Great video, but I have a question - what’s the reasoning behind identifying high frets with the rocker before leveling? I would think that would be sort of QA step after leveling to ensure everything is, well, level. Apologies if you answered in the video and I just missed it.
Thank you for watching and commenting. That's a very good question...and I'm not sure how well I covered the topic in the video. I think it's helpful to perform the test with the fret rocker simply on the basis of finding out whether or not the entire fret board needs to be leveled. If you performed the test and only found a few high frets, it would obviously make more sense to stop there, and just spot level those frets instead of performing a full leveling job. But, if a person was already committed to leveling the entire board, then you are correct, I would just dive right in! Hope that logic makes sense? Thanks again!
Thank you very much! You'll need 1/8", 3/16", 1/4", and 1/2" tape to do this properly. Also, the black stripes range between .650" to .700" in some areas. Most guys custom cut those pieces or use some other template to create the wider stripes.
Does using Tru-Oil on the fretboard prevent dirt stains over time? It's one of the big reasons I don't like maple too much because ebony and rosewood hides that better. Does the Tru-Oil work to prevent that?
Sure, just make sure it's a good quality lacquer. Avoid the brands like Rustoleum or Krylon clear coats. Those are usually enamels. If you are using the same Duplicolor Perfect Match paints, which are lacquers, then stick with a lacquer product. If you don't, there will likely be some type of reaction.
That's the million dollar question!!!! It's heavily debated in all the online forums & groups. I've built both...basswood and swamp ash. I think I prefer the tone from swamp ash...but as far as the real one is concerned, nobody really knows! Thanks for watching.
Coats 1-6 weren't mixed in any way...just poured the StewMac lacquer right out of the can. It is labeled as being "ready to use". It wasn't until the final coats that I started mixing down the lacquer with reducer. For those coats, I just mixed down the balance of the can at that point in the spraying process, and kept it stored in the StewMac can. I poured about 100 grams per coat in the gun, then returned any unused portion back into the can. This is what makes working with lacquer different than other automotive type clears. You can store it for quite a long time.
@CoffeeDrinker71 Yeah, saw the first coats were straight from the can and all others were 2:1 thinner. Did it help with the orange peel? Didn't really mention if it did or not. I was wondering how much you mixed up per shoot and was also wondering about storage. You answered that though too so thank you. Built a few guitars and basses so far but used the spray cans from Stew Mac. This is my first attempt at using an air gun. Both nervous and excited. 🤣
@@MichaelArnold2112 Yes, I believe reducing the lacquer to 2:1 mixture really improved the flow and greatly reduced the orange peel in the subsequent coats. If you look at the result after coat #11 at the 21:41 mark in the video, you'll notice how smooth it is starting to lay down. Granted, this was the first coat after performing the 1000 grit wet sanding process just prior to this coat...but I probably could have stopped after the 11th coat because it looked perfect to me.
That is by design. Eddie used pinstripe tape for the small 1/8" stripes. It started peeling off after a short time on tour. It was all removed when he sprayed the red layer a few years later. Since this is a "replica" I simply did what Eddie did.
Thank you very much! ...ah yeah, that alternative paint scheme would look pretty cool. I've seen a few purple variants in the past..but I think they were 5150's or Franky's.
