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Tried posting this on the kit thread, it might be more appropriate here. Roy

Never built a guitar, thought I'd start with trying to do a Strat style electric. Never even played an electric, but why not?
So, I did a cherry burst, finished with four cans of clear lacquer (although they aren't all totally empty, I quit when I started to get sputtering). Let it sit for a month and then started sanding. Using the Stew Mac aerosols.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Guitars/i-3m ... 4020-M.jpg

I was a bit dismayed to see I had sanded thru the color, so I stopped and thought I'd ask for some advice. I started with 220, very lightly, then 320, then 400. The next pix should show that I'm not getting thru the clear completely (ie, the shiny spots tell me I should be sanding a bit more aggressively...?!). I suppose I was not getting uniform coverage in each clear application, which isn't a big surprise.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Guitars/i-nv ... 4109-M.jpg
So, my question now is what should I do next? Spot spray the edge I've sanded thru with red, then clear just there, or do I need to do more clear all over, or sand it down all over so I can get rid of the low spots and see if I go thru the color some more before I try to fix any of those spots that show up? I've never learned how to finish anything perfectly, and I don't mind working on this til I get it as close to right as I can. Thanks for any advice. Roy Hmm, I mostly lurk rather than post, looks like I've forgotten how to embed pix.

Those photo links do not work so I cannot see anything therefore cannot recommend anything....

_________________
Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Oops Tried to cc and URL's changed Pix links should work now.
I've already painted over the red on the edge, but I haven't done any sanding yet. I dunno what happens painting color over clear.

Yes you must spray more red. The trick is getting it to blend out, the sanded spot will want to stay lighter and where there is already red it wioll get darker. An airbrush works best for this.

Looks like you could maybe use a bit more clear on the entire body but it's hard to say from pics....

_________________
Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

ok, Thanks. Will be moderately long intermission.

Brian, Roy had posted this in another forum and I suggested spraying a bit of his red into the cap and trying to brush it on the sand thru, followed by a mist coat and then some clear. I don't think he can completely hide the line but I doubt that it will be too obvious.

When leveling your finish coats, 220 is WAAAAAY too aggressive. I'd start with 600 and work up from there.

Thanks, that's good input I should have already picked up someplace...

Moving on past the finish. Not perfect, but it looks pretty good. So now, I'm lining the cavities with copper tape and I have a coupla questions...Do I want a little overlap at the top to connect with the plastic cover? I can't tell there's any metallic layer in it, so I'm inclined to think there's no advantage in trying to connect the copper tape to the top plastic. Secondly, it seems like I'm gonna need to use little solder connections between each layer of tape, I can't believe the copper would connect one layer to another thru the adhesive. Is solder connecting all the pieces of tape what is advised?

Thanks, Roy

Provided you bought conductive tape you should be fine, you can check with a multi-meter for connectivity. I line the back of the pickguard with tape as well, and then leave little ears of copper tape poking out of the cavities in a few places to make connection with the pickguard. Finally I've been running a ground wire from one of the pots to a bead of solder on the tape.

Thanks Conor! Never thought of lining the pickguard back; it's definitely not conductive now. That's good input, I'll do it. I did check the tape with my meter, it reads conductivity all over the tape.