# Refinishing a RGA7 (All Your 56k joke Belongs To Us)



## Kapee (Feb 26, 2011)

Sup guy's!

I'm on-the-job learning at car paint shop and i was thinking what i could do with my spare time. Too easy, paint my boring black RGA7  I haven't decided the colour yet so all of your great ideas are welcome .

Here some pictures i took when i sanded the gloss out for the new colour layer! 

Body prepared for water sanding (used 800):








And here we go!:







Looks pretty good without gloss :





















I'm on winter vacation, but i'll get to the shop next week for finishing this little project! What an nice way to spend my vacation


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## BlackMastodon (Feb 26, 2011)

I do love me a matte black finish . White wouldn't look too bad either though.


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## Scar Symmetry (Feb 26, 2011)

Looks good mang.


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## Sullen (Feb 26, 2011)

Leave the top Matte and go natural after the binding, that's just me...


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## Kapee (Feb 27, 2011)

Sullen said:


> Leave the top Matte and go natural after the binding, that's just me...


 Yeah, it looks good now, but im not too much into black guitars after all my guitars have been black 



BlackMastodon said:


> I do love me a matte black finish . White wouldn't look too bad either though.


 Aged white wouldn't be bad


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## Metal_Maniac (Feb 27, 2011)

Wood veneer and transparent finish? That's what i was thinking of doing with an RGA7


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## Prydogga (Feb 27, 2011)

Matte white or fire red.


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## TheSixthWheel (Feb 27, 2011)

Ask the guys there at the car paint shop for their suggestions. They'd have some cool suggestions because they might not be used to looking at guitars. But that possibility aside, I'd lean towards a bright as hell colour. Something fluorescent. Green would suffice.


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## Kapee (Feb 27, 2011)

TheSixthWheel said:


> Ask the guys there at the car paint shop for their suggestions. They'd have some cool suggestions because they might not be used to looking at guitars. But that possibility aside, I'd lean towards a bright as hell colour. Something fluorescent. Green would suffice.


Yeah, i have been thinking about lime green! It looks freaking cool with black/black'ish hardware like in this picture



 We'll see


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## Swyse (Feb 27, 2011)

Green would be neat, but it wouldn't compliment the binding unless you weren't planning on leavin the binding painted over. The black without gloss looks awesome to me, but if I were to pick a new paint color I'd go for a nice gibson pelham blue or fender mercedes blue (which mercedes benz calls Black Opal).


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## Kapee (Mar 27, 2011)

We've been on bit hurry at the body shop, but i got it painted friday so expect picdump tomorrow when i finish it  

For the colour:






And bit of bling: 






I did few coats of paint>flake lacquer>few coats of clear lacquer. Tomorrow im gonna sand it with 1000 grit and throw in few coats of clear lacquer for ultimate bling! I cant wait to see it finished


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## adrock (Mar 27, 2011)

you're not actually using lacquer are you? auto refinishing is usually done with acrylic urethanes over here in the states, but i don't know what they use in your country.


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## Kapee (Mar 27, 2011)

Im not sure if im using the right word there.


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## Lon (Mar 27, 2011)

best 56k pun evar!


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## leandroab (Mar 27, 2011)

Lime green.

Duh...


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## Kapee (Mar 28, 2011)

leandroab said:


> Lime green.
> 
> Duh...



That's the why i didnt paint it lime green, it's an awesome colour, but bit over used for my taste. 

And sorry, i didn't get to finish the guitar today, we had to do real work today   I'll try to get some pics tomorrow if i can, we are bit busy ATM.


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## cwhitey2 (Mar 28, 2011)

Do a crackle finish in aged white so that some of the black shows through


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## adrock (Mar 28, 2011)

Kapee said:


> Im not sure if im using the right word there.



probably not, but its cool hahaha. it can all be confusing at first, but if you can handle the potential health risks, stick with it man. it's very gratifying work, i miss painting cars/motorcycles SOOOO much. but my lungs/body couldn't handle it in the long run, so i had to move on 

looking forward to seeing this finished though. just don't rush it, good finishes take time


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## Kapee (Mar 29, 2011)

adrock said:


> probably not, but its cool hahaha. it can all be confusing at first, but if you can handle the potential health risks, stick with it man. it's very gratifying work, i miss painting cars/motorcycles SOOOO much. but my lungs/body couldn't handle it in the long run, so i had to move on
> 
> looking forward to seeing this finished though. just don't rush it, good finishes take time


I dont yet have problems with any fumes and i still wash my hands with thinner  
Check these out tho:












Still need to sand it with 1000 grit and throw finishing clear coat in


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## MaxStatic (Mar 29, 2011)

Holy shit!


