Kiwi Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 Its not just Fairy that can be used, either... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6dNJwvpgEo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6dNJwvpgEo[/url] [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNbLntHDG9Q"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNbLntHDG9Q[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merello Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Great find - customise till your hearts content! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted January 12, 2014 Author Share Posted January 12, 2014 (edited) [quote name='merello' timestamp='1388687957' post='2324893']Great find - customise till your hearts content![/quote] I found some time over the Christmas holiday to finally have a tinker with this guitar. Since buying it I'd confirmed it to be a 1975 Luxor Strat - not sure whether that makes it a 'lawsuit fake' (?), but I was keen to spruce it up a little and restore it as best I could. Here's how I got on... First step was to take a peek beneath the pickguard and sure enough, it had the same sunburst finish I'd anticipated. Also confirmed the wood as being ash. Good start! Next step was to remove the white emulsion paint. To do that I used brown Dettol. I sponged it all over the body; wrapped the body in absorbent kitchen roll; poured on more brown Dettol; wrapped it in cling-film and left it overnight. I also filled up a couple of jam jars with Dettol to soak the various metal and plastic components (knobs, screws, bridge, tremolo plate, jack socket, etc) as most of these had paint on them too. The next day I unwrapped the body and began scrubbing. The trick to using Dettol is not to wash it off with water - that just causes the paint to solidify - so instead it's a case of donning some Marigolds and a bathroom scrubbing brush and applying some elbow grease. It took a while but eventually I got rid of the white emulsion (had I soaked the body for another night it probably would have been an even easier job). Beneath I found a fairly nice-looking finish! Classic '70s sunburst with lots of playing wear and a mean buckle rash on the back. Edited January 12, 2014 by Skol303 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted January 12, 2014 Author Share Posted January 12, 2014 (edited) This was where I had I dilemma - do I try to save the original finish and restore it as a 'relic', or do I refinish it? Trouble was, the body has been wire-brushed (or something similar) prior to the white emulsion being painted on - I assume by the previous owner - which meant that emulsion paint had worked its way into every tiny crack in the finish. The only way to restore it would be to strip what remained of the original lacquer and start again. And quite frankly, I couldn't be arsed. So instead, I bought some nitrocellulose paint… …and began spraying. A full can of white primer. Followed by a can of Taos Turqoise. And lastly, a can of clear gloss lacquer. I learned an important lesson during the spraying: and that's to avoid using nitro-lacquers in cold, humid conditions! At one point, during the clear gloss coat, I ended up with some really bad clouding/blushing (caused by water condensing and getting trapped beneath the lacquer). I managed to solve it by gentled wet-sanding the affected areas and carrying on with the spraying - after setting up a fan heater in the garage! Not ideal and not something I'd recommend, but I was impatient and it was a £20 guitar. So what the heck. In the end I got lucky and the finish turned out great - no sign of the previous blushing at all - but it was so nearly a disaster! By now the metal components I'd been soaking in Dettol had come up a treat - very shiny and some of them almost 'as new'. Meanwhile I'd cleaned up the neck and removed all the vintage '70s finger gunk from the frets using a toothpick (mmm, finger gunk). So it was time to re-assemble. Edited January 12, 2014 by Skol303 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted January 12, 2014 Author Share Posted January 12, 2014 I called on the skills of my dear old dad to put the electrics back together. He's an artist with a soldering iron and did a superb job of it - even using vintage solder! The loose earth wire got fixed (which had been causing all kinds of hum previously). We found that the neck pickup is well and truly kaput, but that the middle and bridge p'ups are in fine working order. That'll do me just fine. So here's what the finished job looks like: I'm very happy with it - definitely a keeper. All I need to do now is learn how to play it! Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jalapeno Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Excellent work sir !!!! Very tasty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Great job. That looks really cool. Well done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldG Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 [quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1389495182' post='2334863'] I called on the skills of my dear old dad to put the electrics back together. He's an artist with a soldering iron and did a superb job of it - even using vintage solder! [/quote] Good old dad! Old lead solder works really well - although the fumes are best not inhaled... [quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1389495182' post='2334863'] The loose earth wire got fixed (which had been causing all kinds of hum previously). We found that the neck pickup is well and truly kaput, but that the middle and bridge p'ups are in fine working order. That'll do me just fine.