dhanners623 Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Well, here's an experiment. A friend of mine is enrolled in the nationally renown instrument repair and lutherie school down in Red Wing, Minn., and I decided to see what he could do about "aging" or "relic-ing" the IB'64 Texan I got last year. As I've mentioned here before, I liked the sound of the guitar but I just thought it looked too darned new for how it sounded. And that poly finish, though seemingly lighter than most Asian poly finishes, just seemed too thick. So my friend went after the finish with multiple grades of sandpapers and films and wet-sanding and buffing and sanding and buffing and more sanding until he finally was able to get the finish to a really nice vintage patina. The photos don't do it justice, but it looks really nice. I've got a 13-year-old Gibson J-45 and this is starting to look like it. Thinning the finish had an added benefit: The top seems livelier now and it sounds better than it did before. It isn't a huge change, but I definitely notice the difference and like it. There seems to be more definition to the notes and the tone seems more "there," if that makes any sense, which it probably doesn't. He also yellowed the binding by sanding the finish off the binding and coloring it with a permanent artist's marker. He then used a nitro lacquer pen that he got from StewMac to put a finish back on the binding. In the process, he also knocked a bit more off the edge of the binding, as well as the bridge and neck, so the guitar now feels like a well-played instrument. It feels easier to play. In the process of all this, I had him add a few nicks and scratches befitting a guitar that might be three or four decades old. He was tasteful about it and it looks like a guitar that was played frequently but not abused by its owner. In short, I'm very pleased with the results of the experiment. The guitar came out of it looking, feeling -- and, most importantly -- sounding better. Yeah, I know some folks will jump on my case for doing this, for doing something purely cosmetic to the guitar (although the sound was improved in the process) but hey, it's my guitar.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red 333 Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Dhanners, That really looks good! So many guitars are relic-ed in such a heavy-handed way, like they were attacked by someone with a bicycle chain. Your friend made very subtle, but effective changes. In those photos, the sides in particular look like they have an older lacquer finish with a soft shine, and not the ultra-glossy finish the guitar actually came with. The binding, tuners, and buttons look like they are aged, but well preserved, too. Well done. What's more important, I'm glad you're happy with the way it looks, fees, and sounds. Red 333 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhanners623 Posted February 7, 2011 Author Share Posted February 7, 2011 Thanks, Red. I'd post more photos, but for some reason, I keep getting told that my file sizes are too big -- even when I shrink the photos. I'll have to figure out what the issue is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhanners623 Posted February 7, 2011 Author Share Posted February 7, 2011 I asked Leo, the guy who did the work, to describe what all he did, and here's the list: -- 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchie1281734003 Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Hi David, Your friend has done a fine job on your Texan, I reckon all that sanding/rubbing down of the finish has acted just like a Tone-rite machine on your guitar! I have taken a different route to an aged Texan, and have within the last hour, just bought myself a vintage 1962 model. Should have it by the weekend all being well and good. Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhanners623 Posted February 7, 2011 Author Share Posted February 7, 2011 Hi David, Your friend has done a fine job on your Texan, I reckon all that sanding/rubbing down of the finish has acted just like a Tone-rite machine on your guitar! I have taken a different route to an aged Texan, and have within the last hour, just bought myself a vintage 1962 model. Should have it by the weekend all being well and good. Steve. Wow, Steve. Congrats on the purchase! I look forward to seeing photos of it. I, too, would have rather taken the "different route," but there ain't many vintage Texans with lefty pickguards. Even Sir Paul's Texan doesn't have a left-handed pickguard.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red 333 Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Hi David, Your friend has done a fine job on your Texan, I reckon all that sanding/rubbing down of the finish has acted just like a Tone-rite machine on your guitar! I have taken a different route to an aged Texan, and have within the last hour, just bought myself a vintage 1962 model. Should have it by the weekend all being well and good. Steve. Good for you, Steve. You'll have to tell us where you got it. I would imagine vintage Texans would be hard to come by in your neck of the woods. And yes, please post some pics when you get it. Hope it sounds and plays great! Red 333 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red 333 Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I asked Leo, the guy who did the work, to describe what all he did, and here's the list...[/i][/b] Thanks for the explanation. You're going to have to post some pictures of some of those fine details! You mentioned having trouble posting pictures: have you tried uploading your photos to a free service like Image Shack (or similar)? They let you easily resize the photos for forums (640 x 480), and provide you a link to them. You simply paste the link into your post, highlight it, and then select the little photo icon in the tool bar above. Viola--full size images. Red 333 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flight959 Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Congrats Frenchie!! Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhanners623 Posted February 8, 2011 Author Share Posted February 8, 2011 Stuck some photos of the finished guitar on PhotoBucket: http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/cc91/dhanners/Texan/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchie1281734003 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Very tastefully done, I like the wear around the soundhole. Very good job indeed. Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchie1281734003 Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Congrats Frenchie!! Regards Thanks Flight. I had been after one for quite some time, and almost got your 63. This one belongs to a luthier down in Hertfordshire, and I have known about it since last October. As I say it`s a 62 with the shorter Gibson type h/stock, and what really appeals to me is the wider 1&11/16ths top nut fingerboard width it carries. This Texan is in fabulous condition, with no cracks or splits, although plenty of crazing. I`ll do a review and post some pics over the coming weeks. Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozigor Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Dhanners I have a question for you. I see the lefty pickguard but righty string set up. What is going on here? You played like Elizabeth Cotten?? New result by the way on the guitar. Ozigor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhanners623 Posted February 13, 2011 Author Share Posted February 13, 2011 Dhanners I have a question for you. I see the lefty pickguard but righty string set up. What is going on here? You played like Elizabeth Cotten?? New result by the way on the guitar. Ozigor Yes, indeed, I play Elizabeth Cotten style (or Bill Staines or Shake Russell or Albert King style) and that's just the way I learned. When I taught myself to play, I learned on my brother's old Stella, which didn't have a pickguard so I didn't know I had the guitar upside down. In later years, I came to realize that it was probably for the best. Walk into any guitar store and count the number of left-handed guitars they have. Not very many. (Unless, of course, the guitar store you walked into is Southpaw Guitars in Houston....) I can pick up any righty guitar and play it, and it is usually just a matter of removing the pickguard and making a left-handed one. Can't really do this on older guitars, though, because when you remove their pickguard, you always have a "tan line" where the top of the guitar has changed color (due to exposure to light) and the area underneath the pickguard still looks new. That area will never fade out completely and match the rest of the guitar top, so you wind up with a top that looks odd. Fortunately, I bought the IB'64 Texan new online and, to my knowledge, it had never been exposed to sunlight. The top hadn't faded and so when I took the pickguard off, the area underneath looked the same as the rest of the top. If I recall correctly, the pickguard that I have on there is actually an Epiphone lefty pickguard that I ordered some years ago but never used on another guitar that I got rid of long ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.