Wayyyy behind in updates....

It's been so crazy at work for the last three weeks, I haven't been able to do more than edit and upload the pictures I've remembered to take as I worked. Not sure if I should just do one huge update, or try to break it down into smaller parts. I'll decide as I go.

I suppose it was two thursdays ago....April 30th, I stopped and got some sand paper and beer after work. It was a gorgeous, warm sunny day and friday was just around the corner. I sat outside with my Might Mouse sander, a bandana wrapped around my face and proceeded to sand away the remaining finish on the back, headstock and neck. I goofed up and took a picture of the front of the guitar again, rather than the back which I'd spent a couple hours sanding on...go figure.

From Astro Jet work 1

Sometime the next week....it would've been monday or tuesday...I spent time hand sanding the last of the finish out of the cutaways, touching up here and there and (as best I could) steaming the one significant dent out of the back of the neck. I couldn't get it all the way out, so I used a spot of Rockler's house brand wood putty (color:Spice) to fill it in. I had tried to put some of the Rockler putty over my hide glue filler spot to take care of some small voids, but it didn't seem to react well to the hide glue. Nevertheless, it did fill some of the voids and I was able to finish sanding this area and getting it smoothed enough for my taste.

From Astro Jet work 1

As the week progressed I finished filing and smoothing out the binding and installed the side marker dots. I decided to extend the dots further than the thumbnails go on the neck and took them down to the 21st fret. I've been playing up in that regions more lately, and find having some indication of where I am a help. I'm just not good enough to go completely markerless. Anyway, it went well and the dots looked very fine when I got everything smoothed out.

From Astro Jet work 1

That thursday, May 7th, I checked everything over and proceeded to the next step...the headstock inlay. After block sanding the face of the headstock smooth and even, I used a micro chisel and cleaned out the areas where inlay bits had gone missing. I'd ordered a small piece of mother of pearl inlay material from Stew Mac to replace the missing bits. Unfortunately, it does not match the old material. I'd noticed this a while back and debated trying to re-do the entire Gretsch inlay myself and eventually chose not to. I wasn't sure it would not be beyond my capabilities and I knew it would take me weeks to accomplish. In the end I kept as much of the original as I could and just replaced the missing bits. The new bits do not match, but I'm pretty much OK with that. I neglected to take pictures when I got done, but will hopefully get to that this week. I used superglue to glue the bits in and seal in the old inlay bits that where left. It worked well and alowed me to fill those somewhat sunken areas and bring everything up flush to the headstock face.

From Astro Jet work 1

The last bit before launching into the next phase was a final sanding in 120 then 220 grit with the Mighty Mouse and some hand work to get it all smoothed and prepped for grain filler.

Ahhh...

...that what I said yesterday while working on this. Long week at work. Stopped and bought some beer & sandpaper on the way home and sat outside in the sun sanding away with my Mighty Mouse sander. Got all the finish off the front of the body....which surprised me...figured it would take longer. Also spent some time filing down the binding more. Still a few frets worth to go, but I'm well more than half way done with getting it shaped.

The hideglue/putty feels tacky every time I touch it whilst working on the guitar, so I don't know yet if I need to be worried about that. Not sure if it's not drying (it seemed to file and sand OK), or if it's just the heat from my hands making it do that. Rockler has sent out another e-mail coupon for 20% off, so I may stop there this weekend to get another can of clear lacquer and see what sort of traditional wood putties they have. My fill spot has some small divots and will need something anyway...a think skim coat over the hideglue/putty might be just the ticket. I am letting it sit over the weekend, I should have a better idea what's going on monday night.

From Astro Jet work 1

Huh, I thought I had one of those...

I sat down to do some more work on the binding last night. After casting about for a bit, I realized I did not have a scraper. I thought I'd ordered one from Stew Mac, but apparently not. No big deal, I ended up using a single edge razor blade, which seems to work just fine.

I started on the treble side and it became apparent where the low spots in the neck are over time. I decided, for various reasons and some internal debate, to sand the finish off the entire neck, rather than strip it chemically. Once the binding was level with most of that side of the neck, I sanded the rest of the finish away and made some putty for the low points.

I briefly contemplated gouging out a more or less square area in the biggest low spot and laminating some wood in there, but decided to just go with putty instead. I made some of my own to use. I've been saving sanding and routing dust from past guitars and have a little ziplock bag full of vintage mahogany dust. I mixed some of that with some hide glue to make a putty and applied some to the neck.

That was about it for last night.

From Astro Jet work 1

This morning, before work, I sanded some on the "putty" and mixed up/applied another coat. I also was able to get the bass side mostly scraped down. It will need a bit more work, but not much. Next up is getting the top edges brought down level with the finger board. I think that's going to mostly be a careful filing job.

Awesome!

