Surf Monster Telecaster: Done and Twangin

Well here she is - the Seafoam Green Telecaster! I put the finishing touches on this build today and I couldn't be happier with how she's turned out. The finish, composed of MTN94 spray colour and auto acrylic clear coats, looks about as close to a showroom job as I think I am capable of. I think she looks amazing. The Montana Colors MTN94 "R-6027: Luminouse Green" is just a perfect interpretation of Seafoam - I just love it. A big shout out to Harry Aznavoorian for steering me onto this colour in the first place!

I went with a standard white pickguard to give the whole thing as much of a vintage feel as I could. The neck and headstock is finished in clear Wudtone neck finish and feels nice and smooth to the touch. It's beautiful and playable. On the fretboard I've got Dr Ducks Axe Wax and nothing else. I added a set of roller string trees too. I really like the look of them, and hopefully they will lead to fewer string breakages.

The GFS Professional Series Vintage '63 pickups sound really nice. I went with the "Vintage Wound" bridge pickup, and I think I made the right decision. The question everyone is asking though, is do the GFS Professional '63s sound better than the Toneriders Hot Classics that I used in the Ash Telecaster? Well they both sound really great, and both completely different! The Toneriders are hotter and rockier, whilst these GFS baby's are twangier and surfier (if that makes sense). They actually sound perfect for what I wanted for this guitar! I'll try to get a sound comparison of the two posted soon so that you can decide for yourself.

All in all an amazing result given my limited skill set. I'm really loving these painted finishes at the monent. First the Johnny Ramone Mosrite and now the Surf Telecaster - and both look amazing. I'm already planning my next solid colour finish. Surely it is time for some more hot rod flames?

Surf Monster Telecaster: Polishing

After the longest finishing time ever, my seafoam green Telecaster got its final wet-sand and polish today. First, I started with 600 grit and wet-sanded the surface down to remove the majority of the orange peel. Then it was on to the 1500 grit and the 2000 grit to complete the job. With the wet sanding done, it was on to the Meguiars polish.

I apply the polish with a square of t-shirt material, and then take it off again with a clean piece.  I began with two rounds of Meguiars Ultimate Compound, and then followed this up with a final round of Meguiars Scratch-X 2.0. Couldn't be simpler.

As usual, the results are just awesome (if I do say so myself ;) ). My arms were aching by the end of it, but I love how the Meguiars brings up the acrylic clear coats. Now with just the shielding and the electrics to go, I should be rocking on this bad boy by the end of the week. I'm excited to hear how those GFS 63' Vintage pickups sound!!

Postscript 24/11/2014
In a fit of further productivity, I also got the shielding completed. Gotta love that "Slugga" tape from Masters :). Nothing stopping me from wiring this sucker up now :).

Surf Monster Telecaster: Clear Coats

Well, for the last few weeks I've been meaning to get back to the seafoam green telecaster. I'm in the process of applying acrylic clear coats over the MTN 94 colour coats, but there was the Mosrite to get finished, and then my holiday. I've had two coats of acrylic clear on the body for quite some time now, but today I finally got the chance for a third coat.

I'm really liking the way it's looking. Take it from me, it looks much better in the sunlight - the photo is a little dark. I'll try to post a better picture in the next update.

Anyway, after this clear coat hardens, I'll level it with some 800 grit wet and dry, then give it a final coat ready for cutting and polishing. I'm loving my outdoor heater turned clear coats curer, It makes a tedious job very easy. I never managed the patience required to let the acrylic clear coats cure on their own...

Surf Monster Telecaster: Colour Coats Take #4

Well, yet another clear coat fail on the Surf Monster Telecaster. That makes 3 attempts so far, although the blue dye job can't really be classed as a "fail". The first coat of acrylic clear onto the Linz Iceberg didn't crack this time, but it did discolour the paint. Damn you to a fiery hell! The verdict on these Ironlak spray paints? They are total fucking shite! Don't use them, don't buy them, don't even mention them in polite conversation. You will be dissapointed - that's an Ironlak guarantee.

And so, it was with a heavy heart and aching arms that I yet again sanded back the basswood telecaster body, applied primer and was ready for colour. On the back of a comment from Sydney luthier Harry Aznavoorian, I decided to give the Montana Colors MTN94 range a try. Given that Harry has had similar problems with the Ironlak (Linz Iceberg too as it turns out!), and has reported good success with the MTN94, the choice was a no-brainer in the end. Thanks Harry!

