The New Tone Thread

[Greg_L]

Awesome! I'm in. What you buy? Some basic spray paint? I still don't know what do with it. I might just go nuts with it. I guess you got to put tape over the pick-ups and hardware?

I actually might buy another SG in case I fuck it up. If I can find a good deal.

I'm gonna use some Guitar ReRanch lacquer spray paint. It comes highly recommended by a pro.

I'm gonna take my SG apart, tape off the fretboard and headstock, and paint/clear the whole thing. Unless you drop it and break something, I don't see how you can fuck it up. It's just paint. It will either look terrible and you can get it fixed by a pro, or you'll do a good job. Be careful with sanding because an SG has weird contours and angles.

My goal is to have it look like this:

My SG has the large 70s headstock, so I'm also thinking of maybe getting a Custom split-diamond veneer from Crox to lay over the top as well, like this.

 

[JDOD]

LOL, My other gig guitar is MDF. I'm in the process of laminating together some decent wood for a proper guitar body.

I might leave it as it is actually - I've not gone right back through the lacquer on most of the guitar so its just a slightly matte finished partially sanded feel at the moment. My next job is getting the frets sorted out to make sure I can get it well playable without getting a new neck. If I can sort that I'll then get the electronics done and then if I get the guitar working and quite like it I might consider a bit of work on making it look nice.

Greg, that white SG looks great.

 

[Greg_L]

As threatened, here's a couple of tunes from our last gig. We played a small club, no stage, no lights or pa, no amenities (other than booze and food). Here's a pic of the setup:

View attachment 96798

This was the opening song. My lead tone starts around 4:15. My Fool SG made it to the first tune of the second set (Hey Pockey Way) before I broke the high E string. So I switched to the Les Paul for the remainder of the gig. Here's a sample of the Les Paul Custom. I was using my '61 Fender Princeton, a Crybaby Wah and a Jekyll and Hyde pedal using the distortion side only.

Feelin' Alright with The Fool. Lead tones at 4:15

Sophisticated Mama using the Les Paul Custom. Lead tones at 2:50.

Oh, and I should note that the drummer was using one of those Pearl half shell travel bass drums and a couple of those very small PDP snare/toms (I think the snare was like 6" and none of the toms were over 10") and the bass player had never done a gig with us before.

Again using the same setup as last time, '61 Brownface Fender Princeton, Cry Baby Wah and a Jekyll and Hide. And a Sennheiser E609 as the recording mic.

Epi Dot with a JB in the bridge. Solo tones around the 4:15 mark.

Fender Start with Lollar Brownface pickups. Solos after the second verse alternate with the sax.

None of these are our best efforts, but you get an idea of the tones in the context of the tune. I've not applied any EQ but there is a compressor on the guitars in the DAW.

These tunes have a different drummer and bass player and are from 2 different gigs. One of them from the same place as the last post.

Good jam tones man. I like em all. Good noodle pickin to. Good stuff. Although, I think you screwed up the links in your second post. Those last two go to the same song for me.

 

[rayc]

My 1974 Coronet EB bass looked rather like the SG in Greg's snap above though possibly more ivory. The bevelling was a little more scooped though.
If I'd had it longer (borrowed & the borrower disappeared with it in about 83) I probably would've left it as it was. I was a greater starter of projects but rarely a finisher - I've stopped starting.
I do have a friend's strat copy downstairs that he left with me for a repaint & some "arting" in 98!
I did some cool stuff on it - a white ground with a series of "enscribings" based on Picasso wire sculptures. Then I decided to do it again on a wood grain ground. It's been 1/2 sanded ever since.

 

[Greg_L]

I've got an old Jap Harmony weirdo guitar that's been spray painted 50 times. I'm gonna practice on that. Sand it down, clean it up, see if I can make it look halfway decent.

If that goes well, the SG will go from it's satin silverburst to virgin white. My only consideration now is do I go straight pure white? Or do I go for an off-white "aged" tint? Hell, I'm even thinking of maybe a TV Yellow? I love TV Yellow. But I'm leaning towards pure white.

