Prep
The last sanding prior to applying the finish on my first guitar was a sentimental moment - truly. Although I wasn’t done building, I realised that at the end of the day, I’d dust off my workbench for the last time. Actually, that wasn’t entirely true, but never mind, we’ll get to that fuckup in another post.
What you need
excenter grinder
masking tape
clamps
a bit of melancholy
Cleanup
With a pinch of melancholy, I picked up the excenter grinder. I wondered how a painter feels, when she sets aside the brush, ready to frame her long anticipated piece and if it would be any similar.
Then, I thought of Maria, who is a friend of mine and an amazing artist.
Check her out!
She told me that many of her paintings rarely get done, because she throws them in a corner once she can’t stand working on them anymore.
Relatable… If you read this now, I did end up finishing this website. But there was many a time, when I almost abandoned this tedious creation process.
Anyway, approaching the finish line of my first guitar build, it was the opposite. It felt so good to grind the edges and shape the grain of my guitar. At some point, my adjustments became so minor, that I was sure no one would even notice a difference. But that didn’t matter. I wanted to keep going.
I’d been at Maria’s studio once, wishing I could paint something half as amazing as an arbitrarily selected piece in there. In the end, I guess there is no definition of done when it comes to art. IMHO, implementing a design always has to do with achieving a vision. And I am certain no reality will ever align with the inspiration that sparked something or the plan that fuels it.
I stopped sanding the body.
Masking
Next, I had to work the neck. It needed to get some masking tape applied, such that the finish would only stick to the areas that needed coating. For the finish, I’d eventually use an oil and wax kit. Thus, the fretboard needed protection to remain playable. I wrapped it in tape and stuffed some more into the hole of the trust rod and tuning mechanics as well. The coating would soak into the surface and I wanted to ensure the mechanics would still fit after waxing.
Similarly, the bottom part of the neck has to be protected, because it sits in the tight fitting joint on the body. To precisely apply tape here, I sat the neck into the body and transferred the bounds of the pocket onto the adjacent piece of wood.
A bit of manual sanding on the neck followed and then all was set up and ready for finish. It was already pretty late in the day. I knew that applying and treating the oil and wax into the wood takes a few hours, so it didn’t make sense to work on it right away. Still, I wasn’t willing to call it a day. Instead, I started sorting things around my storage board.
“That’s a bit of stuff”, I thought to myself. But I wasn’t looking at items on a shelf, I was looking at their meaning. When I visited Maria’s studio, I had a different view - from the outside looking in. What people see is the product of someone’s work. Creators always remain with much more than what the eye can see - the story that made it.
Big Thanks to my good friend Lucas Zimmermann. Our conversions shaped my inspiration, perception and reflection for this project in many ways. He also happens to be an amazing photography artist.
