First From Scratch Done

[scamp]

Finally finished my first from scratch build.
000 12 fret
Very happy with the sound.
Here are some pictures.

Cocobolo back and sides
European bear claw spruce top
Ebony bindings, fret board, bridge and headstock veneer.
Cocobolo and veneer rosette and tail piece
One piece mahogany neck
Custom black and turquois veneer perfling
Abalone fret dots and headstock symbol
Tru Oil finish

[scamp]

More Pictures

[scamp]

More Pictures

[Kevin Sjostrand]

Wow
Great finish! I tried Tru oil on my very first build but didn't have great success so I stripped it and sprayed lacquer.
I would have been happy if mine had turned out like yours!
Good job

Kevin

[scamp]

Wow
Great finish! I tried Tru oil on my very first build but didn't have great success so I stripped it and sprayed lacquer.
I would have been happy if mine had turned out like yours!
Good job

Kevin

It wasn’t easy. Quite the struggle but it worked out in the end.

What lacquer spray do you use? Nitrocellulose? I would assume you would do this outside.

[jread]

Drop dead gorgeous man. Beautiful and eye catching build from design to craftsmanship to finish. Very nice

[Kevin Sjostrand]

I spray nitro lacquer. I basically spray once a year so I put up a portable spray booth outside on a backyard 10 x 10 pad. This works out quite well for me. I use a HVLP rig. Not expensive and not quite as good a lay down of material as a normal spray gun in my opinion, but I'm no expert. I used spray cans on my first two. the normal spray gun on the next couple and then bought the HVLP.

But I LIKE your finish. I still have an 8oz bottle of Truoil and with the price of the lacquer doubled in the past 3 years I'll be looking for an alternative soon. I have one gallon of lacquer left.....2 to 3 guitars.

[scamp]

I spray nitro lacquer. I basically spray once a year so I put up a portable spray booth outside on a backyard 10 x 10 pad. This works out quite well for me. I use a HVLP rig. Not expensive and not quite as good a lay down of material as a normal spray gun in my opinion, but I'm no expert. I used spray cans on my first two. the normal spray gun on the next couple and then bought the HVLP.

But I LIKE your finish. I still have an 8oz bottle of Truoil and with the price of the lacquer doubled in the past 3 years I'll be looking for an alternative soon. I have one gallon of lacquer left.....2 to 3 guitars.

Be careful before you move to Tru Oil. I can get it to come out well but it can be very frustrating and it isn't easy.

Since Tru Oil has very thin coats, you need to be meticulous with the pore filling as the Tru Oil won't fill in the pores hardly at all on it's own ( even with a lot of coats) . It took 10 Aqua Coat applications to fill in the pores on Cocobolo. My guess is EIR would have been worse since the pores are larger. It then took at least ( I lost count ) 20 coats of Tru Oil. I applied 3 to 4 coats, scuff sanded with 1200 grit sand paper, and continued this process to build it up ( don't ever use steal wool as some suggest as it gets everywhere and makes a mess) . Also, I used Tru Oil mixed with mineral spirits ( 3 parts Tru Oil and 2 parts mineral spirits ) to thin it out a bit. For the final coat I put it on a bit heavy and quickly. Then need to wait a week or more and then use Stewmac Polish to take out surface imperfections. You need to be careful about polishing as well as unlike nitro, if you go thru the last coat you can get witness lines. So.... no perfect solution to finishing a guitar. As far as I'm concerned, finishing is the least pleasurable part of the guitar building process.

[Skarsaune]

Looks great!