Guitart

I've been enjoying playing my Blitz a whole lot recently. The array of brain-tickling sounds I can get from the way I wired it coupled with the hollow twang and sustain from the Kahler trem gives me a staggering array of tones that couple really well with the way I play. Not to mention, I just love the way it looks, balances, and feels. I've been doing a lot of doodling and I took a very enriching art class last quarter at school, so I've been finding a lot of ease in expressing myself through visual art. Also, the day I got my Marshall amp, I visited the EMP (Experience Music Project) in Seattle with my cousins from San Francisco and at the heart of the museum is an exhibition about Hendrix. There, they have a section dedicated to the history of his life and some amazing pieces of his gear--a Uni Vibe pedal, his first guitar, and some of this smashed Strats. One of them was all painted up and had some lines of poetry, related to the lyrics from Love Or Confusion painted on it. He did this as part of the ritual destruction of the instrument, offering it as a sacrifice to the gods of creativity. Although I have no intention of destroying this guitar, I took a lot of inspiration from that day.

This evening, I picked up some paint pens and I started to cover my Blitz with a form of art that brings me a lot of peace to create. It's really meditative and it's interesting to do it on a different medium. So here's the progress I made in the past few hours. I started on the back to get the hang of it.

That's what I call a headstock!!











Love wins!!!

First of all ... The swirley art looks cool. I dig it.

I hope you know how much this depeciates the value of a guitar.

These "vintage finish" guys drive me nutz. Their opinions about refinishing a guitar, even the right way, is to not. Then, if a refinish is done, its to refinish to original as close as possible.

Maybe I like the bass but not the color ... right? These cats need to lighten up a bit.

Ill tell you, those paint pens work great, but using them on a lacquer or poly coat will either melt into it or melt / swirl it if you try to chem solv it off of there.

Its your bass ... and you saw what Hendrix did to his guitars. I mean, it is just a guitar for christsakes. do what you want with your instrument and i'm sure all will still be right in the world.

This is the correct products for refinishing an instrument.....

http://reranch.com/

i've used these products for 2 refinishes so far and they have proven a tad bit more difficult to work with ... but provide superior results. the message board is an interesting place and has tons of cats that are willing to help with whatever your trying to do ... just read the reranch 101 first (they dont like people asking questions about all the info thats in there already).

i just dont want to see you do something you might end up regretting, thats all. i know i have.

but yes, words of encouragement ... this looks cool. i been meaning to do an artsy finish with the lacquers but i'm just lacking the inspiration. several cats here keep bugging me to do a crackle finish ... i just cant figure out the correct and best way to do it. theres a cat on the other board thats doing ibanez enamel swirls that are wild! theres another guy who does paisley patterns that are beautiful. i think i'm just gonna start one with using some vinyl semi - tack mask patterns and see what i can get.

these swirl tribal patterns your doing are cool and would be even better and worth more and increase the value of the instrument if you did them in a more professional finish. even if you did what you do with the pens and were able to cure them in clear lacquer and polish it ... it would be more durable and look great (instead of a bass just drawn all over).

but there is no right or wrong way ... there is what works for you.

now, i'm gonna take the opportunity to plug my guitar players work ...........

he gave me this to get the electronics working. i wouldnt classify him as a guitar tech or luthier. he's more of an artist. chek it oot ...........











it is a banjo. the body around the banjo is cut and carved out of core plast, a dense foam solid used for sign making instead of using wood or MDO. this thing weighs a ton! the color is actually artist's oil paint and its covered in clear gloss lacquer.

this thing is nutz.

Wow! That is one trippy twanger.

Thanks, Mike!!! In response to what you said about this guitar of mine--I have no concern whatsoever about depreciating the value of this instrument. Since the moment the Kahler was installed, in my mind, the value plummeted and all of the subsequent modifications have probably dropped it even farther. However, every improvement I've made has exponentially increased my enjoyment and appreciation of this instrument, so to hell with it. I'm gonna personalize it completely!

I have no intention of refinishing it unless it gets so badly damaged that it needs it. If anything, I might want to put another coat over the current one to help preserve the stuff I've drawn. But, in all honesty, it doesn't matter. It was a spontaneous project inspired by what inspires me about this particular bass. So if it gets worn off, that's OK. It'll be kinda like Jimmy Page's Telecaster.

