Bringing an ORIGINAL 1964 Fender Mustang back to life

[oipunkguy]

once this was completed, it was now onto the color coat. Olympic white is hard to tell between the primer coat because it's only a few shades difference. Olympic white has a very slight blue pigment in it, and the color reminds me of a milk shake from a 50's dinner. I sprayed the color coat much like how I sprayed the primer coat. 2-3 light coats evenly on every side of the body, then i let it set and dry. after a little sanding and inspection, I sprayed it once more. like before I used reranch's Olympic white. one can should handle the job for you new guys.

[oipunkguy]

now it was time to began clear coating the guitar body and neck. For the clear I used Deft gloss nitro spray lacquer. I've used this stuff on everything from guitars, antique furniture, to brass ware. for my money, it's the best nitro out there. and it's affordable to boot. when spraying a clear coat, truly the hardest thing isn't the spraying, it's keeping the guitar dust free. thing is particularly difficult on a guitar that all white! I have a whole process on spraying a guitar in a dust free room, but I won't go into the details here.
when clear coating, always spray light dry coats to begun with until you start to build up your finish. runs are not a good thing to work out this far into the game, it's must easier to be patient, and work up the coats gradually. I spray at least 20 coats of clear before I began the final buffing stage. here's some pics after the first coats of clear.

[oipunkguy]

Once I spray the guitar and neck with 2-3 coats of clear, I wait until the guitar is dry, then I do a light sanding in between coats, using a 500 grit buffing pad, then i wipe the guitar body and neck down with mineral spirits to keep the guitar clean of dirt and oils from my hands. before I began spraying again I examine the guitar for spots in the finish, or trapped in dust. If so, I would continue buffing out the guitar and repeat this process again. once I'm ready to spray again, I prep my spray room and spray until I get at least 20 coats on.
When buffing out the guitar, 10 coats will be removed easily to get a ultra flat finish, so I'm not worried about making the finish too thick. If so i can buff it down farther to get a desired thickness, however if the finish is too thin, there's a big chance I can sand through pass the color coat to bare wood during the buffing stage, then you'll be kicking yourself!!!

[KRamone27]

Oipunk guy I know I knew you from somewhere. I'm going to post a pic and tell me if it's you. By the way, what's your name again?

[64sunburst]

Hey oipunk - you kinda, sorta look like Steve Jones of the Pistols from back in '78! I wanted to post a picture of S. Jones for comparison but couldn't find one. Also your step-by-step refinishing post are very informative. Thanks for posting.

Byron

[oipunkguy]

hey,

yes that's me. that's was a show where my band GSFU opened for the UK subs. that was in 2002, we also played a show opening for the Misfits in 2003 at Jaxx, and the place was packed that night. Maybe you saw me there.
I use to go to a ton of shows back then, after GSFU broke up I was in some other bands as well. I played guitar in a hardcore band called VPR, and did some shows up in PA, and I played bass in a band called Cheerleaders of the Apocalypse, and most recently a band called Spur.
I tried out with some other bands too, one of which was Plan 15. I'm not sure if it was you I played with, or if it was the other guy in the band. as I recall Plan 15 was a three piece, guitarist, bassist, and drummer. and if I remember right, the guitarist moved out of state with his girlfriend or wife, and I tried out in the band maybe 6 months later. I think the bassist moved to rhythm guitar (why he played guitar with 4 strings) got another bassist, and I tried out on lead. But it never worked out, I don't even remember why. I remember the guy I talked to at the music store in manassas had rad butt flame chuck taylors, and i wanted a pair like that, lol.
back then in GSFU our singer was a little out there, and i think we burn some bridges with other bands at the time, but no ever said anything to me directly about it. I guess at the time we were just young loud and snotty, lol to coin a Dead Boys CD. hope this helps.
Cheers,
Aaron

PS I'm currently working on making a 1958 Burst Les Paul Replica, that I'm gonna post on here soon. I would start it tonight, but my computer is being stupid with d/ling the pics off my camera.
my next project after that is gonna be a mosrite copy....

