21st October - Early, lengthy, Monday Lunch Report

Lunch today was Vietnamese broken rice - that's rice with a fried pork chop, fried egg and what I think might be a jellyfish and shredded pork salad but I might be mistaken. It's as 100% delicious as it sounds.

G&Ls
My thoughts on the Fallout are starting to come around. I haven't been too keen on it but it's a pretty neat guitar and something very different for G&L, which is a great thing. The P90 is a great sounding pickup and I'm happy to see it on more than a limited edition model. I hoping that they make some sort of US made set neck/neck through guitar with twin humbuckers in the near future as I really do need to fill that spot in the line up. What gaps in your guitar collection need filling? Would you like G&L to make the guitar to fill it?

Revisiting an old project
I was going to start a project thread but figgered I'd use this as a LR instead. Some of you might recall this guitar that I put together from parts a couple of years ago.


Since finishing it I think I played it for a couple of hours then left it in the deep recesses of the study and forgot about it. When I go it out yesterday it was even behind the banjo case! Part of the reason for this neglect is that its simply too pink for me. I know that Darwin’s recent refin of the Ernie Ball bass in shell pink has brought him a bit of positive attention, but I just can’t bring myself to take this one out. It’s very, very pink, whereas Darwin’s is a much subtler hue. So I have decided to strip it back and re-do the finish in something less garish. Here’s what I am aiming for, either the unstained natural on the left, or the light browny-red stain the right (it looks a bit pink here, but thats about as close I could get the colour using the limited palette before giving up, the aim is for something like the Old Growth Redwood Telecasters released by Fender a few years ago). I’m leaning more towards the stain as it’s a bit warmer looking. What would your choice be - stained or au naturale?


The body itself is semi-hollow, Korina back with a maple top and sounds very good indeed. Since starting this morning progress has been incredibly quick. It was finished in auto paint, which I read is easily chipped away with a razor. I tried it with a utility knife blade and the source was right. After about an hour I’d chipped off the whole top-coat in all but the fiddliest areas.


The grey primer was tougher to remove in this fashion and in several spots where I tried removing it I ended up gouging out chunks of wood, so I gave up on the razor and turned to chemicals. This is where half a litre of acetone, a paint scraper, a couple of pairs of old underpants (sorry, should have removed them from frame!!! ) and about 30 minutes of sanding got me.


Virtually done. I had been putting this off for years as I thought it would be time consuming and frustrating, but have found almost the opposite. If I didn’t have to go to the hardware store and get supplies it would have only taken about 3 hours. Now all that’s left is to decide on a colour and reassemble it!

Anyone else got a parts guitar they want to share?

Wow, an early morning report on open forum week! I love it.

Jamie, that didn't take you long. Nothing would really take the paint off on my Stingray 5. I was hoping for the Shell Pink that you had but mine was lighter. I found out later that there may have been more than one Shell Pink. Mine was a Chrysler/Desoto Shell Pink from the 50's, a bit lighter. These projects are rally fun and I remember when you did this.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of flaming on the top and if there were, I would clear. I think I would consider the stain route. You could also make it interesting after getting you stain rubbed in by applying dabbing some with a sponge over the base to give it a splotchy or quilted effect. There are many interesting possibilities when you use stain. There are also different types of stain. This looks to be a very fun project. Thanks for sharing Jamie.-- Darwin

Hey Jamie, glad to see you pull that project back out, I would go the stain route rather than clear, something like tung oil might work color wise for you.

Haven't gone to lunch yet but hoping to grab some bibimbap (similar to what you had with beef instead of pork and minus the Jelly fish)

G&L: I don't have any humbucker equipped guitars currently, would love to try a G-200, I think it would fill in that gap nicely

-Dave

Lunch: Skirt steak, mushrooms, a baked potato, fresh tomato (a Monto... something that looks like wax but tastes like home grown) and sour dough toast.

It is a project just changing out strings.

If you stain you will need that wood perfected of gouging or else any blemish will darken. I guess a sealer would help in this regard for the clear but a stain doesn't take the same way when the wood has been sealed. The clear allows more freedom. Though I am not fond of the graphic representation of your mock up I think either color would look good. The old growth redwood looks very different that the redish colored mock up. The redwood resembles varnished douglas fir in that link.

I'd like a Les Paul but there are so many variables in models, periods, quality, and at a wide range of costs that I doubt I will ever find one I would buy.

Hi Jamie.

I quite liked the Shell Pink on that tele, but I can understand how it might polarize an audience. Especially drunk guys uncomfortable with their masculinity.

Judging from the photos of the stripped back body I think an orange tint would look excellent. A slightly darker brown than in the Redwood tele link (walnut?) would also look pretty sweet too.

I'd like to put a Partscaster together one day, but I think I'd have just as much fun customizing a beater MIM tele or strat. It would probably be cheaper as well. I did the sums on a Partscaster a while back and was quite astonished how expensive it could be if the parts were sourced from somewhere like Warmoth.

