project: S 540 sol: neck & refinish

[Von Styne]

Hey guys, I had some threads on advice on my guitar project.Its a 1992 S540 ltd sol H & S era. I cracked my neck and decided that when I replace it I'll do a over haul. So I got some input,got my new neck and supplies.

I have begun the project. At this point I have taken everything off of the body and the new neck has the hardware from the old neck.I used some mineral spirits ( very lightly) and some 0000 steel wool to thin out the tung oil before sanding.( I was told to do this,but was skeptical.It did get all that dirt out though)Then I was able to get some sanding in last night, but not much. I'm starting with 800 grit.

I also have a question about what appears to be sinking wood around the middle pickup on the right side of the picture Ibanez 15a. You can see that the wood is a bit darker and well rounded compared to the left. I was thinking that I can steam it out with a soldiering iron? I read something along those lines in the Guitar Repair book by Dan Earlwine. Any thoughts?

I'll update this thread as I progress.

So any help and advice is welcomed. Thanks, Von

[hotwax1989]

I'm no expert on your application, but i think you should start sanding with a much coarser grit than 800.
On an rg body, i started with 60, then workd my way up to 100, 120, 160 (not necessary, but it was handy) then 320 before painting, and inbetween coats. Its very smooth. I followed some of the tips from project guitar. As for the tung oil, i have no idea. Good luck!

[waylay00]

Aww, don't refinish that guitar!

[Von Styne]

for the sanding, I just wanted to do some surface sanding to get some small scratches and dirt build up out. I am going to reapply tung oil after,so It'll look like it did when it was new.

Waylay,what makes you say that? is it because its not as bad as I think it is? just curious..

[Von Styne]

ok, I have a question about shield painting. Should I shield paint before or after applying the tung oil. I have all the sanding done and I'm about to get some shield paint. So what is the perferred method at this point?

[Von Styne]

so here is a few pics of where I'm at with the guitar. This is after I put on a 2nd coat of tung oil and buffed it out a bit.

I've noticed there are a few "fingerprints" like smugges on the top behind the bridge. It looks like those areas didn't get enough oil. I'm kinda on pause until I can find more out about removing those spots. Anyone have ideas?

[Von Styne]

Hi everyone, I have finished my guitar. I'm more than happy with the results and and I wanted to thank everyone who commented and helped me out on the way. Thanks to Rich for all the parts. Here is a few pics of it finished and if you want to look at more here is a link to the photo album on my myspace. http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/inde...lbumId=2139563

[Ryan350DX]

I love seeing you guys tearing the paint off and showing the natural grain. Im buying an S320 and doing the same. Im looking for pointers.

[Von Styne]

I never had to tear off any paint being it was an tung oil finish from the factory, but thanks for the comment. I like looking at those projects, its inspiring.

well, IDK about the paint removal, but I used sandpaper grits 320,400,600,800 and 1000 between the 1st and 2nd coat of tung oil then used 0000 steel wool on the last two coats.

I used Minwax tung oil, and applied it with a sponge brush (like $.49 ea. at OSH) while it was hung up with a large paint stick at the neck joint.

Make sure to clean off all the sawdust and steel wool before and in between applying a coat of tung oil. I used mineral spirits. just a little dab or two on a shop towel( I used those blue ones,got it at Kragen's auto parts) was fine to do the whole body.