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Just wanted to show off my latest.

Body is mahogany with Maple
Neck Mahogany
Ebony headplate and fingerboard
EMG 81/85
Skull knobs and inlays(Pearl from Andy Depaule
Finish is Targets Emtech 6000 series water-based laquer, applied by brush. Stew mac pigments for the black back and sides. The top is dyed with analine.

Thanks for looking.









Sorry the last ones so dark. My good camera broke, and this is the best I could do with what I've got.

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Rob

Wow! Rob bro that is one purdy geetar!!!

Arrrrr, matey! Looks like a guitar fit for a pirate(or one at heart)! That looks great! A question about the finish. You say you brushed it on. Was the finish designed for that, or is it marketed as a spray lacquer? The reason I ask is, I'd like to move from spray cans and nitro to a (less toxic for me and the environment)waterbased lacquer that I can tint myself, but I don't have the room for a spray setup, since I work outside most of the time and have nowhere to store it. I've been wondering if I can use waterbased lacquers (particularly StewMac's) with a brush instead. I know StewMac offers a brush on finish, but they market it as a brush on varnish, which doesn't sound like what I want.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Thanks Hesh.

Mike, the lacquer I used is Target coatings Emtech series. EM 6000. It is a new formulation based on USL I believe. It is a spray lacquer, but just like USL, can be made to brush. Target says to add 15-20% retarder to make it suitable for brushing. I went with 20 for ease of measuring. You say you want to tint it. I used Stew Mac pigments for an opaque black. The only difference is you don't use retarder when using the pigments. I also tried tinting with Trans tint, to get the top a little darker, but I got it too dark, so I sanded it off and just put clear over the dyed top. One tip I will share is to get a good brush. I got one from Target when I placed my order. When you apply the product, use just the very tip of the brush, and avoid going over the same spot more than necessary. This helps to avoid air bubbles. I used 3 coats of clear, 3 color, then 6 clear, each coat about an hour apart, on top of that and had a few sand throughs. Put another 8 coats on just to be safe and everything came out great after leveling and buffing. I think it wise to make sure you have enough coats on before leveling, because regardless how carefull you are, you will have brush strokes to sand out. Everything I learned about using this product came from Targets website. Their forum is great, and a rep usually answers your questions pretty quickly. Any more questions, don't hesitate to ask.

So, yes you can add retarder to Stew Macs colortone lacquer to brush it on, since it's USL.

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Rob

Thanks for the info. This sounds like the way to go. Do you have the link to the Target forums? If not, I will search for it. I'll need to do as much research on this as possible, and it sounds like those forums are the best place to start. Thanks again.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

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Rob

Looking good! The maple really pops!

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www.ziegenfussguitars.com

Thanks, Rob!

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Hey, love your new axe. Great choice of pickups and styling. Chugga Chugga.
Dom

I really love this guitar, looks a lot like my Les just better looking and more metal.

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Khalifa Alboinen

Sweet guitar Rob!

Love it!

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

Very nice, Rob. I really like that gray.

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Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

Beautiful guitar !!! I love the "moonburst" and the finish looks great...

Don't really like the skull knobs, but who cares...

Jojo

Man, nobody likes the knobs!! Put in guitar of the month over at project guitar, and that same comment keeps coming up. I agree though, and have a set of black tele style knobs on order for it. Thanks for all the comments guys. I'm really enjoying tuning this thing to drop-c and pounding out the metal riffs! It plays great.

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Rob

I like the knobs. Then I'm a heavy metal fan so it might be that.

That looks sweet, What kind of fininsh is that?
I bet it sounds killer with those Emg's, 81/85?