|
From GuitarAttack: From Bob in Michigan comes this killer Antigua
S-Style. Click on the photos for full-sized versions...they are
killer. This is a finish you just don't see every day.
Hi, I’m Bob from Traverse City, MI.
I didn’t really plan to build a kit. I intended to buy a Squier ’51 from
Musician’s Friend (for $99 bucks DELIVERED!) but I procrastinated and the
deal went away!
I’m an old garage-rock keyboard player now just fooling around in the
basement “studio”, needed something cheap that I could use for occasional
guitar fills. So since I blew the $99 deal, the new challenge was to find
something else for minimum bucks! This website helped inspire me to buy this
ST-10 kit. I paid $105 delivered from the Online Guitar website. Fast
delivery, and all parts were in the kit except the picks.
I saw a Strat with an “Antigua” finish on the Warmoth website. I had a bunch
of lacquer dregs in the garage leftover from past car and motorcycle
projects, including some black and white and yellow acrylic lacquer to make
the cream and grey Antigua colors. Most of this paint must have been ten
years old, but lacquer doesn’t seem to go bad. You can reconstitute it with
enough time and lacquer thinner!
The guitar body was almost ready for paint right from the kit. I gave it a
light sanding then put on the cream color right over the factory sanding
sealer using an old jamb gun. Applied the grey burst with my ancient Paasche
H airbrush. That was a little bit of a challenge because (1) at some point
the airbrush had been dropped on its tip so the pattern was a little
irregular and (2) its old woven hose leaked more air out of the hose then
went through the tip! Eight coats of clear, then rubbed it out after two
weeks. I didn’t paint the pickguard. That’s just too much Antigua!
Neck was finished with a few coats of clear lacquer. The fingerboard is
unfinished.
Assembly went very well with no surprises. After setting it up, it’s very
playable. It’s really fun to play through an inexpensive DigiTech modeling
pedal.
Everyone has suggestions for building the kit, here are mine:
1. Plan on enlarging the route between the jack and
the pickup cavity. It’s too small. I drilled it out about ˝” diameter; it
would have been easier to do before the body was painted.
2. Don’t strip the screw heads. Use nice new Phillips screwdrivers. And use
the right sizes. There are #2, #1 and #1/2 Phillips screw heads on the
guitar.
After assembly, I sent a picture of it to my friend Larry who is a real
guitar guy. He says “hey, I bought an Antigua P-Bass new back in the
seventies…” Oh, really! I didn’t know that Antigua was a Fender finish that
was offered back in the late seventies. Apparently, it is NOT universally
beloved. As it ages it can start to look like a rotting avocado.
The quality of the kit was surprisingly good, and the guitar plays well.
Total cost including two sheets of sandpaper: $106.80.
Again, I’m NOT a guitar player, but here’s a track of
me fumbling around with the “SortaStrat”:
http://webpages.charter.net/mittpro/Rumble%2084.mp3 |
 |
