93 lp studio project

[crabbdaddy]

ok,

long post -- my first real gibson and its a project.. i acquired a 93 lp studio with ebony fret board from a buddy that attempted to refinish it. he had some problems with the refinish and wanted to get rid of it, so i took it off his hands and hope to re-finish the project.

im a tube amp guy with a electronics background that just started playing guitar so why not start with a project lp studio.. i have a couple of epi's a lp cherry burst limited edition, epi lp dc almost a lemon burst, ibanez artcore as83 v. i have several tube amps... a 68 super reverb, 65 super reverb, 68 bassman head, epiphone valve junior head w/cab and a Guitar Rig 3 setup for fun and practising..

basic goals:
make it as new condition
possible ace frehley mods with 3 pickups for show and wired like the spaceman stage guitar with mainly a bridge pickup.

possible colors:
black with nickel hardware creme accents
white with gold hardware

problems:
refinish with runs and sanding issues
back of the head stock - barely visible SN
stain on the fret board
no nutt - replace with bone?
dremel edge to give a binding look
dremel damage around heel near neck/body binding
no tuners

ill be reading day and night on the mylespaul forum... sanding begins now 7.3.09

[steadyriot]

White white white!

[crabbdaddy]

progress -
i purchased a skil "octo" to sand with - ah power tools.
i used it to sand the back of the lp studio. i also uploaded some photos of the cut away with build up and dremel damage and a photo of the fret board with stain.
more progress tomorrow.....

[Kølabrennern]

Wow, those before-pictures really take the cake, that's one messed up refin attempt! Be careful not to sand pits in the top when you come that far, it's a pretty easy mistake to make when there's no shiny finish on there give you visual aid of how it's going to look with a gloss finish. It's going to be fun watching this thread, good luck!

[Hyper]

Originally Posted by Kølabrennern

Wow, those before-pictures really takes the cake, that's one messed up refin attempt!

No Joke!

Crabb, you're buddy murdered that thing! Props to you for saving it!

[shtdaprdtr]

watch the edges...easy mistake is to sharpen it...I would sand as close as you can then if you have a router...use a 1/8" edge contour bit and freshen it up.

[crabbdaddy]

appreciate all the advice .. i need it... i would have definitely sharpened the edges.. i may have some time today to start sanding the sides.. i do have a new router, but i have never used it. ill have to find some wood to practice on. the edges on the back of the guitar don't seem as rounded as some i have seen online.

i have new gold hardware to add ... a new truss rod cover. very nice quality actually. very detailed .. just that little something to give props to spaceace

[SiriusAbbott]

Wow
lots of hours to be devoted here!!!
as I mentioned in another thread,a spindle sander would be of great assistance to you on this project
keep posting pics,I do want to see how this one turns out!!!

[crabbdaddy]

Originally Posted by SiriusAbbott

Wow
lots of hours to be devoted here!!!
as I mentioned in another thread,a spindle sander would be of great assistance to you on this project
keep posting pics,I do want to see how this one turns out!!!

you are correct in the amount of hours so far..... i spent 4 hours today 7.4.09 sanding the neck and problem area in the cut away. ill post some photos late tonight or tomorrow. i need some advice on a few areas. basically to keep on sanding in the cut away or use some filler?

i hope everyone that celebrates has a happy 4th of July !! i can hear a Les Paul 'screamin' the star spangle banner thru a marshall half stack ....

[SiriusAbbott]

Originally Posted by crabbdaddy

you are correct in the amount of hours so far..... i spent 4 hours today 7.4.09 sanding the neck and problem area in the cut away. ill post some photos late tonight or tomorrow. i need some advice on a few areas. basically to keep on sanding in the cut away or use some filler?

i hope everyone that celebrates has a happy 4th of July !! i can hear a Les Paul 'screamin' the star spangle banner thru a marshall half stack ....

show some pics of what you need advice on

[crabbdaddy]

Originally Posted by SiriusAbbott

show some pics of what you need advice on

ok - the red/brown that remains in the cut away will take a lot more sanding to get smooth. you can easily feel the gouge with your finger. should i continue sanding and remove wood?? or just fill in with the proper filler?

please advise on the correct filler to use if you all suggest that is the best method....

thanks!

[crabbdaddy]

a few photos of the neck after sanding... yes it has been thru the ringer... and a repair..

the neck came out great.. i have top fret markings now. you can almost make out a SN on the back of the headstock, but not a complete number. hopefully my buddy wrote the number down..

but the neck feels like butta' after sanding...

[River]

Great thread. Try to get the hang of making your pictures look as below. You'll get even more input.

[crabbdaddy]

i tried to use the skil octo to take the heavy stuff off .. then mostly by hand with small pieces of 60 grit between a few fingers etc.

