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Post by Marshall on Oct 24, 2014 11:19:58 GMT -5
I spray painted my 1957 J50 Before picture First after The picture doesn't show all the redness of the sunburst-middle-color spray used. The upper bout looked to even and flat and red to me. So I took the tobacco burst color and touched the upper bout. i did that by NOT spraying the guitar, but spraying the newspaper screen outside the guitar and let a little of the tobacco dust hit the edge of the top. Second "after" There's a little touch-up to do at the bottom where in one of my masking adventures, the adhesive of the tape took a little of the not-quite-cured-yet finish off the edge. I think I know how I'm going to play with that. But it will be a very insignificant touch-up. I'm quite happy with the result. It livens the appearance without drastically changing anything. I asked Kari last night if she liked what I did to the guitar, and she didn't notice anything different. That's the effect i was looking for. Just a mild burst to liven the blah appearance. I had taken the guitar to a vintage guitar show some months ago. It has had so much other work done to it, that none of the vintage dealers had any interest in it. It's not truly collectable. But it's still a great guitar.
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Post by millring on Oct 24, 2014 11:57:37 GMT -5
Looks like a nice match for my LG-2
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Post by Marshall on Oct 24, 2014 12:05:53 GMT -5
Yes, it does. I thought about that. It comes out as a faded 60s cherry burst almost. Which is quite fine.
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Post by billhammond on Oct 24, 2014 12:19:20 GMT -5
Nice job, Marshall!
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Post by Lonnie on Oct 24, 2014 13:10:49 GMT -5
Purty!!
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Post by RickW on Oct 24, 2014 14:02:03 GMT -5
I just couldn't bring myself to do it. But it looks good.
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Post by sekhmet on Oct 24, 2014 14:55:44 GMT -5
It looks great!
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Post by Marshall on Oct 24, 2014 15:04:44 GMT -5
Well, thanks, boyz and girls. It was risky. But I'm a risky guy, I guess. It came out acceptable for me. There certainly were some lessons learned. Like, I did one light spray and decided it wasn't noticeable enough. So a couple days later I re-masked the bottom. But when I cut the tape to the binding and pulled off the excess tape, it took some of the new 2 day old finish off the guitar where the tape stuck. It's a hodge-podge guitar to begin with, but I was surprised by that and will try a detailed touch-up when the finish all has a couple weeks to cure better. Also when I went to darken the upper bout, my first attempt was to spray some tobacco into an empty can, add some clear lacquer, and blot on the mixed solution with a rag for a little extra color. MAN THAT didn't work! The new finish melted the previous reddish color finish I had applied into a mess. I ended up wiping it off. I then went to plan B which was wait a couple of days and spray the full strength tobacco aiming at an area off the guitar on the newspaper masked areas and allow the dust to settle around the edges. Finally I took the reddish spray an re-applied that to the whole upper bouts to even out what I had smeared in wiping. Part of the problem is the guitar top has been worked on and glued and messed with so much over teh years (previous to me) that the old finish is almost missing in spots, and still strong in others. So, much so that parts of the surface took new finish/color deeply, where other parts let it roll right off and looked untouched. It took some finagling to make it so I'd like it. Another thing; I could have gone to the Reranch people and gotten a custom color spray made up. The middle color of a standard 3 color sunburst (which is what I bought for this), is redder than I would have hoped for. For a small fee they'll mix up a custom batch. I'd have preferred a paler brown instead of as much red as I got. But you live and learn. Who's next? The spray booth* is open. (* really just the basement floor. When I sprayed the GS Mini, I did it in the garage with the door open for ventilation. And a transient air current wafted a dust bunny through the air which landed directly in a thick wet darkly painted area. I literally watched from a couple feet away in horror as this dust clump appeared from no where and took a nose dive into the dark ocean.)
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Post by Marshall on Oct 24, 2014 15:10:52 GMT -5
PS - I wanted the old scratches and gouges to remain pure. So, I globbed some rubber cement in them before spraying. When it was all done, I scraped the rubber cement out of the holes.
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Post by billhammond on Oct 24, 2014 15:24:39 GMT -5
PS - I wanted the old scratches and gouges to remain pure. So, I globbed some rubber cement in them before spraying. When it was all done, I scraped the rubber cement out of the holes. That was some good thinking there, avoid that look that people get when they paint their cars with the dents and scratches unrepaired.
