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FIXING THE FINISH ON OUR BLACK T-STYLE! Page 4 |
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FIXING THE FINISH ON OUR BLACK T-STYLE! Page 4 |
| Update,
September 2006 After a futile attempt to buff out the clear Deft topcoat of our beloved Saga T-Style, it was clear that we had to take some more drastic measures. We stripped the hardware from the guitar, thoroughly cleaned it with mineral spirits and naphtha, and scuffed it with 220 grit sandpaper. We then sprayed about six coats of MinWax Clear Gloss Lacquer (in the black can) from Home Depot as a test case. After letting it dry for a week we wet-sanded and started buffing. Wow...what a shine. The photo to your right is a photo of the back of the guitar. It is absolutely like a mirror. No...it is not PhotoShopped. |
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| Here is a photo of the MinWax Clear Gloss Lacquer. Why the spray bomb? We initially tried Deft because we were curious to see how it would hold up. Sadly, it failed the test. There are times when hooking up the spray rig is either impractical or too time consuming. For these jobs, a good aerosol is critical, and the MinWax is readily available. |
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| Here is another shot of the
back with some trees and a basketball goal in the reflection. We are
not kidding folks -- this is how shiny this guitar actually is! The
MinWax buffed out beautifully.
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| The Final Analysis.
Here are a couple of shots of the final guitar in
the shop with the ferrules reinstalled. Click on them to see them full
size. We'll report on the durability of the MinWax lacquer, but we can already tell it is much, much harder than the Deft. |
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Hey...we almost forgot. While we had the guitar apart we decided to mod the pickguard. The traditional Tele front pickup mounting scheme was less than satisfying. Therefore, we put two pickup height adjustment screws in the pickguard to easily raise and lower the front pickup. It made a great difference in the power of the front pickup, and it is much more practical than "guessing" where the pickup should be and screwing it in to the body. |
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 Update,
July 2007 |
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The finish is holding up extremely well, and it is just unbelievable that those MixWax spray cans could deliver such a hard, shiny finish. Because we have a hard time leaving well enough alone, we decided to rewire our T-Style once again. We've always thought that the volume knob was in the wrong position on a Tele, so we decided to do something about it. Using our friend Dave Slusser's hand-drawn wiring diagram, we flipped the control plate, placing the volume knob closest to the neck, with the pickup switch facing toward the bottom. The switch still works the same -- back is bridge, forward is neck. However, the layout is much more comfortable, and the volume knob's position allows some very cool volume swells! OK -- what's next on this guitar? Click here to check out the diagram on our Repair Page. Thanks for checking in, and check back for updates. |
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