1982 Concorde II

Hi guys
As mentioned in another post I just bought a Spectrum DX but the pay off is that I need to off load one of my other guitars and alas this is the one that's going! It's an '82 (from the serial number) Concorde II that I've had for a few years with the intention of doing up but never got round to it. I got it near where I work and kept it in the office at work for most of the time I've had it and never even plugged it in until this week! Happy to say it works fine, bit of crackle in the pots as you'd expect but other than that everything works fine. It's a little battered and I've done nothing to it apart from clean up the surface dust and dirt that was on it. There are some dings and scratches, the worst of which hopefully you can see in the pic. The neck is straight and the frets have slight wear but doesn't affect playing (unlike the Thunder 1-A I have which is unplayable at present!).

The biggest issue is that it looks like someone has stripped the neck and headstock and then tried to relacquer at some point, so the decals are all gone from the head. The lacquer on the fretboard seems quite crude and on the first couple of frets (as you can see) has just worn through. Someone has also made a new hole in the scratchplate, no idea why but there is something rattling about inside, which could just be a loose pot? Haven't looked as it's a pain on these as you have to take the whole thing off. So all in all it needs some tlc but it plays nicely and with some attention would be a nice guitar I think.

I haven't posted it anywhere else. I would rather it went to someone on here that could either restore it or use it for parts/spares as I know how passionate you all are on here. Happy to consider offers as I don't really know what price to put on it but I guess I'm thinking £40-50? I would happily keep it as it works but the arrival of the Spectrum means something has to give and the Thunder takes priority in the restoration stakes. Anyway, let me know what you think:

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*edit: Sorry forgot to mention, I'm in Manchester UK.

pm sent

that's Westbones catchphrase innit?  

Oh crap, I'm not turning into him am I?

You couldn't afford to...  

Good point, well put!

oh-er missus

Another Concord II for the collection, thanks Andy!

needs some work but not loads, possible refinish, or partial refinish of the fretboard...maybe new jumbo's?   
might have sourced a set of Burns Noiseless Rez-O-Matics NOS for this too...maybe.

need some decals as the headstock is blank, also looking to put something in the extra scratchplate hole, stereo output? active unit? suggestions please ladies.

pics and docs to follow sometime.

 

Ok a little update:
Decided there wont be enough left on the frets after a levelling as the fretwear is just too deep (the deepest grooves leave 0.8mm of wire) and I only have jumbo fretwire at hand so it'll loose its vintage feel, but that aint no bad thing right?
As you can see from Andy's pics above there is significant board wear on the first 3 positions and all along both edges of the board (actually there is no board, its a one piece neck) so a sand and refinish is a must.
I understand it's preferable to apply the finish AFTER the new frets to allow correct wire seating etc..but I'm thinking of a Tru-Oil finish here (worked well on a Concord 1 I recently finished/sold ) do you guys rekon I can get a couple of coats on before the frets? it is a very thin oil and I'll be using CA glue to hold the fretwire down. applying the oil after the wire is painstakingly annoying as it collects at the wires.

the back of the neck is near perfect, just the very edges have lost the original finish and are tarnished with what I presume is hand smeg.

any suggestions fellas? things to do or absolutely NOT to do?
I'm just about to pull the frets, wish me luck.

Sgt. Vimes wrote:...I'm just about to pull the frets...

  Be gentle.

Roger that!

all came out nice and easy, light 320 grit sanding and she's naked as the day, too dusky for pics tonight.

nasty original finish removed, sanded lightly through 320, 400, 600, 800 and this pic shows a coffee (arabica) wash/stain, this took 4 or 5 washes to get an approximate colour match with the neck lacquer.



This pic shows it after 3 extremely light coats of Tru-Oil, let this dry overnight then 0000 steel wool, 2 more light coats and a light buff and I'm happy that its thin enough to not interfere with the seating of the frets.



1.4mm high, 2.7 wide fretwire from Boston, not the best wire in the world, but it aint the best guitar in the world either  
Just about to bang these in, or glue and clamp....we'll see.

happy easter guys.

Looking good!   
Happy Easter back atcha.

So far so good!
had to CA glue each fret and clamp, one at a time, hands are knackered because I desperately need a new set of fret cutters, mine were cheapo short handled jobbies my local punk cobbler ground down for me, must invest in a good set....any suggestions?
So installed, trimmed, filed, levelled, tapered, recrowned and polished.....I've earned the next reefer for sure!



decisions decisions.....

Just realised  this was my first Westone refret!
might have to choose all of the above   

That looks luvly jubbly. When you get the answer to fret cutting let me know.
Whats the fireball?

Cheers, I think I need a longer handle for more leverage, also the head needs to fit inbetween the higher frets.

Fireball is a Canadian whisky cinnamon liqueur.....not for the feignt-hearted, or male amongst us!
http://www.fireballuk.com/?age-verified=ef7754d9e8

Sailor Jerry won the day  

Nice Job Sarge, thanks for posting that.

