NOLA Trey

Awesome! That axe is beautiful.

Thanks everyone for your kind replies. All told, the hardest part was re-scraping the binding after over-sanding the body in a few places. My thumb still feels a little numb. I am looking for before pics but I have not been able to find them. I should have been more diligent. I will be on these projects from now on. Funny you brought that up. I have been in contact with Gibson and they will not sell me parts directly. They did offer to "evaluate" my guitar for $75 plus shipping. Seems my "cause" is not worthy to big "G". In reality, all I really need for the 335 is the paper laminate headstock cover (yes, paper!). They will NOT sell me anything with their logo. So, I'm going to try and run some tin wood through my laser printer and use gold transfer foil. I will likely add a little note like "Yes, it's real--check the serial number." or something smart like that. I want them to cringe a little if the thing ever shows up in media. I'll take pics of the 335 and post a separate thread at some time. You guys are really darn good! I have a lot of learning to do. . .

Hello fellow guitar fans, I recently found this forum and have been glued to it over the holidays. Great info on here! So, I thought I should get involved and introduce myself. My name is Trey and I am primarily a guitar and bass player when I am not working at my day job (BSEE) or working on my podcast. I guess one could call me a very amateur luthier with a strong bias toward finish work, as I used to own a shop that restored vintage cars-so I am no stranger to a spray gun! I live in New Orleans, LA and lost about $30K worth of instruments and equipment when Hurricane Katrina left my practice studio under 8 feet of sewerage-laced water for three weeks (please don't cry for me--that stuff is well over. I just want all to understand that which I'm working with.). I have decided to see just how much of the valuable instruments lost can be restored. Guitar-wise, there are a total of 4 that have any hope ( well, there were 5 but the 5th was not mine and he opted to toss it). Currently, I'm hacking together a Gibson 335 dot (circa 2002). It is almost ready for refinishing. I just finished the Steinberger GM4TA my (now deceased) mother bought me for my birthday in 1987. While "cool" at the time, it remained one of my least favorite guitars, save for its portability. After the storm damage, all the black paint was sloughing off, the body split in two halves and all the electronics were tossed. The Trans-Trem remained well in-tact and cleaned up nicely. I kept all these instruments in A/C controlled environs after washing them down with fresh water upon receipt. They were disassembled, their parts bagged, labeled and eventually cleaned (if possible). The Stein is the first to be (almost) finished. I now love this guitar! The funky water and mold really stained the grain of the paint-grade maple body. So, I decided to take advantage of the cool "pseudo-spalding" and give it a natural finish, albeit with a little help from some colorant. I think I shot about 14 coats of nitro, let it age a few weeks then hand polished it with auto polish i had on hand. The active pickups had long been replaced with passives and still work well ( the middle pickup was added during the rebuild to fill the hole). This is a new instrument! I know people poo-poo the nitro vs. poly finish argument but even unplugged, this instrument "sings" more than it did before. Furthermore, all the blemishes from rot make the finish beautiful in it's own way. To wit, when I'm done rebuilding these carcasses, I'm amped to build some guitars from scratch. KPG--Katrina Patina Guitars, I'm thinking. Anyway, let me know what you think! http://i449.photobucket.com/albums/qq212/tmccay/stein.jpg