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## Fred the Shred (Mar 29, 2011)

Oooh, looking nice!


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## Luppin (Mar 30, 2011)

As far as the binding goes, is it actual binding or is it just painted on? I kinda want to give my rga7 a natural finish but I don't wanna sand it down without knowing whether or not the binding is real or not


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## Kapee (Mar 31, 2011)

Luppin said:


> As far as the binding goes, is it actual binding or is it just painted on? I kinda want to give my rga7 a natural finish but I don't wanna sand it down without knowing whether or not the binding is real or not



It looked like painted. Im not sure because i didnt sand the finish off, but im pretty sure its painted


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## Stealthdjentstic (Mar 31, 2011)

Looks cool, why didn't you mask off the neck pocket?


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## JimmyWCTI (Mar 31, 2011)

kinda loks like he did mask off the neck pocket... notice the bolt holes are all covered except where he hung it up from. at least thats what it looks like to me


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## adrock (Mar 31, 2011)

Kapee said:


> I dont yet have problems with any fumes and i still wash my hands with thinner


oh pleeease don't do that anymore. wear gloves when you're working with paint. lacquer thinner takes about 20-30 seconds to get to your kidneys after you touch it. yes, it soaks in through your skin, and goes STRAIGHT TO YOUR KIDNEYS 

but it's looking good man, keep it up


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## Kapee (Mar 31, 2011)

adrock said:


> oh pleeease don't do that anymore. wear gloves when you're working with paint. lacquer thinner takes about 20-30 seconds to get to your kidneys after you touch it. yes, it soaks in through your skin, and goes STRAIGHT TO YOUR KIDNEYS
> 
> but it's looking good man, keep it up



When my other kidney fails i'll start to use gloves ! Have to keep that in my mind tho. 

And yes, the neck pocket is taped.

I think i can get this baby finished tomorrow! I cant wait to see it finished !


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## Kapee (Apr 2, 2011)

Hey, what kind of nut i should get for the neck? The plastic one is full of Bob Saget


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## Isan (Apr 2, 2011)

graphtech


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## jmvirgil (Apr 8, 2011)

What's the good word on this? Post some updated pics. Plzzzz!


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## Kapee (Apr 11, 2011)

I was not happy by the "final" finish, so im gonna sand it again for a new clear coat.


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## Kapee (Apr 11, 2011)

This is why 













Today im gonna finish it


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## CrushingAnvil (Apr 11, 2011)

That's looking suspiciously like 'Vampire Kiss' + Sparkles


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## Kapee (Apr 11, 2011)

CrushingAnvil said:


> That's looking suspiciously like 'Vampire Kiss' + Sparkles


I'd say its 'Rectum Red w/ Bling'


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## Kapee (Apr 12, 2011)

Could someone URL me a fitting graphtech nut for the neck? And if you guys could recommend me some fretboard stickers to add some extra epicness, i've been thinking about universe pyramid-stickers, but if you know something more superiourly awesome, i'm open to ideas!


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## sell2792 (Apr 12, 2011)

If you could find red and cold Universe style inlays/stickers, that would be a whole new level of bad assery on that RGA. Makes me want one but I don't have the time or money right now to pimp one out.


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## ibanezRG1527 (Apr 12, 2011)

Necks

scroll down to the "ET Custom "Galaxy""

THAT should be your inlays. i think you can just send your neck and he can do them too. dont know if you like it or not but i know i think its fuckin sexy!!


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## Kapee (Apr 13, 2011)

ibanezRG1527 said:


> Necks
> 
> scroll down to the "ET Custom "Galaxy""
> 
> THAT should be your inlays. i think you can just send your neck and he can do them too. dont know if you like it or not but i know i think its fuckin sexy!!


That sure looks awesome but im not planning to get proper inlays for this price range guitar. I found this cool site and they had 3 different coloured pyramid inlays: 
Pyramid (WS) Fret Markers Inlay Sticker Guitar

Pyramid (GPP) Fret Markers Inlay Sticker Guitar

Pyramid (GYP) Fret Markers Inlay Sticker Guitar


I cant decide  WS or GPP? And if anyone could confirm that this: Products.&.Ordering - Graph Tech fits okay?

Expect picdump soon


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## Kapee (Apr 18, 2011)

Sup!

