aonindy Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 Hi All, I acquired what according to the serial seems to be a 1990s De Armond Guild Starfire: [attachment=49997:Starfire.jpg] For what on the face of it is a ten year old hollowbody bass, its in surprisingly good nick, a few minor scratches, but mainly bloody dirty, generally uncared for and could do with a nice setup (oh and an ever so thumpy set of flats!). Not having done this before I'd appreciate if you hexperts could guide me on the cleanup job! (1) The fretboard is minging .... I removed the strings (with gloves...) and they have been ditched. The board is grease and muck city ... even an initial clean with water and paper has brought a lot of the muck off. The fret edges however are "green" dirty ... reading the wisdom in other posts, it seems the best way to tackle this is with lght steel wool? (after first masking off the pups just in case!) (2) I am missing the tip of the pup selector switch - screw tip non existant - solution = remove the switch and replace? [attachment=49999:SelectorSwitch.jpg] (3) The pups themselves and most of the hardware is quite tarnished. Again, with gentle rubbing and water I removed some layers of obvious grub .... next step = brasso/silvo? (I have screwed out the screws and placed them in vinegar .. see how they look in the morning [attachment=50000:Pup.jpg] (4) There is a nice chip of lacquer taken off a top corner of the headstock ... any advice on this? [attachment=50001:Lac_Chipped.jpg] (5) Finally!! .... any other advice for generally cleaning up the overall body laquer / shining it / restoring it a tad? thanks all! Allen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberthot Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 (edited) When I get a m*nger of the bass variety, the first thing I do is completely strip it down. Lemon oil onto the fretboard to give it a good clean. Mask off the frets and use 000 grade steel wool from B&Q etc to take the crap off the frets. Take the hardware and fire it into a container of cheap cola for a day or so depending on how bad it is. Do this with the pickup covers if they separate from the pickups. cleaning the body really depends on the finish. I bought a bottle of dark blue Colour Magic car polish in the early 90s and I'm still using it to clean up basses and it makes it smell like bubble gum. Febreeze to the case if it has one Assemble and set up and your good to go - this is also the time to put a shim in the neck if it needs one Easy to replace the switch - remove first wire from old switch and solder to same connector of new switch, remove other wire and solder it to matching connector on the new one and Bob's your auntie's live-in lover Edited May 17, 2010 by Delberthot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbyrne Posted May 17, 2010 Share Posted May 17, 2010 The only tip I give to you is to be dead careful(!) cleaning the top of those pickups - the foil on Guild GoldenTones comes off pretty easily. G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aonindy Posted May 17, 2010 Author Share Posted May 17, 2010 (edited) @ Dell - thank thee kindly sir! .... went at the rest of the hardware just now (not the cleverest thing to do after a glass!) and thouht it smarter to seperate the parts from the different sections into seperate glasses of vinegar! @ Geoff - ya, I've noticed - delicate is not the word! ... one of them already has a sizable chunk of the foil gone ... I'm actually wondering if its worth carefully scraping it all off and brushing on fresh goldfoil?! Any advice on the chunk of laquer gone on the headstock? ... Edited May 17, 2010 by aonindy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancient Mariner Posted May 19, 2010 Share Posted May 19, 2010 [quote name='aonindy' post='840391' date='May 17 2010, 11:57 PM']Any advice on the chunk of laquer gone on the headstock? ...[/quote] Black nail varnish for a quick and dirty repair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7string Posted May 25, 2010 Share Posted May 25, 2010 (edited) If you want to build up that headstock chip, try some stick shellac. You heat it until it goes like putty and then shape it into place. Here's a [url="http://www.frets.com/fretspages/luthier/Technique/Finish/StickShellac/sticklac1.html"]link[/url] which shows the process. When cleaning, don't underestimate the properties of saliva. I know it sounds a bit yucky, but it cleans stuff which chemicals don't. You can try de-ionised water if the spit grosses you out. Moist breath (like you'd clean a pair of glasses) also works well. Edited May 25, 2010 by 7string Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aonindy Posted May 27, 2010 Author Share Posted May 27, 2010 Thank you sir!! The body is well 'hawed' (used it for glasses for years when I used to wear them, top job!!) going to look at the shelac link now, appreciate the link!! Allen [quote name='7string' post='848012' date='May 25 2010, 10:35 PM']If you want to build up that headstock chip, try some stick shellac. You heat it until it goes like putty and then shape it into place. Here's a [url="http://www.frets.com/fretspages/luthier/Technique/Finish/StickShellac/sticklac1.html"]link[/url] which shows the process. When cleaning, don't underestimate the properties of saliva. I know it sounds a bit yucky, but it cleans stuff which chemicals don't. You can try de-ionised water if the spit grosses you out. Moist breath (like you'd clean a pair of glasses) also works well.[/quote] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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