The Piglet guitar build project, part 9

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Finally happy with the brown finish on the rear and sides of the guitar body, it was time to move onto painting the front in a shade of piggy pink. Which meant of course applying a liberal amount of masking tape to the sides (and overlapping onto the rear) so as to keep those areas from getting sprayed pink.

I figured the centre section of the back would be safe from overspray. I daresay some pink paint will bleed into the tape around the top edge of the guitar but I am hoping that I will be able to clean that up later.

Here (above) is the piggy still wet with the first few layers of pink paint applied.

And here it is again, after the first spaying had been allowed to dry for several days, then sanded back to a flat finish, and with the next coat of pink paint applied. It's building up quite a nice finish now, but I expect I'll give it another coat before sanding back to a matt finish and then applying the graphics.

Speaking of the graphics, my plan is to transfer the picture of the cartoon pig from my orignal template to the top of the guitar using carbon paper, and then to make the image permanent using paint pens and possibly also dry rub-off decal paper (for more detailed areas such as the nose, eyes, ears). The above photo shows a piece of scrap wood from the build - you can see where I've already made test drillings in it from earlier on in the build - and which I now have sprayed in the same piggy pink so as to test the set of paint pens that I have. As you can see, some colours work better than others. I have also clear-coated this test piece to ensure that there aren't going to be any issues with paints reacting with one another.

I really do want to crack on with this project now as we'd like to start using it for gigs soon. There's a festival we're playing in August at which we'd really like to have the guitar, so I'm hoping we can finish it within the next month.

G L Wilson

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The Piglet guitar build project, part 8

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Applying the first coat of brown finish to the rear of the guitar

The latest instalment of this project report has been a long time in coming, in part because of the long time it takes during the whole painting and sanding back process, but also because of a number of mishaps which happened when applying the brown finish to the rear and sides of the guitar. One time, some flies got into the freshly painted surface (which otherwise was a nice smooth and even coverage), and another time the paint formed "wrinkles" (maybe because of grease not cleaned away properly). On both occasions the finish had to be stripped back and re-applied.

The finished brown layer, which will still need clear coating

The front of the piglet guitar awaiting its pink paint!

Next up: pink paint!

G L Wilson

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Julian Cope's Squier "Fake Fender" Jazz Bass listed for sale on eBay UK

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I'm a big fan of Julian Cope, so when I saw this listing  on eBay UK for his "Fake Fender" Jazz Bass (actually a re-badged Squier circa 2004), it made me sit up and take notice.

To quote from the auction listing:

Here for auction is a bizarre experimental Squier Jazz bass from about 2004/5. The item was inherited by singer/author Julian Cope, who removed the original pick-ups and added several different types during his years of ownership. Why? The body of the bass is so heavy that it works well as a platform for whatever is installed. Cope recorded the bass with its variety of pick-ups, then also added genuine Fender 50’s-style anodyzed gold aluminium scratch-plate, plus genuine Fender pick-up covers.

Thereafter, the bass was abandoned as a musical instrument and the pick-ups were removed. The item became a focal point for Cope’s press photos during 2008 (see main photo). A genuine Fender waterslide decal was added to the newly painted gold headstock, and the body was coated with the kind of hellish glitter (in the style of the mid-60s Irish Showbands) that sparkles in the sun, whilst a chrome iron cross was installed in place of the original neck plate.

I'll post the final price when it sells. Note, it's for UK bidders only.

EDIT: It eventually sold for  £313.36. I was so tempted to bid myself, but had to ask myself, realistically do I need another bass right now?

G L Wilson

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The Piglet guitar build project, part 7

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After much filling in and sanding, on Sunday I thought I was ready to begin spray painting.

However, no sooner had I attached a piece of wood into the neck pocket to act as a handle and something to hang the guitar body from while spray painting, than I noticed a deep saw line on the side of the body near the neck pocket which I had somehow missed (see above photo).

I had to fill it in with woodfiller and sand it back three times before I was happy with the smoothness of that area, but at last today - a couple of days later than intended - I was ready to begin spray painting.

 I'm using rattle cans for the whole finishing process, beginning here with a white primer.

First coat done, front and back. Having let it dry I noticed that the initial coat had brought up the grain in the plywood forming both front and back, so I sanded the whole thing again until getting a silky smooth finish and after cleaning away the dust I have re-sprayed.

We'll see what it looks like in the morning.

G L Wilson

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Hoyer shortscale bass, a genuine relic from the late 1960s/1970s

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Ah, damn! I think I would have bid on this eBay UK listing for a vintage Hoyer solidbody shortscale bass had I seen the auction in time. It's a German-made instrument with one of those laminated necks which seemed to be popular on lower priced instruments of that era, and with a nice P-Bass meets Telecaster vibe going on too.

The seller listed this with a starting price of £100 and it eventually sold for £180

G L Wilson

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Please read our photo and content policy.