Jazzmaster Project

The body is on day 29 of a 45 day curing process. (I just randomly chose 45 days) While I was waiting I figured I would finish the neck so here it is:

I used the ReRanch neck amber. At first I thought it was too yellow but it's grown on me and I like it now. I sanded with 600, 800, 1500, and 2000 grit then polished with 3M Finesse It and Scratch X. Flamey:


I had a couple sand throughs that I sort-of fixed. Lookit that mirror shine. Much better than my Tele Deluxe practice job.


Looks pretty good right? Do you foresee any problems? I didn't. (Obviously) Take a closer look:



The string tree covers the decal. Dammit. While not a major problem on function, aesthetically it looks dumb. And with my extreme frustration of putting in all that work on the neck only to have it come out not how I wanted I wasn't paying attention and screwed in the string tree right into the finish. Bah! On the plus side, look how sparklie it came out.

I also put the tuners in.

Ladies and Gentlemen...CAMERON C!!!!!

Whacked Out English


Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.


James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher

YEAH!!!!!

Square Foot Gardening

Laura took a one night course on Square Foot Gardening at Sault College a little while back. This weekend we put our garden together. Here it is in our backyard. It doesn't look like much now but hopefully it'll be teeming with life, (or more specifically vegetables) later on. Laura planted corn, beans, cucumber, tomato, carrots, lettuce and spinich. We built the box out of wood left over from the fence I built last summer. It's eight feet by three feet.

We've also started a compost. (behind the shed)

Keeping in the vein of gardening, I bought Laura an AeroGarden for her birthday. Here it is in operation. She's planted Red Basil, Dill, Parsley, Basil, Chives, Thyme, and Mint. You can also see our tomatoes started.

We made sure to buy Heirloom Seeds so that we can seed save and have some for next season. We found this place on the net.

I also plan on learning how to can/preserve and found this thing that pickles in 4-5 days instead of the regular wait time: The Picklemeister (scroll down)


Any experienced gardeners out there have tips for first timers? (well, a first timer...Laura already has gardening experience)


p.s. The Red Wings are seriously dominating the Pens. Two shutouts. In a row. In the Stanley Cup Finals.

Guitar Update

Those of you who aren't guitar nerds...bear with me as this will be over in about 3 months (two of which will be devoted to curing). The painting process has begun (without the co-operation of the weather - The humidity has been too high so I moved the painting from the shed to the basement at the detriment of my little family. On the plus side I am enjoying the sweet apple smell of nitro lacquer. No one else is.)

Anyway. I had to disassemble the entire guitar and was worried about scratching the headstock trying to get the tuner bushings out. I remembered reading about an old trick. Heat 'em up and they'll pop right out:


I used an entire can of Sand&Sealer for the body (which was way too much according to those in the know - but that's what it took to get it right)


Used an entire can to primer it (which was way too much according to those in the know - but that's what it took to get it right) and put bondo in the places I missed:



Spraying metallics are different because they contain a "flop agent" that keeps the little aluminum flakes standing at random angles which result in all teh pretty sparklies. If the paint goes on too wet it overrides the flop control and it's not as sparkley. So being overly cautious I sprayed super light. This was my sixth coat:


After some good natured ribbing from the ReRanch message board ("Were you spraying from across the room?!?!?!) I moved closer and things started looking better. The next coat:




I also started on the neck. In pictures it doesn't look too bad but in real life it's really yellow. I used ReRanch's aged amber to simulate the look of a neck aged from the '50s but it didn't turn out how I envisioned. Who cares?

Taped up:



After gloss:

Also the colour wasn't quite what I had in mind. This was what I was hoping for:




This is what I ended up with. Notice how close it is to the factory finish Ocean Turquoise Metallic I have on my Jaguar:



After I moved on to some clear coats it did darken somewhat:


Next I will spray two more cans of clear then let it sit for 2 months. Then sand the crap out of it till it's like a mirror. (Notice all that "orange peel" I'll have to sand out)

This Olde Guitar

Last week I routed the neck pocket to get the standard 25 1/2 inch scale, got the neck on straight without stripping any screws (finally after 4 attempts), mounted the pickguard, strap buttons and tremolo. This thing is starting to resemble a guitar. I couldn't resist trying it on.....NERD!:

This is the nut I ordered. Notice it's wider than the hole it's supposed to sit in. It also runs over the binding.


A little trim with the dremel gets it to fit:


This guy showed me how to cut the nut (which I haven't quite finished yet)


The pencil is for marking how deep to file the string slots. It lines up with the frets.




These aftermarket pickguards aren't too good. Exhibit A:

I routed out that large chunk in the bottom and enlarged the holes for the bridge posts.

These aftermarket pickguards aren't too good Exhibit B: Check out the gap it left at the rhythm switch:


A drive out to Pointe Aux Pins and Uncle Evert to the rescue. He made this little patch for me. I glued it in and traced the outline of the switch that will sit in the rout:



Here it is with the gap fixed. You shouldn't be able to tell once it's painted. Also....STRINGS!:


I played it today for the first time!!! The action was all whacked and there were no pickups but acoustically it's friggin' loud.

I also installed the string tree. (No pics of that) All that's left is to wire it up and paint it. Sooooo close yet so far away...