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Topic: (Added Photos)Finally Finished - Refinishing 57 Stringmaster |
Bill Quinn
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Posted 24 Dec 2008 1:01 pm |
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Well it took me awhile, but just this morning I finally finished the refinishing and rewiring of this 57 D8 Stringmaster. It had at some point been spray painted black, other than the front, which had maybe half the original finish left.
I used ReRanch products and dutifully followed their entire process. A lucky warm late Minnesota October enabled me do the stripping outdoors on my deck. There had been quite a few holes drilled in the bottom of the guitar, and a few in front, requiring filling. I got lucky and found two like new fretboards (thanks guys). All together I have about $1200 into it and many hours of time.
Obviously, I still will need to get a front decal from Bobbe or elsewhere!
The first song I played was "White Christmas", Hawaiian style from Herbie Remington and Rick Alexander's Tuff Fun Tab. Sweeeeeeeet!!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Last edited by Bill Quinn on 29 Dec 2008 7:02 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Thomas Ludwig
From:
Augsburg, Germany
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Posted 24 Dec 2008 1:50 pm
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Bill,
wonderful work, looks great !!
Merry christmas and happy holidays
Thomas |
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Tom Pettingill
From:
California, USA (deceased)
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Andy Sandoval
From:
Bakersfield, California, USA
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Posted 24 Dec 2008 10:27 pm
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Bill, she's lookin mighty sweet. Post a few more photos if you can.  |
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Drew Howard
From:
48854
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Posted 25 Dec 2008 5:36 am
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Bill,
Excellent job. I'm love seeing these old guitars brought back to life!
_________________
http://www.drewhoward.com |
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Rick Alexander
From:
Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 25 Dec 2008 8:01 am
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Bill, that's a beauty - great restoration!
Herb and I are honored that you chose our work for its "maiden voyage".
_________________
BIG STEEL |
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Bill Quinn
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Posted 26 Dec 2008 9:57 am
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| Thanks for the compliments I'll post some more photos after the weekend. BQ |
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Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
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Posted 26 Dec 2008 11:46 am
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Looks good !  |
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James Quackenbush
From:
Pomona, New York, USA
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Posted 28 Dec 2008 6:14 am
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Bill ,
You did a great job on your Stringmaster ....It's very nice looking ....What color did you use from ReRanch ? ......The "Vintage Creme" or the "Blonde" ? ....Thanks, Jim |
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Josh Cho
From:
New York, NY (orig. Honolulu, HI)
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Bill Quinn
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Posted 29 Dec 2008 7:01 am
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To answer the questions on this project here is how I went about it, in a nutshell:
Taped over or otherwise protect the tuner pan cavities and p/u cavities. Stripped the black paint and remnant original finish completely down to bare wood with StripFast semipaste, using plastic scrappers, fine steel wool, and 3M pads. Wiped down the bare wood with naphtha and lightly sand any rough spots. Filled and sanded the holes left by whoever made this into a pedal steel at one time. Then applied grain filler, sanded, more grain filler and more sanding. Then Sand and Sealer spray and more sanding, as every little scratch or dent will show up in the end. Now the fun part begins. Only on the bottom of the guitar did I use a coat of white primer. Then three coats of lacquer, over a period of days, with three passes for each coat. The first days passes should be light and on the cautious side to prevent running. Light wet sanding and tacking before each daily coat. I used up almost two cans of “Fender Blonde” you might get by with one. Finally the fine sanding as per ReRanch be careful. I sanded thru a spot or two on the bottom edges resulting in an inadvertent “relic” , and had to touch up. When satisfied with the color coats a few passes of ReRanch nitrocellulose clearcoat in a can. Then finally the 3M Finesse It II polishing.
for the full details go to:
http://reranch.com/101.htm
http://reranch.com/101a.htm
Some of the instruction involves spray guns and compressors rather than the 16 oz. aerosol cans which I found very easy to work with.
The products I used that are available from ReRanch: Fender Blonde nitrocellulose, nitro clearcoat, Fine grades sandpaper pack, Grain Filler, Sand and Sealer Aerosol, Finesse It II Polishing Compound, also recommend their lacquer touchup pen. Also of course you will need rubber gloves, mask, scrapers etc, more sandpaper 180 and 220 grit.
I also lost or deleted my “before” pictures and so also lost these important “bragging rights” back-uppers! |
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Erv Niehaus
From:
Litchfield, MN, USA
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Posted 29 Dec 2008 8:42 am
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You did a great job on the refinishing!
I have done a few guitars with ReRanch products and have had excellent results. The only thing I did different was use some tinted clear coat to get a somewhat vintage look. When I had the right tone, I followed it up with the straight clear coat.
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Absolutely creeemy! Awe-inspiring job, Bill. Please post more pix.