Refinish of a Vintage V100 WR

[EtriX]

Some of you might be familiar with my Vintage V100 WR (the guitar I bought because of Boles being a bunghole and teasing with his deluxe).



The problem is that it doesn't really look that good as it does in that picture. So I was thinking that I'll fix that. I want it to look as good as it feels to play, so I've started on the way to a refin, haven't decided on colour yet, might get a red (I only own red guitars right now) or something different, I probably won't burst it and it won't be black that's all I know.

So this is what I started with:


This is more how it looked normally. Not so fun (so dark that most people think it's black)

Here is a bit of the progress.



I did get a few tear outs when removing the hardware as you can see but it's only the lacquer for the most parts.

Then came the fun bit... Removing Poly...
First picture is done during a whole evening by hand and second is done with a Dremel in 20 minutes. I think I know which way I will be going.





The good (and interesting) thing is that it seems to be a mahogany body with a "bookmatched" mahogany top. Hmmm maybe a SG-esque finish...

I'll try and remove the rest of finish on the top tomorrow so I can get a better look at it.

So this is how far I've gotten right now, I'll try and update as soon as anything big happens.

[Grof]

Can't wait to see how it's gonna turn up (got a v100 myself and absolutely love the guitar), good luck

[Cpt_Gonzo]

All the Vintage V100s are solid Mahogany, multiple pieces, all over. Maple veneer, no cap.

Made that experience, too. Wanted to refinish mine, had a huge knot right between the pickups. Firewood.
Shame though, it sounded great. Might aswell go for an opaque finish at some point, still have it in my basement.

[EtriX]

Ok, so 2 hours with the dremel and the top is almost done, there still is quite a bit of clear laquer left but I will do that by hand so I don't damage the top.



Also as you might see, I've borrowed a better camera than my regular one.

The annoying thing is that it's not a proper mahogany top as I first believed but a veneer. Now this means that I might have to sand through the veneer just to find out what's on the other side. It seems to be a light wood but not much else is know.
Hope for maple believe it's alder.


You can clearly see the veneer here.


So the big question, know that my guitar will look like nice mahogany and not know what kind of wood it really is... Or sand through a go Gold if it isn't as pretty as I want.

[Epiphania]

Why not just sand it down to remove the scratches and then give it a few good clear enamel coats?
I think that natural wood always work well -- it's classy and attractive.

Just don't forget to "wet sand" it between the coats and give it a well done buff after the last one.

[Grof]

Originally Posted by Epiphania

Why not just sand it down to remove the scratches and then give it a few good clear enamel coats?
I think that natural wood always work well -- it's classy and attractive.

Just don't forget to "wet sand" it between the coats and give it a well done buff after the last one.

Absolutely agree

[Grof]

I took my neck humbucker off my Vintage V100 TSB to see what was the wood color underneath it, the hole was covered in black paint so i took some of it off using a knife. It's definitely a redish brown mahogany type of wood (i stuck the tip of the knife maybe a millimeter into to the body and shaved someof the wood off just to make sure there wasn't a red paint covering the wood underneath that black one). Did the same thing in the control cavity and again the wood seems to be mahogany. Gotta say it really looks nothing like the one i see in your photos.

[EtriX]

So I am at my parents this weekend and got a chance to go to work with a sander.
Sanded through the veneer (wanted to know that the guitar was made of).




What I found was a bit of strange construction, visable in the last picture.
Even more visable in the closeups.

The wooden outline seems to be around 1 - 1.5 inch thick.







I also made a somewhat of a clearification of the strange build.



Never seen anything like it before. Seems as it will become a Goldtop with a cherry red back.

Here you can cleary see how thick the paint is, measured it to about 1.5-2 mm



Ohh well will probably take a while before I can continue.

[bet00ST]

Ok, so 2 hours with the dremel and the top is almost done, there still is quite a bit of clear laquer left but I will do that by hand so I don't damage the top.

[Grof]

Great to see your continuing your project could we get some shots of the backside?

[EtriX]

Originally Posted by Grof

Great to see your continuing your project could we get some shots of the backside?

Thanks, the big problem with living in a small apartment with sensitive neighbors is no worky worky with power tools.

Backside isn't event started yet. Yes this will take me some time, but fortunatly my parent are getting a proper power sander instead of that small mouse thingy. Might speed up the process.

[Kirrt]

Originally Posted by EtriX

Here you can cleary see how thick the paint is, measured it to about 1.5-2 mm



Ohh well will probably take a while before I can continue.

It's the headstock overlay, not some kind of paint
Here's a pic of what it should looks like before adding to the headstock