The Bassist and Guitarist thread

[DRM]

That is just glorious!

Yes, that is beautiful, a gorgeous instrument

 

[MontyVeda]

Some guitar players just make me wanna put the guitar down whilst others just make me want to pick the guitar up.

I've just been inspired to pick up the guitar...

question for the actual guitar players... is she playing in an open tuning or dropped D or something?

 

[Badger_Boom]

question for the actual guitar players... is she playing in an open tuning or dropped D or something?

I've no idea but I get the impression she has spent a lot of time listening to Nick Drake and has far more patience than I to learn to play that well.

 

[Salad Dodger]

Perhaps DADGAD......

 

[winjim]

Looking forward to seeing your project finished, I quite fancy having a go at one of the Harley Benton kits

Oh great, why did you tell me those exist? Now I need to build my own guitar.

Right. Summer holidays coming up so I think one of these kits might make a nice rainy day project in case we're stuck in the house. I reckon a telecaster would be ideal, firstly because they're nice and flat with a big surface for painting, secondly because everybody's first guitar should be a tele. Get my daughter to paint it however she wants, then I can lacquer and sand it, and we can build it together. Or I'll just finish it off if she loses interest, which she will. Hopefully by the end of summer we'll have a working guitar which she might show an interest in and which I'd be more comfortable having her try out than my nice strat or my acoustic.

So my question is, they come sealed and ready for painting but what paints would be best to use on it? Suitable for a 7yo using a brush and probably being quite scruffy. And what type of lacquer or varnish should I use to give a decent tough finish?

 

[MontyVeda]

if it belongs to a 7 year old, it will get bashed and dinked and nothing will protect it from that... however, any finish can be sanded down and refinished, so my advice is build the guitar, paint the guitar, have fun with the guitar and don't worry about the finish... just get on with it

Please post pictures

 

[winjim]

if it belongs to a 7 year old, it will get bashed and dinked and nothing will protect it from that... however, any finish can be sanded down and refinished, so my advice is build the guitar, paint the guitar, have fun with the guitar and don't worry about the finish... just get on with it

Please post pictures

Oh yeah, it's a cheapo guitar that's going to get bashed around. I'm certainly not going to spend a fortune on fancy paint and expect it to be perfect but I don't think that the kids' poster paints are quite going be up to the job.

I have romantic notions about father daughter bonding, and teaching her how stringed instruments work, and electromagnetism and construction techniques and all that but I don't think that's quite going to be the reality.

 

[DRM]

https://www.youtube.com/c/HighlineGuitars

This guy explains how to do it properly, with lots of how to videos, I suppose it depends how far you want to go with it, I’ve been leaning towards one of Harley Benton’s Jazzmaster look a likes, or the PRS look a like, with a tremelo, I think it may be the latter, but I can’t make up my mind.

 

[DRM]

https://d2zap0z9ahyacn.cloudfront.n...sImZpdCI6ImNvdmVyIn0sInNoYXJwZW4iOnRydWV9fQ==
This is the effect I’d like to achieve, but with the JA kit you’d need to cut the headstock to resemble a Fender

 

[winjim]

Oh yeah, I'll be taking a jigsaw to that headstock. Annoyingly my Dremel has just packed up though which would be handy.

One thing it's not going to be is 'done properly', that's for sure. If I had the time I wouldn't mind having a proper go at one, I might be tempted towards one of the more expensive kits although I think there's value in making a really cheap one as good as you possibly can. It's probably a better use of my time to actually spend it practing playing the thing though. I'm the same with bikes, I'm as happy or even happier fiddling around fixing or building them as I am riding.

 

[DRM]

I’ve watched a few of the videos in the link, what he does explain is what products are needed to give a good finish, and more importantly what not to use, I suppose you could sand it down, use some sanding sealer and then paint it, but one tip was to use boiled linseed on the neck after sanding it smooth, to give a silky smooth finish, but not to use linseed oil as it just does not dry

 

[winjim]

I’ve watched a few of the videos in the link, what he does explain is what products are needed to give a good finish, and more importantly what not to use, I suppose you could sand it down, use some sanding sealer and then paint it, but one tip was to use boiled linseed on the neck after sanding it smooth, to give a silky smooth finish, but not to use linseed oil as it just does not dry

#diykitchallenge or this year's #diykitchallenge22 on YouTube if you want to see people going nuts with them.

 

[Hornchurch]

Annoyingly my Dremel has just packed up

One thing it's not going to be is 'done properly', that's for sure. If I had the time I wouldn't mind having a proper go at one, I might be tempted towards one of the more expensive kits although I think there's value in making a really cheap one as good as you possibly can. It's probably a better use of my time to actually spend it practing playing the thing though. I'm the same with bikes, I'm as happy or even happier fiddling around fixing or building them as I am riding.