Here's the progress I made this evening:







The Firebird thing happened pretty spontaneously. Going way out of my comfort zone there! The sides of the body and maybe the sides of the headstock are going to get drawn on, too. And probably the P pickup covers. Maybe even the scratchplate I'm going to make so I can reposition the controls and keep it looking tidy.

I think the firebird looks cool.

Living in Phoenixville, PA, a town that is re inventing its economy, culture and arts community after being a failing steel mill town for so many years, ont the winter solstice every year we have the firebird festival. We build a giant bird out of pallets and scrap lumber, have a parade and torch it. Fun!

Just seems strange you did this after we had the festival on saturday.

Ill post pics.

Thank you. I went out on a limb drawing that chicken. I wanted something inspiring and vibrant on the front. Originally, I was just going to do the whole thing in white patterns, but I had those extra pens in the pack and the other colors fit in well with what I was drawing. Interesting stuff came out that I wouldn't have drawn if I hadn't had them--like there's a fish one the back that just kinda happened. And that Phoenix on the front. I wanted to have something sunny and then a Firebird seemed appropriate. This guitar is kinda like a Thunderbird in terms of feel...it's just that Hamer got everything right that Gibson didn't and kept the aspects that make it different from most other guitars. I'm also in the process of moving from Kirkland to Greenlake and in the process I'm clearing out a lot of junk from my life, preparing to live in an awesome new environment, and I'm paying more attention to the qualities that the seasons bring. So I guess I was just tapping in to the Firebird vibe. Plus, I took an alright guitar, tore it apart, then put it back together in a better way, so it's seen its own rebirth in a way.

I'd love to see those photos! Sounds cool!

Chowderboots wrote:

https://2img.net/h/i337.photobucket.com/albums/n387/Chowderboots/IMG_1530.jpg

An X2N and a kahler, this thing screams 1988. I love it.

Haha thanks. Except it isn't really authentic--new Model P, Kahler 7410, and X2N-7. If I were really trying to do old school it'd have a 70s Model P, a vintage X2N, and a 2400. But I'm not trying to do old school.

First of all, MadMIke, that banjo is a TRIP! Definitely a piece of art!

Martin, I gotta say that your design is completely off the hook, Bro! I love it!

Linda and I visited the EMP in Seattle back in 2008, and we made it a point to visit the Hendrix display. They had Jimi's Strat that he played at Woodstock, as well as the Gibson that his rhythm guitarist played at that same gig.

It was funny. When we walked in, I grabbed a guy who worked there, and I was all starry-eyed as I asked him where Jimi's Strat was. He walked in with us, letting us know that they did not permit photography of any kind, but they did have some postcard pictures of the guitar you could take. I remember that the guitars were in a climate-controlled room, and it was all open, with only a four-foot high plexiglass fence separating you from the guitars. We were in complete shock, and I couldn't wrap my brain around it. There we were, standing no more than a few feet from that classic guitar. I almost cried! "This is THE guitar Jimi did The Star Spangled Banner on. This is THE guitar! The very one"!

I asked the guy if museum employees were ever allowed to hold, or even play the guitar. He told me, no, they weren't, and such a thing would result in their losing their job.

"But you know", he continued, "I've been tempted more than a few times"!

I always liked the swirly designs on many items I have seen in the past...ya who cares about value?

would you have done that to a 6000 Fedora? Probably not ( me either )

my white model2 is another good example like Martin said, if I was worried about value the kahler and HB would never have happened.
If I could come up with that crazy swirling paint on my own, you can be sure that my black model2 would be decorated.

but the way this world thinks now-a-days, you never know...10 years from now that thing might fetch a HUGE amount because someone want's it badly for some pop-art collection or something.

was in the diving cat studio the other night, buying amy's christmas present.

http://divingcatstudio.com/index.htm

they have a new artist's work on display there.

how can i describe it. it was "post industrial" parts sculpture. the subject was birds (owls and robins). they were wood sculpture with the details (eyes, beaks, wings, tails and decorations) made from pieces of old precision industrial machinery, dial calipers, watches, number designations, small tool parts, pens and pressed tin numbers and letters. they have a vintage vibe to the carvings (checking with lacquer) and the post industrial parts but a modern spin as these birds looked quite robotic.

i would have bought a sculpture if i had a disposable $1000 lying around ... but i dont. they are very cool.

but i am gonna steal the post industrial design idea for one of the basses i do in the future.

now i'm gonna hunt for old watches, broken down machines and pressed tin parts for medium.