Working on another Musikraft Relic - 6/23 FINISHED PICS!

[Anonymous]

So... This one started life as this EVH guitar I made from Musikraft parts. The guitar sounds really good - nice pieces of wood and the neck has a beautiful flame and oil finish. Decided I wanted to turn it into a relic '68 strat instead of buying a Wildwood 10 for thousands more, since I need a strat, not another humbucker guitar. The locking tuners are definitely staying and the Callaham bridge may also stay since the guitar stays in tune great with the bar and I don't want to ruin that. I dunno, might get relic strat bridge and see if it stays in tune... Anyway, here is what it used to look like before I started:

So far I bought a bunch of relic parts for it, including a beat up mint green pickguard. I put it together as a three single coil strat for the first time today and also took the Gibson logo off (what a pain in the ass that was!). Three Wizz '60-'63 vintage strat clone single coils. Here is what it looks like now:

It sounds really nice with these pickups! Next, I'm going to take it apart and ship it to MJT Aged Guitar Finishes. They are going to strip off the EVH poly finish and do a Fiesta Red Nitro relic. Here's what I'm going for:

In the meantime, I'm going to gloss nitro clear the headstock on the neck and put on a correct '68 logo like this:

Should be cool... I'll update as this goes along for those who care.

Steve

 

[Steinmetzify]

I care. Update on sir.

 

[marshallmel]

I'm thinking of taking on a project as well. Will monitor this thread.

 

[syncrodude007]

Allways pimp...

 

[jcmlespaul]

Too cool

 

[Anonymous]

Here is what a fiesta red strat with a mint green pickguard looks like. I dig it! Should look good beat up a bit...:

Steve

 

[Anonymous]

I care. Update on sir.

Will do!

Steve

 

[JTyson]

Thats cool Steve
I think thats the only mint green pickguard I've ever seen

 

[Anonymous]

Thats cool Steve
I think thats the only mint green pickguard I've ever seen

Oh man - they are all over the place. Even my Suhr Henderson has one...

Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Wouldn't it be cheaper to buy a used red Strat body off FleaBay ?

Shame to ruin that awesome EVH job.

 

[evhfan]

nice!

 

[Anonymous]

Wouldn't it be cheaper to buy a used red Strat body off FleaBay ?

Shame to ruin that awesome EVH job.

Probably, but I already know this one sounds good and I didn't want to go through the hassle of selling the EVH finish body... I wouldn't use it anymore with the stripes...

Steve

 

[thenine]

I care. The tone of the body may change with the paint change,...

Is your other one also a 21 fretter?

 

[toddbz]

If this turns out even close to what the white one did, it'll be one bad mofo.

At first I thought you were reposting the white relic. Then I saw it wasn't. Then I thought "How many EVH stripes does this guy have?"

 

[Anonymous]

I care. The tone of the body may change with the paint change,...

Well... if you believe the hype on nitro, it should get even better!

Is your other one also a 21 fretter?

Yup, even my Charvels are 21 fretters...

Steve

 

[Anonymous]

If this turns out even close to what the white one did, it'll be one bad mofo.

Same guys doing the paint/relic, so it should be cool!

At first I thought you were reposting the white relic. Then I saw it wasn't. Then I thought "How many EVH stripes does this guy have?"

The white one was a new body. This is the only EVH stripes I have...

Just shipped the body off to MJT today!

Steve

 

[Anonymous]

So, I took the thing apart and the body went off to MJT yesterday for the strip and Fiesta Red nitro relic refin...

In the meantime, I thought I'd work on the neck. Yesterday, I sanded the top of the headstock smooth, masked off the neck and then sprayed 5 light to medium coats of lacquer on just the top of the headstock with 30 minutes between coats. First two coats were really just a misting. In case you are wondering why I'm shooting the lacquer now, it's because the decals I use are designed to go on a finished headstock and not bare wood. Here is what it looked like when I finished - the lacquer really brought out the flame on this neck:

After l finished the 5 coats, I let the lacquer dry overnight. Next step was to put the decal on the headstock. You can sand the headstock smooth first if the lacquer is rough, but that requires taking all the masking off the headstock. I check out the finish and it was a little orange peel, but basically smooth. I felt it didn't need to be sanded before doing the decal, so I went forward. Everything went smoothly. Here is the neck now:

I'll let this dry overnight and then I'll do 2-3 light coats tomorrow and then heavier coats on Monday. I'll leave it for a week or so and then sand with 600 - 2500 grit sandpaper and then apply rubbing compound to bring out the full gloss... Should look great!

Steve

 

[Anonymous]

After 15 coats of nitro on the headstock face over a few days to get enough to sand the whole face even over the decal and removing all the masking:

Now I gotta wait a week before wet sanding ending the rubbing compound and scratch remover...

Steve

 

[jaybird]

cool! Now burn it with a cigarette butt behind the nut

 

[Anonymous]

cool! Now burn it with a cigarette butt behind the nut

Except, I'm getting rid of the stripes...

Steve