/Studio '97 Wine Red Refinish to Tru Oil

[FF_Pedals]

This is my first refinishing project.

I got this '97 Studio model for my birthday about 12 years ago. It was a big deal at the time and I've played the hell out of it ever since. At the time they only offered solid black and white, as well as translucent wine red and emerald green. I wanted to see some wood grain and the green was hideous so wine red was my only choice really. I'm not that into the colour and it hasn't really aged that gracefully, it just seems a bit dull.

I was at a show a few years ago and the guitar player had a Studio redone in a dark brown with a cream dress up kit and I knew then that was exactly what I wanted for my guitar.

I stumbled upon Sully's awesome Studio restoration on Youtube and then did some more reading about the Tru-oil finishes and decided I'd jump on the bandwagon.

Here are some minor war wounds:

Chip:


Couple dings:





Nice gouge in the neck, thanks party girl...



Time to get to work.

So many screws in this thing...





Headstock face not in great shape but I'm not going to touch it:



The top isn't very symmetric / traditionally 'nice' but I think there are some interesting patterns going on:



Time to dig in! I'm doing this all by hand, a bit of scraping and sanding...You can see the texture from the belt rash just above the scraper:



Sanding out the belt rash:



Hours later...finally a bare back:



There are some dark spots visible, looks like some grain filler / sanding sealer under the red. This also makes the grain really pop out black. I've gotta do a bit more sanding obviously but I wanted to move up to a higher grit.

Hopefully the rest of the finish comes off faster. The curved surfaces are a breeze with the scraper but the flat back had to be sanded, which took forever.

I'm thinking of staining the back/neck walnut and keeping the top natural before putting the tru-oil on.

More to come,

Nathan

[diceman]

Yikes! I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

[MRJ5]

I love ballsy mods.

[yllsacky]

use paint stripper

[Jason]

Originally Posted by yllsacky

use paint stripper

Yeah, it will turn that into like a 15 minute job. I believe I used aircraft stripper on the Studio I refinished. Make sure to use a scraper made out of a piece of wood... that shit will melt plastic!

[FF_Pedals]

Originally Posted by Jason

Yeah, it will turn that into like a 15 minute job. I believe I used aircraft stripper on the Studio I refinished. Make sure to use a scraper made out of a piece of wood... that shit will melt plastic!

The stripper is definitely tempting but I'd rather not. I did pick up a little hand sander today which helped things along, although very messy and loud. Not too much progress today, just bare sides and masked up the fretboard:

[j.six]

While the headstock face looks rough, you can bring it back to presentable with some mild wetsanding and buffing. I'd do it now while the headstock still has finish on it; that way you don't have to worry about getting your wood wet. heh.

Sully

[FF_Pedals]

Originally Posted by j.six

While the headstock face looks rough, you can bring it back to presentable with some mild wetsanding and buffing. I'd do it now while the headstock still has finish on it; that way you don't have to worry about getting your wood wet. heh.

Sully

I'm sold. I have 600 grit. How does that sound?

Thanks for the tip,

Nathan

[SABLE]

Heh, no not quite. How bout 2000? Or you can go with a buffing compound and just buff out the scratches.

[FF_Pedals]

Originally Posted by SABLE

Heh, no not quite. How bout 2000? Or you can go with a buffing compound and just buff out the scratches.

Thanks!

[SABLE]

No problem. I just don't like seeing nice guitars being mutilated and maimed unless I do it.

[FF_Pedals]

Originally Posted by SABLE

No problem. I just don't like seeing nice guitars being mutilated and maimed unless I do it.

I can't help but think back to the day I got and wonder what I'd think if I saw the punishment it is now receiving

I've got some very fine steel wool that came in the Tru-oil kit I wonder if that would work? I've never even felt the 2000 grit paper, it's pretty hard to find. The highest I can get around here is 600. If anyone could spare a quarter sheet, even less really, that'd be awesome.

[SABLE]

You can get a pack of 15 sheets for about $5 if you look online. If you don't want to use sandpaper, you could probably get by just buffing it.

