I'm DB from Toronto, Canada. The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. The second step is buying more guitars.
Sometimes it pays to have a friend or two in the business!
Here is @samlowry73’s #MIM #Fender Esquire. He had his colleague @guitarfixr, one of the guitar repair gurus @folkwaymusic, to refinish it in a lovely orange-ish #fiestared #nitro. He also added a neck #pickup, effectively converting it into a #Telecaster…although it still says #Esquire on the headstock. Strap is by @souldierstraps.
#guitar #guitars #fenderguitars #madeinmexico #tele #teletuesday #esquireeveryday #fendertelecaster #guitarphotography
Two #candyapple #Fender #guitars. A 1969 #Mustang and a 2006 #CustomShop #Stratocaster #Relic. The colouring on the Mustang has held up extremely well over the last 47 years with virtually no fading. This can probably be in part attributed to good care by the previous owner(s), but also to the fact that Fender had switched from #nitrocellulose #lacquer to #polyurethane some time in ‘68. And #poly is about a million times tougher than #nitro, and therefore preserves the finish better over time. OK, so your guitar is coated in a layer of plastic…but who can argue with the condition of this finish, huh? :D
#guitar #fenderguitars #vintageguitars #vintagefender #fendercustomshop #strat #stang #competitioncolor #guitarcollection #guitarphotography
I’m STILL not at #NAMM, so here’s a 1975 #OlympicWhite #Stratocaster instead!
I’m not usually a fan of the ol’ 3 bolt neck and #bullet #trussrod ‘70s #Strats, but this one was really pretty and not too heavy at just under 8 lbs. It’s also hard to argue with a #maple #neck on #Olympic #White. Also fascinating is the #polyurethane finish…the back of that neck is every bit as shiny as the day it left the factory. I’m so used to the feel of #nitrocellulose on vintage (or #Relic) #Fender necks, that when you switch to a poly neck the difference is REALLY noticeable to the touch. Visually, of course, it’s a 41 year old neck on which the finish could have been applied last week! Poly is SO much more durable than #nitro, which is one of the reasons they started using it (the other being that it is easier - and therefore cheaper - to apply than nitro!), but it does kind feel the back of your neck is coated in a layer of plastic! :D
This lively #guitar is available for purchase at @folkwaymusic in Waterloo, Canada.
#notnamm2016 #fenderstratocaster #straturday #vintageguitars #vintagefenders #fenderguitars #guitars #guitarshopping #guitarphotography
The first Atlas Stands Wall mount Guitar Hanger…modular design…Curly Maple and African Padauk…the leather contact points should help ease the minds of the nitro finished guitar owners.
WANT!
These guys do incredible work.
More fun stuff this week at Long & McQuade Bloor Street (Streetview below)…
- If I was the big executive at Gibson responsible for the naming of new colours, I would have called this one “rhubarb”. Now you see why I’m NOT a big executive at Gibson.
- Every now and then a really interesting “boutique” acoustic pops up. This was a used parlor-sized (12 fret) acoustic from a small maker in the eastern US for $1,200. And of course I can’t remember the name of the maker. Loomer…Looden…Loofah… Goddammit. Something like that anyway! I should have take a shot of the price tag. It had a small, but deep body and 14 frets clear of the body (a feature I love in a parlour-sized guitar!). Most importantly it sounded great - very full and warm, considering the size.
- How about a really nice 500 dollar used Chinese-made Gretsch? I almost went for this one actually. Not too heavy!
- 500 dollars buys a lot of nice used Gretsch!
- Here is another one I LOVE. It’s a Gibson J-165. It’s like a mini Jumbo! I don’t like Jumbos…but apparently I LOVE MINI-Jumbos!
- DoBro. Named after the Dopyera Brothers. "Do"-pyera “Bro”-thers. DoBro. Clever, no?
- 2012 American Vintage Reissue ‘65 Strat. Used at $1950, New, it would have sold here for $2300.
I have a dilemma. But before I get to that, here is some background for context (in point form):
- I am refinishing this Tele body. It was black. I wanted to make it different, so I spent untold hours sanding off the original finish.
- At some point I acquired a can of “Deep Forest Green” auto paint (for a Chrysler, apparently…) and sprayed it over a coat of white primer I had already applied to the raw wood.
- BUT, I went through 2 full cans of the stuff and I was still getting the primer showing through in some spots, no matter how many times I sprayed them. I was at a loss!
- SO, I decided to attempt a rescue of the finish and “Jackson Pollock”-ize it. If you do not know who Jackson Pollock was proceed directly to the bottom of this text and check out the first 13 seconds of this video I shot at the Museum of Modern Art, NYC in 2012.
