Clockwork Electric Guitar: Part 1

Cipher Guitar neckplate, 2011

Cipher Guitar, 2011

This is the project that started me wanting to etch. In 2007, I found online the works of Jake Von Slatt of The Steampunk Workshop and his "Steampunk Strat".

Inspired, I purchased a used Cipher electric guitar from Craigslist for $25 with intentions of producing my own steampunk guitar... and never did. I moved this guitar from townhouse-to-apartment-to-townhouse until this spring when I dug it out of the attic to finally finished it.

I am making three plates for the guitar: the backplate, which sandwiches the neck to the body, a small keystone-shaped plate for the neck near the tuners and the pickguard which will have a clockwork pattern. Pictured here is the backplate and the neck plate is etched, but needs to be shaped and finished.

The guitar was originally a cream color. I spray painted it flat black with many coats of flat clear coat, then sanded smooth with 400-grit sandpaper. I also painted all of the chrome hardware gold to match the plates.

Note: I etched the date of "2011" into the backplate to date my work and to force me to finish this project this year.