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Post by Cosmic Wonder on Oct 24, 2014 19:52:57 GMT -5
Marshall, if I had a 57 Gibson, I'd have left it original.
Mike
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Post by Doug on Oct 24, 2014 20:37:31 GMT -5
Isn't there a local chapter of spray painters anonymous. Sit on folding chairs with all the taggers. "Hi, I"m Marshal and I'm a spray painter "
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2014 8:59:44 GMT -5
I just couldn't bring myself to do it. But it looks good. Ditto. You need to invest in a airbrush setup. The type that runs on canned air will be just fine.
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Tamarack
Administrator
Ancient Citizen
Posts: 9,342
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Post by Tamarack on Oct 25, 2014 9:11:56 GMT -5
You are crazy for taking spray paint to an old Gibson, but the results are quite pleasantly subtle.
Fender made a few Strats and P-Basses with similar sunburst created with stain that let the natural wood grain show through.
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Post by Marshall on Oct 25, 2014 9:19:56 GMT -5
Marshall, if I had a 57 Gibson, I'd have left it original. Mike I understand the point, Mike. And had it been "original" I would not have done it. But there's been mucho things done to this since it left the factory. The guitar was severley damaged at one point. The repairs were not done in pristene vintage style. The top was totally separated from the sides in places. And the individual planks of the top were separated. They were glued together in a solid, but-less-than pretty-fashion. In most places where the damage was done (in the lower bouts) the original finish is gone. I don't know what they put back on it. But it doesn't look like the upper bout which still has the factory nitro (crazed) on it. The grain of the wood is lovely though. When light hits it from different angles you see a beautiful and tight 3D grain and craze over the top. But it's hard to see through the gross cracks and repairs. But it probably was a lovely high grade spruce top at one point. Also some bracing was broken and replaced with scalloped braces (Main X). The back was probably removed to do that work. There evidence on the back edge seams of glue and unevenness that wouldn't come from the factory. The bridge is replaced. Fingerboard was separated and reattached or replaced. (I can see the glue marks. They're not factory). I replaced the tuners, and the saddle. I took it to the Four Amigos Vintage Guitar Show last year to see if it had any value. No dealer would give me anything for it. I ended up selling Ernie instead, because that guitar had vintage value. This guitar doesn't. But all that being said, it's a great guitar. The change in bracing makes it more like an early 50s J50 than a late 50s. In 1955 Gibson changed braces to straight braces. Ernie (1959 Country Western) had straight braces. They sounded similar. Ernie was more clear and balanced. Jay is bigger on the bottom and lighter on the top. But quite warm and woody sounding.
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Post by Marshall on Oct 25, 2014 9:30:27 GMT -5
PS - I played it out last night. The pickup in it (Schatten HFN) sounds terrific. There's something about the bassy nature of this guitar (and lack of highs?) that suits the pickup well. It really sounds great amplified. I made a vid. I need to process it and clip it a little, but the audio playback in the car last night sounded terrific.
None of this means I'm giving up on the Nick Lucas copy. I'll play them both around town for a while and see what ends up being my go-to instrument. But I'm happy with the visual changes to Jay. I think it's an improvement.
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Post by drlj on Oct 25, 2014 9:34:44 GMT -5
I hope you put a Happy Face on the back.
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Post by Marshall on Oct 25, 2014 9:39:01 GMT -5
I was thinking more of your portrait.
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Post by Cosmic Wonder on Oct 25, 2014 9:50:54 GMT -5
Marshall, it sounds like it is a great old warhorse. I bet it sounds great, I would love to have a great old Gibson. When I bought my Collings there was a stunning, stunning stunning Roy Smeck in the shop that they wanted 4k for. No way I had that kind of money at the time, but.... Then there was the sweetest LG-2 at Artichoke. I saw it as Steve Einhorn was showing it to another customer after song circle. . I played it bit while they were talking about it and waited about a hour while the other guy tried to make up his mind about it. He bought it, but if he hadn't, I would have. Maybe someday.
Mike
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Post by drlj on Oct 25, 2014 9:51:30 GMT -5
Well, that is a happy face.
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