First Refinishing

[smileynumber13]

Well, I decided I would refinish my guitar mostly because the old paint was boring and the flames my friend put on were chipping off. So I dissasembled the guitar and today I began sanding. I've aslo created a new headstock logo and some design for the body... let me know what you think!

This is what the guitar looked like after my friend put the flames on:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/smil...itar/bottom.jpg

It looked really cool, they changed color, and he made a custom clear sandblasted pickguard for it. It's just the flames were 1) on top of the factory finish and 2) had little or no clear coat, so they began to rub off. he also cut them in with an X-acto knife and left grooves in the finish. Therefore, refinishing time.

I took it apart:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/smil...itar/parts1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/smil...uitar/body1.jpg

After that I had to wait until I got my sander... so I worked on the design for the body:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/smil...r/hibiscus1.jpg

I want it to be stained with this sort of design ini black on the body. I am still debating painting or using black epoxy to fill in a shallow engraving.

I also put together a new headstock logo. Now much different from the original, but it goes with the body:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/smil...stockdesign.jpg

Today I began sanding, this is how far I got:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/smil...ndbackdone2.jpg

I didn't go through the clear yet, because I want to use a finer grit and not damage the wood underneath. I'm assuming I will have to do the contours by hand... I started on the flat areas of the front as well. I'm not going to sand out the cavities, only because I think he sprayed over the insulating paint stuff.

Here is a test of the stain color:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/smil...r/staintest.jpg

Let me know what you think, please... input is very important to me, especially since I am new at this. Thank you!

[SamIAmUBUF]

I really like the flower. I did something similar on a refinishing project

Keep us up to date on how it's going

Edited February 2, 2006 by Maiden69

[smileynumber13]

Hey, thanks for the comment... I notice you like Project 86... great band..

Just out of curiousity, do you have any pics from that refinishing?

Thanks again...!

[smileynumber13]

Well, I haven't done very much except sand, and even then not so much.. mostly because 1. I have been incredibly busy with school and work, and 2. It's winter and cold, or was. Now that it's getting warmer I'm getting back into the project. I would have done a mock up by now but my computer's not in working order (ie. the charger doesn't work and the pin on it is stuck in the computer, thank God for warranties) So while at school for a midterm, I made a mock up just for the heck of it. I know the curves under the neck aren't perfect, forgive me, they don't look like that and won't on the guitar.

Hopefully it shows up more reddish than brownish. All depends on the monitor. Anyway, that's the plan, ignore the black around the edges, that's just the line art I made. (Though, it would look mighty nice) Eh, just for good measure, here's the line art...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/smil...itar/grx201.gif

If anyone needs this done for a guitar let me know. Take care!

Edited March 9, 2006 by smileynumber13

[smileynumber13]

Ok well, it's been awhile and I apologize. School was nutso, and it was too cold to be outside a lot of the winter. At any rate... I have gotten very disgruntled with this project.

I sanded down to bare wood on both sides of the body, and was feelin very accomplished with myself. I noticed around the edges of the horns there was still a little discoloration on the front, and I not thinking, assumed it was leftover clear that I missed. So I sanded it more, and it got bigger. I realized, hey, there's a veneer on this wood. Naturally, that's enough to stop me from being able to stain the front right there. That's when I realized why the grain was different on the contours. So I sanded down to the real wood and was sadly dissapointed. This body is made up of approximately 5 pieces of wood, all of which have a noticable join line in between them, and different grain patterns. There's also a large knot on one of the pieces, that has gaps in it that I now have to fill.

This is just the front, I didn't do the back like this because I don't want to see it.

So I guess you live and you learn, eh? Either way, I am frustrated, so I spoke with a friend of mine about painting and he's going to do it up for me. (He's done his own guitar and works as a painter at a car shop). So just as an update, the guitar will end up being a solid color again, and Ibanez GRX's have a veneer. The end. Hehe.

Anyway I'll post pics when I get it done regardless.

[Jon]

So you're positive you're going to paint it? If all of the woods are light colors, a darker colored stain may pull them all together and make a cool contrast. It's worth a try, staining takes much less time than painting.

[smileynumber13]

Yea... if the grain went all one way it would look really neat, but it just looks really.... off for a guitar body... I'll post pics as soon as I get them... it still might be worth a try...

So yea, I'm thinking of some nice colors now, though I still might see about the flower, depending on what color I make it. I'm thinking burnt orange metallic, cause if I can't stain it then it's going to be a sick color.

[Jai_Guitars]

I like the mock up you made. The flower design is cool, def. go with that. Actually I think a brown guitar with the black design u made would look sweet.

[smileynumber13]

All right, digging up old posts! Over a year later, I am finally working on this project again.

Here's the low down: After I started sanding, I got really excited because the grain underneath the paint was pretty nice. I noticed it wasn't the same on the arm curve, but I thought nothing of it and kept going. As I got through the paint, I saw some discoloration along the edge. Thinking this was some clear underneath coat I missed, I sanded it more, only to find it growing bigger. This is when I realized there was a veneer on the guitar.

Needless to say, the wood underneath was awful.. I think it was four different pieces of wood and the piece visible right near the pickguard (close to where I had wanted my flower) had a huge and gap-filled knot.

I got really disgusted after this and so I started thinking up ideas on how to finish it again. I finally settled on some AWESOME flip-flop paint, but my not so smart self went waaayy to fast, didn't seal the wood right, etc. So while the paint looks amazing, the grain was showing and all that lovely stuff. (Though I will say, the headstock turned out quite nice looking.)

I put it together for a while and goofed off with it/let my brother play it. But I got really tired of looking at the awful paint job I did, so I took it apart again. It's been a few months, but I finally decided on a finish again.

So as we speak, there is a piece of material drying on top of the body. I was so sick of it that I wanted something comical and bought this black material with rainbow smiley faces. It's amusing all right. I am only going to do the front and my brother (who the guitar is going to) has requested a pink smiley face on the headstock to add to the comedy.

Anyway, that's the low down. I'm a year older and wiser and have more appropriate materials this time around. I will get pictures as it progresses, just so you can get some laughs!