[eleven59]

So, I've got this Telecaster that I'm building, the bridge just came in (picking up tomorrow), and I've ordered pickups, and will be getting the pickguard, wiring, knobs, etc. soon-ish.

I've decided to wait a bit before giving it a proper finish, to see if I even want to give it a proper finish. In reality, I already don't mind the darker bit of wood now that there's a neck on it, and I think the rest of the hardware/pickguard will influence that as well. All it has right now is a thin layer of tung oil (not sure of specifics of type or how much).

Completely ignoring appearance, how much oil is needed, if any, and why? Like, does it need more in order to remain stable, or for protection?

 

[105]

I too am interested in the answer to this question. I've put one coat on my Warmoth body already.

 

[eleven59]

So far, with only the neck and body bolted together, I'm loving the raw wood thing it has going for it (the neck's getting 0 finishing done to it, it's beautiful).

 

[OzzyC]

Ive thought about this question a lot too...

I think its enough tung when theyre able to reach all the way to your balls. :ugh:


Srry. wrong thread.

 

[darren]

Wirelessly posted darrenhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

It depends on the wood, but sometimes you can get away with as little as 4 or 5 coats, with light steel wool buffing in between. More porous woods will soak up more oil before you get much surface protection, so play it by ear.

 

[eleven59]

Wirelessly posted darrenhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

It depends on the wood, but sometimes you can get away with as little as 4 or 5 coats, with light steel wool buffing in between. More porous woods will soak up more oil before you get much surface protection, so play it by ear.

:yesway: Anything I'm looking for as far as when it "looks" like enough?

 

[eleven59]

Alright, better question:

You mention surface protection, is the only purpose of a finish on a guitar to protect against physical damage/wear? Or does it help with stability or other environmental damage?

 

[Josh]

Protects against humidity and moisture changes, which definitely affect the stability of the wood under stress.

 

[eleven59]

Protects against humidity and moisture changes, which definitely affect the stability of the wood under stress.

Hmm, I was afraid of that :lol: Perhaps I'll have to invest in some tung oil, steel wool, and a rag :yesway: Or find someone who can do a proper solid finish on it, as I'm much too lazy to go through the process of trying to get that right on my own :lol: Either way, I'm probably going to take the neck off soon so I won't be tempted to finish assembling it, since the bridge came in today, and the pickups just shipped

 

[darren]

Wirelessly posted darrenhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

It's going to be warm thus weekend. You should totally head out to the garage and do the Joe Strummer rattle-can primer finish.

 

[eleven59]

Wirelessly posted darrenhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

It's going to be warm thus weekend. You should totally head out to the garage and do the Joe Strummer rattle-can primer finish.

I mean, technically, I could probably get into the paint booth at my dad's work with his help and give it a really nice finish, it just looks like a lot of work :lol:

And, now that I've unboxed the bridge and lined it up on the body, I see that the neck pocket wasn't the only part of this body not routed entirely correctly.

On closer inspection, it looks like this body was originally routed for an American Standard type bridge, and then "modified" to "work" with a vintage style bridge, meaning they plugged the original screw holes, drilled four new ones, and chiselled out the string holes so that, while not exactly lining up, the strings could sort of get through at an angle to reach the bridge :wallbash: I mean, it looks like it'll work, and the scale shouldn't be an issue still, but restringing's going to be a bitch every damn time. And I'm going to buy a pickguard to see if that'll even line up right now that the neck pocket's been "fixed". I'm getting really close to just ordering a body from Warmoth, already finished, and saving this body for a more ambitious project later.

 

[beneharris]

Hmm, I was afraid of that :lol: Perhaps I'll have to invest in some tung oil, steel wool, and a rag :yesway: Or find someone who can do a proper solid finish on it, as I'm much too lazy to go through the process of trying to get that right on my own :lol: Either way, I'm probably going to take the neck off soon so I won't be tempted to finish assembling it, since the bridge came in today, and the pickups just shipped

you can get all of it at home depot for about 20 dollars. its real easy :yesway:

 

[eleven59]

Alright, after placing the bridge (which is gorgeous btw, and for those wondering, there's a channel built into the bridge so that the piezo wire is routed up to the bridge pickup cavity and follows its wire the rest of the way through the guitar) on the guitar and whipping out the tape measure, everything will line-up perfectly as far as scale-length/intonation goes, so that's a load off my mind. Which means, minor cosmetic imperfections aside, this body will be perfectly functional.

you can get all of it at home depot for about 20 dollars. its real easy :yesway:

The tung oil? Yeah, it looks super easy. That might be what I'll do, is take an afternoon to give it a few more coats, or do Darren's primer idea. It looks like there's only a very minimal amount on it at the moment, maybe a single coat. Just enough to darken the wood a bit.

 

[105]

You need to let the tung sit for 24 hrs in between each coat.

 

[Neznaroz]

So far, with only the neck and body bolted together, I'm loving the raw wood thing it has going for it (the neck's getting 0 finishing done to it, it's beautiful).

Careful, I had an unfinished neck once upon a time and they get dirty very fast.

 

[eleven59]

You need to let the tung sit for 24 hrs in between each coat.

:wallbash: Doh. :lol: I thought I read somewhere that it was less than that. Ah well.

Careful, I had an unfinished neck once upon a time and they get dirty very fast.

Makes sense, this is an all pau ferro neck, so dirt won't show too bad, as it's a darker wood, and I'll actually be taking care of this one, it's too nice If it were maple, yeah, I'd be more concerned.

 

[Neznaroz]

:wallbash: Doh. :lol: I thought I read somewhere that it was less than that. Ah well.

Makes sense, this is an all pau ferro neck, so dirt won't show too bad, as it's a darker wood, and I'll actually be taking care of this one, it's too nice If it were maple, yeah, I'd be more concerned.

Ahhhhh, phew. Didn't see the back of it. It's a nice guitar too, by the way

:metal:

 

[eleven59]

Ahhhhh, phew. Didn't see the back of it. It's a nice guitar too, by the way

:metal:

No prob, figured it was that, the pic is not well lit :lol:

The back of the neck's very sexy with some really 3-dimensional grain going on.

 

[beneharris]

i think i gave 16 dollars for a whole can of tung oil at home depot. its pretty cheap. and yeah, let it sit for 24 hours before adding the next one, it will be all tacky and won't apply right if you let it sit for less. especially being winter, if there is moisture about.

it is wayyy easy to apply to. just take a rag, and make sure you don't leave any fibers in it

 

[Kim]

Wirelessly posted (HunnyBunny: Opera/9.80 (iPhone; Opera Mini/5.0.019802/22.414; U; nb) Presto/2.5.25 Version/10.54)

Winter is driest time of year. If anything the guitar should suck up more of the oil now.