And so, 2 cans of Montana's finest arrived on my doorstep this morning. I ordered the same colour as Harry (he too is doing a "Seafoam Green" build) - the MTN94 "R-6027: Luminouse Green". The colour looked great on the top of the can, so there was nothing for it but to get the colour on to the body and see how it looked!

The spray cans are advertised as low pressure - and they certainly are. The paint comes out nice and easy and there are no volume issues to worry about. I'll need to do several coats (probably 3 coats at current reckoning) but that's better than the paint going on too thick like that Ironlak shit did.The paint is matt, and actually looks really nice sitting on the body!

All in all I think the new colour looks really great - closer in fact to the original colour that I envisaged for this build. It isn't "Teal" like the Ironlak turned out to be, and it's much closer to the traditional "Seafoam" colour of the 50s and 60s Strats and Teles. Another couple of coats and everything will be great. The photo, unfortunately, does not do the colour justice - these blue/green hues are notoriously difficult to photograph.

Now let's cross our fingers and hope the clear coats go on without incident! I'm having good success with the Johnny Ramone Mosrite clear coats, so let's hope everything will be fine...

Surf Monster Telecaster: Seafoam v2.0

The first coat of seafoam green went on to the Surf Monster Telecaster v3.0 today. The primer levelled out nicely with 800 grit sandpaper and the first coat of seafoam green (in truth Ironlak 'Linz Iceberg' from Ozgraff) went on without a hitch. Looking at it now I'm really glad I went back to my original vision for this Tele.

This time around the Ironlak didn't splutter and drip like last time and I was able to lay down a nice thin, even coat. The secret was a finer spray nozzle - also courtesy of Ozgraff. The original supplied nozzle on all the Ironlak cans was ridiculously high volume, and I believe that this led to the coats being way too thick the first time around. I guess a high volume jet is just what the hoodies down by the train tracks need to realise their singular works of art, but it's not so good for creating nice even guitar colour (at least in my hands).

I've just about convinced myself that the the cracks in my first clear attempt was due to the paint underneath being way too thick (and therefore not dry or hard enough). I could be wrong (I'm certainly no expert) but this time around everything feels more normal; more like previous builds. I guess we'll see how it finishes up, but I'm quietly confident everything will turn out well. Famous last words!!

Surf Monster Telecaster: Paint Going On!

The Surf Monster Telecaster is really looking like something now. I sanded the body down to 400 grit, filled the pores with Timbermate and then sanded again down to 800 grit. Smooth as a baby's wassname. I didn't take a photo, but the wood looked really nice with the pores filled. Some really nice grain there. Looked almost like ash or alder - if this stuff is only basswood then i'll be buggered. Very nice! I admit that I did stop for 15 minutes to debate whether to change the finish to a stain, but I decided to forge ahead with the original plan.

After the sanding I hit the body with 3 coats of white primer, wet sanding the small imperfections with 1200 grit after each coat. No spray booth here in Holgate, so unfortunately the odd small bug got stuck in the finish. At one stage I did the unthinkable and tried to get rid of the bug with my finger in the wet finish. That's a paddling...! Anyway, with the sanding between coats it eventually came up very nice and smooth.

After the primer, it was time to shoot the colour. So far I've got one coat of Ironlak 'Linz Iceberg' on there and it's looking pretty sweet. A little too much colour for a perfect seafoam green, but I'm pretty darn happy with it anyhow! Should look great with the simple plain white pickguard. Or should I swap it out now for a perloid one??

 

There were a few issues with the first coat. Unfortunately, the Ironlak's spray can nozzle was spitting out drips like you wouldn't believe. These will need to be sanded out before the next coat. I have some replacement nozzles here (low volume thin line ones) so I may try one of them with the next coat, although a thin line nozzle really isn't the best for this application. I'll also sit the can in warm water for 10 minutes before spraying to help with the atomization.

This week I also received a set of GFS 63 Tele Vintage Wound Professional Series Pickups for this baby from Guitarfetish. Can't wait to get them in and hear what they sound like. Before that can happen, there's acrylic clear coats, the long wait until it cures, and the hours of buffing to get through.

I've also got 52 Tele Vintage Wound Professional Series Pickups waiting to go into the Flamed Telecaster, so it will be great to hear the difference between them!