Another Restoration Project - Standard 22

[NoisyDante]

I posted on this back in February. I had bought a really beat up Standard for around $1000 on eBay. It was massively scratched up, there were huge chunks taken out of the body and headstock, dings all over the top, the hardware was tarnished, and the amount of gunk that came out of the input jack made me think the former owner lived in squalor. I had originally wanted to try and turn it into a goldtop but the condition of the wood required way too much filling so a translucent lacquer was not in the cards. I ultimately decided to do it in seafoam green because I've wanted a guitar in that color since I was 10.

 

[bodia]

Can’t wait to see this!

 

[NoisyDante]

Ran into some other issues to fix while breaking it down. One of the mood inlays was cracked and the large portion came out, and I still have yet to address it, but I may just fill the space with super glue and shave/sand it down level. Also, while taking out the trem springs one of them broke, leaving a small amount inside the hole in the block. Still unsure how I'm going to get it out with adding damage.





Using a heat gun is helpful for melting the paint off rather than sanding for hours and there's less risk to altering the shape of the body.

 

[NoisyDante]

Can’t wait to see this!

You won't need to wait long, it's done!

 

[sergiodeblanc]

Subscribed

 

[NoisyDante]

Done with removing the older lacquer and paint, lot of sanding needed to smooth things out.





Here's the reason I couldn't do a translucent finish. There were so many dings to fill with wood filler. In the end though this worked perfectly to round out the edges, fix the tips of the headstock and fill the larger dents.

 

[Eddie kim]

Bet it’s going to look insane with sea foam green.

 

[WEDGE]

This is my favorite type of thread

 

[doublescale1]

Beautiful work, and the patience of a saint. It's going to be a great looking guitar when you're finished. Noble restoration.

 

[NoisyDante]

Here's where I learned something. After sanding I went straight to spraying with sanding sealer and then the paint. I thought the latex paint would be thick enough that grain filler wouldn't be necessary. I was wrong. Not pictures is my letting the paint cure and dry for a week, I then sanded it back and grain filled with white filler, sanding again and resprayed.



I used Liquitex Basics Bright Aqua Green Acrylic Paint and diluted it with distilled water to a sprayable viscosity. I liked this color because it was a well saturated cool version of SFG. I don't know if any of the photos I've taken really capture the true color.



Comparison shot showing paint without and with grain filling. Definitely needed it.

 

[NoisyDante]

I let the paint cure for 2 weeks, probably just needed 1 but I was out of town. I used General Finishes High Performance Gloss waterbased lacquer which was also diluted slightly with distilled water. I did three days of spraying a level sanding. I put 5 thin coats on, an hour in between, and level sanded with 800 the next morning, then repeated the process twice more. I did have some semi-significant drippage on the edges after the second round of spraying but I was able to successfully sand that back before the third spray.

 

[NoisyDante]

The clear coat cured for 4 weeks. I let my last restoration project cure for 3 and I think it does need that extra time to let off more gas so a high gloss shine can be obtained while buffing it.

 

[NoisyDante]

Level sanding it probably my least favorite part of the entire build process. For the final sanding I started with 800, then did a pass with 1500 and finished with 2500. There's always the paranoia of sanding through the clear so the 800 pass took about 2 stressful hours. Thankfully no sand throughs occurred. I also sanded the fretboard and the frets which really helped clean those up.



This was taken during the 1500 grit sanding stage.



Almost done

 

[RedGuitars]

Where do you live! Nice wide open spaces….

 

[NoisyDante]

I started buffing with the same Turtle Wax rubbing compound and polisher products that I used on my other rebuild, but I had also picked up a product from Maguires that I thought might help obtain a higher shine in the end.

 

[NoisyDante]

Where do you live! Nice wide open spaces….

Black Forest, Colorado. We moved here form LA, very nice change in scenery!

 

[NoisyDante]

One convenient part about this rebuild was that I didn't have to buy many additional parts. Most of the stuff I used for it came off of the CU22 rebuild I did last year which included the nickel covered Dragon II pickups, pickup rings, strap buttons, phase II tuners and bridge saddles which were in better condition than the ones that came on this Standard. I buffed everything up nicely with Cape Cod polishing cloths which I use on my watches and other jewelry. They do a great job taking out scratches and getting things to shine like new. Assembly went as normal, didn't take any photos there, but after buffing was done I put a new metal signature decal on the headstock and strung it up.

Hanging next to my other restore project, a CU22 that was originally Dark Cherry Sunburst.



The only items I had to buy were new lampshade knobs, a cream switcher cap and a tremolo backplate cover. I borrowed knobs and a cap for the final assembly shots. I just need to fill that moon inlay (might even do it with something black so I have an eclipse at the 12th fret), and figure out how to get that piece out of the tremolo spring hole, currently it's held with three tightly pulled springs, but it's staying in tune great.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

https://imgur.com/a/Dvso4g5

 

[Gtrbldr]

Really, REALLY, awesome. Congrats. Well executed project and a stunning result. Love the seafoam green!

 

[RedGuitars]

That purple one is gorgeous. Not that the seafoam isn’t nice too!