The Black Stripes

With the bodies of the LP kit and the Rick kit pretty much finished colour wise, this evening we focussed on the neck of the Rick kit and tried to replicate the Rickenbacker stripes shown to the left.

We achieved the effect by placing masking tape down the centre of the back of the neck, and down the centre of the headstock where the black paint should be. We then used this masking tape as a guide for placing more strips of masking tape over the areas of the neck that should remain blue. Finally we removed the central strip of masking tape exposing the areas of the neck that should receive the black spray.

We then used the transparent black spray paint we had ordered from SS20.com to spray the exposed areas. The intention was that some of the grain of the wood would still show through the paint - but the paint dried a lot more opaque than it appeared when wet and when completely dry the effect is just like normal black spray. A coat or two less would have left more of the grain showing through.

However, when the black paint had dried and we peeled off the masking tape any worries about the grain not showing through were cast aside as the finished result looks brilliant. A few pictures of it below:

To complete the Rick kit we've ordered some better quality tuners and a nicer tailpiece than the one supplied with the kit, again from http://www.axesrus.com/