I recently finished both guitars. It was serious crunch time, as they needed to be done for a charity auction. I auctioned off the walnut version, along with the prototype I built earlier in the year. Unfortunately (well, kind of unfortunately) the walnut didn’t sell, but the prototype did and it fetched some serious cash for my school.
I finished both guitars with a danish oil and wax combination. The oil really made the grain of both instruments pop. Each guitar got four coats of oil and sanding with 320 and 400 between each coat. I realized after applying the wax that I probably should have used a darker paste. If you look really closely at the walnut guitar, little flecks of white wax are visible in the grain of the wood. I chose not to fill the grain on the guitars. I like the natural feel of the wood, but I’m also not sure how to fill the grain and I didn’t have the time to experiment.
The electronics installation went pretty smooth. I ran each pickup through a three way mini toggle switch. The Saturn 63′s in the walnut guitar work great, with a nice round tone and some good bite. They feedback a bit with the gain turned way up. Total country with the bridge pickup on and a very unique sound with both pickups going. The p-90′s in the mahogany version have some serious crunch. However, something is wrong with the switch (read: something is wrong with my wiring job in the switch) and I can’t get the switch to reliably work.
I installed Bigsby B-5′s on each instrument along with a rolling bridge on the mahogany and a standard tune-o-matic on the walnut version. The intonation was pretty good, although the action on the mahogany guitar needs some work. I think most of the problem comes from the nut slots not being deep enough. Time to buy some more tools (nut files)!
I rushed to snap some pics of the gutiars before they sold. This made me realize I need a better camera. But, you get the idea.
I know this is an older blog post and you may have figured out grain filling, but just in case you still need some ideas on that issue.
I used joint compound available at any hardware store. Cheap and available is a good thing.
I mix some black dye into the compound, rub it in with a cloth, let dry and then sand it back down. Makes the grain really pop.
Hit it with clear after you grain fill, stain/dye, more clear (shellac) then hit it with lacquer.
Nice builds, by the way.