Shergold Modulator Restoration!!

impmann

A little progress for you. Removing the paint has been a challenge - Obeche is a really soft wood... like *really* soft... so you have to be really careful removing paint that you don't oversand, or damage the body underneath. I am getting there with it and currently it looks a bit like this...

Please excuse the slightly fuzzy pics - its actually airborne dust that's making it look like that!!

Taking the paint off the sides has been the biggest challenge as under the purple and black is the original black acrylic paint applied quite thickly by Shergold. Its taking quite a lot of work to get it off especially in the cut aways without damaging the wood underneath.

I have tracked down some Obeche to plug the hole and also some of the missing electronic parts (including - hopefully - a proper module in bits) so it should look more original than it has done for *many* years.

I'm not sure about the finishing of the guitar currently. An oil finish isn't going to work on Obeche (its just too soft plus its a fairly uninspiring wood for a natural finish) and spray paint is just not going to happen for me at this time of year... so I'm considering Wudtone, if I can manage a burst around the edge to hide the join of the veneer. 

impmann

An update for you...

Some more progress for you...

A lot of the paint is now missing, but it is a slow process, especially in the horns. The end grain on this guitar is especially ugly so its likely to gain either a burst or solid colour paint job, sadly. That was probably the reason this guitar was black in the first place!!

Anyway, a nice package arrived from a fellow Shergold nut - thanks mate!! 

As a result I was able to make a start on cleaning up the nasty 'routing'. The first stage of this is always the most scary - you have to make the mess bigger! Because not a single edge was square that had been attacked with the blunt screwdriver, I had to get the router out to square it all up.

Here I'm using two straight edges (actually the remains of the old shower rail from the bathroom) with a bearing-guided cutter to true everything up.

The result is this...

So now I had to true up, and cut to suit the new insert piece and then glue it into place.

Sadly it was so cold and damp in the garage last night, the glue hasn't hardened enough to work the new section today. So I've brought the body inside to warm up and for the glue to dry. So it currently sits like this...

I've still got a couple of smaller sections to let in - a piece between the pickups and another beneath the bridge pickup. In an ideal world I would have used one piece to block up the module cavity hole but I'm going to be covering all this in a thin veneer to hide it all, so I'm not *that* worried.

The next stage will be to cut this new section down to the face of the body - that will be done with a few passes with the router and then some careful sanding - my god Obeche is soft, you can sand it away really easily even with fine grit paper!

WezV

impmann said:

 my god Obeche is soft, you can sand it away really easily even with fine grit paper!

and yet you see it used for fretboards without any explanation on how they have hardened or coloured it

 

 

impmann

A little more progress for you...

So the next stage was to cut down the new section and then true it all up.

Cutting it down with the router:

This left this rough section - I was beginning to get concerned here as it did look a mess.

However with a sand, it was looking better.

I then deployed the router to true up the side of the cavity.

I marked it out for the end of the cavity - one of the guys on facebook gave me the length (155mm). I'm hoping he's right!!

Part way through the routing...

With the front edge trued up, I dealt with the chipped out and broken bit on the other side. This will need to be made of another block of Obeche.

While the router was out, I cut out the extra relief needed for the later model pickups I have for this guitar. This one had the early ones originally (two screw mount, not three). These may need a little tweeking later as I did these freehand.

Then I cut out another little block of Obeche and glued that into the gap beneath the bridge pickup. The darker top of this piece is just from where my mucky fingers gripped the wood. With a sand etc it will be the same colour as the rest.

I've just ordered the veneer for the top - I've ordered a fairly plain Ash veneer for it, as anything too flash may look wrong. I'm still not sure what colour/finish I'm doing this guitar, so I wanted to give myself the option of being able to do something either opaque or a solid colour.

Andyjr1515

Still watching Not that I'm obsessed with veneering, you understand, but can't wait to see the veneer go on

Shark_Eyes

Really enjoying this build.

GuyBoden

Well done........

impmann

Thanks guys - the project has moved on... but my three year old son threw my iPhone down the toilet a couple of nights ago and so I don't have any pics of the latest progress... taking a DSLR out to the garage is *NOT* going to happen!!

All the blocking up is done and sanded, I'm just finishing off the last of the paint removal from the edges and the horns.

The new Ash veneer has arrived - by gum, its fragile stuff isn't it! I shall be reading your veneering adventures, @Andyjr1515 , to get the low down on how the experts do it... and then hopefully shall be applying the veneer either later today or tomorrow... I'm hoping I can get some pics of that.

impmann

Well, it was going to plan... 

The body was sanded and mostly devoid of the dreadful old paint..

So I brought it indoors to apply the Ash veneer, after re-reading all the posts about it...

I had some Screwfix PVA left over from when we repainted the extension to the house, along with a foam roller and an old tray.

So I applied the PVA to both the body and the veneer. Then sprayed the front with some water. However, it still curled up badly... so I used the sprayer to keep it flat and tucked the other end under the body.

I waited 20 mins for it to go touch dry and then reached for the iron to apply it...

DISASTER!

The veneer started cracking and ripping as it flattened onto the front of the guitar. It was also apparent that it was not sticking properly to the edges (despite extra glue applied to the edges earlier), so rather than risk it looking any worse, I peeled it all off and stopped.

Any advice at this stage would be GREATLY appreciated as I'm flummoxed as to what I've done wrong. I was counting on this working... I have enough veneer to have one more go (yet that has a crack in it... jesus this stuff is fragile and annoying.

