James' Les Paul Jnr: All Finished

Well, James' Double Cut Les Paul Junior was finally completed today - it was a long push to get the wiring in, the frets levelled, and a new bone nut filed, but it's all done now! With the new nut, the action at the 1st fret is nice and low, but in the end the neck also needed a shim to allow the action to be as low as possble all the way down the neck. To create a shim, I used a piece of plastic milk bottle the width as the neck heel and half the length. It was a simple matter of cutting it out with scissors and pushing the neck screws through the plastic in place.

Now she plays beautifully, and the sound from the P90 is fantastic - despite being just the stock pickup fron the factory! I'm really loving the satin finish on this baby - thanks to the Butterscotch Wudtone. For my own DC Jnr, I applied a gloss finish with some wipe on poly over the top of the Wudtone, but I'm really liking this satin finish even more.

Just beautiful, if I do say so myself ;) ! I do love this model. Great look and killer sound all in a nice neat package with only a few working parts. Awesome. I'll be handing this one over to James in the next day or so. Hopefully I'll be able to get a sound demo out of him! Stay tuned for that.

James' Les Paul Jnr: Wudtone Clear Coats

With 3 coats of colour on the body and 7 on the neck, James is now happy with the depth of Butterscotch colour I've managed to achieve on both pieces. The grain on the body is still visible, and the match between the headstock and body shades is good. As expected, the rock maple has taken the Wudtone differently to the basswood body, so the colours will never be identical, but it's pretty close.

So now that the colour is finalised, the clear coats can begin. I'm using Wudtone "Clear Gloss No Aging" on the body, and Wudtone "Clear Neck Finish" one the neck.

I've currently got 3 very thin coats of clear on the body and it's starting to look good. Not glossy yet - more of a satin finish - but that's ok. The main thing is that it's bringing out the colour - Wudtone clear doesn't purport to give a showroom finish. I am planning to give the body a few coats of Minwax wipe-on Poly at the very end to give better protection, and to add the requisite shine.

With 3 coats on the neck, it's also starting to look the business. I really love the way a neck plays with this Wudtone neck finish, so hopefully this one will be no exception!

All in all the build is coming together nicely. Hopefully in another week or so the clear coats will be done and we can move on to assembly. Excitement is building!

James' Les Paul Jnr: More Butterscotch Wudtone, Custom Pickguard

James' Les Paul Jnr Double Cut is continuing very nicely indeed. Today I got the second coat of Butterscotch Wudtone on the body and the fifth coat on the neck and headstock. The photos look a little darker than they do in real life, but I do believe that the neck colour may have finally caught up to the body! There certainly isn't much in it. I reckon she's looking awesome! Not sure any more colour is needed - what do you think James?

I also got the scroll saw out and shaped a new pickguard and truss-rod cover from 3-ply tortoiseshell pickguard material. They both came out very nicely indeed.

I am a little concerned that there is little to no clearance between the fretboard and the guitar body itself. The 3-ply tortoiseshell material is a little thicker than the original single-ply pickguard that came with the kit, and this might mean that the new pickguard has to sit flush with the end of the fretboard rather than under it. I guess we'll have to suck it and see at this stage.

I think this time around, rather than add more screws to cinch the pickguard down onto the curved body, I might try heating the pickguard material up in the oven and then bending it to conform to the body shape. I've never tried this before, so maybe a little experiment is in order!

James' Les Paul Jnr DC: Butterscotch Wudtone

After sanding to 240 grit, pore filling with Timbermate and then finishing off with 360 grit, James' Double Cut Jnr was finally ready for it's colour coats. Similar to my own DC Jnr, James has requested a Butterscotch Wudtone body and neck colour - a great choice! The Wudtone was shipped from our friends at Pitbull Guitars in two bottles - a Butterscotch base colour, and some White for lightening it up.

On my last Butterscotch build, I mixed the two in a ratio of 2:1, so 1 third white to 2 thirds Butterscotch. Since the Butterscotch bottle was about three quarters full this time around, I mixed to a ratio of approximately 4:1 (i just topped the bottle up with White ;) ).