[/quote] The neck pickup on a strat is one of the most useable imho - certainly the warmest, missing out one of the best 'strat' tones without it.... looking at the guitar, I'd be tempted to pop some shiny chrome lipsticks in there... .like these [media]http://youtu.be/dfL-7FqYLOM[/media] [quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1389495182' post='2334863'] So here's what the finished job looks like: I'm very happy with it - definitely a keeper. All I need to do now is learn how to play it! Paul [/quote] With a gentle touch compared to your bass! root,fifth and octave played together will give you a power chord - overdrive it for instant attitude... get to know the pentatonic scale positions for soloing and checkout someone like Justin... [url="http://www.justinguitar.com/"]http://www.justinguitar.com/[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freddy Le Cragg Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Such a shame the 'burst wasn't salvageable... but the blue really works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 Nice work, like it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumnote Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 very nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted January 13, 2014 Author Share Posted January 13, 2014 Cheers folks! Glad you all like the look of it... and thanks for the playing tips too. I had a noodle on it last night - haven't had much chance since I finished it - and I'm finding it very fun to play. Not that I have any guitar experience to compare it against! But the action is nice and it stays in tune very well. A good start. My old man has found a strat pickup that I might use to replace the faulty one at the neck end. And it's currently missing a grub screw in the bridge. Other than that it's in good nick. I'll be playing it with my teeth in no time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oggiesnr Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Open G tuning and a bottleneck! Three chord trick sorted in about sixty seconds Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the boy Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 [quote name='oggiesnr' timestamp='1389655156' post='2336737'] Open G tuning and a bottleneck! Three chord trick sorted in about sixty seconds Steve [/quote] Good advice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Immo Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Once again surprised how great effect can be achieved by using a can spray, even if it's designed for guitars. I have a P-Bass body needing a nice refin, now I'm tempted even more, however I'm afraid I won't be able to buy "Manchester Guitar Tech" canned nitro lacquer in Poland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted January 25, 2014 Author Share Posted January 25, 2014 [quote name='oggiesnr' timestamp='1389655156' post='2336737']Open G tuning and a bottleneck! Three chord trick sorted in about sixty seconds[/quote] I almost did exactly that for this month's composition competition! I'm actually thinking of trying some slide guitar... love the sound of it. [quote name='Immo' timestamp='1390520900' post='2346518']Once again surprised how great effect can be achieved by using a can spray, even if it's designed for guitars. I have a P-Bass body needing a nice refin, now I'm tempted even more, however I'm afraid I won't be able to buy "Manchester Guitar Tech" canned nitro lacquer in Poland [/quote] I just has a quick check and unfortunately Steve (Manchester Guitar Tech) doesn't post overseas - there are tight regulations about shipping spray paint. He does however suggest this supplier in Sweden offering similar products - and they might be able to ship across Europe? http://gitarrdelar.se Otherwise you could try nitrocellulose car lacquer. I've heard good things from other people who've used it. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted September 27, 2014 Author Share Posted September 27, 2014 I'm thinking of buying a tremlo bar for this guitar. Question is... will a standard Fender tremlo fit this, bearing in mind that it's an old Japanese copy? I.e. am I likely to fall foul of metric/imperial problems when it comes to fitting it? Or is the screw size standard on these things? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 [quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1411808968' post='2562929'] I'm thinking of buying a tremlo bar for this guitar. Question is... will a standard Fender tremlo fit this, bearing in mind that it's an old Japanese copy? I.e. am I likely to fall foul of metric/imperial problems when it comes to fitting it? Or is the screw size standard on these things? [/quote] Should be a standard 5mm mate. My advice is to get a short Gilmour bar, the usual length is too long in my opinion, plenty of Gilmours on ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted October 9, 2014 Author Share Posted October 9, 2014 [quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1411818886' post='2563049'] Should be a standard 5mm mate. My advice is to get a short Gilmour bar, the usual length is too long in my opinion, plenty of Gilmours on ebay. [/quote] That's great, cheers Nige! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Houghton Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Very nice refurbish job Skol I'm impressed, I have just got into guitar and have an Epiphone LP its great for the purpose, bought a Blackstar HT-5 watt amp for recording a couple of days ago, awesome amp for home studio use with really nice tones with an effects loop. Check out this site [url="http://justinguitar.com/"]http://justinguitar.com/[/url] (weird can paste the link here but cant in share music thread) Great free lessons on all things six string related. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 good stuff, it matches your hair nicely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skol303 Posted October 30, 2014 Author Share Posted October 30, 2014 [quote name='xilddx' timestamp='1411818886' post='2563049']My advice is to get a short Gilmour bar, the usual length is too long in my opinion, plenty of Gilmours on ebay.[/quote] Just received delivery of one! Cost me about a tenner plus a few quid in shipping from the US. Fits perfectly and does the job just fine. Cheers for the tip, Nige [quote name='Stephen Houghton' timestamp='1412993863' post='2573996'] Very nice refurbish job Skol I'm impressed, I have just got into guitar and have an Epiphone LP its great for the purpose, bought a Blackstar HT-5 watt amp for recording a couple of days ago, awesome amp for home studio use with really nice tones with an effects loop. Check out this site [url="http://justinguitar.com/"]http://justinguitar.com/[/url] (weird can paste the link here but cant in share music thread) Great free lessons on all things six string related. [/quote] Thanks Steve! That website looks useful. I'm slowly getting my head around chord changes, but also still plucking individual strings 'finger style', as though playing a tiny bass. Don't think it's a habit I'm going to be able to shift... so that may well become my own 'signature' guitar style [quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1414675754' post='2592112'] good stuff, it matches your hair nicely [/quote] Haha! Indeed it does Although I've yet to join the blue rinse brigade IRL... I'm a pasty Celtic ginger by heritage, which is colourful enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 Your avatar would suggest otherwise.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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