La Cabronita Build... it starts!

rikus · 2012-10-26T11:57:58+00:00

:woohoo: So I just pulled the trigger on the first pieces of this build... two TV Jones pups are on the way! A classic neck and classic+ bridge!! :woohoo: Next on the list is a Marc Rutters 1 piece flame maple neck... busy finalising neck specs with Marc. I'm going to DIY the body. It's going to be a thinline/la cabronita lovechild. Thinline hollow body construction with La Cabronita styling. Basically a two pickup version of this, but black instead of shoreline gold... I've been dreaming about this for yonks! So excited to get moving on this!

rikus

nicovlogg wrote Very nice neck, have on myself from Mr. Rutters! Great work on the finishing too. Mega neat.

Thanks! ? The quality of his work has been really impressive. I got the bridge from him as well. An American Standard hardtail type bridge, but with compensated brass saddles and string spacing suited to the TV Jones classics.

The neck is also progressing nicely. Tru-Oil is proving great to work with. Built up a couple of layers, gave it a good sanding with 0000 steel wool and then a few more and this is where we're at. The oil brings out the figure of the wood beautifully.

a bit closer

Logo is next up. Will be a water slide transfer logo. I had a guy on TDPRI do me up a vintage looking logo. I love the result.

My partner in crime couldn't help himself... he sent me these photos this afternoon. To be honest I was dreading the f-hole binding. He was busy in the garage this morning and decided that "it's now or never"!!

Front done

F-hole

The joints will be finish off with some binding melted in acetone... if done right it should en up invisible...

:goodtimes:

JoeyBones

That is some awesome craftsmanship. Can't wait to see the finished product.

I'm guessing we will be hearing this one on the CT scene in the near future ???

rikus

JoeyBones wrote That is some awesome craftsmanship. Can't wait to see the finished product.

I'm guessing we will be hearing this one on the CT scene in the near future ???

Thanks Joey!

Small update... managed to get the logo sorted. Very pleased with the results. I had a slight miss communication when buying the waterslide transfer paper though. I phoned JG Electronics and asked them how much they charge and they quoted me a price per sheet. When I arrived I found that despite the price per sheet they sell them in packs... of 20... in A3. Suffice it to say that I now have a lifetime supply. If anyone is in need of a sheet of waterslide transfer paper let me know... I am more than happy to provide single pages. :?

On to the pictures!

Logo was mirrored and printed onto the paper

The inside of the logo was then painted silver with model paint. This side is going to be placed against the wood so no need to colour within the lines (another nifty trick I shamelessly took from TDPRI)

Logo cut out and ready for application

And done! The other benefit of printing the logo mirrored is that placing the decal becomes much easier. You just slide the backing paper off (as opposed to from underneath). I think the results look good. The logo was angled slightly to hide the edges of the logo in the photo. They are still clearly visible at certain angles. Several coats of tru-oil should bury the decal and sort that out.

:goodtimes:

Psean

Nifty stuff there. That looks really good !

rikus

Thanks! ? The decal has dried out nicely overnight and I will resume tru-oil application tonight!

Conrad

Wow nice work. Thumbs up. C

rikus

Conrad wrote Wow nice work. Thumbs up. C

Thanks Conrad!

rikus

Smallish update that I haven't gotten around to posting yet.

The neck pocket has been drilled and the neck attached.

Pretty!

With the neck attached we could tackle the challange of the string through holes... We didn't have a drill press with deep enough "throat", so we had it Macgyver a solution again. I present with our drill bench...

End results were pretty good. It's not machine perfect, but this thing is being made by hand after all and all those old tele's ferrule holes weren't all super duper straight.

Top holes nice and straight

One of the counter sunk ferrule holes is ever so slightly misaligned, but I'm totally ok with that.

We're now in the process of figuring out how to get this thing painted. The plan is to finish it in glass black with a 2k finish... now we just need to figure out which black from their catalog of almost 30 shades of black... who knew black wasn't black wasn't black? ???

StefStoep

Looking good! Really enjoying this tread, keep posting!

rikus

Thanks! Glad you're enjoying the pictures. I'm more than happy to keep posting them.

Chocklit_Thunda

Ah why black??
A dark walnut coloured stain would look so much sexier ?

rikus

Chocklit_Thunda wrote Ah why black??
A dark walnut coloured stain would look so much sexier ?

Double bound black just looks great to me... it fits with Fender's traditional car paint colour thing and is also a bit of a tip of the hat to the Gretch influence (i.e. filtertrons and black and white duo jet styling).

Have a look here (warning massive pic, hence not embedding here): http://cdn1.gbase.com/usercontent/gear/3040994/p1_uhpvcxsa1_so.jpg

Psean

Rikus wrote
Chocklit_Thunda wrote Ah why black??
A dark walnut coloured stain would look so much sexier ?
...just looks great to me...

That's all you need... 8)

chrisbark

Have a look here (warning massive pic, hence not embedding here): http://cdn1.gbase.com/usercontent/gear/3040994/p1_uhpvcxsa1_so.jpg

That pic belongs in the guitarpr0n thread

Psean

chrisbark wrote
Have a look here (warning massive pic, hence not embedding here): http://cdn1.gbase.com/usercontent/gear/3040994/p1_uhpvcxsa1_so.jpg

That pic belongs in the guitarpr0n thread

Chocklit_Thunda

after that pic, I've changed my mind ?
Black FTW!

Norman86

looking great so far!! have you started on the paint yet??

rikus

Not yet. I just got back from a trip to the US, so playing catch up at the moment. It's getting so close to the end now, but life keeps getting in the way. ☹

rikus

Right, so we're getting dangerously close to paint and I'd love some advice from folks in the know... We've phoned around locally and we have a choice between a nitro finish and a 2k automotive finish...

Gloss black isn't the easiest to get right and each of the finishes have their own pros and cons... 2k you can spray start to finish in a couple of days whereas nitro takes ages to cure...

2k is super durable, meaning that it won't naturally relic... Nitro on the other hand will age naturally (which is something I'd like)...

By all accounts 2k would be easier to pull off. At the moment I'm leaning slightly more towards the nitro, but I'm afraid of screwing it up or that the nitro here isn't good enough.

Anyone here have any advice on which to use?

AlanRatcliffe

Applied properly there is no serious difference between the two tonally. So just decide weather you want something that ages, wears and yellows or something that's going to stay pretty and new for much, much longer.

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