Hey! I've been building my own 5150 guitar and I was wondering if you could answer one of my questions about the wet sanding process. I tried wet sanding a small area as a trial and noticed the paint starting to dull and scuff primarily in the reflection. I watched your "Building a 5150 EVH Kramer Tribute" video and saw that you wet sanded the entire thing then clear coated after that. Does the shine and look come back when the clear coat is applied or is my situation an uncommon phenomenon? I would love to hear more about the effects of the wet sanding or if you have any tips for me. I am also curious to hear if you did anything to the paint between wet sanding and clear coating. This is my first time doing a project like this and your videos have helped me immensely, I've been using the same paints and I will be using the same clear lacquer as well. Thank you so much! (I just finished applying the red coats and have removed the tape)
Hello! Great questions. In the "tribute" video I wet sanded the base colors to knock down the sharp edges along the stripes. It will remain "dull" as long as you don't buff it out. For that particular project, that was the end goal. I simply wanted to smooth out the edges along the stripes, and remove any "orange peel" texture over the body before applying the Minwax semi-gloss clear. I built that guitar for my buddy, and he wanted some type of protective clear coat on it without being too shiny...so we chose the semi-gloss version since it has a slightly reduced amout of gloss. Eddie's original was never painted with a clear coat, so we were just trying to make it look as close as possible with the additional protection of the clear coat that he wanted. Normally, if you wet sand your paint, and progressively move through the higher level of grits...1500, 2000, 2500, 3000 etc, you can usually follow that up by hand buffing or using a polisher of some type to make it really glossy if that's what you intend to do. But for that particular project the goal was to achieve a satin or semi-gloss texture and stop there. I hope that helps. Best of luck with your project.
@@CoffeeDrinker71Thank you so much for the response! I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out. I definitely want to follow what you did on your project but was just making sure everything I am doing is correct! 🙏🙏
@@benjaminb_kendama7194 My pleasure! I'm glad I could offer some help. Since we are in the heat of the summer months, be careful when spraying any type of lacquer in high humidity levels, depending on where you live. You need to make sure that the humidity is somewhere in the "comfortable range" of around 65% (or less), otherwise your lacquer paint will "blush" and will need to be fixed. Of course this is assuming that you will be spraying outdoors and not in a climate controlled booth. Lacquer is very a temperamental paint and really needs to be sprayed when humidity is low. ;) Again, best of luck on your project!
@@CoffeeDrinker71thanks for the tip! I really appreciate it again! I’ve been wet sanding the red today just found a good pace to get it down without messing stuff up haha. I started on the back and the red started bleeding onto the white along with the white getting sanded to the point I could see through it. Quite the emotional rollercoaster but the front is looking perfect!
I personally have never tried this, but I don't see why it couldn't work for that application as well. This is just basic paint scratch removal techniques so I would think it should work fine. Although..."Piano Black" finishes show every single scratch and swirl! ;)
2 years ago i got my first guitar, an aria pro II, i liked van halen and decided to paint it like the frankenstrat w/ red, i was scared to dmaage the insides cause i was new so i just taped the pickguard and the harware, so when i took off the pickguard a year ago to install a hotrail humbucker i just left a black sillhouette, a week ago i sanded it down and did the same thing all over again, this time more accurate, ut sadly mine has a swimming pool caity rather than th on you have with the holes only for the pickups, so it looks kind of off, and i dont have a humbucker, only a single coil sized hot rail humbucker, i cut th picguard etc and it looks nice, i ran out of tin for soldering, i got rid of the switch and 2 tone knobs cause id only have the pickup and volume, and thats it. but doing so i didnt measure or whatever and cut some wires too sort, no wi cant play it, i tried taping and braiding some wires together and nothing works, so now i have to wait until i get a job (im 15) or something cause i havent save dup nothing lol, but i really am proud
In the first few minutes of the video I walked through the signal chain in the Line 6 Helix "Edit" software. The chain flowed like this: Guitar > Mesa MK IV amp model > tube compressor > Marshall TV cab > stereo fx loop out of Helix into Eventide Micropitch > Keeley Halo Delay > FX loop return back into Helix > into DAW. I hope that helps!
I own a frank strat, it's a 2022 and striped e.v.h it's 2014 love them both bought used cheap!!! Better than my 2003 america start, all fender from Mexico are very nice!
this video is absolutely magical as a proud Gen Zer, i've got a very low attention span lol but you got me hooked throughout the entire video! i love seeing all the steps of you building it and then the guy testing it at the end, absolutely awesome! GREAT sounding guitar!
The p/n is DFT015. I've actually been able to use this same can for several EVH related projects over the past several years...these two 5150's, then a pair of Bumblebees, plus a few others. It's good stuff. Here is a link too: amzn.to/4cIi9eY
“If you look these up , don’t FRET at the cost…” , your unintentional?pun made me chuckle. In all seriousness, this video was a godsend - There are lots of tutorials about buffing to polish a guitar, but for working out scratches this is by far the most informative I’ve found .
