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Topic: looking good so far |
Leon Roberts
From:
Tallahassee,FL USA
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Posted 16 Feb 2005 5:01 pm |
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I'm just about half way through rubbing out the finish on my old Sho-Bud. It left the factory a tobacco brown. I got some blue stain from Stewart/McDonald. Dana Flood gave me some important pointers on hand rubbing out the finish. Doing a good job is not for sissys.
I post another photo when I'm finished and have the guitar assembled.
Dana is refinishing a lacquer Emmons push/pull. I'll post a photo of it tomorrow.
Leon
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Brian Henry
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Posted 16 Feb 2005 5:11 pm
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Leon,
I am doing a lap steel from maple and would like to use blue stain and then laqcquer. Could you give me some pointers on how to hand rub etc. BNy tyhe way your sho bud looks magnificent. Regards, Brian |
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David Higginbotham
From:
Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA
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Posted 16 Feb 2005 5:13 pm
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Very nice indeed! Be sure to post pics when completed.
Dave |
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J Hill
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 16 Feb 2005 7:54 pm
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Leon,
Watch out! There's something scary under those tables! |
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Ron !
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Posted 17 Feb 2005 12:42 am
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Leon.
Could you talk us trough this blue stain progress?
I think some of us would like to hear how this is done.(Me for example)
Great job man.Wish I could get mine to look this great.
Ron
Nikaro SD10 4x6 |
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Per Berner
From:
Skovde, Sweden
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Posted 17 Feb 2005 1:12 am
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"...looking good so far" Quite an understatement! Looking absolutely gorgeous!
I used the same intense blue stain from Stew-Mac on this soprano electric guitar i built from scrap parts and a nice piece of ash, all their stains produce very nice, vivid colors.
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Ron !
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Posted 17 Feb 2005 2:51 am
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Per.
You have mail.
Ron
Nikaro SD10 4x6 |
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Leon Roberts
From:
Tallahassee,FL USA
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Posted 17 Feb 2005 4:21 am
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Thanks for all the neat comments guys. I’ll talk with my buddies, Albert and Dana, today and post some information tonight. I want to make sure the information I give out is correct. Both Dana and Albert have far more experience that I and their counsel were paramount in the process. I will say at this time that “hand rubbing” is the secret after the lacquer is applied.
The dangerous creature in the photo is our cat’s toy.
Per, beautiful job on the guitar. Did you wipe the stain on or spray it?
Leon
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Darvin Willhoite
From:
Roxton, Tx. USA
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Posted 17 Feb 2005 6:21 am
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Man that looks nice, I'm a sucker for Blue and Red guitars.
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Darvin Willhoite
Riva Ridge Recording
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Per Berner
From:
Skovde, Sweden
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Posted 17 Feb 2005 6:40 am
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Leon, I wiped it on (in an alcohol solution - the stain, not me  ) and added Stew-Mac's waterbase lacquer, turned out mirror glossy. That little sucker has a piercing sound, but is difficult to play with big fingers (the scale is just 13,75"). By the way, the decorations around the edges are inlaid string ball ends, which I save every time I change strings ever since the late seventies. Someday I'll cover a whole guitar body with them! |
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Don Poland
From:
Hanover, PA.
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Posted 17 Feb 2005 7:35 am
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WOW, that is absolutely gorgeous! Leon, you have done one SWEET job with that PSG!!
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1974 MSA D10 7+4[This message was edited by Don Poland on 17 February 2005 at 07:35 AM.] |
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Ray Minich
From:
Bradford, Pa. Frozen Tundra
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Posted 17 Feb 2005 8:03 am
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| Quote: |
| the decorations around the edges are inlaid string ball ends, which I save every time I change strings ever since the late seventies |
sure beats tinfoil... Nice accent! |
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Ben Slaughter
From:
Madera, California
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Posted 17 Feb 2005 9:08 am
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| Mmmmmm, blue guitars!!! |
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Mark Herrick
From:
Bakersfield, CA
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Posted 17 Feb 2005 2:24 pm
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How do you deal with the inlay and Sho-Bud decal when staining?
Is that a water-based finish coat or nitrocellulose lacquer?
Can you post some close-up shots of the finish?
It looks great!
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Ricky Davis
From:
Bertram, Texas USA
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Leon Roberts
From:
Tallahassee,FL USA
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Posted 17 Feb 2005 7:49 pm
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Thanks for all the positive comments. I’ll go through the steps that accomplished what you see below. There might be better or more efficient ways to do a refinish, but like Frank Sinatra said, “I did it my way”.
