Vintage Tele restoration - and a vote on colour

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WezVWezV Frets: 16547
edited July 2018 in Making & Modding
@bgmartinsbridge came around with a nice old tele last week.   



It had original smuggler routes hiding under the guard, but oddly someone had filled them in with 4 blocks and refinished it in red.  This was actually done pretty well a long time ago... we think the finish is 80's

Theory 1 - they didn't know about smuggler routes and tried to put it back to "original" spec by filling them.
Theory 2 - It was the 80's.  Heavier was better

  Then further down the line it got hacked for a humbucker leaving this below the guard





I have re-routed the smuggler cavities and added a new middle section which gets us to where we are now.   Still needs a bit of tidying up, and final shaping, but most of the way there   

I was really happy as I was able to route just inside the lines and peel back the last 0.5mm to reveal the original walls of the smuggler cavities.   Although I still have a layer of resin on the bottom to work my way through





This leaves us with a dilemma.   The original finish will have been white/blonde.  you can see traces of it on the original cavity walls.   We are considering refinishing it in its original colour.

But the red re-fin is quite old in itself, and nicely aged... but not right for the year



So, What would you do?   Red or Blonde?




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Comments

  • guitars4youguitars4you Frets: 14039
    tFB Trader
    I'd go with the dirty faded 'blonde'
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  • IvisonGuitarsIvisonGuitars Frets: 6838
    tFB Trader
    A nice aged Blonde for me.
    http://www.ivisonguitars.com
    (formerly miserneil)
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16547
    I'd go with the dirty faded 'blonde'
    well when you put it like that  ;)

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  • ZoolooterZoolooter Frets: 886
    Nice work, definitely blonde. What is the actual year as a matter of interest?
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16547
    edited June 2018
    Zoolooter said:
    Nice work, definitely blonde. What is the actual year as a matter of interest?
    67.  The smuggler routes were only used for a short period  in 67 before they started doing the full thinline
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  • SteveRobinsonSteveRobinson Frets: 6915
    tFB Trader
    Black is the best colour. But blond.
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  • Got to say, I'm in two minds...

    The current finish is a stunner but I think a vintage relic blonde could also be amazing - I'm totally on the fence.... 

    Heres some more pics in red... 
    https://imgur.com/gallery/VW2pH
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  • IamnobodyIamnobody Frets: 6887
    Blonde gets my vote - I’m not a big fan of red guitars. Unless it’s a cherry red SG.
    Previously known as stevebrum
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  • punchesjudypunchesjudy Frets: 1020
    I actually really like that as is.. 
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  • meltedbuzzboxmeltedbuzzbox Frets: 10337
    sonic blue :-D
    The Bigsby was the first successful design of what is now called a whammy bar or tremolo arm, although vibrato is the technically correct term for the musical effect it produces. In standard usage, tremolo is a rapid fluctuation of the volume of a note, while vibrato is a fluctuation in pitch. The origin of this nonstandard usage of the term by electric guitarists is attributed to Leo Fender, who also used the term “vibrato” to refer to what is really a tremolo effect.
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  • WezVWezV Frets: 16547
    I actually really like that as is.. 
    and you are not wrong.  It’s good natural ageing.

    i guess that’s what leads to our dilemma.  It’s not a choice between blonde and red.  It’s a choice between naturally aged wrong colour and artificially aged right colour.


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  • peteripeteri Frets: 1283
    Naturally aged red - it will always be a refin, so let it wear the scars with pride
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  • poopotpoopot Frets: 9098
    Blondes have more fun but red ones are always faster!....
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  • JD50JD50 Frets: 651
    edited June 2018
    Leave as is, tells a story.
    Also looks great.

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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71963
    peteri said:
    Naturally aged red - it will always be a refin, so let it wear the scars with pride
    This. Leave it as it is, it looks fine/great, and genuine wear is always better than fake.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    I would 100% keep that as it is! Looks fabulous. It would be heartbreaking to lose all that mojo.

    Save that guitar!!!!!!
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  • punchesjudypunchesjudy Frets: 1020
    WezV said:
    I actually really like that as is.. 
    and you are not wrong.  It’s good natural ageing.

    i guess that’s what leads to our dilemma.  It’s not a choice between blonde and red.  It’s a choice between naturally aged wrong colour and artificially aged right colour.


    Id keep as is. Looks great. 
    I'm not one to be bothered whether the colour is vintage correct or not though. 
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  • adampeteradampeter Frets: 775
    Blonde all day long
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  • crunchmancrunchman Frets: 11415
    Tele with rosewood board looks best in Lake Placid Blue.

    I've no particular preference on either of those colours.  Don't like that shade of red overmuch, but Blonde Teles are everywhere and I've got a bit fed up with them.  I'd prefer LPB, Black, Sunburst, CAR over either of them.
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  • JonathangusJonathangus Frets: 4436
    So - late 60s, originally blonde, refinished red, impeccably aged.

    It's Gillian Anderson.

    Leave it.
    Trading feedback | How to embed images using Imgur

    As for "when am I ready?"  You'll never be ready.  It works in reverse, you become ready by doing it.  - pmbomb


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