Once mixed, the colour was into the dish and wiped on with a cotton swab (t-shirt material). Last time I applied Butterscotch Wudtone, the colour seemed very washed out and it took many, many coats before a nice golden hue was achieved. On that occasion, I sanded both the neck and body all the way to 600 grit. This time around I followed the guidelines of Pitbull's resident luthier Dingobass and kept some tooth in the wood. This extra tooth, and a mix that's a little darker, has resulted in a much more satisfying result this time around. I tried my best to get as much of the colour into the wood as I possibly could, and this first coat is displaying a deep golden colour, with the grain highlighted nicely.

I'll consult James, but I don't think we are going to need many more colour coats the way this body is looking! The neck, on the other hand, is a different story. The guys at Pitbull warned me that the Rock Maple would not absorb Wudtone quite like the basswood, and they were right. The neck is much, much lighter, and will benefit from a few more coats to bring the colour up to par.

All in all, I'm pretty chuffed with the results so far. The grain is standing out beautifully and the colour is deep and golden. A couple more coats and we will definitely be on to the clear!!

Stone Roses Tribute: Video Build Diary #5

The fifth instalment of my video build diary for the RC-1 Stone Roses Tribute is now on YouTube. This instalment deals with the scraping of the edge binding, and applying the Wudtone colourless neck finish. See my new binding scrapers (made from a scrap of wood and a razor blade) in action!

Les Paul Jnr Double Cut: Sound Demo

OK, so for those of you interested in how this little rocker sounds, I have done a quick sound demo. Please excuse the crap playing and the snare in the background. Unfortunately I forgot to turn the snare off before recording. The guitar is being played through a Fender Reverb amplifier with no additional pedals or effects other than those provided by the amp itself.


Remember, what you are hearing is the stock pickup straight from the Pitbull kit. I have added a bone nut, but apart from that the sustain and the tone comes from all stock parts. The majority of the demo is with the tone circuit bypassed completely so you are hearing the P90 in all it's glory. Although I added an orange-drop cap, most of the time it isn't even in the mix.

I gotta say, I love the way this baby sounds, and it really is a dream to play! That stock P90 really is a surprise. I really didn't expect the quality (and quantity!) of sound that this thing pumps out!

Les Paul Jnr Double Cut: It's Finished!

Well, the Les Paul Jnr Double Cut was finally finished today - Woohoo!! I am very happy with how this one came out. In terms of the wiring mods discussed previously in this blog, in the end I used only a single push-pull pot to bypass the tone circuit. The tone bypass is the default - you have to pull the tone pot up (out) to enable the tone. In the down position you get the full dynamic range of the P90 without any modifications.

Apart from the custom scratchplate & truss-rod cover, only a small number of further changes were made above and beyond the stock Pitbull kit. I added an Orange-drop tone cap to the aforementioned push-pull tone pot for the tone circuit, and added a switchcraft output jack with an oval base plate. Lastly, a pair of black speed knobs finished off the look.

I couldn't be happier with how she has turned out. Even though the tuners, bridge and P90 are all stock standard from the Pitbull kit, she plays very nicely indeed with plenty of grunt and oodles of sustain. I would still like to get a P90 from GFS for this bad boy when funds become available, but what's there now sounds amazingly good anyway (go figure!). With a bone nut and the action dialed in, she's low to the deck and silky smooth! Man, I can't put this baby down - especially with the distortion cranked way up! Heaven..

Les Paul Jnr Double Cut: Wudtone is On!

So the last coats of Wudtone colour and clear have been applied to the Les Paul Jnr. That makes 8 coats of colour and 3 coats of clear in total. I would have liked to get a  few more clear coats on there, but the bottle ran out. There could have been a little more in the bottle for mind..

Anyway, the colour has deepened well and I'm very happy with it. There's a pretty good solid colour, with just a hint of grain showing through. Should look killer with the custom Tortoiseshell Pickguard I've made. I've allowed the Wudtone to cure for a week and I've started polishing it. Currently I've rubbed my heart out with Colortone medium compound and I also plan to apply fine and swirl remover grades before I'm finished. Gotta remember not to rub too hard on those edges and start taking colour off..

