparing for our anniversary party on the 19th, but I needed something to fiddle with to help decompress in the evenings, so back on the bench it goes.

I decided to stick with the kit control layout, switch/volume/tone and routed (by hand with a Dremel) around the cutout for a cover. Not really pretty, but functional. The piece of plastic they supply for the cover isn't the right shape, so I'll have to make one. Template for said job is ready. Also opened everything up to accept full size CTS 500k pots...

From Explorer Kit

If it gets a pickguard, it will be small and not like a typical Gibson style...so I know what I'm not going to do there....just need to decided what, if anything, on the pickguard front.

Since it's a bit neck heavy, I decided to just whack off as much headstock as I could with more of an eye for function than aesthetics. I didn't want to "Parker" it, but after designing a half dozen different shapes in Illustrator, I just sat down with a pencil, sketched in a shape and started cutting wood off with a coping saw. In the end, I'm pleased with it. I have some Gibson vinyl stencils for painting the logo on headstocks and thought about putting one on this. Now I think it will just stay black..unless I decided to try my hand at a simple inlay, like a letter "E" or something.

Here's the result:

From Explorer Kit

On a guitar forum I frequent someone suggested sculpting the heal down. So I did. The end result is much much more comfy high up the neck. Thanks to whomever that was! Looks like this now..big difference. I did this with a little drum sander on my "Dremel" combined with hand sanding with 80 grit, then 120.

From Explorer Kit

Next up is a general sand smooth, then grain filler/sealer and start on the finish.

Oh yeah...here's a shot of the Schaller pickups going in it. Have never heard these, but I had a 80's Schaller once and loved it, so I snagged these off ebay cheap a while back...they now have a home. Expect they'll be pretty hot...they measure around 12-13 kOhms..

From Explorer Kit