Bought a use GR 55 and GK- 3 pickup (like New) on the GK-3......the GK and Mix switch are the same and on guitar there is nothing no sound at all. Can't figure it out, any suggestions? Help going nuts trying to get it to work!
They all sounded good. Not just being diplomatic. Any one will work great for 80s hard rock. All sounded great to me. Now start practicing those solos!
Hi Brian I am still trying to figure out my exact fretwire and I am looking at the Jim Dunlop chart for my Jackson my frets are wider than standard fender jim Dunlop 6105 which according to the Jim Dunlop chart is wider than 6100. I am trying to pinpoint if it's 6000 or 6110 fretwire from your measurements width wize it seemed to come up close to 6110 but might be 6000 jim Dunlop spec. The original jackson manual called it jumbo but said for that scalloped feel I am thinking I need to order the jescar stainless steel super jumbo frets. But might have to take some of the height down. But the stew mac says wide highest as used in many Jackson's esp Ibanez. Now I did see one video where a guy refretted a 1990 mij jackson neck with a compound radius and installed 6110 jim Dunlop fretwire. So if you know exactly which one is in this neck that would be great. It just seems like the jescar super jumbo stainless steel is probably the closest to mine.
Yeah, I would probably go with the Jescar Super Jumbo's. I don't have the exact measurements of mine handy at the moment, but your hunch is probably right.
@@CoffeeDrinker71I did see your measurement specs you put up but you said Dunlop 6100 hundred but that's narrower than 6105 spec which is what eddie van Halen used but with stainless steel. The specs you provided seemed to come up closest to 6110 but also 6000 Dunlop spec the stew mac wide highest seemed to match 6100 which is high but narrower. Mine on my Jackson is wider than the 6105 spec on my yamaha. So Brian so mine must be super jumbo. That I know. But jescars super jumbo stainless steel says tallest highest fretwire they sell. But might have to shave down a bit. But thanks Brian. I may order a 6000 at some point and a 6110 just for reference points at some point if I need it.
While I love all of the guitars and pickups tested in this video, IMO the Model 2 with the J90C sounded the "Best",.. it seemed to be a bit more clear and smooth vs the other two which had a bit of fizzy'ness or sizzle to them... which isn't a bad thing, but I just thought the Model 2 sounded better - A side question. Have you confirmed that pickup is actually a J90C?, and if so, does that guitar also utilize the mid-boost circuit in it? Thanks, Rick
Hi Rick! Thanks for watching and commenting, as always!! There has been a lot of love in the comments here in favor of that J90C, so I would agree with your assessment as well. Yep, I confirmed it's a J90C...I've had it out of the cavity a few times. Also, there was no mid-boost preamp circuit on the Model 1, 2, or 3....only on the 4, 5 and 6. Those mid-boost circuits required a 3rd pot/knob, so when looking generally at the Model series they are easy to spot! Hope that helps! Cheers!
I'd like to see you try Solarez I Can't Believe It's Not Lacquer. I'm nearing the final stages using this and it may be better, quicker, and cheaper than the 2k stuff. I'm going to follow your guide on the polishing and see how it goes.
Thanks for the suggestion. I've seen that name/product floating around in a few painting groups. You'll have to let me know how yours turns out. It's always nice to have other options.
Brian, I may have missed this part. I’m getting ready to put my nitro finish on my Bee. How long did you wait for the paint to cure before starting your nitro finish?
Great question! I really didn't address here in this video because I sprayed both Bee bodies last summer...then took the first body through the SprayMax series/process. Meanwhile this 2nd body just sat for several months until I was able to start the Nitro series. So I can't really give a definitive answer that help in any way. Sorry!!! How long has your body been curing with the base color coats??
@@SamDaniel-kb7ij Great question! I probably should have pointed this out better in the video…but this is the non-fine tuner version of the Floyd, so locking nuts are not typically used. Thanks for watching!
