Finally Done

[strelok]

....well with the amp at least. The guitar really held this project up but its getting close too. I'm mostly just waiting for the clear to fully harden. Should be good by now. First time I tried polishing it was still a bit soft and would get impressions left in it. Probably going to try again this coming weekend and hopefully all will be good, then off to the tech for setup.

The amp is completely done however. It took me a long time to figure out the best way to make a face plate from scratch. For me it was the most challenging part of this build. I tried many different methods and none came out to my satisfaction.

What I ended up doing was using stencils. Ordered them from this site:
http://stencilletters.org/gothic-bold-a ... ncils.html

Took a couple weeks to get it as it was coming from Japan but they ended up working pretty well:

[img2048]http://i.imgur.com/VVSdwZC.jpg[/img]
[img1911]http://i.imgur.com/cJx7x2d.jpg[/img]
[img2048]http://i.imgur.com/rlBDKoh.jpg[/img]
[img1776]http://i.imgur.com/ckppVF3.jpg[/img]

I was going to create a custom logo but that proved to be to much work. Maybe for future projects I'll have a custom stencil made. Could have done it with the standard stencil letters but getting the alignment right would have been a huge pain.

Here's a couple pics of the guitar too, of course I didn't realize the paint was a little soft still until after I put all the hardware on but waddya gonna do:

[img2976]http://i.imgur.com/BbOvwsw.jpg[/img]
[img3968]http://i.imgur.com/6SgzhFL.jpg[/img]
[img2976]http://i.imgur.com/jBkgyQ1.jpg[/img]

[studiodunn]

Great job! They both look awesome.

I can totally understand the face plate dilemma. Sometimes the simplest seeming manufacturing things are the most challenging.

[strelok]

Glad you like it. The face plate looks a bit off in the pics as the flash makes it look lighter than it actually is.

But yeah face plates can be a real pain. I'm not really all that technically inclined when it comes to visual graphics and what not so its much more of a challenge for me. Its one thing to cover a surface in paint a whole other to try to find a way to get clean lines of lettering on a panel. Took me about 3 hours just to get all the letters painted on in a way that looked acceptable.

[Phil_S]

I really appreciate that you posted the photos. I realize you know where all the mistakes are, but to my eye, the fit and finish on the cabinets is done to a very high standard. Pine isn't eye-popping wood, but that's not the point. Lots of people would be more than happy to have it. I can't imagine what you go through to finish a guitar. It looks great, too.

[dcribbs1412]

Congrats
both amp and guitar look great
Love the look of the guitar with the dark grain.
Is it stained?

D

[M Fowler]

Good job on your amp and guitar look real good.

Mark

[strelok]

Thanks guys! I really appreciate it!

The guitar was dyed with red aniline dye. Its swamp ash which is an open grain wood, so it needs to be filled with some kind of grain filler. This is basically the steps I went through to do it, there are other methods that require less work but this is the cheapest and doesn't require a spray gun.

-Standard wood prep, sanding etc (mine was from Warmoth so it was already sanded.)
-Raise the grain. I used a water based dye so you have to lightly wet it and sand several times so it doesn't raise up when you apply the dye.
-Apply dye
-Seal the dye in with several coats of clear spray shellac
-Prep the filler. I used drywall putty thinned out with water and mixed up with black aniline dye until it was pitch black.
-Apply the filler. Wearing latex gloves just slop some onto the body and rub it in. Do a section at a time, wait a few minutes to dry and scrap off excess with plastic putty knife.
-Sand down until just the pours in the grain have filler left in them being careful not to go through the shellac.
-Once you have the whole body done probably will have to repeat a few times to get it completely filled as it shrinks as it dries.
-Once filled seal again with a few coats of clear spray shellac
-Apply necessary coats of clear, level sand if necessary and repeat. Wait to cure.
-Wetsand progressively up to 2500 grit or so. Buff with polishing and rubbing compound.

Its a hell of a lot of work, the open grain woods double the amount of work you have to do if you're going for that transparent grain filled look, but I think its worth it. Here's the full tutorial I followed if anyone is interested:
http://www.tdpri.com/threads/swamp-ash- ... al.371080/

For the amp I agree pine isn't the most interesting wood, but its cheap and I'm on broke as hell Given the limited tools I had access to I think it came out pretty good. The cool thing about using shellac for the color is it does bring out what grain is there and it adds a bit of a flame effect you might not see with other stains etc. Its not a strong finish so I added some clear coats over the top to help protect it.

One other thing I will add is I don't recommend using Duplicolor Acrylic Lacquer for clear coats. For whatever reason the stuff takes absolutely forever to fully harden. Especially when using a lot of coats like I did on the guitar. It dries quick but its a known issue with regards to how long it takes to harden that I only found out about afterwards.