Once the Wudtone polishing is done, I'll decide whether the gloss is enough to call the finish complete and go on to the assembly. Wudtone is not made to duplicate the lustrous shines achieved with Nitro or Poly, so I'll have to see. On Siena's Stratocaster I ended up with a few coats of Minwax Wipe-on Poly, but that was also for protection in addition to the shine factor. We'll see how I feel. I have a new spray gun and am planning to give the Les Paul Florentine a few coats of Vinyl lacquer. Possibly I could bring the schedule forward to include the Jnr?

Les Paul Jnr Double Cut: Off With His Head!

With no question that the Vintage Amber headstock colour had to go, I decided to scrub it back to bare wood (just the face) and start applying Butterscotch Wudtone instead. With the decision made, all that was left to do was sand with 180 grit until all the colour was removed, then finish off with 240, 360 (plus grain raising) and finally 400 grits.

The Wudtone on the sides of the headstock remained unaffected, and didn't even twitch as the colour came off the top edges. This was a great relief I can tell you. I also managed to sand flat so that none of the colour was removed from the sides of the headstock at all.

The first coat of Wudtone went on thereafter (ever so carefully) and the transformation was well on its way. I am paranoid that I'll make a mess of the Butterscotch down the sides of the headstock, but I'm being as careful as I can be. Only time will tell if this step backwards has been worth it, but I already suspect that it has been. Even without 5 coats of Butterscotch, I like the new headstock sooo much better.

Les Paul Jnr Double Cut: Custom Headstock Decal

The custom headstock decal went on today without a hitch. The decal was bought from best-decals.com and is the same as for previous builds. When my current supply of decals is exhausted, I'm going to be sourcing them from a company here in Australia. Here it is out in the sun to get a better idea of the colour..

Now that I look at the headstock and neck, I think I went a bit heavy with the Vintage Amber Wudtone. I honestly think 2 coats would have been more than enough, not the 4 that it finished up with. Next time I think I'll try the Vintage Yellow. It doesn't look anywhere near as dark as the Amber. Oh well, you live and learn - I thought it looked awesome on the Stratocaster build, but Fender do that don't they - dye their headstocks the same colour as the neck and fret-board. Hopefully when the tuners and strings go on it won't look as bloody orange!

Postscript: 27/11/2013:
You know, this just isn't right. The more I look at the headstock with the Vintage Amber neck colour on it, the more I think that the colour is just wrong for this build. The neck colour is fine, but the face of the headstock just doesn't match the Butterscotch body.

Basically, it looks shithouse. So, I have 2 options. Firstly, get some black spray and spray the face of the headstock. Secondly, sand off the face of the headstock and apply Butterscotch to it. One way or another this headstock is going to change. Luckily I have a spare decal to hand!

Les Paul Jnr Double Cut: Fourth Coat of Wudtone

Well the fourth coats of Butterscotch and Vintage Amber Wudtone went on today. That will be all for the headstock and neck - it is now ready for the decal and clear coats. The colour on the body is deepening slowly every day. It really isn't as golden as I expected, but it is looking nice all the same. I reckon 2 or 3 more coats will see it finished. Here is a look at it out in the sun to try and get an accurate representation of the colour.

Pretty nice all in all. Should look great with the tortoiseshell pick-guard.

Les Paul Jnr Double Cut: Third Coat of Wudtone

Yes, you guessed it - the third coat of Wudtone went on today. The neck is pretty well finished in terms of colour. Might give it a steel wooling and see if it needs any touch ups. The body still has a few coats to go.

As always, the lighting and the flash plays havoc with the colouring of the photos. The Vintage Amber does not look as red or as golden as the photo implies, nor does the Butterscotch look as yellow. Sooner or later I'll take a photo in the sunlight to try and get a more accurate representation of actual colour. Overall, I'm pretty happy with how it is shaping up.

