The Solar Eclipse and Uncharted 4

Bumper and Tire Replacement

My truck arrived with stock chrome bumpers and wheels. I rode with the stock options until it was time for me to change my tires. I ordered new black wheels and tires and I sent my stock bumpers away to get powder coated black. Unfortunately, the shop that I sent my bumpers to burned down which melted my bumpers. Once I received the insurance money, I decided to upgrade my bumpers to black steel ones to save me the trouble of powder coating them.

Guitar 2

For my second attempt at painting a guitar, I went with a guitar that had a set neck. This type of guitar is also referred to as a neck-through guitar. This means that the neck has been connected to the body during construction and cannot be removed. This makes painting the guitar tricky, as there are components that you will not want to paint that are attached to the guitar.

To get started, take off all of components of the guitar that can be removed. Once all of the components are removed, tape over the fretboard and any other section of the guitar that is not supposed to be painted. For my guitar, I used heavy painter tape and it worked well. I put a few layers of tape over the fretboard as I did not want to get any paint on it. Once I had the guitar taped off, I sanded down the entire guitar. It is important to take your time. There is no need to rush as the preparation is the most important part of the process.

Once the guitar was sanded, I followed the instructions on the paint can. I used a white primer to get started. Then, I used white automotive paint for the entire body and neck of the guitar. I followed up the white paint with a clear glossy coat to protect my paint job.

Guitar 1

For my first attempt at painting a guitar, I went with a guitar with a bolt-on neck. Painting a guitar with a bolt-on neck is easier because you are able to take it completely apart. I started by detaching the neck from the body, and then I removed all of the components that were attached to the headstock of the guitar. The back of the neck had a natural finish, so I left that the same. Once all of the components were removed, I put tape around the headstock so that the fretboard and the back of the neck were covered. This protected the natural finish and the fretboard from getting covered by fresh paint.

I bought write glossy automotive paint to use to paint the guitar with. I like the simplicity and clean look of a white guitar. Before I started painting, I sanded down the headstock with sandpaper. I made sure to remove any paint that was previously there. Once I was done sanding, I was ready to paint. Since I was only using one color, I went ahead and put three coats of paint on the headstock of the guitar. Once I had painted it white, I put two coats of clear glossy paint on top to provide a layer of protection to the paint.

Once the headstock was finished, I went ahead and started sanding down the body. The paint looked good on the headstock, so I went with the same paint on the body. I also make sure to tape off parts of the body that I didn’t want covered in paint. After I finished painting the guitar, and the paint was dry, I reassembled the guitar. Since I am left-handed, I used a custom Kramer guitar body and Jackson fretboard. It is very hard to find high quality left-handed guitars, but the Kramer/Jackson combination sounds great. It is set up to use a single humbucker pickup, so I installed an EMG-81 active pickup.