My first refinishing project/lesson

[JackyB]

Hopefully someone can learn from my mistakes...

I'm thoroughly disappointed in almost every regard the way this guitar turned out. Granted, I wasn't expecting much to come out of this. I've found that the best way to figure stuff out is to figure it out for yourself. I went into this project with a neglected Fender Newporter I bought for $40, an electric sander, some polyurethane, a paint brush, and my basic knowledge of woodworking from helping out in home improvement projects.

My initial plan was to disassemble, clean and polish all the hardware, sand down the current busted finish, and refinish it. Sounded simple enough, yes? After procrastinating for almost 4 months, I finally cracked down to business. I bought some gloss polyurethane from Ace Hardware and a small paint brush. After I sanded everything down, I started to apply the poly with the brush. I quickly found out that this wasn’t going to work out the way I wanted. The brush marks were clearly visible even after it dried. I wet sanded it down and tried again. Same results, only a little better.

My girlfriend tells me that you’re supposed to apply poly with a rag for best results (She thought I was still trying to stain it.) I figured this was worth a shot, so I tried applying it with a rag. I put on several (5-6) very thin layers of poly and I was still not satisfied. When I came in out of the sun, I noticed several small white specs in the finish. Several small fuzzies came off of the cotton rag my girlfriend gave me to use… There was also lots of drippage along the side. And the whole thing sanded unevenly because the whole body was warped from being in a moist climate. At this point I didn’t even care anymore, the whole project seemed FUBAR. I was simply tired of sanding and refinishing and not seeing any good results.

Things to fix before my next project: I need to come into the project with a better attitude. Impatience was probably a bit setback for me because I took a lot of short cuts that I really shouldn’t have. I also learned that it’s far too difficult to get a mirror finish with a brush. Next time I’m going to spray it. I think spraying would solve a lot of the problems I faced with the poly.

I'll be selling this on ebay, so I'll post a link to the auction if anybody's interested.

Here is a link to my original thread:

http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/index.ph...wtopic=8481&hl=

As promised, here are the pictures:

Over view of the face. Doesn't look too bad.

The huge crack actually looks better than it was before, even though it's sanded unevenly.

Lighted view of the back. Notice the waviness. The white specs are pieces of cotton from my rag I used to apply the poly.

Another overview of the back just to show how bad it is.

The back of the headstock. It actually turned out okay. (The only thing that turned out okay.)

I'd like to point out that the tuners are useless and it was a pain in the ass to string.

Overview of the fretboard.

Angled view to show my sloppy job on the headstock. It makes me want to cry, too.

A good view of the drippage, and some more white specs.

I didn't tape over this, so there's poly all over it.

[JackyB]

Some poly dripped over onto the fretboard. I attempted to sand it away, and failed.

This is to show that the pick guard isn't level with the face, even though it's screwed down. I don't know what happened because it wasn't like this before.

[Ki swordsman]

don't let it get ya down,

i'm sure many people on here have had failed guitars

it's all about learning

[www]

How true that is!

[Alexander]

Man that's a sad story, but I think you're right to look at it the way you have - "I made mistakes, but I learned from them". At the end of the day you can read a hundred books but actually doing it is the best way to learn, until then it's all theory. IMO.

[Guest AlexVDL]

I'd like to point out that the tuners are useless and it was a pain in the ass to string.

Hehehe.. that's because you didn't use them like you should

Measure about 2" past the tuning post of the string you’re changing and cut the string. Now stick the cut string end down the centre hole of the post and start winding. Cutting the string like this you’ll have about 3 windings on the string post and once again be sure to wind from the top down!

[JackyB]

Hehehe.. that's because you didn't use them like you should

Measure about 2" past the tuning post of the string you’re changing and cut the string. Now stick the cut string end down the centre hole of the post and start winding. Cutting the string like this you’ll have about 3 windings on the string post and once again be sure to wind from the top down!

That's exactly what I usually do, but I got confused because it's been a long time since I've strung a guitar. And when I wind it I let it wind once above where the string enters the post and the rest below it.

[truerussian558]

i did a polyeurythane on my project, and it really is a pain to work with (at least for me), i applied it with a brush (the plan was to brush on the clear, and then stain it a little bit so that it makes the gold kinda brownish), and then appoly with a rag, in the end it screwed up, the stain just kinda floated around on the guitar and didnt dry while the laquer dried, and i basically washed off the stain, even worse the places where i sanded a bit to make it smooth apperently got under the clear, and stained the gold. total mess up.

in the end though I went and got some duplicolor gold and painted over the orignal gold, then i painted with this kinda brownish gold that when i sprayed it on, gave it a really nice brownish gold (call it goldenrod ) look (instead of a cheap toy look) and then used shelac. it really is pretty good (im still not done though) shelac was a breeze compared to the poly.

[Southpa]

Don't sell the guitar, make it right. Its a good inexpensive unit to practice on (playing AND fixing). Disassemble it, get some 180 grit and sand it right back to the wood. Use a rigid block on the flat surfaces and a sponge block on the curves. Your paper might gum up a bit so have plenty on hand. Its an all mahogany guitar so you will need some grain filler, sanding sealer and then you can apply your clear. I've learned a long time ago that the finish, on ANYTHING be it cars or guitars, takes time, patience and some money.

Yes, you are right about the spraying, at least for the sides. But you can also get a reasonably smooth, clear finish by using a sponge applicator on the front and back as long as they are level. Brushing only leaves brush marks if the poly is applied too sparingly and applying with rags is only for thin dyes and stains that soak into the wood. Find yourself some mahogany scraps to practice finishes, tools and techniques on, then when (not if) you get good results you can use similar on the guitar.

I know, you get sick of it after a while. Thats when you should put it on a shelf and go elsewhere for a breather. I've had to sand back some guitars more times than I can count because I wasn't satisfied with some areas. But don't give up just yet!

[american_jesus]

hey man, dont sell it off, that's a giant waste of your time and money. you spent the time to do a sub par job, one that you yourself feel is all wrong. why let that time go right out the window, as well as some money down the drain? pick it back up, strip it(i reccomend you use a chemical stripper rather than sanding, much better results all around), then spray it, and be done with it. if you want to sell it afterwards, you'll at least pick up some extra money, rather than selling the guitar as aproject got $15.

and i feel your pain. i redid my jackson, three times. first time i scuffed up the finish and sprayed over it, didn't work. the finish bubbled up all over. next i stripped it with sandpaper, and had shitty results with the wood, so i covered everything up, made it all smooth, sprayed, and it came out crap. so finally took my time, chemically stripped the paint, filled the grain, prepped, sprayed, finished up, sanded and it came out great. you just gotta take your time. if you screw up, well, just start again. it's a pisser, but you'll be happy with yourself in the end.