1966 Ventures II (German Carved) Restoration

[101Volts]

No pics this time, But I've been removing the finish. I started with nail polish remover which wasn't very fast and I removed most of the oil-base beige paint with that, Then I switched to Xylene which works faster. While wiping out the routed cavities I noticed some little specks of black and red paint, So now I wonder if this was originally a sunburst guitar. Oh and there are more dents in it than I realized at first, I put some of them on the body but others were there before it was painted beige.

Austin

[101Volts]

Photos of finish removal:





It appears again to me that it was originally a sunburst, As I found black and red paint on it in the neck pickup and control panel cavities even though there was little red. It also appears that whoever refinished this, Didn't know how to refinish a guitar very well; There are sanding marks in the wood and also, When I got this guitar there was that beige paint on the pickguard screws and neck and vibrato and bridge. So I wonder if whoever it is gave up on trying to remove the original finish and put oil-based paint from Home Depot on it. Regardless if this yellow (Stain?) is original or not the body has enough dings in it to warrant a refinish.

Austin

[101Volts]

And for comparison, Here's how it was:





Not very cherry, An oldie but a goodie.

I also used acetone to remove the stain or whatever it is. I do think it's better to refinish this than not to, And I'm thinking of paying someone to have it refinished to see what a professional refinish is.

Austin

[Mr. Bill]

The yellow stain looks like the same stuff that Fender used as an undercoat/filler on their bodies. The yellow became the center color of the three color sunburst. So you may be right that it was originally a sunburst.

I've seen lots of amateur refinishes that were done without taking anything off of the guitar except for the strings.

[101Volts]

The yellow stain looks like the same stuff that Fender used as an undercoat/filler on their bodies. The yellow became the center color of the three color sunburst. So you may be right that it was originally a sunburst.

I've seen lots of amateur refinishes that were done without taking anything off of the guitar except for the strings.

Interesting. I wonder if whoever tried to refinish this originally took the red and black off and then gave up when the yellow stain wouldn't come out/off with sandpaper rather than acetone?

And on subject of amateur repairs or whatever, Would it have been like this? It's not a finish repair but still, It ain't gonna drive the price up, Is it?



Austin

[cal0101]

All I want to know is what made them think that it was a good idea to do that?

[Greg_L]

All I want to know is what made them think that it was a good idea to do that?

Looks awesome to me. I mean, I wouldn't do that, but it's definitely unique. That's I-gotta-fix-it-right-effing-now ingenuity and look how old and rusty it is. Apparently it has been there a while and probably works!

[BRRanger]

Dr. Frankenstein would approve!
Scott

[stl80]

Steam punk guitar.
Jim

[mark1]

At least you don't have to worry about a neck reset!