Yeah, I'm also considering a thin piece of felt (or similar) around the lip.
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First Build - "Lucifer"
- Thread starter TerribleTim68
- Start date
Not to be a negative nelly, but here on the wet coast, I've found it takes around 8 weeks for Danish Oil to fully cure. I don't use it at all anymore for this very reason.
So I think I've decided to go with copper tape for shielding. A couple notes on shielding and my personal opinion -
I guess I'll just grab some 2" wide off the Amazonians and trim as needed, yeah? I see plenty of options for shielding tape with conductive adhesive, so not a real big deal.
- I'm not a big fan of the visual of bright copper tape inside the pickup cavity. I know it works fine for a pickguard style build, because you'll never really see it. But I also have a huge disdain for pickguards, so there's that.
- I'm worried about how that visual of bright copper tape inside my pickup cavities is going to clash with the natural wood colors. I'm hopeful that it won't be a big deal.
- I'm not really a fan of shielding paint. I've done a lot of reading on paint vs tape, even here on TB, and it just seems that the paint is too "hit or miss" as to how well it works. It seems too dependent on how it is applied, what brand you use, what the actual make-up of said paint is and a host of other things I'm not smart enough to conquer. Tape seems way simpler, but brings all those things I listed above.
I guess I'll just grab some 2" wide off the Amazonians and trim as needed, yeah? I see plenty of options for shielding tape with conductive adhesive, so not a real big deal.
Yeah, and clearly we're in that season now, huh? I'm okay with that, I don't mind putting Danish Oil on it, assembling it and letting it chill in my music room looking all cool AF in my collection until next summer and then disassembling it to spray 2K on it at that time. Altho that would cause a few issues with wires that would need to be unsoldered upon disassembly, so clearly I'll need to put tons more hours into overthinking this late at night when I should be sleeping or something. Isn't that how you guys build yours?Not to be a negative nelly, but here on the wet coast, I've found it takes around 8 weeks for Danish Oil to fully cure. I don't use it at all anymore for this very reason.
- Apr 18, 2008
- 16,002
- 1
- 31,693
- Disclosures
- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
I would throw the whole thing in a dumpster and set fire to it and start again if it was me.
My wife already wants to know why I started a second build when I'm not even done with this one yet.
Except that Danish Oil, which is 8 million different things from different suppliers likely has a significant portion of semi oxidative drying oils in it. That means, leave it on forever and it still isn't chemically dry. You put your 2K poly on it, which has little to no porosity and it as close to 100% solids as they say and it cures. Except under it, is still something that is chemically wet. Imagine putting glass over a swimming pool. Sure it might be great for a while, then it's a hot day and you take your bass outside to play and delamination.....Yeah, and clearly we're in that season now, huh? I'm okay with that, I don't mind putting Danish Oil on it, assembling it and letting it chill in my music room looking all cool AF in my collection until next summer and then disassembling it to spray 2K on it at that time. Altho that would cause a few issues with wires that would need to be unsoldered upon disassembly, so clearly I'll need to put tons more hours into overthinking this late at night when I should be sleeping or something. Isn't that how you guys build yours?
I would avoid it.
Even just putting copper tape on the bottom of the pickup cavity will help and you'll definitely never see it! Or stop the tape halfway up the sides.
This is the tape I bought most recently:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I1XNY1...abc_GJGSEAZYR47EHWRHRV6V?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
This is the tape I bought most recently:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01I1XNY1...abc_GJGSEAZYR47EHWRHRV6V?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
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I don't really have much to add to the finish discussions because I think it's one of those things where there are a ton of "right" ways to accomplish your goals, but I'll day this: if there's one thing that has stuck with me through my own finishing experiments, it's that simpler is better. I don't like using more than one product unless I absolutely have to. If your goal with the Danish oil is to get it's amber tint, my approach would be to just choose a topcoat that had tint in it, or one that could be dyed.
Thanks Dwizum, I was looking at that one and one other brand. I'll just go with that one.
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I'll just be adversarial and mention that I'm a fan of shielding paint for the clean, professional look it can give. MG Super Shield Nickel is really fantastic stuff (MG Chemicals Super Shield Nickel 841AR). Goes on smoothly, lies flat and has excellent conductivity. It's not super cheap, but I've found a spray can to last for around 10-12 instruments, and that's laying it on thick in the cavity and on the backside of the covers. Since you mention the copper tape appearance is not appealing... the MG is sort of a charcoal grey colour. 
+1 on the MG Super Shield. Taped my recent build and then stripped it and applied the brush on version of the paint. Much happier with the look. Here's what it looks like before attaching the wing. I put another layer after gluing it all together to make sure I had continuity. Also for the weight conscience I saved 17 grams with the paint vs the tape.I'll just be adversarial and mention that I'm a fan of shielding paint for the clean, professional look it can give. MG Super Shield Nickel is really fantastic stuff (MG Chemicals Super Shield Nickel 841AR). Goes on smoothly, lies flat and has excellent conductivity. It's not super cheap, but I've found a spray can to last for around 10-12 instruments, and that's laying it on thick in the cavity and on the backside of the covers. Since you mention the copper tape appearance is not appealing... the MG is sort of a charcoal grey colour.
Let's just pretend he meant to put less emphasis on the "kind" and more emphasis on the "enough".
So I put a nice coat of Zinsser Seal Coat on it -
Yeah, I like that, this is starting out well. And then I noticed that part where the label says "ready to sand or recoat in 40 minutes".
Guess I'll go do something else for a while.
Yeah, I like that, this is starting out well. And then I noticed that part where the label says "ready to sand or recoat in 40 minutes".
Guess I'll go do something else for a while.
Okay, coat #2. I guess I'll go edit some YouTube vids for my channel. 
My Google-Fu says this stuff will start filling grain at something like 6 to 8 coats, so I may be at this a while. We'll see. I gots nothing but time.
That's not true at all, I have no free time what so ever. Otherwise this build would have been done a year ago.
My Google-Fu says this stuff will start filling grain at something like 6 to 8 coats, so I may be at this a while. We'll see. I gots nothing but time.
That's not true at all, I have no free time what so ever. Otherwise this build would have been done a year ago.
This may be too late but try giving it a light scuff sand between coats, it'll tell you if it's really dry or not. That Zinnser product is probably the best pre-mixed shellac out there but if it starts to get a little old it'll take longer than 40 minutes to really dry (especially if it's humid).
Yeah, I just waited a good hour between coats. I put one more coat on it this morning, then I'll head off to work so it can dry all day. That makes coat #4 thus far. I definitely want to sand it at this point, because the seal coat seems to have popped the grain and it feels rougher now than it did before. So I think I need to hit it with some 150 to figure out where I am before I keep laying coats on. The wood color is perfect though, so that's a good thing. But I also assume since it is a seal coat that I'm gonna sand it off, so there's that. I dunno, we'll see. I'm gonna let it dry all day while I'm at work and then hit it with the 150 grit tonight and just see where I am.
Stupid job.
