Coyote's Build

[Coyote]

Figured so, but also figured couldn't hurt.
Camping industry not big over there, huh? Europeans don't do that shit anymore? Really?
"Y'all don't do a buncha huntin' and feeshin', do ya" I guess... Or maybe it's just your local "Cheap-O-Mart"...if they're anything like Wal-mart (or any other huge ass US chain store), ask 'em if they can pull the inventory from another location, y'know? lol

They might have it in local stock, I just never pay attention to their stock...

Well, on a positive note, say GAR's right (it could happen) about the product name, now you can at least see if you can find it locally...or at least someplace that will ship it to ya cheap...

True dat. Although, I could ask a couple of local hot rod painters for an opinion on this.

Did you get your block from from FloydUpgrades yet? What the hell time is it over there vs. PST, your mail run yet? Waitin' for a shipment from him as well, but holidays...regular US mail's already hammered...just got something (and I mean like a regular letter, not a parcel) postmarked Nov 30th yesterday....

As I'm typing, it's 4:53PM on December 12th, but I'm not sure what year it is... Damn daylight saving time...

Mail runs only on the weekdays, IIRC. I wager it'll arrive (along with the Floyd) some time next week...

[jhale667]

Mail runs only on the weekdays, IIRC. I wager it'll arrive (along with the Floyd) some time next week...

Yeah.
Well, an international trade-off for ya there; ours runs on Saturdays, but sometimes something (like that letter) that should usually get across the country in 3 or 4 days takes an extra....week? I'm flippin' through my mail and like "sent when?"

...Unless you get stuff like that and no Saturday delivery, I'd call it even...lol

So for the Floyd did you go....or.....?

[Hardrock69]

Right on man. This oughta be interesting. Aside from pics, once you get done, post a sample of how it sounds.

[ZahZoo]

Another alternative to a wire mesh would be that plastic mesh stuff they use to wrap turkeys or hams in. It's more flexible and can be easily wrapped around the guitar's contours.

[GAR]

Mesh Lath | Anping ShunXing Metal Wire Mesh Co., Ltd.

Quicksearch of K-lathe seems to show it's actually a trade name/product. Kinda like you ask for a Band-Aid someone might hand you a Curad bandage.

Anyways check a local hardware store for this shit if you're having an artist do it. It's used for plaster, mortar in prep for pasting tile on the walls or counters..



When I watched the girl at the factory do this, the edges were folded over all four corners of the body beforehand. It's expanded metal and it'll cut your hand and definately scratch a painted body.

You'd have to form the wire around the edges with a towel over the body first, trimmed a few inches for overhang.

You sketch out your design beforehand on paper as a visual guide, but the gal did this freestyle from several pics on the wall she pinned up at the bench. I think there were old TimeLife hardback-book centerfold on the wall as a guide.. or was it from National Geographic, or Life Magazine? Can't remember.

It had a good rattlesnake pattern going. Or was it an anaconda.. they look similar, I think the major differences are color.

Whatever, you got the K-Lathe edges bent.. doing the airbrush filling-ins of the diamond patterns on the BACKSIDE first. With the bent edges straight up, avoiding overspray off the sides.

The factory used regular lacquers and you didn't need much, just a thimble amount of color into two-thumbs of thinner cup, sloshed around and the girl was ready to go screwing it into the airbrush.. did her gold-bronze first, then the silver then the black last so it was a process but it went quick.

Flipped the body over (mounted in a jig, screwed onto the neck pocket) and she could follow the pattern up from below by holding the mesh on the top and continuing around up the sides, then the top last.

Airbrushing the sides, you could angle the color shots and it would still hit the rounded edges even if the diamond mesh went straight. So it doesnt' have to be totally molded to the body.

And don't nobody go googling how-tos on this and saying "oh youre a liar, you do the black last" or "the black first" who gives a shit. Generally, this is my recollection how they did this 25 years ago and it is easy to do if you own an airbrush.

Just experiment with cardboard cutouts first to get the hang of the order of colors if you're doing this yourself Coyote.

