TLC project.

CianRyan · 13-01-2009 5:14pm #1

So i picked up a battered oul Ibanez GIO GRG 170 DX yesterday for €20.
When i got it, it had .14 gauge strings on it, and the bridge was raised about an inch from the body of the guitar.
Rediculess.
I took them off as soon as i got home, and now i'm moving onto part two! :pac:

Need your advice for this one, i want take of the paint to reveal the wooden finish and put some sort of lacquer over it.
I just need to know the best grade sand paper for the job, and which lacquer would suit?

picture of the state its in:

68 lost souls · 13-01-2009 5:50pm

These may help.
http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/tutorial5.htm

and in particular these ones.

http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/sand.htm

I would say use a clear laquer you can get in Halfords, havent used it on a guitar yet but I have used it on othe prototypes with great success. You want to work your way right up to the finest sandpaper you can get. Never skip a grade and between coats use wet/dry sandpaper soaked in water to make it nice and smooth.

Sanding is the part that requires the most patience so dont rush it. You may need to use a grain filler aswel.

Dord · 13-01-2009 6:20pm

Wooden finish would be an overstatement. :pac:

Personally I'd do it in a solid finish, and if you're doing that you don't need to take the whole finish off. That's a nightmare on a poly finished guitar, trust me!
You just need to take shine off it so it's competely matt. That'll give the primer something to stick to.

NoQuarter · 13-01-2009 6:41pm

Where did ya get that for 20 quid!?? thats well worth a project!

68 lost souls · 13-01-2009 7:05pm

king-stew wrote: »

Where did ya get that for 20 quid!?? thats well worth a project!

I thought exactly the same thing.

CianRyan · 13-01-2009 7:26pm

Nice one for the info lads.
I'll probably start at it this week end.

My mate knew a guy selling it, he was looking for 50, so i said just for the laugh really, "i'll give ya twenty for it" and he said grand.
Was plesntly shocked.

After the body, i'm gonna clean up the neck, looks like there's some spray paint on it?
The frets seems to be grand, no wear, the wood seems a bit messy though, easily cleaned.

After that, i'm get some new PUP to throw in there.
Probably EMGs.
85 and 81, and i'm thinking a seymour duncan hot rail in the center.
The electrics are all probably muck so i'll have to sort that out too.

68 lost souls · 13-01-2009 7:38pm

If you put in EMGs you will have issues putting in the hot rail. Active pickups dont generally mix to well with passive. If you were putting in an 81 and 85 I would recomend using a singlecoil emg aswel.

Keep us updates. Im going to be working on a project soon enough aswel. Thinking about doing a fabric finish or else some diamond plating and a couple of EMGs.

Voodu Child · 13-01-2009 7:49pm

When you get down to the bare wood, it's not going to be pretty.

You probably have visions of an attractive natural finish, but its going to be a nasty piece of basswood (if you're lucky :pac:) with nothing much happening grain-wise and probably greenish in places.

Best of luck anyhow, have fun and don't worry too much about the results, it'll be a learning experience if nothing else.

punchdrunk · 13-01-2009 8:35pm

steel wool with a very fine grade should clean the paint off the neck
goodluck!

Welease · 13-01-2009 8:43pm

punchdrunk wrote: »

steel wool with a very fine grade should clean the paint off the neck
goodluck!

pffftt... just have a go at it with an electric sander while drunk.. pop it on Ebay as a relic.. and kachhhing .. 400 quid

Red Sleeping Beauty · 13-01-2009 9:07pm

Is that graffiti on the body ? Did you find that in the M50 pedestrian underpass ? :pac:

CianRyan · 13-01-2009 9:26pm

Yeah its graffiti, the first thing i want to get rid of!!
And not to far off there actually! haha

Good point about the wood finish, i never thought of that.
How about a respray, what are the chances of ruining the wood with the paint ect... ?

Forgot to mention earlier...
There's a key sticking out of the bottom of the guitar, where the strap fits on.
As stupid as it sounds, that keys not budging and it hold a strap on very well.

Dord · 13-01-2009 9:28pm

68 lost souls wrote: »

If you put in EMGs you will have issues putting in the hot rail. Active pickups dont generally mix to well with passive. If you were putting in an 81 and 85 I would recomend using a singlecoil emg aswel.

Keep us updates. Im going to be working on a project soon enough aswel. Thinking about doing a fabric finish or else some diamond plating and a couple of EMGs.

OOoh OOh Oooh *jumps up and down*

... do the fabric finish!!! Those are awesome. :cool:

68 lost souls · 13-01-2009 10:28pm

Dord I just have to find a fabric I like. Went to TWI on mountjoy square the other day but they didnt have any I liked. Im thinking about maybe using a t shirt or something now that has a cool picture on it or something.

Have thought about maybe putting a laminate top on it? Then you can leave it with a natural finish.

Red Sleeping Beauty · 13-01-2009 10:34pm

In the old days they used to just paint their guitars with whatever and didn't bother stripping it . Well Joe Strummer and Hendrix did. Strummer painted a white Tele (I think it was) black and Hendrix painted over a Flying V

Dord · 13-01-2009 11:10pm

68 lost souls wrote: »

Dord I just have to find a fabric I like. Went to TWI on mountjoy square the other day but they didnt have any I liked. Im thinking about maybe using a t shirt or something now that has a cool picture on it or something.

Have thought about maybe putting a laminate top on it? Then you can leave it with a natural finish.

The Reranch forums have a couple of very informative threads on fabric finishes. http://www.reranch.com/reranch

As for fabrics selection, eBay is your friend! Cheap wacky fabrics that you otherwise wouldn't see here. :cool:

68 lost souls · 13-01-2009 11:19pm

I had only seen the tutorial on project guitar. Ill have a look around reranch, never really liked their site.

I saw a fabric finsh that used a shirt before, they even made pup covers. The pic is too big for here but here is the link.

http://theguitarfix.com/db1/00037/theguitarfix.com/_uimages/guiltyfinished007.jpg

Dord · 14-01-2009 12:07am

68 lost souls wrote: »

I had only seen the tutorial on project guitar. Ill have a look around reranch, never really liked their site.

I saw a fabric finsh that used a shirt before, they even made pup covers. The pic is too big for here but here is the link.

http://theguitarfix.com/db1/00037/theguitarfix.com/_uimages/guiltyfinished007.jpg

It's a good site. Search for posts by the user "Jai". He's big into fabric finishes. His website is http://www.jaiguitars.com

Here's one of the guitars he did.

Samurai%20Sunset%20-%20front%202.jpg

:cool:

TLC project.

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