Re. gaps in the lineup. I don't have a P90 guitar and would like to rectify that oversight soon. Preferably with a shorter scale instrument, though something like the Fallout appeals as well. I'd even consider an Ascari if there was one available locally to try out. I've tried a half dozen SG's with P90's but can't find the right combination of a neck I like (the 60's Tribute necks feel perfect to me) and a proper standard of finish. How some of those Gibbies get out of the factory amazes me. A couple had rosewood boards that were slightly narrower than the neck so that there was a sharp step where they meet

My lunch was a roast beef sandwich and water. Simple but good.
My initial reaction was I thought the pink looked really cool but I guess I can understand that it may not be the color of guitar that you want to play at certain bars. LOL
Refinishing is always more work than people imagine. You have made really good progress on that body and I am guessing that you have to strip the sides and back too! If you can get that body clean enough to take a stain without showing any gouges or scratches, my hat is off to you.
BTW- If you had second thoughts about the first pink finish- I wouldn't re-do a pink finish of any kind, Go natural.
Wood always looks great and any flame in the maple shows up over time.

The real gap in my guitar collection....I have two. I'd like a decent tele, though it would need to be an inexpensive one. I've been thinking about one of the Fender Road Worns or the cool and cheap ESP LTD worn "bluesboy". The Squire Classic Vibe is another one I'd consider. Thing is though, I'd really prefer a 12" radius fingerboard.

And then there is the need for a slightly upscale 12-string....my long sought-after Comanche XII. Everyone I have ever talked to about this project thinks it would be a wonderful guitar. I just don't understand why G&L is so resistant, when there is such a wide-open market and demand for a quality three-pickup 12-string with a wider, more playable neck.

I've never done a luthier custom built guitar or assembled one myself, though I'm considering doing a 12-string. I actually liked the pink onyour tele...I want a PURPLE guitar!

If you are trying to decided on a finish, have your wife or gf pick it out...that's what Rick Nielson of Cheap Trick recommends.

Bill

I like the Fallout , I can see a big metal flake blue with matching head stock in the Fleet , I have a SC 2 , a LE 2 on order , I like the body shape , light weight and comfy , I like the smaller head stock slightly better on the Fallout


the pink doesn't really bother me , maybe if it was the only guitar it would , but a good guitar is a good guitar

Darwin - It was quick. I don't know how I'd go removing a poly finish with a sanding block but I think it would take somewhere in the order of days. I'm thinking of stripping the SC2 and refinishing it and I think I'll at east try to chip most of it away. My mum put a sponge paint effect throughout virtually our entire house when I was growing up so I'm kind of adverse to that idea!

Dave - bibimbap is gooooood stuff. I looked at tung oil at the hardware store but it only comes in 4L cans that are waaay out of my price range, got to try and find some in a shed somewhere...

Salmon - the gouges are in pretty inconspicuous areas so I'm not going to worry about them too much. It's not getting entered into any competitions and I can handle a blemish or two.

Phil - Hopefully you'll like the Jr when you try it, I can't imagine a better guitar with P90s.

Bassman - I was eyeing off the bass-players natural Jazz bass this evening and think I made my mind up, natural is easy and does look good.

Bill - I wouldn't mind a 12 string, but maybe not in purple

Fumble - There was a pic somewhere of a blue flake fallout. Bling central!

What gaps in your guitar collection need filling? Would you like G&L to make the guitar to fill it?

I'll take a Z-12 in purple ,roasted maple neck please, oh..and maybe some neon green laser LEDs for the 12th fret markers .

Anyone else got a parts guitar they want to share?

Yes, I do ...I need to take several more pics first.

It was sweet and sour chicken for me... over fried rice. Health, don't fail me now!

G&L has done it for me with that Legacy hardtail. I may go 2HB or ASAT Deluxe for humbuckers, but maybe not blades. Had a bad vintage rails experience a while back.

I restored a F***er acoustic and Hondo Fame Restoration in 2011. Both worked out well. I think the pics are posted in a LR from then...


Cheers,

Will

Hi Jamie, Sorry to chime in late, but I also liked the pink finish. I thought the pictures looked good. I agree with others, I would try a stain finish. I love clear red, and clear orange finishes.

I still look at different Fallouts everyday online. I am stoked to get one. I've tried to look at G&L's custom options, and I'm kind of confused. Does anyone know if they would build a Fallout with a push/pull coil split? I know they are standard on the Tribute models.

The biggest gap in my collection is a three single coil guitar. Good thing G&L has that covered! Now I just need to stop buying Rampage's and pick one!

Thanks,
Dave

Hi Jamie, Sorry to chime in late, but I also liked the pink finish. I thought the pictures looked good. I agree with others, I would try a stain finish. I love clear red, and clear orange finishes.

I still look at different Fallouts everyday online. I am stoked to get one. I've tried to look at G&L's custom options, and I'm kind of confused. Does anyone know if they would build a Fallout with a push/pull coil split? I know they are standard on the Tribute models.

The biggest gap in my collection is a three single coil guitar. Good thing G&L has that covered! Now I just need to stop buying Rampage's and pick one!

Thanks,
Dave

The US Fallout does have the tone with push/pull coil tap. I have brought this oversight to Dave's attention, so it should be taken care of soon.

See this demo post: G&L Fallout - Straight into a Low Wattage Amp.