Bit off a bit of a Project....

[LoFi75]

So I picked up this 2011 SG Tribute that is a bit of a cosmetic mess. I say cosmetic because it actually plays and sounds pretty darn good. I have no idea how many hands it's passed through before it got to me but it has seen some horrors.

-The neck has been sanded clear down to bare wood. Actually doesn't feel bad but I have to say I hate the look,
-You can see a myriad of badly-filled holes on both the front and back of the body and a metal plate still attached to the back. I guess someone really worried about neck dive-there "fix' didn't really work,
-The front of the body has been badly oversprayed with flat black paint, which can be removed-carefully-but the finish underneath has been messed up regardless,
-The neck pickup has been replaced with a Seymour Duncan of unknown provenance, maybe not a bad thing. Wiring is a circuit board so the neck pickup wiring bypasses that.

I would like to bring it back to it's former glory, such as it was, I think Guitar Center at one point was blowing them out at $800 so what to do and how much to spend. As you might imagine Gibson shop wants a medium fortune to do a refinish and the only guy I know here in Santa Fe that I trust to do the job is so tied up with builds that he can't take it. I want to change out the circuit board for vintage wired harness and the tuners for Grover lockers but other than that I open to suggestions. Fire away...

 

[Gary Gretsch]

That poor guitar. I bet it will clean up nice. Too bad they drilled so many holes in the back. Definitely a nice refinish would do it justice.

 

[Go Nigel Go]

I actually love projects like this, and since it plays well you are miles ahead of some "projects" I have seen that were far more damaged. Filling the holes on the back side is not a problem, at least they aren't on the face! Are you looking for a full restoration or just a functional one that looks pretty good? Full restorations that match the original can be very expensive, and are seldom worth it on common models like this. The upside is you can personalize the finish without worrying about harming the value.

The sanded neck is badly done, but not uncommon. Many people find the thick shiny finishes a bit too "grippy" on the thumb, but usually all that is needed is to rough it up a little with steel wool which actually makes the finish a little dull, but makes the friction coefficent lower and easier to slide the thumb on. No need to go to bare wood, but they did, so there you have it. You can fix the look when you do the full refinish you are contemplating, or just stain (or paint) to match the look of the body.

I have to say, since it plays well I would be tempted to leave the look as is, maybe put an oil finish to protect the neck while preserving the feel. Maybe stain the neck before the oil finish to darken it up if you prefer. I would take the metal plate off and fill the screw holes with some filler, fix the electronics, and rock on.

It is one of those situations where you can really do no wrong unless you harm the playability. Fix the damage, finish to your taste, and you have a serious player for much lower cost than if it was "pristine". The cost of a full restoration will not "restore full value", so I would just let that go. Make it special to you, you can do a lot of good on this one for not a lot of money.

 

[rolue]

If it plays good, I would leave it the way it is, but that's just me.

 

[Decadent Dan]

ColorTone Aerosol Guitar Lacquer, Black Gloss - StewMac

Solid black gloss for pegheads faces. Nitrocellulose lacquer in handy aerosol cans. Based on the original Fender and Gibson colors.

www.stewmac.com

 

[Lefty LP]

I recently found myself in a very similar situation. I just sanded off all the remaining lacquer, filled the holes, bought some aerosol lacquer from Solo Music Gear and did a full refinish on it.

All in all it was a pretty simple project. Just follow the steps. For about $200 and a number of hours you'll have it looking good as new!

 

[Bbr6704]

I'll leave the front as it is, the guitar looks excellent to me! For the back, why not filling the holes, but they are part of it's hystory...

 

[LoFi75]

That poor guitar. I bet it will clean up nice. Too bad they drilled so many holes in the back. Definitely a nice refinish would do it justice.

Don't forget the holes in the front...12 of them...I have block of mahogany and plug cutters so if I decide to go that way I can plug all the holes properly...I think it certainly deserves some love.

 

[LoFi75]

I actually love projects like this, and since it plays well you are miles ahead of some "projects" I have seen that were far more damaged. Filling the holes on the back side is not a problem, at least they aren't on the face! Are you looking for a full restoration or just a functional one that looks pretty good? Full restorations that match the original can be very expensive, and are seldom worth it on common models like this. The upside is you can personalize the finish without worrying about harming the value.

The sanded neck is badly done, but not uncommon. Many people find the thick shiny finishes a bit too "grippy" on the thumb, but usually all that is needed is to rough it up a little with steel wool which actually makes the finish a little dull, but makes the friction coefficent lower and easier to slide the thumb on. No need to go to bare wood, but they did, so there you have it. You can fix the look when you do the full refinish you are contemplating, or just stain (or paint) to match the look of the body.

I have to say, since it plays well I would be tempted to leave the look as is, maybe put an oil finish to protect the neck while preserving the feel. Maybe stain the neck before the oil finish to darken it up if you prefer. I would take the metal plate off and fill the screw holes with some filler, fix the electronics, and rock on.