- SO, I then went out and spent about 80 clams (that’s how we say “dollars” in Canada) on liquid acrylic artist colours…and I planned to dribble/drip/drop/splatter/sprinkle/spray them randomly onto the body and either cover up or at least distract from its flawed Sherwood Green undercoat. The paint remover on the left in the above photos was going to be my “plan B” if my homage to Pollock went south and I had to bail out…
- THEN I was in a shop two days ago and found another brand of green spray paint (Krylon maybe??), not in “Sherwood” green but in “hunter” green… which is not metallic like Sherwood, but what the hell. Plus the Krylon can said “primer + paint” i.e. an all-in-one painting solution for morons who don’t know what they are doing (i.e. “me”). I thought that maybe the “primer” portion of this spray paint would help cover the problem areas?
- SO, I sprayed the Krylon hunter green on and to my surprise it covered everything, and very easily, on the very first coat!
So here is the dilemma. All opinions and advice are welcome:
I bought all them fancy paints to try an experimental rescue of the poor results I got with the automotive paint. BUT, now that the new hunter green coat has fixed the issue, I am not sure I want to Pollock-ize it anymore. I know that as soon as I can get a few coats of thin lacquer on it and buff it up, it is going to be really nice. BUT I REALLY wanted to try Pollock-ing! I love Pollock’s work and have ALWAYS wanted to try out the “drip” technique somewhere. Besides, it might turn out similar to the early 80s Fender “bowling ball” finishes which I also love…
Again, all advice and opinions are welcome…anyone?
Remember a few posts ago I said I was going to use this rubbing compound for cars called “Meguiars” to clean up the finish on my ‘68 SG Special? Here is a look at the results of the first application. I have more work to do but it already looks…no exaggeration…about 7 million times better than it did! ;)
PS: the 2011 SG Junior in the background in photos 2 & 3 was sold today. The guy who bought it plays guitar in a local band called Andreas. I checked them out and they are good! Here is a “taste” (if you like them, this song and others from their debut EP are available for purchase on iTunes ).
Enjoy your new Junior, Jason!
I am about to use a care care product to revitalize the badly hazed and checked finish on my 1968 SG Special. Meguiar’s #2 and #9.
I’ll let you know how it goes in the near future. If it works well…you will see photos of the improvement. If not, then I will never speak of it again!
You: How did it go trying to repair the finish on your 1968 SG Special?
Me: 1968 SG Special? I own no such guitar. I know not of what you speak!
The best thing about Capsule Music in downtown Toronto, Canada is that everyone there is a complete guitar expert. They can tell you anything you want to know about anything you want to know.
The second best thing about Capsule Music is that several of the guys are also well-known musicians who play in some famous bands around town and across the country.
The third best thing about Capsule Music is that several of the guys that work there build their own amps and guitars. And they build awesome instruments (see my recent post about Shyboy guitars for example!).
Case in point: These two “Telecapsules” (check out the custom decal in photo # 3) built by Kevin Kane, of Canadian indie rock legends The Grapes of Wrath. He built 3 of these and the first 1 sold the same day it went on display. They feature nitrocellulose lacquer finishes and Lollar pickups. The yellow “Esquire” is priced at $1100, and the green “Tele” at $1495.
Sadly, I am so broke at the moment that I had to cut up my own credit card on the spot to stop me from buying the green one! Damn you universe! Stop tempting me when I am this poor!
PS: Here’s Kevin Kane in action with The Grapes of Wrath from their latest record:
Hey…It’s a Partscaster!
It’s an Allparts mélange…body in charcoal nitro, maple neck with RW ‘board, tusq nut & Gotoh Vintage Locking tuners. Also, it’s a hardtail!
This post is about white buildings and black guitars!
Custom built Stratocaster with nitro-finished Allparts body and tinted Allparts rosewood neck. CTS pots…but pickups unknown When I bought it I thought the first thing I would do would be to put some better pickups in it. But when I got it home and started playing it, I found these mystery pickups sounded great and it it wasn’t worth changing them!
(note these shots were taken a week or two ago before I changed the pick guard to its current grey-pearloid (see below):
2011 Gibson SG Junior ‘60s in Heritage Cherry glossy nitro finish
My first hardtail Strat (excluding my 2 mini-Strats of course. Because they aren’t “real” guitars ;).
I may be crazy, but I am sure the hardtail changes the the sound vs. a tremolo-equipped Strat. It seems to be more acoustically resonant when unplugged than my other “regular” Strats, and the difference can actually be heard when it comes through the amplifier.
The only problem is I keep reaching for a trem arm that isn’t there! :D
Ahhh, a wistful throwback to when my beloved Partscaster still had its tortoise shell pick guard. I am getting all nostalgic and weepy!
Well…actually, I put this ‘guard on my 1987 Olympic White Strat…it looks AMAZING on that Olympic White…!
PS: the voting on that white Strat question (click here to see the post) was split fairly evenly, but in general people were leaning either toward the original white…or the tortoise. Red pearloid got a not insignificant number of votes, but not nearly as many as original white and tortoise So…for now…I am going to keep the tortoise on it. I can always switch back to white if I am getting wistful for the old days… ;)
Here it is again…just to refresh your memories!
