Ideas on what finish I should put on a project guitar?

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

So, here's the deal. When I was a kid (I think fifteen or so), me and a friend were sneaking around an old, pretty much abandoned house in my home village. We were sneaking a peek through the front windows, and I saw a black Les Paul with a broken neck lying on the floor in the middle of all this junk, collapsed walls, mold and shit. I did what every guitar lover would do: found my way in the house and salvaged the poor instrument. Not very ethical, I know, but I couldn't let it rot there The neck is FUBAR (vertically cracked, which I managed to repair, but it's so twisted I couldn't get it straight), but otherwise it's in pretty good condition. Even the original pickups worked. I sanded it down back then, and here's how she looks:

I talked to a friend who knows the person who used to live in that house, and from what we could gather it's probably a handmade copy from the 60's or so. I'm visiting my parents in a couple of days and thought I'd finally grab the body with me and continue with the project. The wood (no idea what it is) isn't particularly beautiful or textured, so I could use some ideas on what do with it. I don't want a solid color finish, though, and I want to make it look a bit dirty and beaten up, so I was thinking maybe I'd burn it a bit, add some red stain and lacquer it. Anyone got any inspirational pics of something similar? I'd also appreciate any other ideas!

EDIT: Oh, and also, if anyone could point me to some cheap replacement necks in the EU, I'd be grateful!

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Maybe something like this?

Any advice on how to do it?

 

[ahjteam]

purple glitter!

 

[Metaltastic]

Maybe something like this?

Any advice on how to do it?

First off, boner

Second, stain/dye, hand applied, shouldn't be too hard I'd imagine! (check out this thread)

Good luck, and keep us poasted!

 

[AudioPhile777]

I got an ibanez prestige as a trade and it was already on its way to being stripped... so I finished sanding off the factory finish and started rubbing oil into it, letting it dry 24 hours and repeating the process... here are before and afters.

Before

After

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

purple glitter!

I was thinking of maybe something a little less gay

First off, boner

Second, stain/dye, hand applied, shouldn't be too hard I'd imagine! (check out this thread)

Good luck, and keep us poasted!

Thanks bro, I had already forgotten about that thread!

Anyone got any experience with Dr. Parts? They've got a ready-made LP style neck for 85e, which seems cheap as hell.

 

[grkmetlhed]

I would but a stain finish on it, dark brown maybe..and a satin coat of finish (maybe just tung oil)..that would look awesome, and feel amazing....I am partial to satin finish though (having a mahogany oil finish body made for my RG 7 string) ...whatever you do to the body....just try the neck with no finish, maybe slight oil...I guarantee you will fall in love...

 

[Line666]

I really like your current colour choice, I think it'd finish up pretty well with EMG's and black hardware.

 

[ahjteam]

I was thinking of maybe something a little less gay

What is gay about purple?

or glitter? most of the modern cars come with metal glitter colour

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

I really like your current colour choice, I think it'd finish up pretty well with EMG's and black hardware.

I'm fixated with keeping the original golden (really worn, though) pups and matching hardware, so I think that's what I'll end up with I'm gonna go shopping for some stain and more sanding paper tomorrow.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Ok, I finally got around to do some more sanding and start staining this axe. I actually left some of the old paint, sanded rough, on the sides and the back for that extra grunge factor. Here it is after the first layer of staining:

I settled on waxing the body (should give a cool satin-ish finish!) and oiling the neck

By the way, I dug up an old crappy pic of how it looked when I found it:

 

[Wolfeman]

I would have left it how it was, looked pretty good!

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

I would have left it how it was, looked pretty good!

Believe me, it didn't. You can't see from the picture, but the paint job was awful and it had started chipping pretty badly during the years it spent lying in the mold

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

I ran into a cheap bottle of tung oil in the store today, so I got curious and bought a bottle. Here's the body after staining a burst-ish pattern on it and applying the first coat of tung oil:

Again, crappy picture. Makes it look messy as hell :/

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

After applying the third coat of tung oil, it's starting to show it's effect, giving it a bit of shine:

The staining turned out far from perfect, but I'm not concerned. It's supposed to be a dirty-looking rock n' roll guitar, anyway There's still at least four layers of oil left to apply, and then I'm doing the backside (which I completely fucked up, so I won't take pictures of it ). Meanwhile, while waiting for the oil to dry, I've been gathering a shopping list for the parts, and I think I'm getting a Dr. Parts LP Custom mahogany neck, Schaller vintage tuners and some classic speedknobs for the pots. Other than that I've already got the hardware I need.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Final coat of oil applied, now I'm letting it dry for a couple of days and then do the final polish:

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

The body finish is done, so I tried the parts on (unfortunately I've lost two knobs):

I also tried the pickups and electronics, and fuck me, disregard being 50 years (or so) old and never been resoldered, they work like a charm! Next week I'll be ordering the neck and tuners.

 

[Dalinkwent48@aim.com]

damn good job on that man it turned out beautiful

 

[BrettT]

I dig the shit out of it. Very nice work..sounds like a lot of fun, too.

 

[muckypup1]

Nice guitar dude! You've done a good job with it I like the colour.