Got it today finally! I didn't do the last clear coat and i regret it.. Still looks like orange skin  But anyways, i was too tired to again sand it and spray it so i just  and took it home! Dont have strings on it because im totally broke (Got my drivers licence today too ). Enough of bullshit and here are some pic's






you can see why im not happy with the finish;





My babie's :





and heres example of my soldering skills   





Neck pickup is just holding place for a blackout. 

I think it came up pretty sweet tho the clear coat is full of feces


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## simonXsludge (Apr 18, 2011)

too bad the binding is gone, that's what i really liked about the RGA7. cool project nonetheless.


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## Kapee (Feb 19, 2012)

I've had enough of this look. This week, this is going natural!


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## Luppin (Feb 20, 2012)

Am extremely interested in seeing how the RGA7 looks with a natural finish, ever since I bought mine a year ago I've been itching to strip it down but I've been nervous about the wood looking kinda meh


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## simonXsludge (Feb 20, 2012)

I don't think it will look that great, to be honest. I tried to strip the paint from my RGA8 body a while ago and it was laminated together from like 4 slabs of mahogany. Not the most beautiful mahogany anyways. If you put on a trans finish, like trans black or something, it might look good. However, good luck!


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## ShreddingDragon (Feb 20, 2012)

Wow, that de-glossed surface looks awesome. Might be something to do to my RGA8.


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## Kapee (Feb 20, 2012)

shitsøn;2877186 said:


> I don't think it will look that great, to be honest. I tried to strip the paint from my RGA8 body a while ago and it was laminated together from like 4 slabs of mahogany. Not the most beautiful mahogany anyways. If you put on a trans finish, like trans black or something, it might look good. However, good luck!



If the wood looks like shit (Like im expecting too), i will consider a somekind of veneer on the top. I just dont know where to get veneer here in Finland. Ill get some sandpaper tomorrow so maby i'll get few pics up here to show how the body looks.


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## Geognosy (Feb 20, 2012)

That guitar looks like it went through a soccer riot.


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## Geognosy (Feb 20, 2012)




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## simonXsludge (Feb 20, 2012)

Kapee said:


> If the wood looks like shit (Like im expecting too), i will consider a somekind of veneer on the top. I just dont know where to get veneer here in Finland. Ill get some sandpaper tomorrow so maby i'll get few pics up here to show how the body looks.


Mind that applying veneer on an arched body is gonna be a bit harder than on a flat top.


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## Kapee (Feb 21, 2012)

Geognosy said:


>


Hahahahahaha! 


shitsøn;2877656 said:


> Mind that applying veneer on an arched body is gonna be a bit harder than on a flat top.


Yeah, im aware of that, but wasting few planks for getting it right is worth the sexyness! The original wood is looking good too! I got home today and did this: 
















Check the volume pot's hole. Thats the why i would like a veneer on the top! 

And theres no picture without a cat picture;





Early spring is what me and my cat love!

Edit: 

Moar progress!

















Too bad the clearcoat under the paint is damaged! Now i have to get fully throught it and especially sanding the horns will be a fucking nightmare!


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## Geognosy (Feb 21, 2012)

That's some nice looking wood. What are you using to sand - a soft block or what?


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## Kapee (Feb 21, 2012)

Eccentric sander with 40, 80, 120, 180 and 240grit. Im gonna use 40 and 80 until im fully through the clear primer, then up to 240 grit with the machine. After that im using 180>1200 to make it look sleek and shit!


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## ZeroS1gnol (Feb 21, 2012)

I wonder, and please forgive me if I missed it in your posts, how the hell did you end up wrecking those pot-holes? Holy shit, that's a nasty shame


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## guitarister7321 (Feb 21, 2012)

They make red RGA7's? Where the fuck have I been?


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## Geognosy (Feb 21, 2012)

guitarister7321 said:


> They make red RGA7's? Where the fuck have I been?



See beginning of thread... this beast is a chameleon.


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## damigu (Feb 21, 2012)

that gaping hole was the first thing i noticed when i saw the new picture. what the hell did you do to the guitar?!


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## guitarister7321 (Feb 21, 2012)

Geognosy said:


> See beginning of thread... this beast is a chameleon.


Just saw the beginning, didn't realise there was a whole other part.  Didn't notice it on my phone's screen.

The red looked nice on there, but I'm also liking the natural. The wood grain is pretty nice.


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## Kapee (Feb 22, 2012)

ZeroS1gnol said:


> I wonder, and please forgive me if I missed it in your posts, how the hell did you end up wrecking those pot-holes? Holy shit, that's a nasty shame





damigu said:


> that gaping hole was the first thing i noticed when i saw the new picture. what the hell did you do to the guitar?!