Just sent the paypal payment for the pickguard. Finalized the shape last night, adjusted the file this morning and heard back with a quote from http://terrapinguitars.com just a bit ago. I decided to go with 0.090" black/white/black and to have no holes drilled for controls. I haven't decided how I want the control layout done, and since I now have a drill press I can do it when ever I wish. Best part is I was figuring the guard would run me just shy of $100, but he quoted me $37.50 shipped! Here's the final shape:

From Astro Jet work 1

Took the tape off the binding last night and all looks well. Will assess further and make the next move tonight....may start stripping the neck, may just sand it down and start addressing the worn spots on the treble side of the neck....we shall see...

more binding work

I removed the tape last night for the treble side binding and all looked good. I cut a length for the bass side, made doubly sure the channel was cleaned out and ready, as well as wiping down the new piece with some naptha. A generous application of WeldOn #16 and I put the bass side binding on. I suppose I went a little overboard on the tape for this side, but tape is cheap.:D

From Astro Jet work 1

Next I cut and filed a piece for the end of the neck and got that glued on and taped up. Once this sets over the weekend (I'll be at my GF's all weekend), I'll remove the tape and start scraping & filing the binding down to flush. I expect that will take a while. I also need to address the low spots in the wood on the treble side. The binding had been off a while and someone played a lot of the wood away on that side. Not sure what it's going to take to fix that, I will evaluate it probably tuesday evening, as I have band practice monday night after work.

I trimmed out the second pickguard template and layed it up on the body. I used a green fine point sharpie to mark where all the adjustments had to be made. Brought that into work today, scanned it and proceeded to make the necessary adjustments. I've printed a couple copies off to double check, but I have a feeling it's ready to send off to have the pickguard made. That will likely happen next week.

From Astro Jet work 1

The (perhaps) final pickguard template:

From Astro Jet work 1

I also worked up some line art for the missing badge on the bass side upper bout. Not 100% sure how I'm going to go about replicating that...or if I'll bother to come up with a pseudo serial number for it. I don;t know what the actual serial number of this guitar is, nor have I been able to figure out exactly what year it is.

From Astro Jet work 1

I have my eye on a regulay old Gretsch Filtertron neck pickup ending tonight on ebay. If it doesn;t get too high, I'm going to try to win it. I have a regaular old Filtertron for the bridge right now...I'll make use of these till I have the spare cash to buy a set of TV Jones pickups.

Working on my Gretsch Astro Jet

Last night I finally started on my Astro Jet. Previously I had done mock up work, getting it playable to check out how the neck did with string tension, see what I thought of various aspects of it, including the frets, Here is a gallery with some after photos of it to that point.

Grestch Astro Jet

I got this off ebay for about $450....I'm still pinching myself....


So, last night I loosened the strings and started working on her. The binding was completely gone on the treble side of the neck and was deteriorating on the bass side. It was also missing at the heal. I'd ordered some binding and glue from Stew Mac a few weeks ago. I also find a place selling red side dot marker material, which was cool as hell. One pack (around $6) is damn near a lifetime supply too!

http://www.doeringerguitars.com/servlet/the-669/Side-Dot-Rods-RED/Detail

I used a small square file to clean the old glue and other ditrius out of the binding channel. Then I cut a piece of binding to a generous length and used naptha to clean it and the neck well. I ran a generous bead of the WeldOn #16 glue in the channel and fit the binding in place. Lots of masking tape later, it was ready to sit for 24 hours. I hope to do the bass side tonight.

Once I'd finished there, I started on the process for making a pickguard template. Using a stiff piece of construction paper I basically went by eye, loose measurements, clues on the body and a picture to get a starting point for making the pickguard. I brought in those templates to work today, scanned them and using some photos started working one up in Adobe Illustrator. Here's a photo of the first rough draft template:

From Astro Jet work 1

I think clicking that photo will take you to the album where I will store the work photos.

More Explorer

I suppose it was about two weeks ago I went to a friends machine shop to drill the bridge location holes. Everything kind of fell together quickly after that. I'll try to detail what happened and where the project stands at this point.

Lack, at the time, a suitable drill press I made arrangements to go to a buddies machine shop after work and get my bridge holes drilled. I had spent some time the previous two evenings carefully measuring and locating where they would need to be. I even went so far as to mock up the guitar with a pick up and a high and low E strings so I could check out alignment. I propped the bridge up on some bits of scrap wood.

Once the drilling was done I went ahead and assembled the res of the guitar and ran into some trouble. The controls and cavity didn't all jibe correctly. I improvised a control layout and got a good Switchcraft 3-way switch and jack. It didn't take long to get everything assembled and playing, but I'll need to make some decisions about how to proceed with the electricals and a few other details. At this point, however, the guitar is together and after some attention to the nut slots, plays pretty well. The pickups are uninspiring, but that's OK as I have a set of Schallers for it. Very low string tension too.

I've procured some Behlins spray cans of nitro lacquer from Rockler for the finish work. Walnut, Natural (supposed to be like a light oak), some black and some clear. They run coupons for 20% one item almost every weekend. I need to make a habit of going by there to get a cheap can of Behlins clear every time they do that.

Eventually I'll get back to this, address the issues and start getting the grain filler on it in prep for the finish...but I have other projects going and the fun stuff is done now, so....sometime....soon...

From Explorer Kit