 

[Bill L]

Good jam tones man. I like em all. Good noodle pickin to. Good stuff. Although, I think you screwed up the links in your second post. Those last two go to the same song for me.

Thanks Greg. I just fixed the link, btw. For the SG, I'd go TV Yellow or the aged white (not that you're asking me)

 

[jimistone]

I'm gonna use some Guitar ReRanch lacquer spray paint. It comes highly recommended by a pro.

I'm gonna take my SG apart, tape off the fretboard and headstock, and paint/clear the whole thing. Unless you drop it and break something, I don't see how you can fuck it up. It's just paint. It will either look terrible and you can get it fixed by a pro, or you'll do a good job. Be careful with sanding because an SG has weird contours and angles.

My goal is to have it look like this:

My SG has the large 70s headstock, so I'm also thinking of maybe getting a Custom split-diamond veneer from Crox to lay over the top as well, like this.

I used the ReRanch Lake Placid Blue rattle can laquer. Painted my '66 strat (it was already a...not so good...refin). it came out phenomenal!

Their products are superb and there tutorials that walk you through the painting process are excellent.
You can't go wrong with them greg..

Killer SG man. . I love those Gibson custom headstocks! I have done business with crox. His products are the best quality out there. I would go fo it on that headstock veneer. The Gibson custom split diamond is perhaps the most iconic headstock ever.

 

[Sky Blue Lou]

My goal is to have it look like this:

Is that a Gibson? I can't find one with the single tailpiece/bridge like that on their site. The 60's Junior has that tailpiece but it's a single pup. My R4 LP has that tailpiece as well. I like the look. Intonation can be sketchy but small price to pay.

 

[RAMI]

Do In eed to sand my git down if it doesn't have a lacquered finish? My guitar has a very flat finish, almost looks like that's the color of the wood itself, though I know it's not.

 

[jimistone]

Thanks Greg. I just fixed the link, btw. For the SG, I'd go TV Yellow or the aged white (not that you're asking me)

I was trying to find the Lollar equipped strat in the duplicate link
lol

 

[Greg_L]

Is that a Gibson? I can't find one with the single tailpiece/bridge like that on their site. The 60's Junior has that tailpiece but it's a single pup. My R4 LP has that tailpiece as well. I like the look. Intonation can be sketchy but small price to pay.

Custom Shop SG Special reissues, the Pete Townshend model, and of course real 60s SG Specials have the single tailpiece. Maybe there are others. I just grabbed that pic off the net. Mine has the tune-o-matic + tailpiece.

Do In eed to sand my git down if it doesn't have a lacquered finish? My guitar has a very flat finish, almost looks like that's the color of the wood itself, though I know it's not.

Mine is like that too, but I'm sanding it. Sand, maybe some grain fill, prime, paint, clear. I think yours has a pretty open grain, right? Maybe you might wanna sand and grain fill before you paint.

 

[jimistone]

Do In eed to sand my git down if it doesn't have a lacquered finish? My guitar has a very flat finish, almost looks like that's the color of the wood itself, though I know it's not.

I painted a flying V a while back that had a poly finish. Poly is very tough to get off...whether you are sanding or using paint remover.

What I did was to sand it enough to knock the gloss off. Then I steel wool it to get it really smooth. Then I sprayed it with primer, steel wooed that, and shot the color coat, let it dry, did a 2nd coat, let that dry for a week, sand and steel wool it, then 2 coats of clear the same way (sanding in between coats)
then sand it with 600 grit....go to 800...grit...then 1000...then 2000.
on the 1000 grit sanding you will see your reflection in the finish and more so on the 2000.

Then get a buffer (or in my case a drill with a buffing pad attacthment) and use a buffing compound like Dupont renuizit. Buff that sucker and it will shine like glass and be flawless.