HELP!!!!

sweepy

Some dark distant memory recommended wetting and steaming whist gluing to sort out the splitting, I think some cotton was used either side of the wood then sanded off if you get my drift

ICBM

impmann said:

I'm not sure about the finishing of the guitar currently. An oil finish isn't going to work on Obeche (its just too soft plus its a fairly uninspiring wood for a natural finish) and spray paint is just not going to happen for me at this time of year... so I'm considering Wudtone, if I can manage a burst around the edge to hide the join of the veneer. 

I'm not sure what to do about the cracking veneer, but the correct answer to this earlier question is: @lamf68

It's really worth having it refinished properly now you've come this far. I think you'll still need the veneer to cover the block infill though, or you'll get sinkage around the outline of it.

Years ago when I needed to do something like this I laminated a piece of high quality knot-free 6mm birch ply to the top of the guitar using an enormous cast-iron press to clamp it over the whole area, then once it had dried completely I took a power planer to it and removed all bar the last two layers, then sanded the second last one off leaving just the original facing ply. Long-winded, but did a very good job.

WezV

ICBM;871277" said:

impmann said:I'm not sure about the finishing of the guitar currently. An oil finish isn't going to work on Obeche (its just too soft plus its a fairly uninspiring wood for a natural finish) and spray paint is just not going to happen for me at this time of year... so I'm considering Wudtone, if I can manage a burst around the edge to hide the join of the veneer. 





I'm not sure what to do about the cracking veneer, but the correct answer to this earlier question is: @lamf68

It's really worth having it refinished properly now you've come this far. I think you'll still need the veneer to cover the block infill though, or you'll get sinkage around the outline of it.

Years ago when I needed to do something like this I laminated a piece of high quality knot-free 6mm birch ply to the top of the guitar using an enormous cast-iron press to clamp it over the whole area, then once it had dried completely I took a power planer to it and removed all bar the last two layers, then sanded the second last one off leaving just the original facing ply. Long-winded, but did a very good job.

Whereas I generally go the opposite way. Plane off a few mm from the top first (usually with a router thicknesser) then add a solid top. Drill through into the cavities and use a bottom bearing router bit to trim the new wood back.


Although veneering is the second best option but you will have to deal with cracks

Deadman

What a shame. I'd be giving it a nice respray now if it were me.

impmann

@ICBM - if I can afford to, I'd love to. Sadly, still no job so still no money. :-(

@Wez - Its going to have to be the veneer... I've got to make it work!

@Deadman - it needs a veneer over the top to hide the join lines, otherwise as ICBM says the  lines may become visible over time.

Deadman

Ah, never saw that. Clever bloke, ICBM. And he has a valid point. However using the right filler prior to priming would eliminate that. It'd have to be a solid colour.
I didn't know you were out of a job. That sucks. If I can make time I'd do the respray for you if you really get stuck. I have a few colours spare in my collection

impmann

Thanks mate!

I'm going to have another go with the veneer and see how I go!

Andyjr1515

Hi, @Impmann

It's difficult to see quite what's going on, but you have broadly done it how I would.  Some veneers react more markedly than others, but certainly they all start to curl when the side you have applied the PVA to starts to expand due to the moisture - hence the water spray on the other side to counteract it.  Don't spray too much water on it, otherwise it will start curling the other way rather than just flatten out. 

Some curling or unevenness when it is drying is fine because the veneer will be a lot tougher when it has the dried PVA on it and will smooth out with the iron.

Just some tips and thoughts that might help before you try a second time:

• I have always used Evostick 'compound W' wood glue (the one in the green bottle) simply because there are SO many different types of PVA of different thicknesses and strengths.  Not saying your PVA isn't suitable, I just can't judge.
• With the sheet you've taken off again, if there are any pieces usable - or with the offcuts if not - try it out on some scrap wood or MDF to get the feel of how much heat, pressure and bendability you have or need
• Don't rush.  The glue, once dry on both surfaces, will melt, cool down, melt again as many times as you need it to.  There is no problem leaving the two surfaces for hours or even days before you iron them on.  20 mins or so is simply the minimum - not a specific time
• with a single large sheet, lay the sheet on the body in its intended position and start ironing from the middle, gradually moving out.  Make sure it is properly bonded before moving to the next area.  Sometimes it helps to get an area well hot, then remove the iron and hold the area down with a towel /tea-towel for 15 - 30 seconds while it cools and bonds.
• Don't try to bend round the edges at the first pass - get the main bulk flat and fixed
• Then, at the edges, firmly iron to the edge, just starting to ease it only a little round the curve - you will finish off the edge once the excess veneer has been trimmed off
• Don't panic too much if you get some small splits - these can always be filled
• When the edges have been trimmed, run round the edges with the iron (and maybe using the teatowel again to apply pressure while it cools) to make sure they are well stuck down. 

Hope this helps 

Andyjr1515

Oh-----and another thing.  Don't forget to take the paper impression of the cavities and screw holes before you veneer, so you can find them again once the veneer is covering everything!  (tell me if you can't find that bit of the thread and I'll find it for you!)

Andyjr1515

I think you've probably already looked at this one, but this was the last veneering post I think I did:

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/32725/finished-new-strat-project/p1

The hints and tips on the veneering start about 2/3 down the page

Hope it's of some help

Andy

Deadman

No worries mate. Good luck with it.