Mikeocaster: The Grain Filler

The paint arrived the other day, so I figured I'd have some time to do at least the first step this weekend.  That would be to use a grain filler to fill in the grain.  It is an oil based filler that you just wipe onto the wood, let dry, clean off the excess and repeat then let dry overnight.  Here is a shot of the body prepped. I filled in the areas that don't need any paint with some tape to protect them.  The body cavity will eventually be covered in copper shielding, so it has the most blue.

After getting it prepped, I wiped on the first coat of filler, let it sit for about half an hour, then wiped off the excess.  Here is what it looks like before applying the second coat:

The purpose of the filler is to make sure all the pores and what not are completely filled in, we don't want the actual paint to fill in and take the shape of the grain.  After this is done, I'll apply a coat of sand + sealer, which will smooth it all out and create a nice base for the primer and paint.

The body has arrived

Just got back from the Warriors game tonight.  Don't worry, the Spurs totally embarrassed and destroyed the Warriors.

As I approached our front door, I saw a nice package from Warmoth Custom Guitar Parts.  I opened it up and found this:

That is the new body I'll have to paint.  Now I just need me some paint.

The Mikeocaster

I've decided to build my own guitar. No, it's not as hardcore as you think. I'm not going to fashion my own guitar body or anything like that. I am, however, going to paint the body, finish it, pick a neck and electronics and put them all together.

I just ordered the body and some paint.

The body is a light Alder Stratocaster body from Warmoth guitar parts. It'll come completely unfinished. It looks like this:

I got the contoured heel, which will make upper fret access a bit more comfortable. I don't know when it'll get shipped, as they have to do some more woodwork on it before they ship it out.

I also ordered all the finishing supplies I'll need. I've really been digging white strats lately, so I ordered up some Olympic White paint for the whole body. I figured since I'll be doing the paint job, I could also maybe use another color to paint some design into it, so I picked up some surf green for that. I have no designs in mind but I'll start drawing some up soon enough.

I'll keep you all well informed as the project goes forward, and probably backward since this is my first time doing anything like this.

As for the neck, I plan on picking up a good Fender neck. I haven't decided which shape I want. The American Strat I play right now has a thin C shape, but I've heard great things about certain V shape necks. As my usual, I'll probably get one with a rosewood fingerboard.

For the pickups, I'm really tempted to go local. My amp broke down about a month ago and I took it to this repair shot in San Mateo called Torres Engineering. Turns out they also wire up their own pickups. They have a decent selection and the price is pretty good, so I'll probably try some out.

In the end I hope it looks amazing. I plan on taking my time, so it'll probably be at least a couple months before the thing is assembled and playable. Oh yeah, I'll probably go all out and order a custom neck plate so I can really say the thing is mine, but we'll see what happens when I get to that point.

Any advice on painting and finishing is welcome.