65/66 Mustang tidy-up
Moderated By: mods
65/66 Mustang tidy-up
I bought a Mustang partscaster from the Offset classifieds at a price I could live with. Arrived intact with a brown stain and brushed on varnish. Bought a pearloid guard from another Offsetter and checked out the overall effect:
It looked OK but the finish was lumpy and the whole body felt uneven, so it had to go. The varnish came off fairly easily, chemical stripper on one side and a light touch with the heat gun on the other side, but the stain had penetrated the wood. The wood itself had been pretty unevenly sanded and felt wavy, so I tackled it gently to see if I could get it flat without taking too much off. Fortunately it came good pretty quickly.
The yellow primer and a bit of white in the neck pocket and cavities were the only remnants of the original finish.
Next step, sanding sealer and some very careful attention, followed by red lacquer to go with the pearloid. The 65 neck is in good shape apart from a loose fret and the holes from a Hagstrom style string retainer, which I've removed. Now waiting for tuners.
It looked OK but the finish was lumpy and the whole body felt uneven, so it had to go. The varnish came off fairly easily, chemical stripper on one side and a light touch with the heat gun on the other side, but the stain had penetrated the wood. The wood itself had been pretty unevenly sanded and felt wavy, so I tackled it gently to see if I could get it flat without taking too much off. Fortunately it came good pretty quickly.
The yellow primer and a bit of white in the neck pocket and cavities were the only remnants of the original finish.
Next step, sanding sealer and some very careful attention, followed by red lacquer to go with the pearloid. The 65 neck is in good shape apart from a loose fret and the holes from a Hagstrom style string retainer, which I've removed. Now waiting for tuners.
Re: 65/66 Mustang tidy-up
this looks absolutely awesome as it is... but, of course, the world needs another red Mustang.MatthewK wrote:
i'm a negative creep.
- BobArsecake
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There are not a lot of options for that at this end of the world - once you add two way postage and the cost of winding it gets up toward the cost of a pickup. Plus only one came with it, so I need to buy one anyway, and a deal for two is likely to be better than a deal for one. But if a rewinding option comes up I agree it would be a good idea.
- timhulio
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Ah fairdy dos. I thought you had a pair of broken ones and I didn't note you location. Catswhisker Pickups here was doing rewinds for £20 (not sure if he still does) - that's a very good deal. Do you get much Japanese stuff in Australia? Because the singles in my Matsumoku Hondo Lead II copy are some of the best I've heard.
- Fakir Mustache
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Interesting thoughts those. Was white-with-pearl ever a thing?
Problem is that I have two daughters into the idea of red, you know how influential chicks are when it comes to guitars.
I was pretty startled how good the grain looked too - thought it may have been a mahogany body actually - but no, it's poplar, with a mahogany stain. It would be very difficult to stain evenly now that I have sanded the ripples out of the body.
Problem is that I have two daughters into the idea of red, you know how influential chicks are when it comes to guitars.
I was pretty startled how good the grain looked too - thought it may have been a mahogany body actually - but no, it's poplar, with a mahogany stain. It would be very difficult to stain evenly now that I have sanded the ripples out of the body.
Oh, by all means paint it red or whatever color your lil girl wants it to be. I was only saying what I'd do personally, I think no matter what you end up coloring it, it's in better hands and shape now than it was before.
Keep us updated!
Keep us updated!
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