Les Paul Jnr Double Cut: Second Coat of Wudtone

After a thorough steel-wooling to smooth out the surface, the second coat of Wudtone was slapped on the body and neck. All in all, the body colour seems to be filling out nicely, and the Butterscotch is slowly becoming more of a golden hue. It's hard to see any difference in the photos, but believe me it's there! In about 5 more coats it should be looking really something.

The Vintage Amber neck finish is also looking good. I took a little extra time with the steel wool to even out the first coat of Amber - especially on the edges where it seems to gather and darken. The time was well spent - it's looking quite good now! Maybe only one more coat will be required on the neck and headstock before the decal can be applied and the clear coats can go on.

Les Paul Jnr Double Cut: First Coat of Wudtone

After preparing the surface, I was finally able to get the first coats of Wudtone onto this bad boy. I'm using Butterscotch for the body and Vintage Amber for the neck, both with high gloss clear coats. I added about a third of the bottle of White base-coat to the Butterscotch base-coat to lighten the colour a little, and to give me a little more finish to work with.

They both went on well, except for a few unfortunate patches of bog in the body that have now been highlighted rather starkly. Hmm.. I'm hoping they will disolve into the background as the colour deepens. Other than that I'm pretty happy.

Due to the Timbermate pore filling, the grain on this basswood body is standing out quite nicely. By the end of the process this will fade a little as I plan to put as many colour coats on as I possibly can, but hopefully it will still look nice.

The butterscotch colour is a little dull brown at the moment, but I'm hoping that the 'golden' colour will come to the fore as finish builds and the colour deepens. It could well be that my pore filling with Timbermate is affecting the colour. We'll have to wait and see!

Les Paul Jnr Double Cut: Preparing a Solid Body for Wudtone

Before adding Wudtone to my Les Paul Jnr, the wood surface must be prepared - and that means more than a few a few hours of sanding, sanding and (you guessed it) more sanding.

My standard preparation for solid body basswood guitars (without veneer or binding) is as follows:

• A really good sand with 240 grit, taking special note of areas where there is glue (there shouldn't be much if there's no binding) and filler (bog). I usually go over the body at least three times as there is no worries about sand through and so on. What does 'go over 1 time' mean in this context? Well, I tend to sand in 'sessions'. Basically, in 1 session I keep sanding until I've had enough and walk away. This is a single 'session' and on average it consumes one regular piece of wet-and-dry, and just a little bit of my remaining sanity.

• Move up to 360 grit sandpaper. I usually go over the body at least twice (2 sessions) with 360 grit.

• Fill the grain pores with a slurry of Timbermate and water. Dilute the Timbermate until it is like runny custard and then brush it on with and against the grain. For basswood I usually use a 'Maple' colour. For mahogany I go with a darker 'Walnut' colour. It all depends how much you want the grain to stand out. If you love grain, then typically the darker the pore filler the better.

•  Let the Timbermate dry completely.

• Use 360 grit paper to sand down the Timbermate until it basically disappears from the surface of the timber. Don't worry, it's still there in the pores, but the obvious Timbermate colour is gone.

• Switch to 400 grit paper. Give the body a light sand - not too much or you will undo all your good work with the Timbermate! The surface should be feeling very smooth by now.
• Raise the grain of the wood using water in a damp cloth. Let the surface dry completely.

• Sand the raised grain back down  with 400 grit paper.

This is my pre-Wudtone preparation for basswood bodies. For maple necks, I do all this, but without the pore filling step. This is as far as I go for Wudtone as more sanding makes it hard for the Wudtone to soak effectively into the surface.

Disclaimer: Many exponents of Wudtone strictly adhere to the mantra that you should only sand to 240 grit as preparation. Personally I find that sanding to 240 makes it almost impossible to achieve a high gloss finish. I've only completed one Wudtone project so far, so maybe time will out on this one. At the end of the day it is up to you!

For other finishing products, in particular Tru-Oil, it is important to sand down to at least 600 grit paper. When doing this, I repeat the last 3 steps (400 grit + grain raising) with 600 and each subsequent grit size. Typically, though it is only one more to 600 (to save my sanity more than anything else). I have read build diaries online where other builders continue to 800 an 1200 before dying and oiling. It is definitely the case that Tru-Oil finishes benefit greatly from finer sanding, as the smoother the surface is to begin with, the less wetsanding you'll have to do to get a nice smooth finish.

