ZZ Top Costumes - New Pics 10-31-2010

[mrsmartypants]

So, a couple friends and i have decided to go as ZZ Top for Halloween this year....we will be doing the Legs video version, complete with furry spinning guitars!

I don't know if anyone is interested or not, but I can post progress pix as things start coming together....we just started building the guitars a couple of days ago.

 

[Havok69]

Re: ZZ Top Costumes

Definitely interested - one of my favorite bands. Funny how the one guy with no beard has Beard for a last name.

Anyone lined up for the girls?

 

[Interceptor6]

Re: ZZ Top Costumes

Love ZZ Top!, they were my first concert,
Who's got the '33 Ford coupe for the girls?

 

[Apollo]

Re: ZZ Top Costumes

Yeah man post some pics!

I've seen them 4 times and always a good show!

 

[PHArchivist]

Re: ZZ Top Costumes

Don't forget the key chains...

 

[mrsmartypants]

Re: ZZ Top Costumes

Definitely interested - one of my favorite bands. Funny how the one guy with no beard has Beard for a last name.

Anyone lined up for the girls?

Yeah, irony at its best!

No one lined up for the girls yet, but working on it! :thumbsup

 

[mrsmartypants]

Re: ZZ Top Costumes

Love ZZ Top!, they were my first concert,
Who's got the '33 Ford coupe for the girls?

I wish! My dad had a 32 Ford coupe that was cherry red that would have been perfect...if only he hadn't sold it!

I'll start posting some pix later today.

 

[mrsmartypants]

Re: ZZ Top Costumes

OK, here are some pix of our progress so far.

First off, a couple of shots from the video. This is the look we are going for:

Here's a better shot of just the guitars used in the video and what we will be re-creating:

First, we picked up a couple of Saga Flying V guitar kits off ebay. Here's a shot of the front of the box that shows what the completed guitars would look like, and here's the body, straight out of the box (modeled by my buddy Larry, aka Dusty Hill):

After some hacking, re-shaping and re-arranging (as well as adding some additional wood), here are the new body shapes. Fortunately they don't have to be perfect as they will be entirely covered with fur. That saves much time and effort!

Next up, re-shaping the headstock. You can also see the frets taped off in preparation for sanding. Also filled 4 holes in the neck. The neck comes with a white plastic faceplate that covers the truss rod adjustment screw and screws into the headstock with 3 screws. We won't be needing the plate, so holes have been filled:

Another shot of the frets taped off in preparation for sanding:

 

[TazVader]

Re: ZZ Top Costumes

wow....this is a really cool build thread guys. Looking forward to seeing more

Regards
TAZ

 

[Szyntax]

Re: ZZ Top Costumes

You'll be a Sharp Dressed Man for sure! Every girl's crazy 'bout 'em.

 

[mrsmartypants]

Re: ZZ Top Costumes

built the spinning mechanism for the guitars today and took it for a test run. Works like a charm!

Here's a photo and a 23 second video of the spinning in action. Very excited at how this is moving along!

Spinning Guitar Test Video - 23 Seconds

 

[mrsmartypants]

Re: ZZ Top Costumes

More progress on the necks. After sanding and primering, they are being now being coated with white enamel. Got a couple more coats to go, but here is one neck with a test fitting of the neck ZZ logo. We are having that logo and the Dean wings logo on the headstock made out of vinyl stickers. Gonna be fun laying it down over each fret without any bubbling or wrinkles. I have the feeling that's gonna be a little time consuming. :lol

This particular neck, we also filled the top two tuning peg holes as one of the guitars is being converted into a bass.

 

[Apollo]

Re: ZZ Top Costumes

Somehow I just knew you were gonna do them with the fuzzy guitars!

Looking good so far!

 

[mrsmartypants]

Re: ZZ Top Costumes

Somehow I just knew you were gonna do them with the fuzzy guitars!

Looking good so far!

Oh yeah, had to go fuzzy on the guitars! :thumbsup

 

[mrsmartypants]

ZZ Top Costumes Picture Update 9.30.2010

OK, worked on the guitars some more the last few days and made lots of progress!

Since the real fuzzy guitars only have one pickup each, we had to scrap the original two humbucker routed pickguards for new ones. I stopped by the local Tap Plastics and picked up a suitable replacement sheet and then we cut them into the needed configuration:

Next we are finally ready to fur the first of these babies! First pic is furring in progress. Second pic is the fur completely glued to the body and the neck attached:

Starting to shape the fur and attaching the hardware:

Fur shaping continues.... We have a bit more shaping and styling to do before this one is ready for prime time, but it's getting there!

Next update, I expect to have the first guitar completed (crosses fingers). The vinyl stickers are scheduled to be ready for pickup by Monday, which gives me plenty of time to get the fur styling finished up. :thumbsup

 

[PHArchivist]

Re: ZZ Top Costumes - Pic Update 9/30/2010

Looking great!

Hope you end up better than this! I know you will...

 

[.:MirrorminD:.]

Re: ZZ Top Costumes - Pic Update 9/30/2010

wow its coming along nicely

 

[WarPig]

Re: ZZ Top Costumes - Pic Update 9/30/2010

Are the guitars just static props, or will they be functional?

 

[mrsmartypants]

Re: ZZ Top Costumes - Pic Update 9/30/2010

Looking great!

Hope you end up better than this! I know you will...

Thanks! I'm real happy with how they are turning out so far.

I saw that video when I first started researching things. YIKES! I'm pretty sure ours are already better than that mess. :lol

 

[mrsmartypants]

Re: ZZ Top Costumes - Pic Update 9/30/2010

Are the guitars just static props, or will they be functional?

Though they are fully functional guitars, they're gonna be static for our needs. We're leaving out the pickup toggle switches and not even soldering up the pickups....