I ate a bunch of words

Remember my perceived pain, thinking I never want to re-sand that guitar body?

Well, I didn’t, but my friend Aleš offered to help.

We went through a bunch of game plans and settled on spray painting the body.

Since the excavation of the binding wasn’t perfect - as can be expected if you’re following along closely to my fumbling and rambling stories - I decided on the black and white color combo.

I’m expecting the spray paint to cover the binding, back, and sides in an even white, while the front of the body and headstock will get a coat of black.

How much do you hate sandpaper?

Actually, zero. And the reason is completely unexpected.

I was expecting to be coached and quality assured while my hand falls off and my mind goes numb from the emotional pain.

Life is not all sandy beaches.

Aleš was a real champ and did almost all the work himself.

So, instead of 2 hours of stressful sanding, I got to watch him Mr. Miyagi the $h!t out of a guitar body with a few pieces of sandpaper.

He also applied a tiny coat of wood primer, just to play it by the book.

We also got to talk a lot about many things in the meantime and it was nice.

The best part: I learned that you can sand stuff way harder than I ever dared do it.

We’ll slot that one in the lessons to remember column.

About that neck

I know. By now you’re expecting me to f*ck up the neck as well.

Well, I didn’t. Uroš, another friend, saved me on that one.

I was just about to cover the front of the neck and spray paint the back side white, but he told me that the paint over the back of the neck feels horrible.

He’s built his own Les Paul from scratch and he’s a way better guitar player than I ever will be, so I believe what he says.

Trust your seniors, people - even when they are younger than you.

I did do some work on the fretboard today though.

Armed with a tube of metal polish paste and some baby wipes, I protected the fretboard, applied a tiny amount, and went to town.

And my God, the shine on that thing.

Since my understanding of cars goes as deep as being able to loosely explain the steps of an internal combustion engine, I was in awe.

That is a very long way of saying I have never polished anything in my entire life.

So far, making the frets shiny might have been the highlight of this build.

It’s the little things that make it all worth it many times over.

What’s next?

I might attempt to even put the R. U. Guitars logo on the headstock to make it official. Also Aleš’s idea, and a great one at that.

I will tape up the body and spray paint it. Hopefully this weekend.

That is perhaps the biggest lesson of them all. Despite all the shortcuts: choosing a kit over a from-scratch build, and the help of my friends, it takes a village and it takes time.

My mom made lunch today and coffee later - twice!

My dad cleaned up the coffee mugs and locked the shop after me, so I could get home to see kiddo as he went to bed.

Aleš took the time away from his family to sand a guitar body, resurrecting it back from the stain-failing zombie apocalypse state.

While I was in the shop, my wife took the kiddo to music school and made dinner.

So, despite the fact that a part of me wants to get up super early tomorrow to spray paint some wood before taking the kid to the city center, to see the carnival parade and meet some of his schoolmates, I might not.

Maybe on Sunday, but I think I’ll rather opt out for a slow weekend morning with my wife.

Because sometimes, honoring the village is more important than a guitar.