meanstreak
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Posts posted by meanstreak
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Will a guard off a Epi ES-339 or Dot fit on a Sheraton? As in ate the mounting holes the same on all the guitars?
looking to swap my Sheraton tortoise guard out for a black or maybe white one.
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On 5/12/2021 at 10:47 AM, RBSinTo said:
Please, will someone explain why one would even want to relic a guitar?
The logic of the exercise escapes me.
And with respect to the particular guitar in question, it is a beautiful example of understated, good taste, and in my opinion, will be visually ruined by firing pennies, nailguns, rubber bullets or RPGs at it.
RBSinTo
In my case there are lots of reasons -
1 - I bought the guitar for $200, Epi Masterbilt case included. Not a lot of outlay to worry about.
2 - I intended it to be a guitar I learn to work on myself instead of taking to a shop. I installed a LR Baggs pickup, proper strap button, swapped the tuners from gold to nickel and changed the pickguard. Still learning to dress frets.
3 - It already had the stickers, multiple marks and a regular wood screw stuck through the body as a strap button.
4 - I have four other natural finish acoustics that are in perfect condition.
5 - I've given it 10 years for the color to even out, which it mostly has, but the satin finish is gone where the stickers were and that will never even out.
6 - I love the look of the work that the Pre-War Guitar Company puts out.
7 - I have recently had two skin cancer surgeries, so won't be outside all day every day in the summer like I used to do and am looking for a fun summer project to do (I'm a teacher.)
Here it is the day I bought it -
And here it is just a few days ago -
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Oh meant to also say for everyone saying to just leave it as it is, I have four other natural finish acoustics and all are in pretty much perfect condition. I really do baby my gear!
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4 hours ago, dhanners623 said:
A few years ago, I had a friend (who is also a repairman and luthier) relic an IB'64 Texan I used to have. The dang thing just looked too new. But there was also a real reason for doing it: I wanted to thin down the poly finish to let the top move better. In that regard, the procedure was a success; the guitar definitely sounded better afterwards. Did it sound like a vintage Texan? No. But it sounded better than it did.
Anyway, I had my friend write down the process he used to relic the guitar. Here it is:
Rough material removal was done with a combination of cabinet scrapers, 3M scrubbies and copper pot scouring pads, steel wool (#000-0000), sandpaper of varying grits (100, 220, 400 and so on) depending on the amount of finish to be removed and the type of contour desired. There were some areas where wood was exposed where a wire brush was used along with water to raise the grain a bit.
-- Surface dings and chips, etc. were accomplished by a number of means- flogging with a set of keys, light taps with a jeweler's hammer and screwdrivers,etc. (the round shaft of a screwdriver does very nicely for the little binding chips) and the belt buckle marks were etched in with the ball hex-head of a truss-rod wrench. I dropped a few coins from 3 feet or so for random top dings as well.
-- Most of the initial sanding with the rougher grits was done dry, but at the 400-grit level I switched to wet sanding up to this point the work was only being done on areas where specific wear patterns were desired based on the player's style and handling of the instrument. Form the 400 grit onward, the entire instrument was wet-sanded with 400, 800, 1000, 1200, 1500 and 2000 grits. I frequently revisited heavier grits in some areas as the final wear patterns became evident. Once the 2000 grit was very thoroughly applied to the entire suface with some touch-ups from larger grits and steel wool here and there, I began buffing with a soft rotary wheel and Tripolish compound. This was rather time-consuming but paid off. Note, it is VERY important to have good lighting from several angles at this point -- the really fine scratches will disappear at certain angles and you need to be very vigilant. After this step a thorough hand buffing with a soft flannel and a very light polishing compound was applied before a final polish/wax coat.
-- Bindings and plastic parts were sanded with 400 grit on down (special care was taken to remove molding lines and soften corners consistent with playing wear) and colorized with Letraset permanent art marker (primrose) and vintage Amber lacquer pencil (Stew-Mac #6091).
-- Tuners were bathed in distilled vinegar and salt for five days while other work was taking place.
Anyway, that's about it in a nutshell (big nut). The only advice I would give to anyone attempting this is go slow and evaluate your progress constantly. I cannot stress the importance of adequate light, and I wore actual magnifier glasses for a lot of the finer work.
This is exactly the kind of info I was looking for, thanks very much!!
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1 hour ago, cunningham26 said:
I can't really think of a way you could relic that to have it look natural- the location of those circles isn't really a place where there's playwear. it's a poly finish so the stickers removed some of the coating vs uv light mellowing the color of it.
I'm not expert and others can weigh in, but maybe wet sand the whole top with some high grit sandpaper, then work your way up to a shine from there? The idea being to have the depth of finish more uniformly match the circle areas?
I definitely didn't notice anything when i first saw the picture- it's a great guitar and you got a screaming deal on it, I'd say let time do it's thing and dont sweat it too much
I just mean since it already looks a bit funky I’ll go all the way with it, not necessarily try to hide those sticker marks .
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Hey folks I’ve got an old Epiphone Masterbilt AJ-500R that I bought for just $200 from a guy about 10 years ago now. He had put three stickers on it that he removed but they left shadows. Over the years it’s started to even out on color but the satin finish is rubbed off where the stickers were so it will forever look odd. He also took a regular screw and put a hole in the side to use as a strap button.
