Lacerda’s Coverage

Something to keep in mind: While I have split this project up into several blog entries, and stretched those across several weeks, most of this work was actually done in under two days. Still, I have my reasons for drawing this thing out.

Let’s talk about the finish on this guitar.

Especially since you’re about to see it.

As I have mentioned, I wasn’t trying to be really careful with the wood on this build. The edges of the pieces weren’t perfectly flush, and to be frank, this is not the prettiest Philippine Mahogany I’ve ever laid eyes on. But I had a way around this problem. I have used it before, and I find it a useful, interesting, and very durable alternative to clear lacquer.

It’s also borderline iconoclastic for guitar building:

Ahhhhhhhhhhh, fake stone. It is, as the can clearly states, the perfect finish.

So let’s spray this thing!

Forget compound radius fretboards; this guitar needs Compound W!

I filled up the neck cavity with foam in places it wasn’t covered by the ‘hanging stick.’

You can see the humbucker routs are not protected the same way. That’s because they are covered by the pickups, and there is no need for exact wood-to-wood contact as there is in the neck pocket.

You can also see the pilot hole for the toggle switch on the upper horn of the guitar.

Here’s the back of the guitar.

You can see the cavity covers in place. I sprayed over them because they still have the adhesive paper on them.

Plastic sheets usually have some kind of protective covering that you peel off only after you’re done working with them. So I was lucky, since I could use them to protect the lip of the cavities.

You may notice that the input jack cavity has moved! I realized it was not close enough to the rear of the guitar, so I lengthened the cavity and covered over the portion near the front.

If this guitar was a clear-lacquer finish, I could never have done it. Even with paint, it might have shown through. But now, no one will ever know except because I told them.

You can also see how the neck joint portion has been thinned.  Here’s a bonus photo that also highlights the texture of the stone effect:

I’m probably not the only one who finds that color a little nauseating. The guitar won’t be this color, I promise.

But we’ve got to start with a good base coat so that whatever color it becomes, it will be even and strong.

So bust out the white paint:

Notice that I’ve enlarged the toggle switch hole to its final dimensions.

I didn’t get any photos of making the toggle switch cavity for this guitar. But it was essentially the same as the others; I used a hole saw and a router to get the desired shape.

The difference is that this time I drilled the pilot hole all the way through the guitar. I did this because I wanted to make sure I chose the position carefully.

I drilled all the way through the guitar from the front, then used the hole on the back to position the hole saw. I got pretty deep with that, then used the router to get the right depth.

It looks grey, but trust me, that’s white. The lighting in the shop isn’t optimal. Speaking of the shop, the joy of having a workspace in an industrial building is that I can do stuff like spray guitar bodies in the stairwell.

I did that in a residential estate too, but here the stairwell is bigger and if people see me, its not like they can complain.

Here’s the back:

The toggle switch cavity is now visible, as is the control cavity. I need the paint to get into the cavities, or at least the lips of the cavities, so that I get coverage all over.

Remember, “Lacerda wanted Total Coverage.”