[SiriusAbbott]

wow
taking the maximum amount of finish,and the least amount of wood off is always the desired path,but sometimes the damage is great enough that you have to relieve a bit of wood as well.
since you're going with a solid color,a set of "body filler knives" and a quart of polyester body putty are your best friends
followed by more intense sanding
I am of the belief that if you are thorough and detail oriented you can accomplish apparent miracles !
Oh,a trick,get some paint stir sticks from your local purveyor,cut them to your desired length,wrap with sandpaper,and use those to help level the side surfaces,you will see small "troughs" where your paper wrapped fingers took more material off,thusly,easier to spot imperfections so as to fill them

[shtdaprdtr]

if paint is sitting in some gouges...I would use the mini wire wheels that come with dremel kits...then fill it because you dont want to sand the cutaway any bigger...colorwise, since the top edges looked screwed...I would get the archtop binding router bit from stewmac...paint the guitar ivory white with a LP custom multiply binding on the top...kinda like the new EVH wolfgangs or gibson classic customs....maybe even solid mount the pickups with no rings like the wolfgang or BFG les pauls...plug the nashville bridge posts and drill for an ABR-1 tune-o-matic, all gold by the way, then use 2" long brass machine screws (cutting the heads off) as the studs for the bridge..going as deep as you can...the sustain will be insane. When you do the top...carefully use a heat gun but not too close to the neck as it may soften the glue...I would 2 finger sand the waist area of the carved top to make it a little more promounced like a 59...when you shoot a color on it...it would pop like crazy.

[shtdaprdtr]

hell..go the triple creme pickup route on white...that would be awesome

[crabbdaddy]

Originally Posted by shtdaprdtr

hell..go the triple creme pickup route on white...that would be awesome

thats what im thinking....

[yllsacky]

white!! ftw

[j.six]

did something very similar to a trashed studio and filmed it. You can find the vids (and some of my old kiss tribute stuff) on my page, here.

YouTube - jsullysix's Channel

I was looking into adding binding, but decided not to. If you're going to do it, you may need to sharpen the edge so that you don't have to put super thick binding on there. IMO, leave the binding off, refin it, and enjoy it. Or, you could do the natural binding look.

Sully

[crabbdaddy]

Originally Posted by j.six

did something very similar to a trashed studio and filmed it. You can find the vids (and some of my old kiss tribute stuff) on my page, here.

YouTube - jsullysix's Channel

I was looking into adding binding, but decided not to. If you're going to do it, you may need to sharpen the edge so that you don't have to put super thick binding on there. IMO, leave the binding off, refin it, and enjoy it. Or, you could do the natural binding look.

Sully

already subscribed sully ... your vids are what led me to try it!!
thanks man

[j.six]

Oh cool! well, lemme know if i can be of any further assistance!

Sully

[El Toro]

You gotta do the scraped binding like PRS.

[crabbdaddy]

i finally had some time to work on the LP studio -
i used Motsenbockers Lift Off gel to remove the multiple layers of finish. It worked good i would guess, this is my first restore/refinish. it took 3 applications with 20 minutes between two applications and the 3rd I simply ran out of time and let it sit overnight - probably a mistake - but i wanted to see if it would pull the stain out.

a few pictures of the gel applied with a brush. i used a plastic scraper to remove the layers. i used a metal scraper to clean out the pickup cavity. i also used the octo to help remove the layers on the sides, along with a lot of hand sanding with 60 and 80 grit paper. btw - the octo melted itself where the multiple attachment point mounts - it goes back to lowes tomorrow.

[crabbdaddy]

a few pics of the "semi-cleaned" LP studio -

[crabbdaddy]

i have a question about the bushing seating - should they be flush with the body?
notice how they are above the body in the pic - thanks for any help__

[crabbdaddy]

I also found a headstock from across the pond - but not sure of what size to order - what size headstock is a 93 LP studio?
options to order are listed below

LP Standart current size
LP Standart Historic Size
LP Custom
SG/ES Historic with Crown/ Inlay
Pegasus
Explorer
SG 70Žs Large Size
or

50Žs MOP Inlay
60Žs MOP Inlay
Crown Inlay

[Mongrel]

Gonna be a killer guitar Crabdaddy!, if you need to sand inside the horn again, get a section of round dowel and wrap sandpaper around it, or a sanding drum you can attach to a power drill.

Lookin Good!

[bfcg]

If you are painting an opaque color, don't try to get the old finish out of the dents and dings, you will just have to re-fill them anyway. Just leave it in as filler.
If you sand down the surrounding wood to hide the dents, you will end up with a lot of dips and ripples.

[crabbdaddy]

ok - so if i am heading down the path of 3 pickups - this is my list of items - for the middle pickup route

Humbucker Pickup Routing Template at Stewart-MacDonald
humbucker pickup routing template

Ball Bearing Router Bits at Stewart-MacDonald
ball-bearing router bits

i already have the router - just never used it
porter cable model 694VK
Delta Machinery|Porter Cable Product Details for 1-3/4 HP (Maximum Motor HP) Variable-Speed Multi-Base Router Kit - Model # 694VK
fixed base and plunge base