A Rich Rendall Refinish - Turning a Disaster into a Thing of Beauty

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jaymenonjaymenon Frets: 804
edited June 2018 in Made in the UK
I had a custom partscaster made with a non-fine tuner floyd - and wanted a ultra light swamp ash body

The builder did a nice job - body weighed 1.3kg - very nice sunburst.

But he put the bridge in the wrong place. Even after pulling the saddles back as far as they would go, still sharp at the 12th fret.  

Not impressed at all.

Told the builder, who tried to argue that I needed to stretch the strings - my guitar tech finally measured the scale length at 642mm instead of 648mm. Bridge needed to go back by 6mm.

Builder very upset / offended - no further communication, but made me a lighting fast replacement, with the bridge in the correct place.

Intonated perfectly.

But weighed 600g more at 1.9kg (1888g)

The whole assembled guitar weighed 3.6kg).

Butt Ugly: The colour was different, dark blue at the edges and orange in the centre.

But I was so relieved to have a functional guitar that I let matters drop.

However, over the next few months, the weight (I have bad neck and shoulder problems) and the looks were a constant source of irritation.

Enter Rich Rendall:

Project: To Re-Finish my Strat (and also Weight Relieve it)

My Butt Ugly Strat - the picture looks better than the real thing, which is blue / orange
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/rRsKgCq.jpg)

Sharp Contoured Heel
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/cDfxFH9.jpg)

Outlines for weight relief routing
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/ontYuYh.jpg)
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/kdBolsv.jpg)

Weight Relief Routing Holes (done with a Forstner bit)
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/z9oZuWt.jpg)

After Stripping the Finish (Still coloured)
Also the rear contour of the lower horn has been rounded / smoothed off
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/a41hrdV.jpg)
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/6Ucqbeu.jpg)

Rich's Magic Potion
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/MKym1Yl.jpg)

Finally de-finished
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/aL9PiNQ.jpg)
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/7er7x9S.jpg)

One of the routs broke though into a cavity - so Rich 'Swimming-pooled it'
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/03BNmCT.jpg)

Sunburst Painted
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/ksam9dy.jpg)
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/esZdYvq.jpg)

First Layer of Lacquer
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/4r1RhjP.jpg)
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/TAtmmsT.jpg)
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/w7Ah0dG.jpg)

Headstock
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/YDjcakN.jpg)
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/2Bqk1P7.jpg)
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/h63hXO6.jpg)

Final Gloss
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/eCwtHxj.jpg)
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/cH3Ftkc.jpg)
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/FyssBu1.jpg)
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/qZ0Bg37.jpg)

Headstock
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/OPFaOFZ.jpg)

[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/kqDIKTO.jpg)

Lost a grand total of 51g - that was disappointing. (but not Rich's fault)
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/q8BlGrC.jpg)

Graphite Paint Shielding
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/wwXxFNG.jpg)

Final Appearance - the sunburst and finish is breathtaking - my photographs don't do it justice
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/vN1RtpW.jpg)
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/ONuIjl6.jpg)
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/nERkwik.jpg)
[Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/qgaZDmN.jpg)

Thanks Rich - for a beautiful job...!

Cheers
Jay 






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Comments

  • lamf68lamf68 Frets: 850
    Having been doing this now for donkeys years this was a pleasure to work on, I love having specifics to work from, when someone says they want a certain colour and send me pictures of that certain colour there's nothing better than blowing someones socks off with something identical. The old finish was the thickest gloopiest stuff I'd seen in my life, it was way worse than a fender finish, and they've got a long history of gloopy thick pointless finishes. The stain in the original job was intense and getting that out of the wood was a hell of a task, and had I not reverted to my magical formula (thinking of bottling this and selling it) for removing stain the final result would not have been so uniform. Absolutely shocked that after removing so much wood from under the guard there was only a loss of 50gms especially when the paint was measureable in it's thickness. I'm delighted you like the final result Jay mate, it was as interesting one to do. From something that looked like it was made by Fisher Price to this pure glass finish was well worth the effort, looks beautiful now. Thanks for all the texts and phone calls along the way, next time you're in Bridgend we'll meet up for a coffee.
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  • Adam_MDAdam_MD Frets: 3420
    It looks a lot nicer now.
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  • IvisonGuitarsIvisonGuitars Frets: 6838
    tFB Trader
    Nice one @lamf68 !
    http://www.ivisonguitars.com
    (formerly miserneil)
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  • impmannimpmann Frets: 12641
    Rich is the master! :-)
    Never Ever Bloody Anything Ever.

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  • keithfkeithf Frets: 371

    he's the biz.

    I got a build on the go at the mo, outstanding paint from the man himself, he had a bit of a mare with it I believe.

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  • johnljohnl Frets: 2011
    That looks great - funnily enough I was just looking around for someone to refinish a tele body. PM inbound :)
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  • jaymenonjaymenon Frets: 804
    lamf68 said:
    Having been doing this now for donkeys years this was a pleasure to work on, I love having specifics to work from, when someone says they want a certain colour and send me pictures of that certain colour there's nothing better than blowing someones socks off with something identical. The old finish was the thickest gloopiest stuff I'd seen in my life, it was way worse than a fender finish, and they've got a long history of gloopy thick pointless finishes. The stain in the original job was intense and getting that out of the wood was a hell of a task, and had I not reverted to my magical formula (thinking of bottling this and selling it) for removing stain the final result would not have been so uniform. Absolutely shocked that after removing so much wood from under the guard there was only a loss of 50gms especially when the paint was measureable in it's thickness. I'm delighted you like the final result Jay mate, it was as interesting one to do. From something that looked like it was made by Fisher Price to this pure glass finish was well worth the effort, looks beautiful now. Thanks for all the texts and phone calls along the way, next time you're in Bridgend we'll meet up for a coffee.
    My socks stand blown off...

    ...and I look forward to that cup of coffee Rich!
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