It is one of those situations where you can really do no wrong unless you harm the playability. Fix the damage, finish to your taste, and you have a serious player for much lower cost than if it was "pristine". The cost of a full restoration will not "restore full value", so I would just let that go. Make it special to you, you can do a lot of good on this one for not a lot of money.

This would be a bigger project than I've tackled. I did a full body repair/refinish on a 73 Jazz bass...plugged the neck pickup pocket and rerouted and then refinished in a 3 color burst. Turned out very nice but I didn't touch the neck...that's the part I would be worried about and here the headstock is in perfect condition so I'd have to find a way to refinish around it. I just finished a P-Bass upgrade project and I used 2400 grit wet paper on the neck and got the nice smooth finish you're talking about....makes a world of difference for sure.

 

[LoFi75]

If it plays good, I would leave it the way it is, but that's just me.

I'm honestly not averse to leaving it. I think I will go ahead and swap out the PC board wiring for a vintage harness and install Grover locking tuners since visually they're identical.

 

[LoFi75]

ColorTone Aerosol Guitar Lacquer, Black Gloss - StewMac

Solid black gloss for pegheads faces. Nitrocellulose lacquer in handy aerosol cans. Based on the original Fender and Gibson colors.

www.stewmac.com

I used StewMac colors for my P-Bass project and Guitar ReRanch for the Jazz bass I did a few years back. I had a lot of spitting from the StewMac cans...the Reranch products I applied with a Preval sprayer....maybe there's a lesson there.

 

[LoFi75]

I recently found myself in a very similar situation. I just sanded off all the remaining lacquer, filled the holes, bought some aerosol lacquer from Solo Music Gear and did a full refinish on it.

All in all it was a pretty simple project. Just follow the steps. For about $200 and a number of hours you'll have it looking good as new!

I've done a couple similar projects in the past...never a neck so right now I'm a bit hesitant to jump in. Winter is fast approaching here in Santa Fe so my weather window is closing. I work in my garage which is not climate controlled so time right now is not my friend.

 

[LoFi75]

Thanks for all the feedback. I mentioned I've done a couple projects similar to the. The Jazz bass turned out pretty much perfectly. I think the amber tint was a little dark but the body wet sanded out to a glass finish. I was pretty proud of that one. The P-Bass was not quite as successful but since I started with an early 90's Squier as the bass I think the look reflects the age...even if now sports AVRI electronics.

With my weather window closing it may be a player till spring. I like the "played-in" look more that the teen aged "thrash" look. I have another Gibson in the house which really reflects that. A pawn shop find from the 90's when I lived in Portland. A 78 Gibson Marauder. It was intact as a guitar but the electronics had been altered-badly. I looked for a set of original pickups, never found any, and since they were not all that well received decided to make it useable. I had it refretted, changed the tuners to Gibson Deluxe tulips, had a custom pickguard made to hold a Seymour Duncan P-Rail in the neck (mounted in a triple-shot ring) and a Little 57 in the bridge with a coil split. At first glance it looks stock. With the exception of a little buckle rash on the back this is a well-loved player and that's what I would like the SG to look like....

I'll see where this lead me.

 

[Gary Gretsch]

Don't forget the holes in the front...12 of them...I have block of mahogany and plug cutters so if I decide to go that way I can plug all the holes properly...I think it certainly deserves some love.

Oh wow. I never saw the holes in the front, they were hidden by the black paint. What ever makes people do such stupid things?

 

[RGX_Custom]

You should go for the Tony Iommi look since you have 24 frets & P-90 pickups and also get a Badass bridge for even a better look. The possibilities are endless.

 

[LoFi75]

It's been a long time coming but the 50's Tribute SG is finally back in my hands and looking not at all what it used to look like. I ultimately decided to send it back to Nashville to be restored and 7 months later it's finished. After filling the 24 holes the shop decided they just couldn't disguise them with the original matte coating so they did an ebony VOS finish-I like it. It's awfully expensive but it's almost like getting a custom shop job.

 

[Go Nigel Go]

Looks fantastic. It may have been expensive, but they appear to have done the job you paid for.

 

[Gary Gretsch]

Wow That looks great. And a big plus it's a P90 guitar.

 

[MR D]

if the neck is straight, put some Kluson 'REVOLUTIONS' Tuner's on it for $100 +/- and play the **** out of it !

a full restoration is costly........is it worth it to you ?

that guitar has a story, it speaks it in the way it looks, I'd leave it as is.......

 

[MR D]

BTW, How in te ****, can that guitar be a "50's TRIBUTE" when GIBSON did not start making the SG until 1962(?).... I would get that idiotic Truss Rod cover off of it, put a blank one on it......and leave it alone !

BTW, obviously, a 2011 isn't that old and that guitar has a lot of life left in it, -play that BIOTCH !