[GAR]

Another alternative to a wire mesh would be that plastic mesh stuff they use to wrap turkeys or hams in. It's more flexible and can be easily wrapped around the guitar's contours.

It's not thick enough to stop the blast of the airbrush, nor is it stiff enough that it wouldn't move when sprayed over.

With K-lathe, it's stiff enough you could have the mesh an inch from the body and the pattern will still transfer, even over rounded edges 90 degrees opposite. It's a cool technique.

[jhale667]

I dig watching people work with airbrushes, but haven't used one myself. Have friend (real, not in the Internet sense of the word)who is a reeeally good airbrush artist...does some really cool shit:



(even with a paintbrush, see below) but never saw him do snakeskin. So, Gar, when you watched was it background colors first (like, say a Kamikaze)then the mesh with black and white?

I wanna see that! OK, Coyote...now you gotta call a buddy, set up a webcam, whatever...lol
Talk about Must.See.Video !



Oh, this pic counts as my Christmas card to everyone, too...Happy Freakin' Holidays...

[GAR]

So, Gar, when you watched was it background colors first (like, say a Kamikaze)then the mesh with black and white?

The Kamizaze Bomber guy was obviously white background, they'd lay tape then trace and cut out the tape-shaped areas you'd see black, red, etc.

They'd do 3 or 4 at a time, I don't recall which stage of the process they were in but they had out silver, gold, brown and black colors to mix.

Lacquer is thick out of the can, it's thinned or "reduced" 175% meaning, only a quarter of the mix is actual color.

Oh and then throw in the clear base they'd add, forget it. I doubt an original redo could be done even by the same person, one week apart.

Every guitar finish was unique that way. Unlike what you got today with ESP and Dean using inkjetted paper plotter-printed finishes. All they gotta do is lay clear over glued-down paper!

That shit ain't art. The Charvels were art.

[jhale667]

Every guitar finish was unique that way. Unlike what you got today with ESP and Dean using inkjetted paper plotter-printed finishes. All they gotta do is lay clear over glued-down paper!

That shit ain't art. The Charvels were art.

The limited run or one-of-a kind "art" part of the new Charvels at least is farmed out to people like Mike Learn. That dude still does art! People like him and Jeff from RCA guitars...

But Coyote's will be one-of-a kind because he's doing it...

[GAR]

WRONG more like "one of a similar" or "in the style of.." type thing.

You got it wrong.

Maybe he could do a more colorful anaconda like a gold, yellow, green something like that? Then it would constitute "of one kind."

And I'm not talking about Charvel Art Series.. to me, Charvels haven't been made since 1989, unless GMW was doing em.

GMW does Charvel art finishes better than anyone.

[jhale667]

GMW does Charvel art finishes better than anyone.

I'd agree with you on that, except not anymore, since they stopped doing replicas a few years ago...and I'm not talking about the standard Charvel "Art" series either, talking Custom Shop jobs...
Present-day Charvel also still uses Dan Lawrence, who painted original Charvels, did he not?


You got it wrong.

[GAR]

Yeah he did, also did BC Rich. But most of the custom, hairband endorsement intricate stuff.

"How about a GI Joe guitar theme.." How about a this, a that.. you could add all these details, he'd say okay and do it. He had a fat photo archive of his completed things but not a very fat wallet.

I think now about all the hairband custom finishes that have maybe 100 hours into some of 'em, and how the guys trashed 'em like they could just pick up the phone and have another ready in 6weeks.. just so much incredible waste back in the day and I think Dan suffered alot from that.

Not that there goes another custom job, ruined, but more like "I'm never gonna do another ______ again (WW2, Militaria, cartoon chars., movie posters etc.)

[Coyote]

So for the Floyd did you go....or.....?

Chrome. Gotta have something to blind the audiences with, right?

[Coyote]

And, for the record, I haven't entertained the idea of painting the damn thing myself...
(Not yet, anyway.)

And, yes, the paint job will be "in the style of".

If I wanted an exact duplicate of, say, DeMartini's Anaconda, I'd have figured out where to get the actual snakeskin. "Politically Correct", my ass!

[Coyote]

And, of course, YouTube delivers...