[saxman10]

I have personally gotton 800 1000 2000 wet/dry sand paper at wal-mart in the automotive section, where they keep their paint stuff, it is locked away. assistance will be needed to unlock the case. should be about 5-6 dollars

[FF_Pedals]

I've almost got all of the red off, just a bit around the headstock left:


Here's a little mock up:



I'm not sure if I should dye the top or leave it natural.

[dennistruckdriver]

Originally Posted by FF_Pedals

The stripper is definitely tempting but I'd rather not. I did pick up a little hand sander today....

Just keep in mind that too much sanding will alter the contours of the body....

[jason_mazzy]

what a beaut. I want the body so bad!

[WahChickaWahWah]

Looking good. Love the Ronson look. Keep us posted.

[FF_Pedals]

Originally Posted by dennistruckdriver

Just keep in mind that too much sanding will alter the contours of the body....

Well it's too late now!!!

It turned out pretty well I think. I'm sure some snobs would turn their noses at it but I didn't want to use the stripper. The top is near perfect and I did the whole thing with an electric sander.

I'm just looking forward to moving on to the finishing sanding rather than just trying to get through layers of nitro.

[SABLE]

I think you should dye/stain it and then shoot some clear nitro. And add binding.

[djwilbanks]

I never liked the natural look on a Les Paul, but I do like trans-amber. You could try some trans-amber dye from stewmac and then use their aerosol nitro to clear it. Looks pretty cool, IMO.

[FF_Pedals]

Okay, I just ordered the GFS Vintage 59 for the bridge and the Alnico II for the neck. After I found a long shaft DPDT push pull online I knew I needed 5 wire pickups. I'd like to do a series / parallel switch but that's easy to add later, just coil tapping for now. I also got some orange drop 0.022uF caps and amber bell knobs.

I'm about to start sealing up the back, neck, and sides. Once the sides have a bit of clear I can start staining the top. I got a variety pack of water based dies coming in the mail. I need to practice on some samples first but I'm thinking of a real vintage hand rubbed light amber. Hopefully the natural maple 'binding' on the sides will pop once the top gets stained.

Also got my hands on some 2000 grit from a friend in town.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions!

[FF_Pedals]

Also, you HAVE to watch this video, it requires a flash player.

How to Create a Sunburst Finish

He shows you how to make an insanely gorgeous sunburst with water based dyes on a flamed piece of maple.

[FF_Pedals]

Things are coming along nicely. I got the last bit of red off the headstock and did all my finishing sanding and buffing with steel wool everywhere but the top.

I started the Tru-oil grain filler stage. I'm really happy with the colour so far:

[Paul86]

Cool!

[FF_Pedals]

Bare Maple covered in wet dye:


I bought the ColorFX concentrates from Wood Essences in Saskatchewan. I think this is what you guys get at stew mac? If you need colours in Canada send them a message.

I used the Yellow-G, Amber, Red, Black and some of the walnut stain from Birchwood Casey. I really hope the Tru-oil makes the colours pop. I guess we'll see tomorrow

[FF_Pedals]

Here's where I'm at with buffing the headstock veneer:


Is any rubbing compound free of silicone alright to use? I looked up the MSDS sheets for 3M rubbing compound and Turtle wax polishing compound. Both contain silica instead. The "conditioner" that comes with the Tru-oil has silicone. I think we should steer clear of that stuff?

The body is coming along nicely but it's impossible to photograph. I'll get some real shots up for the finale.



I shaped the pickup rings to match the old set and round up the corners a bit. I don't have it perfect on the bottoms yet but I might just let it slide for now.

My quest for the right pickguard continues...

[FF_Pedals]

Now we're cooking with fire:


Two coats on the top. It's going to need more.

[Skynyrdpicker]

Looks a LOT better! I'm anxious to see her done!

[FF_Pedals]

Thanks, even this morning in the natural light it looks great.

The cheap camera I've used so far only picks out the reds. In person it's much more golden. There are skylights and a 9 megapixel camera at my dad's place, I'll bring it over there next week for some better photos.