Why oh Why?

My thinking exactly Barry, that and the fact I can see the laminate join clearly has made me change my mind and contact has been established with Mr bone with the view to acquiring a new veneer ;-)

The factory red burst IS rather nice, but green it is!

New veneer.! not the easiest thing to do.
You'll have an edge to deal with all around the guitar.

Yeah, thats the main thing giving me squeaky bum.

Yeah; that edge is a bitch; I'd sanded that veneer edge back until there the veneer and the body join was not discernible at all, but in the right light, you can still see - under the outer edge burst in black/green - where the edge is.

You know, if you're going to veneer it, then there's nothing to lose by staining it, is there?? Give it a wiping of black, sand back and wipe on some green and see what happens. If it goes pear shaped, well, you just carry on with the veneer...

Thats the plan, however I am concerned with the veneer edge meeting the original black coat that is still on most of the bodys edge, I figure I'll have to spray black paint from the burst to the original paint?
And whether to veneer the back or solid colour?  staining whats there now is probably out of the question what with the crack, the red sh£&e and some original green......your thoughts?

Yes, stain the back as well as the front, feather the edges of the original burst back and/or prime them so that your new paint won't react with it would be my approach, though I readily admit to not being any kind of expert!!
You'll be surprised just how much grain a wipe with black stain will bring out, eh!!

Ok so it'sa like this: I bought spirit based green and black stains from Rothko & Frost, what a pain in the rump it is, each successive coat seems to dilute the previous coats, so after a few attempts and manually adding some faint black lines with a cotton bud to replace some missing grain stripes I got to a point where I've decided to keep this veneer and forgo Damians offer of a new one ( yes I bottled it! don't you judge me! )
Also on the edges of the top where the veneer fades out to reveal the wood underneath, the black/green stain just would not fade together....the wood took the black too much and each new fade coat was diluting the green again.......so screw it I thought.
so....reasonably satisfied with the green stain, I gave it a few dusting coats with acrylic clear then rattle can black for the burst....not too bad except I ran out of black...and that can be seen in a couple of places, do I care? NO! I do not.
Its now had 3 more coats of clear and is hanging to dry out a few days before I flatten and go again.
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it looks better than the pics show, light fading fast and mobile phone camera.

now the back

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the neck is pretty much ready to final polish, recrown afterwards.
I resprayed the back of the head, that's why I ran out of paint for the burst!

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It isn't a total restoration job, I didn't bother with the dents and the chip from near the neck pocket, I just wanted that sh***y paint gone and the cracks glued.

the hardware has been soaking in acetone and the pickup bobbins have been sanded back to near normal, I need to find 1 Aria branded gold tulip machine though.

Bloody sight better than when you got her!  

+1.  Great job so far.

She is looking like an Urchin now. Great job thus far and will be watching to see the final photos.

I see what your issue has been. The veneer isn't taking the black stain as readily as the body wood.

I think that your idea of using black paint is the right one, but you would probably need an airbrush to achieve your burst effect.

We all have to compromise in terms of tools available, experience and skill etc, but you are making a huge difference to a former pile of junk, so well done!!

Hoax

Cheers fellas!

After wet sanding it flat it came out reasonably good so cut it with G3 them Maguires ultimate compound then good ole Turtle Wax ( £1 for 2.5Ltr @ Halfords....heads up brits!) I'm happy with the finish, not perfect by any stretch but as you guys said, its a zillion times better than it was.  

Yeah hoax, I  had considered an airbrush, did all the research and pricing.....turns out a can of pound shop black gloss is 100x cheaper ....the clear acrylic is also £1 per 300ml.....cheap b'stard eh  

Rewired and set up, strung it up with D'addario prosteels for super brightness...sounds Great!
apart from a broken nut, which I'll look to replace with brass, and a bunch of screws and knobs all is good 

Sgt. Vimes wrote:...cheap b'stard eh...

My cheep bastid gene seems to have leaped the great pond!

And here it is, since these pics I have dressed the frets, oiled the board and strung it up.
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Now that is not too shabby at all!! But - your earth wire ain't attached to the tremolo claw.

Hoax

yeah it is, it was done post picture snap.

There ya go! Excellent save!

thats fantastic.  I would live to do a refinish one day - not sure I have the sills or patience to achieve such stunning results

Certainly a HUGE improvement on what you started with.

Looks the dogs.. 

Stephan I dont have the skills needed, and have absolutely zero patience, it just needed doing, so I figure I'll learn as I go along.

It will have to sit and "cure" for a few weeks at least before I can really sit comfy and play as the clear is still very soft, I've already had to buff out a few marks....must cover the rubber on the stand as it reacts with the finish 

Nice work Sarge....

Sgt. Vimes wrote:...the clear is still very soft, I've already had to buff out a few marks....must cover the rubber on the stand...

'Bin there. Done that. Same guitar. Same lovely dents.

well done indeed - that looks sweet

Thanks eh!
Had a wee play last night and have to say it plays like butter, sounds OK if a little muddy but thats just the MMK45's I think.
Like I said it will take a while drying out before I can safely use it...that's gonna a real test of my limited patience I can tell ya!
Unless you guys have a quick fix for drying out a soft finish?  I've read a little about UV "curing" but the only lights like that I have available are......in use just now....and the room is a little high in moisture so thats a no go.....any suggestions guys?

Hang it in the loft, it's nice and warm and out of sight out of mind.
Just let it do it's thing. Give it a few weeks.

The tip might arrive by then....

 

the loft is also out of the question, this house is a brand new build and the loft insulation and solar panels are working 100%, so its bloody freezing up there!

have to be a bedroom job, gonna be hard waking up every morning seeing that and not playing. 

Stephan I dont have the skills needed, and have absolutely zero patience, it just needed doing, so I figure I'll learn as I go along.

Maybe  I need to find myself a nice project then    - (goes of to have a search on ebay....)

Sgt. Vimes wrote: 

the loft is also out of the question, this house is a brand new build and the loft insulation and solar panels are working 100%, so its bloody freezing up there!

have to be a bedroom job, gonna be hard waking up every morning seeing that and not playing. 

Solar panels working 100% on Tyneside ? The climate has changed a lot since I moved down South.

Bloody freezing on the other hand is not so hard to believe

Funny guy   ......I think you might be surprised, its bloody scorchio here today! 

Great save eh!  Send some pics to the person you bought it from...they will regret letting it go seeing how it looks now.

Great save Pete mate... You have done yourself proud there with her..
Though not forgiven you beating me to her.. Nah just joking..lol 

Great job Sgt mate....

Wow, you spying on me Sarc?     I just sent a photo to him not 20 mins ago!
weird.

Cheers steve,  you gotta get up early to get the goodies, in fact you gotta stay up all night 

Your not on the Viagra again Pete mate.. lol

: ba dum bum :

G.A.S. man wrote:Your not on the Viagra again Pete mate.. lol

 Moi?  no need mate, ask the missus  

funnily enough My Fantasy Football team name this season IS Rapid Viagra.....

http://fantasy.premierleague.com   anyone else do a fantasy team?  maybe we could get a westone league going? hmm?

good luck keeping them up from the drop ....

Oi Vey!

Outstanding job of bringing this one back to life again.