Brody VH's Peavey Wolfgang Special Build: An Extra Special Project

[Jedi McFly]

Option A is my preference

Option B's two stripes in the mid section not following a single trajectory hurts my brain.

[Brody VH]

That's a good point. Of course, the mid section is more or less the same on the 1986 guitar too so… (insert shrug emoji)

I may only paint the long lower stripe at first and then use some black electrical tape to see which position I like more for the shorter stripe before painting it permanently

[Brody VH]

Here's a couple potential solutions to the midsection looking weird, but IDK if I like them:

[Dave not David]

Helllllllllllllllllllll yeah, this is awesome!

I think I like original option A, but honestly, any is a good option!

[Jedi McFly]

I think both of the updates look solid.

[Brody VH]

I may only paint the long lower stripe at first and then use some black electrical tape to see which position I like more for the shorter stripe before painting it permanently

So yeah, this is what I ended up doing haha! I think it actually looks awesome like this.


I can't find my electrical tape right now to test a different look, but if I add any more black stripes I will probably go with the original option A. I realized that the control and tremolo cavities would have the black stripes cut off a lot on the two updated options from the other day.

I found a couple dings and chips on the body, so I'm doing some small touchups on the paint. It's probably from my own clumsiness and not being careful enough moving it between my garage workspace and my indoor workspace. Because of that, I almost want to let this thing sit until I clear coat it with a Semi-gloss lacquer. Whether or not I add another black stripe, this thing looks amazing. 16 year old Brody would lose his mind if he saw it. 26 year old Brody is currently losing his mind looking at it.

I also got an email from Locke Custom the other day saying my custom neck should be finished soon. That's when things will really get exciting.

But for now, I'm gonna try to snuggle with my daughter, as today was her original due date

[Brody VH]

Hello!

You know, if you take the first four letters of that first line, you'll get an idea of how the weather has been here in the Mid South. It is way too hot and humid for November. If it were only hot and not muggy, I'd feel better about resuming the guitar.

I don't want to risk humidity messing up the semi-gloss clear coat on the guitar itself, so I'm just doing a couple tests on the good-ol' scrap wood I painted.

I also realized I never posted a photo of the front of the guitar, so here it is (with the hardware placed where it will eventually be mounted):

The shiny triangle is one of the spots I had to repair the other day. I smoothed it out and blended it in with the rest after the photo was taken.

Finally, I want to share the totally-not-wreckless work I had to do to fit the selector switch. I did not realize the short switch I chose would not fit properly with the location of the control cavity wall. Apparently the original Specials used one of these, but I don't like the way those feel based on experience with one that was in my SG. Emphasis on was

Anyway, I thought "what would Ed do?", and I took an X-acto chisel set and a flat head screwdriver to the cavity wall. It may not be pretty, but it's a perfect fit and no one will ever see it.

If I could do it again, I would have just ordered this switch from Warmoth instead lol

Anyway, actual progress will resume after the the humidity drops. And when the neck arrives in the next few days

[KS 5150]

Hello!

You know, if you take the first four letters of that first line, you'll get an idea of how the weather has been here in the Mid South. It is way too hot and humid for November. If it were only hot and not muggy, I'd feel better about resuming the guitar.

I don't want to risk humidity messing up the semi-gloss clear coat on the guitar itself, so I'm just doing a couple tests on the good-ol' scrap wood I painted.

I also realized I never posted a photo of the front of the guitar, so here it is (with the hardware placed where it will eventually be mounted):

The shiny triangle is one of the spots I had to repair the other day. I smoothed it out and blended it in with the rest after the photo was taken.

Finally, I want to share the totally-not-wreckless work I had to do to fit the selector switch. I did not realize the short switch I chose would not fit properly with the location of the control cavity wall. Apparently the original Specials used one of these, but I don't like the way those feel based on experience with one that was in my SG. Emphasis on was

Anyway, I thought "what would Ed do?", and I took an X-acto chisel set and a flat head screwdriver to the cavity wall. It may not be pretty, but it's a perfect fit and no one will ever see it.