I started with an old Sho-Bud Professional. It was tobacco brown and in horrible condition. In my opinion the only way to go was to strip the body down to bare wood and start all over. I first made sure I had a white Sho-Bud Decal. I didn’t put a “The Professional" decal on it because it will no longer bad a “Professional” when I finished. I threw all that rack and barrel system away. It will have triple raise/ double lower changers with aluminum tops. The pulling train will have 14 hole pulling fingers, machined from aluminum. I have a Sho-Bud Pro-III with this system and it’s so sweet,I sold my recently aquired ZUM. The ZUM is a super guitar but I'm an old Sho-Bud man. Anyway, let’s get back on subject.
1. After all the hardware was removed, I stripped the cabinet with a paint and varnish remover called “strip eze” It took about 3 times to get the old lacquer off. After the last time with the strip eze, I wiped the cabinet down with “mineral sprits” and a clean rag. I changed rags and continued this until I was sure all the old finish was removed. The toughest part of this was the white splatter paint on the bottom of the cabinet. I removed all this and will have a natural maple finish on the bottom.
2. After the cabinet was dry, about three days, I started sanding. The wood on top was rather smooth and didn’t require a lot of heavy sanding, but the bottom of the cabinet required more work. I did the finish sanding with various grits of sand paper. I mostly sanded the top with the sponge sanding blocks that one can purchase at Home Depot or Lowe’s. On the bottom I used a palm sander and the sponge sanding blocks to finish up. VERY IMPORTANT WARNING, BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THE INLAY WHEN SANDING. The inlay is very thin.
3. I started the finish process by taping off everything on the cabinets and the necks, except the inlay. Use a very good quality masking tape for this process because you wouldn’t want the stain to penetrate down to the inlay when the stain is sprayed on. Spray at least 2 good coats of sanding sealer on the inlay. This is a necessary step to insure the stain will not screw up the unique Sho-Bud inlay.
4. Remove all the masking tape and protective covering from the cabinet. Next, mask off the inlay on the cabinet and both sides of the necks. This is best accomplished with ¼ masking tape purchased from an auto parts store. This is the stuff the guys do the flame paint jobs on cars and motorcycles. After the masking tape is on, press the edges firmly to make sure the stain goes where we want.
5. Now for the most important and nerve wrecking step of the entire process, STAINIG. If you’re going for a natural maple finish, ignore the previous step. We used a blue concentrated stain from Stewart McDonald. The directions on the bottle didn’t exactly apply to our needs with the exception of needing to be diluted. We used denatured alcohol for dilution. We used a small Devilbiss Paint sprayer and Albert would put about ¾ of the can with alcohol and I would put the stain in until it looked good. Spraying is good because it allows you to gradually get the shade of color that suits your taste. Some guys like to wipe it on but that’s a little drastic for my talents. I might add that when you apply the lacquer finish, the color will be a little darker. I don’t know the reason for this, but it’s been my experience. When the desired color is reached, spray at least two coats of sanding sealer on the cabinet. Some light sanding can be done after the sealer is dry. Remove all the masking tape from the inlay.
6. The lacquer application. I used a brand of lacquer called “DEFT”. That might be spelled wrong but I got it from a paint store. I had previously used the same brand purchased from Loews’s. We have a special Sho-Bud jig that allows us to rotate a cabinet at any angle for spraying. We would spray a heavy coat and let it dry. Then the decal was applied. Spray a couple of light coats on the decal to seal it. Spray another heavy coat and let it dry. This process was repeated until we felt we had enough lacquer on the cabinet. I didn’t sand between coats because of the steps following. Let the lacquer dry for at least one week. Note: Make sure the humidity is low when spraying your lacquer.
7. Start the finish with 600 grit sand paper with a block of wood. Don’t do any freehand sanding because we are trying to get the lacquer finish completely level like glass. Don’t sand the corners because you might sand all the way to the maple. I’m pretty sure that would ruin what’s left of your day. You will notice some scratches in our pretty lacquer. Don’t push the panic button. The following steps will gradually decrease this until we acquire the finish we desire.
8. Next, use 800 grit sandpaper and the same sanding block. Change sand paper if it starts loading up. You will notice that the scratches are getting smaller.
9. Next, go to 1500 grit sandpaper and the same sanding block. For this step, you can use a little water to keep the sandpaper from loading up. Continue to stay away from the corners. The only freehand sanding I did was on the edges of the necks.
10. Next. the art of hand rubbing. Using an old worn towel, start rubbing the lacquer finish with Mcguiar’s #4 or Turtle Wax rubbing compound in the red or orange can. Rub like hell and then rub some more. You will notice that our scratches are getting even smaller.
11. Next, go to Mcguiar’s #7 and rub even harder than before. You will notice that the scratches are almost gone.
12. go to Mcguiar’s Scratch and swirl remover and rub like before. The scratches should have disappeared and the finish should look like the one below.
