kentuckychrome Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 So, I purchased a beat up Gibson Invader a while back from a friend, with grand hopes of restoring it to its former glory. Long story short, I'm not good at refinishing guitars and the body has some good sized cracks around the electronics cavity area. I'd like to find a finished replacement body that would fit the neck, as the neck is in great shape and it would be a shame to waste a perfectly good 80's Gibson neck. So...any idea what might make a good replacement bolt-on body that would fit the Invader neck and the pickups I've got waiting to put into it? Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 5 hours ago, kentuckychrome said: So, I purchased a beat up Gibson Invader a while back from a friend, with grand hopes of restoring it to its former glory. Long story short, I'm not good at refinishing guitars and the body has some good sized cracks around the electronics cavity area. I'd like to find a finished replacement body that would fit the neck, as the neck is in great shape and it would be a shame to waste a perfectly good 80's Gibson neck. So...any idea what might make a good replacement bolt-on body that would fit the Invader neck and the pickups I've got waiting to put into it? Thanks in advance! Get another Invader with a trashed neck and good body. Problem solved. Actually your just gonna have to call companies that make bodies and give them the dimensions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 Invader and Challenger are the same I believe. Sonex was the same shape and might even interchange but it was made out of sawdust and glue I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kentuckychrome Posted July 20, 2023 Author Share Posted July 20, 2023 4 hours ago, ksdaddy said: Invader and Challenger are the same I believe. Sonex was the same shape and might even interchange but it was made out of sawdust and glue I think. Yeah, I had heard that same thing about the Sonex bodies. Saw someone asking $250 for a Sonex body online yesterday and gave that one the biggest "NOPE!" imaginable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kentuckychrome Posted July 20, 2023 Author Share Posted July 20, 2023 6 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said: Get another Invader with a trashed neck and good body. Problem solved. Actually your just gonna have to call companies that make bodies and give them the dimensions. Good call. Any particular companies that make (finished) replacement bodies that anyone is stoked on these days? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted July 20, 2023 Share Posted July 20, 2023 1 hour ago, kentuckychrome said: Good call. Any particular companies that make (finished) replacement bodies that anyone is stoked on these days? Warmoth, but I doubt your neck is compatible. Mighty Mite might. Not sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparquelito Posted July 23, 2023 Share Posted July 23, 2023 KentuckyChrome, Cracks around the pickup cavity aren't that big a deal. I would preserve what you have. Is the guitar in the usual Black finish, or the Natural Mahogany finish? If it's black, that's the easiest of all. Fill in the cracks with wood glue, let it dry, and then sand everything smooth. Hit the body with some nice rattle-can black paint, and you are in business!!😗 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted July 23, 2023 Share Posted July 23, 2023 4 hours ago, sparquelito said: Cracks around the pickup cavity aren't that big a deal. Certainly can be, especially on a Gibson. That's very often a seam crack in the blank so yeah, it can make that bottom piece fall off. I know, everyone is going to say NO WAY NEVER HEARD OF THAT BULLSH1T but it's about the same chance as a headstock crack/break. rct Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eracer_Team Posted July 23, 2023 Share Posted July 23, 2023 On 7/20/2023 at 3:51 AM, kentuckychrome said: the body has some good sized cracks around the electronics cavity area. They said Electronics cavity, not the pickup area Probably means area near pots 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparquelito Posted July 23, 2023 Share Posted July 23, 2023 7 hours ago, rct said: Certainly can be, especially on a Gibson. That's very often a seam crack in the blank so yeah, it can make that bottom piece fall off. I know, everyone is going to say NO WAY NEVER HEARD OF THAT BULLSH1T but it's about the same chance as a headstock crack/break. rct Forgive me, please. The OP said the cracks were around the electronics cavity. And I had been smoking crack with Hunter Biden and his lawyer just prior to that posting, and I lost my mind, and referenced cracks around the pickup cavities. My mistake. What I should have said was this: KentuckyChrome, In my opinion, cracks around the electronics cavity aren't that big a deal. Certainly not worth replacing a historic mid-1970's Gibson body. I would preserve what you have. Is the guitar in the usual Black finish, or the Natural Mahogany finish? If it's black, that's the easiest of all. If it were mine, I would fill in the cracks with wood glue or Bondo, let it dry, and then sand everything smooth. Hit the body with some nice rattle-can black paint, and I would be in business!! That's what I should have said. But again, I was out of my mind on hard narcotics at the time. It'll never happen again.