If I could do it again, I would have just ordered this switch from Warmoth instead lol

Anyway, actual progress will resume after the the humidity drops. And when the neck arrives in the next few days

Looks great so far!

[LAD-1972]

Looking sweet! Sometimes waiting for the paint to dry is half the battle!

[Brody VH]

I'll go ahead and get the bad news out of the way: For whatever reason, the neck I received had a lot of issues. I'm certain it would play fine if installed, but there were a lot of small but really obvious issues.

The good news: Locke Custom immediately responded to my email about the neck. I'm talking less than 15 minutes after I sent it, even though it was after business hours.

Per their email, they're already investigating how and why it passed their QC and was shipped to me. Even more importantly, they're covering the return shipping costs, building a re-do neck that "exceeds our set standards," and are including a very significant discount coupon for a future order for the hassle. I already have some ideas, but don't tell my wife (yet)

Even though this is frustrating and disappointing, I can't emphasize enough that Locke Custom is making it right and their customer service is incredible. Unfortunately this is another delay for the project.

The okay news: With this delay, I found myself really looking at the guitar and not being satisfied with the current paint job. Streaks of red/pink paint dust had settled into the white stripes. I couldn't get rid of them or I'd risk accidentally sanding to bare wood.

It wasn't bad looking from a distance, but it bothered me the more I looked at it up close. I think it came from being a little too heavy handed while leveling out the edges of the stripes and using the scuff pad dry instead of wet.

With that, the neck delay, and with the touchups I was already doing, I've just decided to sand it down to white and start over.

It stinks, but I probably needed a little break anyway because I was getting too frustrated while working on this. Now I can take what I've learned and make it even better.

Cheers!

[Brett]

I’ve done that before. When I painted my Bumblebee the first time it was OK, but there were things I didn’t like. The neck I was going to put on it was taking longer than expected, so I started looking closer at the body and realized I didn’t like it enough and sanded all the way down and repainted it. And it’s the best body I’ve ever painted. So definitely worth it to take a second shot with the extra time.

[Jedi McFly]

Every striped guitar I’ve made has been sanded back down to bare wood and started over. My 5150 was the worse culprit of this - I sanded that thing down and started over twice and I’m still not happy with it.

You’ll be happier with the results of the next iteration. Also, I wouldn’t recommend anything abrasive after the next round of finishes as you’ll just end up with red in the white again. Duplicolor cures quick and then settles in really nicely, nice enough for Ed’s spray guitar standards for sure.

[fudd]

Plus, with all the stuff that you have used in trial and error, it should a ton easier. So if there’s a silver lining, that’s it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Brody VH]

Yep, that’s the mindset I’m taking into this. I’ve learned a lot of my guitar-painting assumptions and methods don’t work 100% of the time, so now I know how to be more consistent.

[CoffeeDrinker71]

Brody, congrats on your daughter's birth and health!!! That's the most important thing.

We've been chatting back and forth in the comment sections of some of my videos and I wanted to jump back on VH Links and find your thread. Wow...what a doozy. I thought it looked really good in the previous photos but I certainly understand your desire to respray the guitar from the ground up. Like a few others have stated, most of our "striped" guitar projects have all been re-done a few times...and I'm always happier with the results whenever I have done that. If it makes you feel any better, one of my "Bee" bodies that I was spraying on the channel is totally derailed and will need to be totally redone. So, don't be too disappointed. You've already learned a ton...so the 2nd attempt should go a little easier. Hopefully the weather will cooperate this time around. Definitely avoid using the alcohol as others have pointed out. There must have been some type of reaction with the solvents in the paint. If you feel like you have to wipe it down, try some naptha instead...or one of Duplicolor's own de-greasing paint prep. Looking forward to seeing more updates. Happy Thanksgiving!