Pothole happened when my solders started to break and the pot didnt work properly. I gave it a smack and it got straight throught the top! Atleast it started working for a while! 

Veneer on the top would fix that, but installing it on this guitar will be hard. I got to give it a try!


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## ZeroS1gnol (Feb 22, 2012)

Kapee said:


> I gave it a smack and it got straight throught the top!



omg


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## Kapee (Feb 23, 2012)

I was thinking if i stain the guitar really dark and make somekind of pickguard out of thin metal piece and let it rust to match dark wood color. Would be so much easier than veneering! 

What do you think?


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## damigu (Feb 23, 2012)

working with actual rust is a pain, because you can't just use any clear coat to seal it.
you pretty much have to use automotive clear coat. it's generally made for being able to seal rust spots--which is tricky because you have adhesion problems with most clear coats (the rust tends to powder or flake off, so you end up with bubbles in the clear with most clears).
and you obviously don't want to leave it fully exposed because then you get rust all over yourself as you play (which is dirty and not particularly healthy either).


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## Kapee (Feb 23, 2012)

damigu said:


> working with actual rust is a pain, because you can't just use any clear coat to seal it.
> you pretty much have to use automotive clear coat. it's generally made for being able to seal rust spots--which is tricky because you have adhesion problems with most clear coats (the rust tends to powder or flake off, so you end up with bubbles in the clear with most clears).
> and you obviously don't want to leave it fully exposed because then you get rust all over yourself as you play (which is dirty and not particularly healthy either).



I have graduated as autobody repairer and have worked in car paintshop so i have the skills and knowledge to do these things.


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## damigu (Feb 23, 2012)

then it might be worth trying out!


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## Kapee (Mar 11, 2012)

Sunday sunday sunday!


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## Kapee (Mar 13, 2012)

SHOULD I DITCH THE BINDINGS?

And progress; 











Should i round all the shapes?


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## aWoodenShip (Mar 13, 2012)

*cough cough Keep the binding *cough.


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## oracles (Mar 13, 2012)

aWoodenShip said:


> *cough cough Keep the binding *cough.


 
+1 for keeping the binding


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## Just A Box (Mar 13, 2012)

That gaping hole in the top begs for an eyeball behind it....


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## DropSplash (Mar 13, 2012)

keep the binding with a new veneer and round all that a lil' bit


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## Kapee (Mar 14, 2012)

Im not gonna veneer the top. This is my only guitar at the moment and my main goal is to get this baby playable ASAP! Ordering and working with the veneer would take too much time! Im thinking adding wooden piece like this;




to cover the GAPING hole!


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## RTB668 (Mar 14, 2012)

I vote for keeping the binding also! ...and you are one gutsy guitar player to start a major project with your only guitar! Looking forward to seeing the end result!


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## Kapee (Mar 17, 2012)

Got a fucking great idea! This; Gldo JSC1G Socket Sheet - Thomann Verkkokauppa and attaching a volume pot to it! Cant wait until monday to test this shit out!


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## DropSplash (Mar 17, 2012)

OR: Buy that jack-

Screw it on upside down over the hole (so the hole is pointing towards the headstock),
Then:
A) Attach a toggle switch to it. (for easy pickup selecting in the same direction as a strum/picking hand)
or
B) Attach a volume knob to it (cuz it would seem to turn better being fully exposed, rather than halfway covered by the jack mount which would make it harder to turn)

Or, get a flat mount 90 degree non-angled input jack and screw it on top for a vol/tone knob..


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## damigu (Mar 17, 2012)

a volume knob won't fit into one of those output sockets, and an exposed shaft coming from one of those would be a major pain to work with.
as mentioned above, a flat mounted output jack plate would work.

alternately, you could glue a piece of wood inside the cavity and make a recessed volume control (and then just use filler to make the area not covered by the knob flush with the guitar body).


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## Kapee (Mar 17, 2012)

We'll see what happens in monday


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## BlackMastodon (Mar 17, 2012)

As cool of an idea as that would be, I really don't think that a volume knob would fit in there; it would most likely meet a lot of resistance on the sides.


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## Kapee (Mar 20, 2012)

BlackMastodon said:


> As cool of an idea as that would be, I really don't think that a volume knob would fit in there; it would most likely meet a lot of resistance on the sides.


Im aware that the dome knob wont fit there, unless i mod the strato jack a bit! 

And also! I bought a bottle of tung oil!


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## Kapee (Mar 21, 2012)

Need to make the HUGE hole MORE huger! It's gonna be the bestest ever! And tried a little tung oil in there also!


