Archtop Questions

[Mickguard]

If anyone has the answer to these questions, it'll be much appreciated!

I have an old Egmond archtop that I bought 'by accident'...it was retrofitted for a pickup, I'm selling that (a nice old Gibson pup) and putting something more retro in instead

But FIRST I have to refinish the thing. The previous owner made an absolute mess of it--he painted it, but I'm not what kind of paint he used. It's still soft...

Luckily, he painted right on top of the old finish, it won't be difficult to get it down to that and then refinish it from there.

BUT, I'll want to remove the neck and I'm not sure how to do it. It's not glued on --there's a single bolt running through the heel, and if I remove that, I can jiggle the neck about. But I don't want to force it ...is there a method for doing this? I'll want to get underneath the neck to get rid of the paint there.

I've abandoned the idea of replacing the neck with a strat-style neck. The old neck is pretty straight, even without a truss rod. The rosewood needs some loving care though.

BUT I thought about maybe shaving a bit off the neck while I'm at it, just a bit, just a little smaller....since an acoustic archtop like this was originally meant to take fairly heavy strings the neck should be pretty strong right? Especially if I put lighter strings on there?

[32251]

Sounds like the Gibson pu is worth more than the guitar.

Best to remove the new finish down to the old finish and then take some rubbing compound and see what the old finish looks like. Leave it on if you can. To refinish an archtop guitar correctly is expensive and a lot of work. Don't remove the neck, retighten the neck and don't shave any of the neck down. The guitar will be stronger and sound best with what is there. It is only an Egmond but it does not deserve to be stripped and the neck shaved. Put it back to original.

[Mickguard]

I sold the pup, got most of the price I paid for the guitar back...should never have bought this thing really, but I was afraid I'd start wanting to modify my old Hofner for a pickup, so I figured buying this would be safer!

What do you recommend for removing the old finish? I don't want to put chemicals on there. I figure I'll use a fairly high grade of sandpaper --problem is, the paint on there is so oily, I'm going to go through a lot....

I'll probably give the guitar to a friend who's been lusting after to my Hofner for a long time...

[sepultura999]

I have not refinished a guitar so if i sound like a moron here, please correct me.

I don't see how refinishing an archtop is more difficult then a solid body. The only tough thing i could think of is covering the F-holes and pickup cavities so you don't get paint in them (if you don't want to get paint in them ). I guess if you cut out some styrofoam and stuck multiple pieces in the F holes and pickup cavities and make it tall enough so you can put it in and pull it out would do the trick. Then just mask off the binding on the sides. This is just my opinion and again would wait until someone who has painted on hollowbodies explains why its a good idea or bad idea, but then again, the only way you learn is by doing right? lol.

-Jamie

[Jehle]

What about blowing up a balloon inside the body to hold a piece of cardboard from behind? That would work and you'd just have to pop the balloon to get it back out.

Put a piece of tape on the balloon and poke it with a pin. It'll deflate instead of popping.

[Mickguard]

What about blowing up a balloon inside the body to hold a piece of cardboard from behind?  That would work and you'd just have to pop the balloon to get it back out.

Put a piece of tape on the balloon and poke it with a pin.  It'll deflate instead of popping. 

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Excellent, excellent...!