While describing the spraying proceedure, you will notice that I used "We". My good friend Albert Johnson did the spraying for me and gave advice when asked. His touch with a spray gun is far superior to mine.
Albert is the kind of person that makes me a better person just being around him.
The hand rubbing process was aided by the guidance of Dana Flood. I was going to post a picture of his lacquer Emmons but he didn't have it with him. Dana's Emmons is a natural finish that will stun you. Dana owns All Steel Guitar and him and Albert has established J&F products manufacturing speaker cabinets and racks. They also manufacture steel guitar cases and has introduced a split(two piece)case that allows you to put the guitar in one case and the legs, pedal bar and rods in the other. It's amazing how light your guitar is when you can distribute the weight equaly. That's about all for now. I'll post some photos of the undercarriage when I get done. Thaks for all the neat comments and support.
Leon[This message was edited by Leon Roberts on 17 February 2005 at 08:04 PM.] [This message was edited by Leon Roberts on 17 February 2005 at 08:12 PM.] [This message was edited by Leon Roberts on 18 February 2005 at 06:43 AM.] |
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kevin ryan
From:
San Marcos, California
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Posted 18 Feb 2005 6:50 am
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| Hey old friend....Looks mighty fine! |
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Leon Roberts
From:
Tallahassee,FL USA
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Posted 22 Feb 2005 6:52 pm
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Kevin Thanks for the compliment. I miss all you west coast guys. If you ever get an old Sho-Bud and want it refurbished, I’ll do it at my cost to make up for that SuperPro I sold you (LOL). My quest for improving my old Sho-Buds started when you brought your FRANKLIN over for me to adjust the return compensators. That guitar played so easy it was unbelievable. The only thing I disliked about the Franklin was the all white and black fret boards. These fret boards haven’t hindered Paul’s career and didn’t seem to bother you on Highway 40 Blues and other songs, but I’m pretty sure they would have caused me some mental anguish. I’m hoping to see you in Dallas. It was nice to hear from you.
Leon |
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Don Poland
From:
Hanover, PA.
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Posted 22 Feb 2005 8:35 pm
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Truly UNBELIEVABLE!!!! Leon, that Sho-Bud sure is finer than hair on a frogs butt. 
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1974 MSA D10 7+4 |
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Leon Roberts
From:
Tallahassee,FL USA
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Jim Ashton
From:
Malta, Ohio USA
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Posted 24 Feb 2005 4:34 pm
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Hey Leon,
Sure is a nice shirt you have on. Oh buy the way, The Sho-Bud looks pretty good also.
You are looking good. Picture of health.
Like to see you.
Your old friend
Jim Ashton
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D10 Mullen, hilton pedal
Nashville 1000
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Roger Edgington
From:
San Antonio, Texas USA
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Posted 25 Feb 2005 11:28 am
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Leon.
That is a beautiful Sho-Bud. I have a basket case just like it to rebuild. You and others are setting some pretty high standards for Sho-Bud rebuilds. Did you make the new changer fingers? Mine has single R/L with rack and barrel. Love the dark blue, mine was orginally maroon. |
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Leon Roberts
From:
Tallahassee,FL USA
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Posted 25 Feb 2005 7:38 pm
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Thanks for the compliment Roger, I replaced everything on the undercarriage with the exception of the curved knee levers. In my opinion if it’s a Sho-Bud, it should have curved knee levers. I purchased stock Sho-Bud raise and lowering bars, triple raise/double lower from Billy Ray of Rayline music in Jacksonville Florida. . The top part of the changers were machined from 6061 by Albert Johnson. I also had to machine out the aluminum changer housings to install the new changers. This was done on a small milling maching by me in Albert's shop. I machined the 14 hole pulling fingers from 6061 aluminum. All pedals and knee levers start and reach pitch at the same time. The end plate on the changer end was modified to provide access to the nylon tuners. This was done with a heli arc welder and a lot of filing, sanding and polishing. I will post photos of my improvements in a couple of days. The tone of the guitar is awesome. It’s my version of what a Sho-Bud should be. If anyone wants to see anything in particular I'll be glad to email close up photos.
Leon
[This message was edited by Leon Roberts on 25 February 2005 at 07:41 PM.] |
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Lem Smith
From:
Long Beach, MS
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Posted 26 Feb 2005 12:58 am
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Mr. Leon,
That blue "Bud" and your natural finished "Bud" are both absolutely gorgeous guitars! Your work is simply amazing!
Lem |
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Bob Carlucci
From:
Candor, New York, USA
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Posted 26 Feb 2005 5:14 am
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| Leon.. Stunning!!.. You should be very proud!!! I hope you play it in good health for another 50 years!!! bob |
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