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## ImBCRichBitch (Mar 21, 2012)

Do a Matte white, black hardware, massive black binding, ebonize the fretboard (if not already ebony) Matching headstock, and paint the neck to match


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## damigu (Mar 21, 2012)

the idea of it sounded a lot better. it looks pretty stupid.


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## Kapee (Mar 21, 2012)

Tung oil<3 (Bit greenish thus the lightning!)
















And damigu, you're right that it look's pretty stupid, but i flipped that jack upside down and it looks much more natural and fits almost perfectly.

Tomorrow if im lucky, i get to finish this!


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## BlackMastodon (Mar 21, 2012)

Well you certainly showed us, I guess it does fit fine . It's definitely interesting and different, and as long as it works then awesome!


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## Kapee (Mar 22, 2012)

You guy's have to wait until tomorrow when i get pic's in natural light! It allways looks bit greenish when trying to take a pic of it in low light. 

But.. Here it is


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## Purelojik (Mar 22, 2012)

i feel like you shoulda gotten one of the N-Tune tuners. and used that instead. i have one on my les paul and its basically a round baseplate that goes under your volume knob. i dunno how i feel of a strat jack there.


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## DropSplash (Mar 22, 2012)

Interesting. So...Can you turn the knob easily? Or was this a:  ..........


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## Kapee (Mar 23, 2012)

Purelojik said:


> i feel like you shoulda gotten one of the N-Tune tuners. and used that instead. i have one on my les paul and its basically a round baseplate that goes under your volume knob. i dunno how i feel of a strat jack there.



Too small dude! And IMO, waste of money 



penny1 said:


> Interesting. So...Can you turn the knob easily? Or was this a:  ..........



Yes! One of the reasons why the volume knob went thru the top was the placement. I have long fingers and the knob just got in my way all the time + the pot itself was broken and there was a dead spot in about 9 volume, so when i played for a while and my long ass fingers rolled that motherlucking knob whilst i played, the sound dissappeared  Dont seem one big of a deal, but every now and then it got fudging annoying! Now the volume knob is not in the way and im suprised how easy it is to use! And +9001 for using the strat jack was that it fitted like glove in the hole and didnt cost anything.

This guitar seems to be like an chameleon, so i dont believe that this will be the last finish for it!


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## ronjhoser (Mar 23, 2012)

If the volume knob works for you, that's all that matters. Sure looks unnatural, though.


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## CrushingAnvil (Mar 24, 2012)

If you could just appreciate my honesty for a second - You're an idiot


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## Kapee (Mar 24, 2012)

CrushingAnvil said:


> If you could just appreciate my honesty for a second - You're an idiot


I appreciate and demand honesty and criticism, but good criticism need's to have few word's backing your opinion's, calling me straight idiot doesent make you better.

If you are interested in better pictures, check my thread here;

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/se...rga7-got-its-soul-back-56k-your-interest.html


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## CrushingAnvil (Mar 24, 2012)

Kapee said:


> I appreciate and demand honesty and criticism, but good criticism need's to have few word's backing your opinion's, calling me straight idiot doesent make you better.
> 
> If you are interested in better pictures, check my thread here;
> 
> http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/se...rga7-got-its-soul-back-56k-your-interest.html



Subjectivity aside, why did you make a guitar look cool and then subsequently ruin it again?


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## Kapee (Mar 24, 2012)

CrushingAnvil said:


> Subjectivity aside, why did you make a guitar look cool and then subsequently ruin it again?



When did it look cool? You're right that the wine red finish with flake clear coat looked cool, but there was alot of things that i could'nt bare with. First the clear coat was more like orange skin than a finish in a fine guitar, as having alot of experience with autobody repairing and car painting, i just cant live with as shitty finish as it had. (And for your information, i did not do the clear coat because i was busy doing real work with car's). Second, i did not really like the exact tone, it was bit pale or creamy for my taste. 

But as we speak about the looks, i did this finish for me, not everyone. You're allowed to hate it or love it. 

And when im okay with it, this:


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## bob123 (Mar 24, 2012)

Relatively decent save. 

In the future, bondo, epoxy, or wood filler is your friend. I personally use epoxy for these types of breaks, as it dries harder and works better, but bondo is adequate.


I actually broke through on one of my guitars the other day, but Im sanding the body in ways its not meant to be lol.


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## Geognosy (Mar 26, 2012)

For what it's worth, I think the guitar looks interesting and not terrible. Just don't go around saying how you like to jack your knob on stage.


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## AwakenNoMore (Mar 27, 2012)

Cool strat jack knobby deal. Might have to borrow that idea for a future build.


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