Modern day Dremels are basically just a pile of W.A.N.K

I had TWO - Both bought 'brand-new' & THEY were (both) the more expensive versions - i.e, "not low rent" (price-wise)

Both packed-up, whilst relatively new - Both with barely any useage - I've had a "Challenge" one (earlier) outlasted BOTH.

The latter of the two 'higfh-end' Dremels packed-up (motor), whilst cleaning "guano" from a Parrot's perch

I mean, F.F.S - I'd even soaked the Parrot's perches in disinfectant BEFORE using Dremel to 'defragment' the softened "guano"

"Wimp motor", "Pile of W.A.N.K" & many other more choice expletives were uttered on the 13-month olf Dremel.

I'd only used the B'strd thing about SEVEN times, never once under any stress or duress.

The latter one also came with a "Bent Plug" - I mean, Jesus, it takes SOME FORCE to bend a 3-pin plug from new !!!!!

It was like that, from the first three seconds that I opened it's plush Blue zip case - (couldn't be arsed to send it back)

After that "Pile of W.A.N.K" Dremel gave-up the Ghost (after only SEVEN uses from new), I searched for a decent replacement

I found it, found one, off the internet (E-Bay UK), from a company called "VON HAUS"

The "VON HAUS" equivalent is a proper "man's tool" (calm yourselves, no-pun intended).....

........& actually IS NOT "Mickey Mouse" like that/those pair of brand-new $hite-as-$hite-can-get Dremels !!!!!

The motors work, they NEVER pack up (unlike the earlier aforementioned lightweight shoot Dremel(s)

The only thing they might need (in about one or two decades time, is perhaps a set of carbon brushes....

Did I mention that I F^^K^^G HATE DREMELS ?

As for guitars, I've got a few (14) that I've collected over the years & decades, majoritively U.S.A built stuff.

I admire your drive for building a "kit" guitar...

But what with the quality of guitars (low-end), having risen in recent years, I'd be inclined to buy a used Squire**

**(to save pi$$ing about, building it, but then hey-ho, I'm a Lazy B'strd by nature !)

WinJim ; I saw your original post, re-the kit-build.....

I heard & saw you mention "The Tele"(caster) as ideal.

My first ever 'serious' Electric, was a (then, brand-new) CBS era 1977 Ash-Blonde Olympic-White Telecaster

It cost me even more money than my first car (a sports-coupe-fastback) & seemed hideously expensive to me, back then.

May not sound much, now, but it was £285.00 - (it was Left-Handed) & that figure was WITHOUT the additional £85.00 Tolex case !!!!

I owned it for just over 23-years & used it for gigging & recording - (Mostly Christian stuff, as I wuz involved in Church, back then)

Eventually, I P/X'd it for a brand-new Olympic-White Stratocaster, again, another U.S.A "Corona" model (T'was more expensive)

I have VERY fond memories of that Fender USA Telecaster, which I kept standard except for a "Di-Marzio" bridge pick-up


However, one thing I wanted to add - (seeing your comments) Playing a Telecaster, whilst standing up, is never an issue

But most kids (& some adults, laughs, like me), start-off, or end-up, playing AND "practising" in their bedroom, or lounge

One thing that just NEVER, never gets a mention, is....

The 'Jack Lead' sticks-out like a Porcupine's dick (at the lower-back)

I always found (whilst practising J.Page's riffs at home, that the damn thing WOULD "dig" into the bed, or chair !!!!!!

As I noted earlier, you said you also had a Stratocaster - No such prob's there, with it's LOVELY "Angled-Jack_Socket"

Yeah, ok, it's a minor & trivial point....

But a seven year old girl is most probably going to exaperience just that (what I mentioned), when "Plugged-In"

When I played at the Church (in front of our 76-Parishioners), I used to sit on our '74 "Twin Reverb" instead.

Made for playing on a VERY warm a$$, once the valves had warmed-up - Church paid only £100.00 for that amp'

Vicar/Pastor/Reverend had never ever HEARD of Fender - (which made me roar w/laughter, as a teen, back then)

Jammy blighter, but he bought the amp' for us - (the youngsters, providing the music, as there were only three of us)

I'd be inclined to let your Daughter "Paint" the Tele's body with Natural Varnish, as you can easy sand it off, later.

Start her "off" with 008's or 009's for the sake of her li'l fingers - (We all started with Nylon strings, accoustics)

But being ALL Led Zeppelin & Schenker "U.F.O" fans, the "Nylons" got ditched for "REAL" guitars, hence the Tele'

.

 

[DCBassman]

Squire

Sir! It's Squier!

 

[winjim]

The Dremels appear to have an issue with the coil wire on the stator. It's a fairly easy fix but hopefully mine will be covered under warranty. It's just a PITA having to sort it out.

I'll let her go to town with the paint job, that's the bit she's most likely to be interested in.