Mansoor Posted May 7, 2011 Report Share Posted May 7, 2011 (edited) Hello everyone! As my first post how about it be a guitar project? I started this project a very long time ago, had to drop it for various reasons, but I have decided to pick it up again. I posted this on other guitar forums, I really don't know why I didn't post it here to begin with, you guys are so knowledgable it just seems sill in hindsight! Let's go! A relative of mine has this very old Hohner guitar, it's got what I guess is a sort of rediculous shark fin look. To me it has some sort of glam appeal to it. As for the sound, it's surprising, it's very tinny but in a sort of way that I think would work for say, 80s thrash. So here we go, progress so far: it's got an interesting look to it. Problem is it is very beat up, dusty, sticky. Has some sort of christmas glitter crap all over it. The Tuners are rusted and hardly work at all The bridge looks just as bad. The pots don't really work, and pushing them in seems to cut the guitar out (budget killswitch right there!). The guitar is covered in little dings, scratches, chips, marks etc Pretty natty fretboard aye? Found out the guitar is made out of plywood (don't know why I didn't notice it while stripping out the damn thing) but ah well, I guess it's better that I learn on something like this than something more costly. So my idea is this: Strip it down Remove the paint workSort out the dents and dingsRepaint itEither remove the rust from the metal bits and bobs, or buy new tuners and a bridgeSort out the fretboard, possibly paint the neck, at least refinish itPut it all together! My uncle paid no more than $30 for it, the idea being that if I can learn with this, and not risk losing alot of money if things go horribly wrong. Edited May 7, 2011 by Mansoor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mansoor Posted May 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2011 Let's begin... Oh boy...this is what really scares me What fell out upon further inspection I'm going to sleep on that bed, gonna be covered in wood chippings, rust and 30 year old dead skin. May polish this up, looks sweet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mansoor Posted May 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2011 (edited) So to strip the paint off I'll be doing it the chemical way, kind of feel that although it's messy, it shouldn't be too destructive to my wood, although I'm **** scared about what will happen to the glue and my skin if it comes into contact haha! Didn't want to ruin any of the unused tools we have in the house so I bought a new set of everything, probably shouldn't have cost this much but all together it was roughly £40 for paint stripping equipment and precautions. Should do the trick! I hear this is pretty nasty stuff, I can't wait to see it in action (not on my skin XD) Gonna use a tiny bit to clean up the guitar after, hope it doesn't affect the wood (like tint it purple >.<) I should have bought plastic, I'll have to be extra careful when stripping off the bubbling paint. Cheapo brush set that will probably melt on contact of paint stripper Overkill! But might be good for the spray paints Hope these gloves are good enough from inevitable spillage Sand paper for finishing off! Edited May 7, 2011 by Mansoor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mansoor Posted May 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2011 Right then, the big moment! Slapped some chemical paint stripper on, and it did a fairly decent job! Yes it was messy but works really well in my opinion. Mind you I still had to sand certain parts, but that was probably due to my stupidity more than anything. Also never use a metal shaver like I did, unless you're super careful gouging thin lines in your guitar isn't fun, especially when trying to sand them out... So long as you're careful you won't burn yourself with the stuff, it actually has some sort of gas build up in it, I jumped a mile when opening the paint remover tin. For the record, I love watching paint bubble I didn't really layer it on too well, but it did its job, despite being a messy one. Oooooo I highly recommend this paint stripper, worked very well. Don't let the stuff dry, it becomes a bit annoying to remove the stuff after that has happened, but adding a bit more can solve that problem. Brushing a thin layer for 5 minutes followed by a thick layer for about 10+ minutes seemed to have a good effect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mansoor Posted May 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2011 (edited) Lots of goopy residue, thats where the spirit came in handy and an old t-shirt! Aaaaand the aftermath of the sanding to clean up Went a bit far there There's alot of this crystalized crap/residue on the body, I can't seem to sand it off too well, I'm not sure if I should just leave it seeing as I'm doing a solid color for the guitar. Yeah I'll clean those out soon... Aftermath of my reckless scraping from that diabolical shaver It was quite tough to sandthrough, I assume I'm hitting the wood sealer or something? Edited May 7, 2011 by Mansoor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaycee Posted May 8, 2011 Report Share Posted May 8, 2011 Thats a nice project you got goin on. A good soaking of the hardware with wd 40 may help to clean them up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mansoor Posted May 