If you are spraying a metallic like Lake Placid blue, I don't recommend sanding the color coat before clearing. It could fuck up the way the metallic particles reflect light. On the metallic finishes I spray the color coats and let them dry, then I build up a little bit thicker clear coat which allows me to sand out any imperfections.

 

[BroKen_H]

.

 

[Lt. Bob]

Do In eed to sand my git down if it doesn't have a lacquered finish? My guitar has a very flat finish, almost looks like that's the color of the wood itself, though I know it's not.

depends on what you mean by 'sanding it down' ..... you're gonna want to hit it with some sandpaper if only as a form of cleaning to prep it to accept the new paint.
Sanding will make sure you don't have any oils on the surface and it'll rough it up a bit to make the paint adhere well.

I understand the desire to rush it ...... I'm in the early stages of building a 335 and I'm having to hold myself back ...... one step at a time ..... next step for me is to shape the headstock ... the neck has a paddle and I need to cut it down to a headstock I like ..... no point in doing squat 'till that's done .... then I need to test fit the neck and make sure I have:
1. The proper back-angle so the strings will hit the bridge not too low or too high and
2. Make sure the strings will be correct side-to-side ....... don't wanna glue that neck on and find out the E string misses the bridge!

This'll take a couple weeks prolly since I have limited spare time.

Meanwhile what I really want to do is GLUE IT ALL TOGETHER .... SLAP SOME PAINT ON IT AND THROW IN SOME ELECTRONICS AND PLAY IT!!!!! *BREATHING HEAVILY*

But I'm gonna take my time and try to get it right.

Now, I'm making a player and I'm just gonna grab some laquer at Lowe's ..... put three or four thin coats on it just to keep dirt from getting in the wood and I'm done.

But for any paint job, the prep is far more important than the actual painting.
The paint will come out as good as you prep it to be.

It depends on how much you care, of course ...... but if you want it to look good, do the extra prep work .... sanding .... filling grain except that, in general, if you're painting over a finish, then it's already grain-filled .... they almost surely did that to prep it for the original paint and even if they didn't, the paint itself acts as a sealer so I'm not sure you need a grain filler.

 

[Bill L]

I bought a Weber Mass 150 yesterday and I just spent some time with it. If any cares; here's my review.

Wow, my amp has never sounded better. I've got my Bassman cranked to 8 1/2 and holy hell. I've never heard any of my amps sound this good! The one I got has 2 volume pots; one for low-mids and one for high-mids. It has a bypass toggle switch and a high low range toggle. The back has an input, 2 speaker outputs and a direct out. When I get a chance, I'll throw some tones up (including the direct because I'm curious how that'll sound).

 

[Greg_L]

I bought a Weber Mass 150 yesterday and I just spent some time with it. If any cares; here's my review.

Wow, my amp has never sounded better. I've got my Bassman cranked to 8 1/2 and holy hell. I've never heard any of my amps sound this good! The one I got has 2 volume pots; one for low-mids and one for high-mids. It has a bypass toggle switch and a high low range toggle. The back has an input, 2 speaker outputs and a direct out. When I get a chance, I'll throw some tones up (including the direct because I'm curious how that'll sound).

Cool man! I've never tried the direct line out on mine. Mainly because I've never heard direct anything sound good.

 

[RAMI]

Thanx for the advice, guys. I think I'll be leaving my guitar the way it is. It's my first and only red Gibson SG. My dream guitar. I don't want to to fuck it up.

 

[Lt. Bob]

Thanx for the advice, guys. I think I'll be leaving my guitar the way it is. It's my first and only red Gibson SG. My dream guitar. I don't want to to fuck it up.

here ya' go:

NEW!! SOLID Mahogany Double Cut Kit with Trapezoid Inlays

 

[BroKen_H]

But Bob, it's out of stock!

 

[Bill L]

here ya' go:

NEW!! SOLID Mahogany Double Cut Kit with Trapezoid Inlays

That's the one I got and turned into The Fool.