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Pantera X390 Project Part I

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Post by Guest Sat Nov 27, 2010 6:14 pm

Some of you may have seen my post of the x390DBK that I bought off of ebay that arived with a snapped headstock which I have since posted pix of the damage and the repair (which came out pretty good).

Since then I have been thinking of refinishing the guitar for a few reasons:
1. I did not have all of the paint chips that were missing from the break and it was noticable.
2. A previous owner sanded or painted the front of the guitar for some unknown reason. The DBK finish is very unique and kinda cool, but the front did not match the guitar. There where also the remnents of stickers that used to be on the front.
3. The Pantera logo that is on the body of the guitar was also removed. I was never a fan of a logo on the body of a guitar till I finally got a 390, and thought it looked odd without it.

So what to do? I know the 390's are rare and only made in blue, white and black and to some it may be blasphemous to change it from the norm.

I normally dont care what a guitar looks like, I'm typically only interested in playability, sound and intonation. But this time I want the guitar to look as good as it plays (it has become one of my fav's).

I removed all the parts today and started to sand...and sand...and sand....and, yup sand some more. a few hours later and I have all done but the neck joint and the horns (the big pain in the ass parts to sand).

The question I pose for myself now (and for others that may have an opinion) is what to do next??
Shall I paint? or shall I stain?

The wood looks pretty good but the body is 3 pieces and you can see the joins fairly well so staining may not be the bestway to go. I'm thinking a very dark forest green stain if I go that way. If not, I'm thinking forest green paint.

Anyone want offer suggestions on colours of paint of shade of stain?

I will be adding the logo back as well ( I found a few sites with good ideas on how to do this).

I'll post some pictures tomorrow of my naked Pantera, and will post more as I get to the refinishing part.

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Post by corsair Sun Nov 28, 2010 5:12 am

Ooooh; I like the idea of a deep translucent dark green stain!! Yummy - I saw an Aria Pro II PE Custom a while ago in just such a finish and it looked the business, it really did!! Dark green paint wouldn't have the same visceral impact, I reckon!! Laughing

Glad to see that you're moving on it, too!! Very Happy
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Post by Warrn Sun Nov 28, 2010 10:38 am

If the wood looks good, go for a stain. Pretty much all guitars have multi-piece bodies, so no one will mind seeing the joins.
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Post by Guest Sun Nov 28, 2010 11:04 am

X390 - Pantera X390 Project Part I Panter11

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So this is how far I got yesterday. The neck join & horns will take a bit more time and patience. This has to be the toughest guitar to sand - the whole thing is curves....but that's what makes it a great looking design.
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Post by Guest Sun Nov 28, 2010 11:10 am

Another thing to notice (or not to notice) is that you cannot see the crack in the headstock unless you're right up on it. I have to say the guy that fixed it did an awesome job.
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Post by corsair Sun Nov 28, 2010 11:16 am

You've gotta love that Matsumoku finish, don't you... Laughing That looks good, man - I'll see if I can find the pic I saw of that APII in trans green....
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Post by Barry Sun Nov 28, 2010 12:38 pm

Oh man, I don't envy your having to sand off that finish! It's as tough as they come.
The horns will be a bugger alright but it'll be worth it in the end.

A deep green would be very striking and a bit different, but I agree with the others that it would have to be a trans finish or it would look cheap. That will be tricky! Mats put their colour in the transparent finish, rather than staining and sealing the wood, which likely what you'll have to do here.

I managed a reasonably good refinish on a Vantage AV310 using a water based stain and then finishing it in Tung oil. Using these materials was a whole lot easier than messing with rattle cans and the like. I also used a wood sealer prior to staining to even out the colour absorption. That was necessary on the open grain ash but may not be needed on maple??

Vantage AV310 Restortion Link It's a long thread so might want to jump from page 1 to 5 to about 10 if you just want to have a look at the pix. Smile

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Post by Steve777 Sun Nov 28, 2010 1:52 pm

I remember some time ago reading a post here where someone had veneered his bass with I think Murtleberry or something like that. Certainly lift the whole guitar into different league and wasn't so difficult to do. At the time I thought it looked fantastic. With a three piece body, whatever do you in a trans finish, the joins will show up. unfortunately.
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Post by Warrn Sun Nov 28, 2010 3:03 pm

There's nothing wrong with visible joins, all my trans and sunburst instruments have them and it doesn't look bad in any way. I like them better than most flamed maple topped guitars I see.
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Post by Guest Sun Nov 28, 2010 9:39 pm

I think I will go with the dark green stain, although as i fine tune the sanding, it looks pretty good natural.
Thanks Barry for the link to your job, there were some good comments/posts/links in there - the more I read, the more info i have on how to proceed.

This is the first refinish project I have done so all ideas are welcome. I'm starting to think I should have tried this first on a cheapo guitar rather than one of the rarest westies, but oh well, I'm committed now Smile
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Post by DuoFuzz Mon Nov 29, 2010 7:15 pm

I don't know if this is going to help you but there is THIS, it's an online guitar builder.

You just pick the shape from the list and add the hardware, pickup type and more importantly the colour, and no they don't have any Westone models Sad, but you might be able to make a close approximation of your guitar (if you squint a bit!). It's not the easiest site the navigate but there is a lot of options including wood types and grains, also metallics and metalflakes if you dig around a little. It is also possible to overlay colour like a stain with the wood grain still visible.

It might help you visualise your guitar in a certain colour to see if it suits it before you commit yourself to painting it. I've found in the past some car paints that I thought would suit a guitar didn't actually look right, due to the difference in surface area I think?

Anyway, hope it helps you.

DAN.
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Post by Guest Wed Dec 08, 2010 8:15 pm

Finally finished sanding the the horns and neck join. That neck join is some awesome work - crazy workmanship/design - I love it.
Total time to sand off the paint.....about 6 hrs.
Now I know why some it costs so much money to have a guitar refinished properly. This is no easy feat.

Next up is smoothing out the rough spots and prep for the stain - I am going with a dark green. I'll post some pix of the staining process, the logo application and then it will be the clear coat and a lot more sanding/bufffing.
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Post by colt933 Thu Dec 09, 2010 2:50 pm

Those of us with X350 guitars have seen this neck joint.

I cannot believe you sanded all of that finish off. It is unbelievably hard and thick. I cannot imagine doing it myself.
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Post by Guest Thu Dec 09, 2010 3:06 pm

colt933 wrote:I cannot believe you sanded all of that finish off. It is unbelievably hard and thick. I cannot imagine doing it myself.

I can't believe it either - seemed to take forever. Next refinishing project will be on a nice flat guitar like a tele.
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