It’s a great sounding and playing guitar but ever since I got my J-45 about five years ago I haven’t really played this Epi much. So since it’s already pretty rough looking I figured I may as well go all the way and give it a full relic job. I need a project for the summer anyway!
Anyone ever done this to an acoustic? Any tips or ideas are welcome!
here’s a pic of it now - -
On 3/23/2021 at 12:18 PM, ALD323 said:
I would be interested in knowing how real those fret sticker inlays look close up, and where they can be bought! I would consider putting them on my beater epi to make it look cool, if the stickers look real close up, and do not peel off in time, or with cleaning the fret board...anyone know?
I bought some off eBay once about 13 years ago for a cheap $50 beater I would take to the beach and not worry about. They actually looked pretty cool. I've got a picture somewhere let me see if I can find it.
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I just picked mine up as well! Very happy with it and impressed that it's as low price as it is for what you get!
https://ibb.co/HnXHf7T
https://ibb.co/nbDR25r -
18 hours ago, ALD323 said:
Great looking guitar! Have you had the chance to compare it with a Gibby bird yet? Wondering how you thiink they compare in the sound, tone and volume departments! thx
Not the Hummingbird head-to-head as they didn't have a Gibson in stock, but I own a Gibson J-45 and they did have the new Epi IBG J-45 and I have to say it had me seriously considering selling the Gibson and buying that Epi. I'd say the Epi was 95% as good a sound as the Gibson and played/felt identical.
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Love it, absolutely fantastic guitar! It plays and sounds miles better than my old 1994 Epi Hummingbird. I'm a STAUNCH gold hardware hater though so I'm thinking I'll swap out the tuning pegs and the strap button, maybe the entire pickup as well lol.
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I have one too, and yet no clue what "AV" on the label means 😃
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I think this is incredible! I've wanted a frontier for about 20 years now since I first saw Noel Gallagher playing one about 20 years ago in this video -
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On 4/26/2021 at 12:15 PM, golfski said:
I am not sure if its serendipity, that the NG 150 came into this discussion because my sales guy actually called me yesterday and said he could get me the NG J-150! So now, I think I am going to be in this exact situation!!!
Do I keep this Sj-200 at a discount or take the NG 150 @ $4299? Or Keep both?
The reason I know about these guitars is because of Noel and Oasis, its the reason I started playing guitar in the first place. I think I would prefer no binding on the neck - but is the neck the same shape/size?
Any chance I can get that discount? lol
Noel and Oasis music is also why I started playing. I have the Epi Supernova and this SJ-150 would round out the collection well. It’s my understanding the guitars are built the same, just a bit less bling on the 150 vs the 200.
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Great looking guitar! I’d never heard of Emily Wolfe until I saw this guitar announcement. Been checking her stuff out, really great!
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Ok couldn’t wait lol - no letters, only numbers on this one too. Please pardon the messy bed!
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Return that one and buy the Noel Gallagher J-150 when it comes out in a couple months -
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9 hours ago, Matt4356 said:
More than likely its-
1999, December production number 0302. If I had to guess I would say Samick Korea, if I remember that's where it seems most of these were made.
It would usually have a S or U etc for the factory but sometimes they don't. Is the number printed on the back of the headstock?
No, nothing on the back of the headstock!
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23 minutes ago, golfski said:
Been tracking this 🙂. Based on comments in the thread on Youtube, someone said they pre-ordered in UK at £3799
"Well just spoken to a reputable guitar shop today and they have 3 coming just preordered and payed deposit 😎 £3799 is the UK price It's a lot of money but I gotta have this gem for me collection. I can not wait for the call to say its in shop."
Ya I figured it would be around $5K here in the USA. We will soon see!
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Looks like a great guitar, less blingy than the J-200. Plus Noel is one of my favorite artists and it would go great next to my Epi Supernova. Anyone care to venture a guess on price?
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I'm also very fond of the headstock on my old 1994 Hummingbird
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I'm very fond of the headstock on my Masterbilts.
-Copy.JPG.f438c1ee72d584debef6c0c8dc5ec852.JPG)
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Any help on this one? No letters at all.
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17 hours ago, lsquir said:
If made in Korea, the 1st letter of the Serial Number:
- I = Saein
- U = Unsung
- S = Samick
- P or R = Peerless
- K = Korea
- F = Fine
- C = Korea
Then, the 1st 2 digits/numbers after the 1st letter will be the year. Thank you, - ls
Ok I'll check the Sheraton later this week when I go get it from my storage unit. Been in there about a year now after a move and I've been too lazy to go get the stuff lol. I also have an Epiphone Supernova that is here at home, but the serial number only says 99120302 no letters at all. Any light to shine on that one?
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17 minutes ago, lsquir said:
Is it an Unsung?
Not sure, is there a definitive way to tell?
-Copy.JPG.f438c1ee72d584debef6c0c8dc5ec852.JPG)
Hbird vs Hbird Studio size question
in Gibson Acoustic
Posted
(Sorry if this is a dumb question)
Just wondering if the body size is identical between the regular bird and the walnut studio bird. A guy I know is telling me the walnut one has a shallower body but I can’t seem to find confirmation on that.