Siena's Stratocaster - Clearcoats & Polishing

Finally finished the Wudtone clear coats a week ago and have been waiting (im)patiently for the finish to cure. Ok, so I waited a week. A month would have been better, but hey, who can wait that long?? Anyway after 6 coats of clear the body was looking pretty good. There were a few subtle streaks in the clear finish (I probably put it on too thick) but in general it set strong, hard and flat. The finish wasn't a 'mirror' finish by any stretch but it was, um, shiny. From what I've read this is not uncommon with Wudtone gloss finishes - you get some shine but more work is required to buff it out. Not a problem! With my trusty Stewmac ColorTone Polishing Compounds to hand, I set to work.

I successively applied the Medium, Fine and Swirl Remover to the body using good old elbow-grease and a piece of old t-shirt. My shoulders were aching (god) by the end, but the result was worth it. The finish is quite a deal better than the one I started with. Ok, I admit - it's mirror-bloody-awesome!

The next step is to add a coating of poly to the body. To be honest, I'm pretty happy with the finish as it is, but a few coats of poly will protect the finish a lot better during it's life to come. As I found with Eben's flaming monster, you can't have enough protection on a kid's guitar. It's hard to get a guitar through the doorway when it's on the strap and you've got a peanut butter sandwich in one hand and a laptop in the other. It's basic physics.

Siena's Stratocaster - 6th Coat of Wudtone

More Wudtone colour on the stratocaster body today. That makes it 6 coats of the Surfer Girl/T-Bird custom 'Aqua' colour. It's looking pretty damn good IMO. I think Siena will be pleased with it.

I'm not sure how many more coats to put on - I want a nice uniform colour, but I'd also like to see a little wood underneath. I think I'll put one more coat on and see how it looks.

Siena's Stratocaster - Custom Headstock Decal

I received my custom vinyl decal from best-decals.com today. I got the font size pretty close to what I wanted, although in truth I could have been a little larger. It went on without a hitch and looks pretty damn good. I put a coat of Wudtone clear over the whole lot - it seemed to go over the decal without a problem. The clear coat should keep the decal in place till the end of days. A couple more clear coats and the neck will be finished.

Siena's Stratocaster - Second Wudtone Coat

Got the second coat of Wudtone on the body today. The colour is filling out nicely. Another couple more coats (I have plenty of Wudtone left) and I think this body will look awesome. Funnily enough, the photo's this time around look very blue rather than green as they did for the first coat. It's amazing how the different light brings out the two different hues used in the custom mix.

Looking great eh?

Siena's Stratocaster - Wudtone Custom 'Aqua'

Well, today I mixed my very own custom Wudtone colour. It's the product of combining the base colour 'Surfer Girl' with the base colour 'T-Bird' to create a really nice 'Aqua' shade. I think i got the colour pretty close to where I was aiming. I didnt add any white base coat, as I really wanted the full, deep hue.

Unfortunately the photo of the final colour looks much more green than in real life. The flash from the camera is picking up the green for some reason. Without the flash, the same bottle looks light blue! I got basically 1 full bottle (the bottle that you see here) from combining the two original bottles of base colour. I should get at least 3, hopefully 4 coats out of it.

After liberal agitation (the bottle, not me), I applied a first coat to the body of the guitar. The body had prevously been sanded with 240, 360 and 400 grit wet and dry paper, with the grain raised using methylated spirits in between 400 grit applications.

As you may or may not be able to see, the end-grain has taken a lot more colour than the front and back of the body. And while the colour is quite streaky at the moment, I'm expecting it to even up with the second and third coats. I'm not a big fan of the 'whitewash' look for guitar finishes, where the dark brown grain can be seen underneath the finish, so i'm really hoping the colour will deepen.

Anyway, I'm quite pleased with my first foray into Wudtone body coats. The guitar can only look better and better from here!