[oipunkguy]

Hey oipunk - you kinda, sorta look like Steve Jones of the Pistols from back in '78! I wanted to post a picture of S. Jones for comparison but couldn't find one. Also your step-by-step refinishing post are very informative. Thanks for posting.


Byron, lol please don't say that, I hate the sex pistols. I was trying to go for a Terminator look, or at least a CJ Ramone kind of a thing, lol.
cheers,
Aaron

[oipunkguy]

The dumbest thing I did while working on this guitar, was waiting until I was almost done with the refinishing before I began ordering the fender parts. Many parts were on back order up to 4 months!!!!
So I ordered what I could, and found the other parts in various places, different music stores, ebay , etc. The first thing I was able to get together on this baby was the pickguard. the pickups were Fender reissue mustang pickups (they measured about 5.35K on my ohm meter). A fender tortoise shell pickguard, and switchcraft on/off/on switches. By the time I got this pickguard together, I had removed the masking tape off the neck, and finished the first buffing.
I also took a small Q-tip and cleaned the top of the fretboard with lacquer thinner where a tiny bit of lacquer got top of the fretboard. I then cleaning up the neck with naphtha, then rubbed a little lemon oil on the fret board top to keep it nice and lubed. here's some pics from that process, for some reason the guitar looked a little like a sonic blue color, I think it was just the lighting.

[oipunkguy]

if you notice here I have the first buffing done, however, the lacquer is not yet flat. the finish bubbles over the decal a little, so I had to continue buffing down the finish.

[oipunkguy]

The Buffing Out Process:

Different people buff out a guitar different ways, but more or less it's all the same process. I'm not here to say the way I do it is any better then the next guy, I'm just gonna explain how I do it.
First off after I finish my final spraying, I wait one month for the lacquer to cure up nice and hard. I then began the sand down the finish with a 1000 grit buffing pad. I do this across the grain on the body; with the grain on the neck. I use only a buffing pad and water from a spray bottle. If you have never done this before, prepare for a workout. your arm will turn to jelly before you are done! The key is to sand lightly and as even as possible, DO NOT WORK A TINY SPOT AT ONE TIME! when buffing out the body, I separate the buffing into three sections on one side of the guitar. sometimes I even count to the strokes I make with the buffing pad, to make sure it's even, cuz I'm so anal about it. What you are looking for is to get the finish to be even and have a flat satin look to it. If you see small specs that are still shiny, then you got to keep buffing it down. these are low spots in the finish and if you don't, the low spot will stick out, and look like a flaw in the finish later.
Once you got this done, take a break cuz your arm will be dead,
Then Buff out the guitar and neck again using a 2000 grit buffing pad. Do the process the exact same way, same direction, using only water. the finish at this point should start to shine up some, looking like a semi-gloss finish.
Now buff the guitar and neck again with a 4000 grit buffing pad. At this point, you will probably find low points in the finish you missed, so feel free the back track to rub out those sections, if not, you're ready to do the final buffing.
You can use a buffing wheel, like the big guitar companies do, but if you dont have a big budget, stew mac sells sponge buffing pads that attach to your electric screw gun. these buffing pades do wonders.
I then rub out the finish with the buffing pad, using finesse II scratch remover from 3M. I ordered mine from good ol' ReRanch. I also buff the guitar out using water with the buffing polish to keep the finish cool from friction as I bring it to a shine. And then you got a shiny guitar!! If you continue to work with the finesse polish, the shine will get deeper as you work it. when I get it looking good, i then use the finesse it polish in combination with black magic car wax, and buff it again.
**some major points to remember, this is messy! use protective clothing, and keep it away from stuff you don't want to get splattered with polish. also, NEVER, and I MEAN NEVER buff any corner or edge of the guitar. these spots are always the thinnest part of the finish, and you will likely buff through the finish. indirect contact will shine these sections up just fine.**
Once I got the finish where I'm happy with it, I then wax the guitar with the black magic car polish by hand and shine it up with a soft flannel cloth.
Cheers,
Aaron