Guitar refinish - who? how much?

rlw

I've just spoken to Jonathan at Feline about the PRS I didn't buy yesterday.  Its a good guitar but could look nicer.  Does anyone have any recommendations for someone who could restore the guitar to it's former glory?

Basically, there's a couple of small dings, the binding is very lightly chipped in a couple of places and the whole thing is covered in very very light scratches and swirls - much as you would expect of a nearly 22 year old guitar.    And the headstock has a few little chips in the black paint.

So, a tiny bit of filling, some paint and a bloody good polish, clean up the neck and polish the frets.  And then back to Feline for a setup.

Thoughts as to who might be able to do the work please.  I'm in Bromley but quite willing to travel.

DefaultM

Save your money and get one without any blemishes if that's what you want. Its more common to find them in excellent condition than bad.

octatonic

DefaultM said:

Save your money and get one without any blemishes if that's what you want. Its more common to find them in excellent condition than bad.

This.

Expect a refinish to be £300+ from people who know what they are doing.

rlw

DefaultM said:

Save your money and get one without any blemishes if that's what you want. Its more common to find them in excellent condition than bad.

Ah yes - but they don't make them like that anymore and certainly not in that colour.  And for a very good price so a bit more wouldn't go amiss..............

sgosden

Chips and blemishes add character, let it keep it's scars

Fez

It's naturally reliced keep it that way or buy one in better condition.

Boromedic

You could probably polish the swirls and surface marks out yourself with some decent cleaner and then polish it up, same with the neck. The dings and chips are a different story of course but the idea of keeping its character is nice, obviously if you bought it that's up to you if you'd prefer it fixed up. The frets would be polished by Feline during the setup I would've thought? Although again that's easy work you can do yourself just time cost really.

paulnb57

My thoughts are, if the price reflects the bits you don't like enough to rectify them and the instrument is for you, a must have, with a no longer available spec or relative rarity then I would go for it....

FelineGuitars

As I said there are a couple of paint finishers that you could approach 
We can certainly do all the physical stuff in terms of making it play wonderfully , or even take it all apart so the paint guy can work his magic, then reassemble and do a killer set-up once it's been done.

But as you are fastidious about the paint side of things it'll be better to deal with the paintshop direct to ensure they do things the way you want them done without going through an intermediary.

rlw

At the moment, I'm considering buying it and taking off the original finish, fixing the dings and just getting it finished in a plain nitro finish.  Presumably some of the original colour can remain on the top - maybe not? - and the headstock can be masked off as necessary- to retain the original name and number -  and refinished around that?

If I buy it and do this, it will definitely be going to Feline for a final fettle.  No way can I do that stuff.

rlw

FelineGuitars said:

As I said there are a couple of paint finishers that you could approach 
We can certainly do all the physical stuff in terms of making it play wonderfully , or even take it all apart so the paint guy can work his magic, then reassemble and do a killer set-up once it's been done.

But as you are fastidious about the paint side of things it'll be better to deal with the paintshop direct to ensure they do things the way you want them done without going through an intermediary.

Fastidious.

J you are so tactful.  Fussy is the word you were looking for. 

Philly_Q

Whilst we're talking fastidious, the thing which would worry me most about refinishing a PRS is the raised headstock logo.  It must be well nigh impossible to remove and replace with destroying it.

rlw

Philly_Q said:

Whilst we're talking fastidious, the thing which would worry me most about refinishing a PRS is the raised headstock logo.  It must be well nigh impossible to remove and replace with destroying it.

I was thinking mask it off and work round it, leaving the original intact.  Am I being daft?

Philly_Q

rlw said:

Philly_Q said:

Whilst we're talking fastidious, the thing which would worry me most about refinishing a PRS is the raised headstock logo.  It must be well nigh impossible to remove and replace with destroying it.

I was thinking mask it off and work round it, leaving the original intact.  Am I being daft?

It should be OK if the face of the headstock is clean, but if you're getting a total refinish it seems a bit odd not including that one bit of the guitar.

Edit:  I just saw from your other thread that it's a CE - so presumably a black-faced headstock on a maple neck?  At least there'll be no problem matching colours.

brooom

@lamf68 - would probably be a good bet for a refinish.

rlw

it cleaned and polished up so well I can live with it now

FelineGuitars

good to hear