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Hi,

After nearly 2 years of on again/off again working on my guitar project (my first one), I am ready to vinyl seal, then lacquer and put it all together... The weather the next few days here in Southeast Texas is perfect, I have all the ingredients and everything ready and my spray booth set up, and I'm even feeling better after a recent cold - All the pieces are in place for me to start tomorrow and I am just scared to death.

I'm making a kind of Strat/Paul hybrid - sorta like a PRS but with a Strat body and pickguard and an LP neck. I'm lacquering it in black and silver with an hvlp sprayer.

I've come so far and I know it'll be beautiful when it's done, but I'm terrified I'm going to screw something up, or it's all going to blister or it won't go just right... Anybody here have some tips for me to calm my guitar-finishing nerves? Maybe a pep talk (or type, in this case).

Hey Carl, yay!!!!!!!
Don't worry about the finish too much.
It'll come out as good as how much time you are willing to put in!
Todd Stock says to wipe the guitar down with naptha before finishing,
that way you can see imperfections before the finish, ( like those pesky glue marks one doesn't see until the finish is on).

Pep Talk:

"Put your big boy pants on and just do it!"

Did that work? That's what my 8th Grade woodshop teacher told me before I stained and finished my Armoire... I had already built the spice rack and kitchen stool-step.

Who cares if your finish looks bad, it probably will. It sounds like your finishing with Lacquer which means you can sand and respray right over your finish and it'll look better. Give yourself 40 guitars to worry about getting a good finish.

Your finishing on your own, that's the start of being a real maker.

When in doubt, NIKE... Just do it.

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Todd Lunneborg
http://www.tlguitars.com/
http://www.fretboardjournal.com/

Hey,

Thanks for the words of encouragement... I'm starting to think that maybe all my worrying and fretting (pardon the guitar pun) are because this guitar is for me - I've done lots of instrument modifying and customizing, but designed this one to be my player - the one I'm finally going to really really learn on, and I'm just so excited I can't stand it.

I'm going to take the plunge and pull up my Big Boy Pants and put on my Nike's and just do it (with some practicing on a piece of scrap wood first).

Can't wait to show it off here!

it takes forever to do, but in the end you will feel really good about it

Best tip I can give is to not rush it. A good finish job can take a lot of time in prep work alone.

Ken

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http://www.casperguitar.com