RichardH Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 (edited) Yes, I know it's a skinny stringer, but thought I might as well document my meanderings... The guitarist aske me to look at a kill switch he'd (wrongly) installed on a guitar of his a while back, which I sorted out fine. So he asked if I could swap the pickups in an old PRS 24 SE of his. He bought it secondhand, and someone had done a horrible job of stripping the original finish and then varnishing it an unattractive brown. You can really see the quality of the finish in this first pic.... ...so I have offered to have a got at refinishing it with stains and oil. Edited February 8, 2021 by RichardH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardH Posted February 8, 2021 Author Share Posted February 8, 2021 Used some paint stripper first, and then sanded a lot.... thought I had done pretty well: Bit of a funny pale patch at the corner of the belly cut on the back, but should be ok.... Nope! Looks like there is a lot more finish to get off yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardH Posted February 8, 2021 Author Share Posted February 8, 2021 ....so a hell of a lot more sanding later, I tried some black stain (Crimson's water based Stunning Stains) as a reveal coat Quite an interesting purply hue to it, but that then all came off again... The yellower patches are where the panel wipe hadn't dried off yet. Either that it was my nose dripping in the cold ....and then a fresh coat of stain ...so that's where I am now. Am leaving that to dry/cure fully, then will be attempting a gentle sanding back to give a burst finish, then overlay some blue stain. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeftyJ Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 Nice job, I like the new colour so far! Was this a Standard 24, or did someone accidentally sand through the flamed maple veneer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 Yes - that second coat looks a lot better. It is always a surprise just how much hard work it is to actually sand fully back to the wood! Great stuff - look forward to seeing the result Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardH Posted February 8, 2021 Author Share Posted February 8, 2021 42 minutes ago, LeftyJ said: Nice job, I like the new colour so far! Was this a Standard 24, or did someone accidentally sand through the flamed maple veneer? Ah, I don't know the proper nomenclature of these things - I thought the SE just meant the far east models.... no, the top is definitely maple, so it is probably a plain one. I have a (slightly) mad idea to try and create a binding effect - once the stain is all on, go round with a sandpaper block and knock the edge off round the top - sanding it back has left it very "sharp" anyway, so I suspect it will wear - so I thought I could knock off enough to go through the stain.... might be a challenge at the bottom cutout though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeftyJ Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 3 minutes ago, RichardH said: Ah, I don't know the proper nomenclature of these things - I thought the SE just meant the far east models.... no, the top is definitely maple, so it is probably a plain one. PRS differentiates between the Standard 24 (I just looked it up, those are solid mahogany) and the Custom 24 (flamed maple top on the US models, flamed maple (or other exotic wood) veneer over a plain maple top on the SE's). By that logic, the one you're working on should be a Custom 24 that has lost its flamed veneer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 1 hour ago, RichardH said: someone had done a horrible job of stripping the original finish and then varnishing it an unattractive brown. What is wrong with people? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardH Posted February 8, 2021 Author Share Posted February 8, 2021 44 minutes ago, owen said: What is wrong with people? ...mind you, let's see what it looks like when I've finished with it before we judge too harshly.... 🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardH Posted February 13, 2021 Author Share Posted February 13, 2021 (edited) OK, did a bit last night... Sanded back the black to try adding a burst, but don't think I left enough black round the edges Thought I would do the back first, as it will be easier to hide the mistakes - so here it is immediately after the phthalo blue was applied. The black round the edges a bit feeble... This morning after it had cured (and in different light/exposure of course) ....then I added some black round the edges, using a separate cloth to merge the black and blue as well I could I found that I needed to apply a fair bit of pressure to get the colours to blend, which burnished things a bit. I am leaving it to cure now, then depending on how it looks, I will probably apply a bit more of the blue over the black to catch any gaps.... may need a bit more black in places to improve the fade up near the neck. Edited February 13, 2021 by RichardH 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardH Posted February 13, 2021 Author Share Posted February 13, 2021 Decided to have a bit more of a bash... second application on the back View from the workshop! ...and a first application of the blue to the front. My sanding of the initial black coat seems to have been more successful... we'll see how it looks once cured. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardH Posted February 17, 2021 Author Share Posted February 17, 2021 Couple more coats on now.... I'm going to get a couple more on before I do any buffing... still getting a tiny bit of stain pickup with the oil. The guitar is in a cold workshop, so each coat is taking some time to go off. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardH Posted June 9, 2021 Author Share Posted June 9, 2021 All done, finally. Kept going with the oil, then finished with a few coats of renaissance wax. I added indicators to the wooden knobs with a bit of cocktail stick. The guitarist had given me some Seymour Duncans to install in place of the original PRS pickups, so had to re-jig the wiring, but that went OK - the single coil settings on the push/pull knob sound decent, and the volume is pretty even whichever pickup(s) are selected, so job done! 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 Wow - that is luuuuuvvvverleeeee Beautiful job. Want that.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted June 9, 2021 Share Posted June 9, 2021 It looks very tactile. In a really good way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard R Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 21 hours ago, RichardH said: That's really nice! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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