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2011 (edited) Hey thanks, I'll give it a go! You see the problem with a cheap old guitar like this, is how much money is it worth spending on the thing, so if I can bring the original hardware to working order then so much the better. I'm doing this purely for the learning process and experience, but if I can keep the cost down without much sacrifice in quality, I'd consider doing so Little update, I think I'll be priming the guitar today, my target is 3 thin coats (more if needed), sanding between them until I get a nice smooth finish that is completely covered. Any Suggestions for making that large hole smaller? My Acrylic Primer Back soon! Edited May 8, 2011 by Mansoor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauliemc Posted May 8, 2011 Report Share Posted May 8, 2011 you could always run a hardwood dowel onto the screw hole then redrill it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mansoor Posted May 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2011 (edited) Any risk in it cracking the plywood around it? Sounds like a good plan otherwise. BTW Hope this thread is in the slightest bit interesting, I thought it might be a good idea to try take pictures as I go. Edited May 8, 2011 by Mansoor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaycee Posted May 8, 2011 Report Share Posted May 8, 2011 Any risk in it cracking the plywood around it? Sounds like a good plan otherwise. As long as the dowel doesn't have to be knocked in with a sledge hammer it should be ok. A nice snug fit will do with some glue. If for some reason you can't find the correct diameter dowel then buy something as close to the hole size as you can with a drill bit the same size i.e. 5mm dowel and a 5mm bit. B&Q should help out there, from your pics I guess your in the UK? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mansoor Posted May 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 Yeah I live in the UK, I'll try head down to B&Q at some point. Thank you so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mansoor Posted May 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 (edited) OK update, I primed it yesterday But disaster! It started to rain when I was in the middle of it. Here's the aftermath... I began to panic, made a hash of things as the rain made the paint drip and become extremely uneven Nasty job I know, I've since started to work on correcting all of this mess, it's alot better now but still not quite right. Any tips for sanding the primer and making sure it's all level? I'm doing the best job I can but I can't help going through to the wood sometimes. Edited May 9, 2011 by Mansoor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muzz Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 DON'T PANIC It's often repeated but good advice, practice on scrap. Let the guitar dry, sand it smooth, practice your spraying technique then keep spraying the guitar, you'll be fine. Check out my Hondo Bass Renno or any one of a thousand posts on painting to get some tips, good luck with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaycee Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 (edited) +1 ...on don't panic. I would be looking for at least 3 coats before you start to level the paint out, with scratch coats using 320 grit (ish) paper inbetween coats. Before that you should have got the body as flat as possible. P.S. before you dp anything else tidy your bedroom up!!! Edited May 9, 2011 by jaycee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mansoor Posted May 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 (edited) Yes sir, my room will be clean for my next set of pictures I swear most the mess (in the pictures at least ) Are for the guitar! Yeah I sanded it as flat as I could before painting, can I ask what a scratch coat is (I'll google it now, hah) does it matter that I kinda went over with an entire can of primer? I guess I'll sand it back to get it even anyway. Thank's muzz for the reassurance, I have calmed down and continued work on the guitar in a careful manner, I managed to use up an entire bottle of primer on the guitar, I'm going out later to get some. I'll practice on some scrap before moving on to the guitar. pics will be up when my room is tidy I will check out your build thread for sure muzz, thanks for the suggestion! Edited May 9, 2011 by Mansoor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaycee Posted May 9, 2011 Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 Opps how did the word "coats" get in there? just scratch the suface of the paint lightly with the sandpaper before the next coat. Lots of thin coats is much better than a few thick layers, and the better primer/undercoat stage is, the easier the top coats will be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mansoor Posted May 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2011 (edited) Ok great! I'll update tommorow but I've gotten it alot cleaner than the pictures I've shown. I need to get another can of primer and I'll take all the advice you guys (thanks jay, thanks muzz!) have given me so far to practice. And yeah it makes sense about the primer, I'd rather not try get too messy with the top coats if I can help it so that sounds logical. Edited May 9, 2011 by Mansoor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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