😔 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted July 29, 2023 Share Posted July 29, 2023 On 7/23/2023 at 10:34 PM, sparquelito said: Forgive me, please. The OP said the cracks were around the electronics cavity. And I had been smoking crack with Hunter Biden and his lawyer just prior to that posting, and I lost my mind, and referenced cracks around the pickup cavities. My mistake. What I should have said was this: KentuckyChrome, In my opinion, cracks around the electronics cavity aren't that big a deal. Certainly not worth replacing a historic mid-1970's Gibson body. I would preserve what you have. Is the guitar in the usual Black finish, or the Natural Mahogany finish? If it's black, that's the easiest of all. If it were mine, I would fill in the cracks with wood glue or Bondo, let it dry, and then sand everything smooth. Hit the body with some nice rattle-can black paint, and I would be in business!! That's what I should have said. But again, I was out of my mind on hard narcotics at the time. It'll never happen again.😔 You said what I thought. (except the bit about the crack) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karloff Posted August 3, 2023 Share Posted August 3, 2023 how bad is it ? beat up guitars look cool. you usually have to pay more for them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kentuckychrome Posted September 15, 2023 Author Share Posted September 15, 2023 Revisiting this thread after a few months away! Attaching pics of the crack. I'm curious if wood glue would do the trick or if I'd be better off just finding a new body for it. Would obviously prefer to just stick with what I've got! I'm also a total schlub at refinishing guitars, as I've found out the hard way. Would love to find the simplest way to get it looking good so I can get this thing set up and playing again! Current setup is a rattlecan avocado-burst that I goofed up on lacquering and should probably just start over completely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted September 16, 2023 Share Posted September 16, 2023 There are a couple ways you could use. Actually more than a couple. If that were on my bench, I would be looking closely at the crack to see if I saw clean wood in the crack. If so, I would likely try to open the crack a little and working yellow wood glue into the crack. I would also use compressed air to work the glue in deeper. Then clamp. You’ll need a long cabinet clamp. Maybe you could use a ratchet strap if you don’t have access to a proper clamp. Another method would be to squeeze the crack shut (by the aforementioned methods) and then drizzling “hot” (super thin) super glue directly onto the closed crack. Despite most people’s experience with super glue bonding immediately, walk away and let it cure overnight. I don’t want to downplay this crack, but believe me when I tell you, you can fix it yourself and you do not need to look for another body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kentuckychrome Posted September 18, 2023 Author Share Posted September 18, 2023 On 9/15/2023 at 7:02 PM, ksdaddy said: There are a couple ways you could use. Actually more than a couple. If that were on my bench, I would be looking closely at the crack to see if I saw clean wood in the crack. If so, I would likely try to open the crack a little and working yellow wood glue into the crack. I would also use compressed air to work the glue in deeper. Then clamp. You’ll need a long cabinet clamp. Maybe you could use a ratchet strap if you don’t have access to a proper clamp. Another method would be to squeeze the crack shut (by the aforementioned methods) and then drizzling “hot” (super thin) super glue directly onto the closed crack. Despite most people’s experience with super glue bonding immediately, walk away and let it cure overnight. I don’t want to downplay this crack, but believe me when I tell you, you can fix it yourself and you do not need to look for another body. Much appreciated! I think I'm going to strip this paint off of it, wood glue the holy hell out of it (was trying to figure out what sort of clamp would do the job, so thank you for the suggestion!), do a simple rattle can on it and then call it good. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 If there isn't any paint in the crack at this time, you should glue it NOW. If you strip the green off, you will get paint into the crack and the glue won't hold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted September 18, 2023 Share Posted September 18, 2023 Did you let Pete Townshend near your guitar at any point in your life? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kentuckychrome Posted September 18, 2023 Author Share Posted September 18, 2023 6 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said: Did you let Pete Townshend near your guitar at any point in your life? Ha! Purchased it from a friend from back home in Kansas, but I won't rule out contact with Pete T as an option! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kentuckychrome Posted September 18, 2023 Author Share Posted September 18, 2023 16 hours ago, ksdaddy said: If there isn't any paint in the crack at this time, you should glue it NOW. If you strip the green off, you will get paint into the crack and the glue won't hold. There is likely paint in there now, so hoping I can hit the whole thing with some Citrustrip and get it out of there, then do some glue/clamp magic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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