Looks great and I have to say that I am delighted that it's getting the attention it deserves. It was in a sorry state when I found it (although mainly just dirty) so I'm glad I could rescue it and pass it on

I think the dirt was very much a secondary thought after the state of the neck, this had been played and loved and played and loved many times over, gives me something to do eh, if I didnt get it somebody else would have enjoyed it and I can't be having that now can I?

So here she is, 99% done, just need to clean out an intermittent switch, yes...I forgot to do it while the plate was off! and fill a couple of tiny chips out of the neck lacquer I did while inserting the frets.











today I bought a small can of enamel spray paint for the headstock, stupidly I had'nt taken a pic on my phone of the body colour to get a closer match, suffice to say I bought a colour a couple shades paler, is there a way to make it appear darker, or more yellow-er than it is?  a darker undercoat perhaps? or some light-heat abuse??  I'm reluctant to spend more on another can as this can cost me 10% of the price I paid for the guitar! (yes I am a student of the Barry school of Cheap Bastidery!)

gotta say each new concord that comes my way gets better than the previous!
 thats 4 C-II's now, 3 old shape, 1 new.....love it

you've made an excellent job of that Sarge   ....all I did this weekend was eat my sons Easter eggs  

It was a veritable production line here at the weekend, 3 guitars refurbed, 2 solid days 8am till about 2 am... I think I only stopped to watch my beloved Everton school Man utd, oh and to refill the glass a good few times.
It's a labour of love for sure!

Ab-sol-utely beautiful.

Is that the same bridge? If so how did you clean that up?

It is the same bridge, cleaned using a little trick boardmember Westbone advised, soak the brass in thinners overnight or a little longer to soften the original lacquer then rub it off, then wet and dry sandpaper to clean away the tarnishing, brasso or fine wire wool would do too.

It takes a while to sand each side of each saddle, so much so my (work worn and tired) fingers felt like they were about to fall off, but IMO the result is worth the effort!

.... and at this point, I'll say that I use a Dremel with the buffer attached to shine 'em up, and the Dremel with the little non-wire and fine wire brush wheels to get the lacquer off and my fingers were just fine!!  

That's a very fine job there; kudos!

I'll echo the applause for a job very well done! Looks brand new again.
So...how's it play? Was it worth the sore hands?

meh, using a dremel is cheating! might as well get someone else to do it eh? I like the personal touch of blood sweat and tears hammered into the project   

Thanks for the kind words guys!

I recieved the Westone script waterslide transfers in the post from mr hoax yesterday, they look good! cheers hoax!
now I need to either use a stencil or hand paint the Concord II script....oh bugger.

It plays great, sounds bleh plugged in    there is an odd curve to the bottom edge of the neck which I will try and get a picture of, its like it's been played so much around the 5,7,9,11th frets that it's worn away, I only noticed this after first getting the new frets in, odd.

getting tempted with that lovely "surf green" ...or Sunny Blue  C-II on ebay, SUNNY BLUE C 2
the price is dropping steadily and it'll look great in the rack next to the other 4!

Nice job.

Can't see the point of re fretting a guitar that plays ok though.

The amount of time and effort put in to recoup what? As these sell for very little dosh anyway. Unless you intend to keep it.

Looks fine though.

"plays fine" ? Sais who? The action was far too high for me owing to the super deep fret wear pretty much along the board.
Plus refinishing the fretboard was sooo much easier without frets in the way.

See no reason to sell this, at least for the foreseeable future, feels and looks too nice to part with.

grogg wrote:That looks luvly jubbly. When you get the answer to fret cutting let me know.

Well, after plenty of research and fruitless searching I have decided on a pair of THESE
quite a few guys are using these HD flushcut pliers for fret cutting, say they can handle stainless steel too! though  for how long I dunno.
I just ordered them so it'll be a couple weeks at the earliest before I can try em, I'll let you know.

UPDATE:  2 days delivery from USA! unbelievable!!
So I have them and I've cut a piece of 2.7mm jumbo fretwire 10 times, totally effortless, though I've not tried them against a fretboard yet but can't see any issues there at all. at £11.84 they're a bargain...so far, but £11.84 in postage from USA, not gonna be to everyones taste.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121175655577

The video looks impressive, but why not get the proper fretting cutters? Seems to me the angle and leverage is easier.

the Fastcap ones? because they arent as tough as the HD flush cut set.
I want them to last as long as possible.
better clearance with the HD set on the higher frets, i think?

Oh, well, you didn't say you were going to make a career out of it.  

Well, going by my last refret...anything is possible!

Really nice job!

Cheers Bob! 
Been playing this a lot recently,  I bought a new set of burns' rezomatics noiseless pups for this, but I think I may just leave the original pups in, getting a good few usable tones from them! 
Anyone looking to buy a brand new set of burns rez-o's ?  

Thought I'd show you guys my headstock refinish with waterslide decal.





I made mistakes along the way with the printing of the decal and the colour match didn't happen, but happy enough.
The 'concord' font doesn't exist so had to use an approximate scan from Jim's pdf, thanks, and I only had clear waterslide paper so doing the original gold colour was not an option.

Really nice job Pete!
Only someone with an extremely tight sphincter would notice any variation.

Thanks Barry.