quodran Posted April 15, 2004 Report Share Posted April 15, 2004 Hi all! I'm a new member to this forum, here are the pics of my first project I started yesterday. This is an old guitar I like a lot because it was given to me a long time ago by a friend. Unfortunatly, the guitar was put in a closet and forgotten there for a few years. A few days ago, I found it back so I decided to give it a new life. Basically, the idea is to replace everything but the body. The body will be refinished. Here are the first pics. As found in the closet (after a bit of cleaning): After sanding: Any ideas you want to share? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted April 15, 2004 Report Share Posted April 15, 2004 This'll be a fun project. Depending on the kind of finish you want to do, you could do something like adding a veneer/drop top... whatever it's called where it's 1/4" thick so that you can still sand down to get nice figure showing. I wouldn't even want to guess as to the other mods you'd have to make to accomodate that extra thickness, but I'm sure it's all within the realm of do-ability. The bevelled/rounded edges will make an interesting look if you decide to add a veneer, since it won't go right to the outline of the guitar. Could be nice, could be dodgy! I dunno! Personally, I'm a big fan of solid or barely-transluscent finishes. It looked pretty nice to begin with, in my books, but I can understand why you'd want to do a refinish... and if nothing else, it makes for an interesting project! Is the reddish coloration just some of the leftover finish? I see a bit of lightness in the lower left, which implies that a bit more sanding will get you down to a lighter colour. At that point in time, your options for colours opens up if you want to go with transluscent. A nice deep blue would be spiffy. The only personal experience I have is refinishing a Strat with a black/green faux marble. I would recommend avoiding this at all costs. Welcome to the forum... I'm sure other more experienced members will be much more useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted April 15, 2004 Report Share Posted April 15, 2004 Welcome to the forum quodran What did you have in mind as far as a finish goes when you first started working on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quodran Posted April 15, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2004 I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do with it. conscerning the finish, I am thinking of having someone paint on it with an airbrush, but I still need to find that someone If I find nobody, I'll have to go read a bit more of the tutorial section Othewise, all ideas are welcome. I think the veneer should make it look good. The reddish coloration is some leftover finish, I'll try to get it off. For the moment, my priority is to find a new neck as I really don't feel like building one myself. I am wondering if a strat style neck wouldn't fit. I love those necks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Setch Posted April 15, 2004 Report Share Posted April 15, 2004 Hey - cool! I have one of those sitting under my sofa. My neighbour dropped it over when he moved out and didn't wan't to take it with him. It's as heavy as hell, and the fretslots are quite obviously not perpendicular to the neck (looks like they were cut with a square on one side after the neck was tapered!) but the pickups actually sounded quite nice. Is there still a brand on yours? Mine had been refinished (badly) and is now anonymous... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quodran Posted April 16, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2004 Nope, no brand left on it. There was something written on the top of the neck, but I don't thing it was the brand. The pickups sound like ****!!! The good thing is that this one is not that heavy, that is one of the reasons why I like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigtommyb Posted April 16, 2004 Report Share Posted April 16, 2004 i think if that was my guitar i would shove on a veneer finish and do a Cherry Burst stain on it.... Damn i love them finishes! Ive been thinking about fixing my bros Les Paul cuz theres loads of dents in the neck and the binding at the top of the neck has been chipped off... Once again its a Misc. Lespaul as its been badly remade. Big Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quodran Posted April 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 Ok, I've been thinking about the finish and I am going to do a veener finish with a burst color on it. Don't know yet which color. All I hvae to do now is to find the good wood! This might become tough because I live in Belgium! Does anyone have tips about what I can do with those rounded edges? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joris Posted April 20, 2004 Report Share Posted April 20, 2004 Hello, I live in Belgium too and it's not that easy to find some good supplier in woods up here (at least that's my experience). Try out this adres : Proarte Geuzenstraat 19 2000 Antwerpen Tel : 03/216-99-28 They also have a Website : www.proarte.be Just apply for a membership and than you can download the catalogue. They are specialised in lutherie, mainly for classical instruments, but they do have some nice looking pieces of wood. They also sell tools for lutherie. I've been up there last week-end and found what i was looking for (honduras mahogany neck blank, a nice piece of ebony, fret wire etc...) Hopes this helps you a bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quodran Posted April 20, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2004 That will surely help! Thanks for the tip, I'll contact them to see if I can find anything that meets my taste Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quodran Posted April 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2004 Yesterday I went to look for a neck, it seems that finally a strat style neck will not fit in, it is too low. I'm a bit disapointed, I really wanted to fin in one of those necks... Anyway, now I must find a Les Paul style neck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MKGBass Posted April 23, 2004 Report Share Posted April 23, 2004 how much too low is it? Too low that you couldnt easily shim it up to height? If you need a good half an inch, maybe it would be cool if you planed a little bit off the heel, then added a whole chunk that matched the skunk stripe or fingerboard. You could glue it up and shape it to match the existing heel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quodran Posted April 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2004 I think I'd need 1cm which is approx 0.4 inch. I am afraid of killing all the sustain of the guitar by doing this. What do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted April 25, 2004 Report Share Posted April 25, 2004 If you plane your two pieces of wood and use the right glue to join them, I don't imagine you'd lose any sustain. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quodran Posted April 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 What would the right glue be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maher Posted April 26, 2004 Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 how do you put a veneer on the body if the corners are rounded? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quodran Posted April 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 I haven't put it on yet, I'm still looking for a neck! I will probably just glue it on up to the rouded edges and then do a burst color so on the edges the wood is not visible... That is if a find a convenient neck... I'm having a hard time finding one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted April 26, 2004 Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 The 'right' glue will have a different brand name depending on what country you're in (Titebond is the one recommended on this forum most often), but as far as I know all you need is wood glue. If that's not correct, I have to rethink my entire project. <grin> Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quodran Posted April 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 Ok, I'll give it a shot! In my neck quest I found a tele neck that fits just in the body and which frets are at th exact same place as the old neck. The only problem is that the guy who owns it doesn't want to sell the neck if he doesn't fix it himself on the guitar. In order to fix it on the guitar he wants it to be ready with all the pickups and stuff... This leads me to another question: Are all the telecaster necks the same, I mean in terms of size and fret spacing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted April 27, 2004 Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 Well, 'all' is pretty all-encompassing, but you'll find that yes, they should 'all' be the same if they're made to Fender specs. Other manufacturers have tele look-alikes that won't necessarily conform to Fender specs, though. Greg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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