Bringing a Combo back to life

[ElBrewski]

Hi, (I'm new to the forum)
As I posted in the introductions I have owned a Combo for a number of years and am finally beginning on the project of getting it back into (hopefully) respectable condition. I acquired this guitar about 10 yrs ago or so as a gift from a relative who had bought it used years before that, and it has spent most of the time in a closet (in it's case). I believe I have re-strung it only once and last played it about 3 yrs ago. It's always been a plan to put some time into it to renew it and I did purchase a pick guard along the way.

I have not formulated a game plan as of yet but my initial thought was to just to clean/polish, brighten up the metal parts, clean the electronics, put the new pick guard on and re-string it. The finish is not great - don't know if "natural" with clear was a factory finish or not; it kind of appears that this guitar may have been stripped and then hand varnished. So the looming question is whether to leave it or have it re-finished at some point. There are a couple of small holes in the wood behind bridge, not sure what they would have been for.

The first thing I ran into is that the pickup and pick guard screws are pretty rusty. I had hoped to be able to polish them out, we'll see. So I may have to dig up a source for new ones; the pick guard screws are not the run of the mill Fender or Gibson style.

There is a piece of cardboard behind the f-hole that I need to remove, I assume it was put there to stop feedback.

I have a trem bar that came with it, not sure if it's the correct one, I need to find a pic of the same trem bridge to compare.

Anyway, some pics of it as it is now are below (apologize for the quality), any suggestions or advice such as "if it were mine I'd..." would be appreciated.

Thanks for looking!

[olrocknroller]

Yup, I'd guess it's a refinish, but they didn't finish the job.

If that were my guitar, I'd get a new trem and bridge from Hallmark, strip the (varnish?) , fill the holes, sand it down until the bare wood glows, then I'd put an oil finish on it and buff to a satin glow. I've done this to all my homemade guitars, and it gives them such a nice warm appearance, and a silky feel that endears itself to you as soon as you touch the guitar.

I like that the wood is not banged up or split anywhere that I could see, so I don't think the guitar has been abused, (other than the refin). If the frets are good, this looks like it should become a real nice player!

Good luck on your project!

[GattonFan]

Natural was an option - witness many of the Maphis models - and yours looks pretty good from the photos. I really like my Combo, and it's not (body-wise) nearly as nice as yours. I'd keep the hardware, replace the trem arm, possibly replace the p'guard (since you already have one), and if it is a refin already - have it refinished in a sunburst. Just my humble opinion ...
Dennis

[oipunkguy]

you can clean off the screw heads using 4000 grit sandpaper and then polish them up just by rubbing them hard on a piece of jean material. the body has been refinished, and might I add, it was done badly. If it were me I would strip it, but you would want to remove everything first, and stuff paper towels or something similar into the f-hole and pickup cavities, so you dont get stripper in those areas. also avoid getting stripper on the binding, including the plastic casting around the f-hole, it will eat them up.

after the body has been stripped I would use oxalic acid which is a type of wood bleach to bring it back to it's original color or at least closer to it. you may want to read through some of the free info at the stew mac website to give you more ideas how to get her cleaned up, or if you like PM me.

[oipunkguy]

but leave the neck alone, other then just clean it up, and hopefully find a better set of tuners.

[ElBrewski]

Thanks for the advice/opinions. I agree that a re-fin is certainly in order - & sunburst would be my choice as well.

I'm sure I can handle stripping it but I'm not too confident in spraying it so I'd either have to find a pro or maybe do a cheap strat build from a raw body & finish it myself to gain some experience before taking on this guitar.

I found a trem bar on "the bay", so that worry is taken care of. Thanks for the tip on polishing out the screws, I'm sure that will will work out.

The neck and frets are indeed in good shape, the guitar played well before so it's certainly worth moving forward with. I'll keep the forum posted on progress, thanks again.

[oipunkguy]

a good way to clean up the metal parts is remove them from the guitar and soak them in a container filled with mineral spirits and lemon oil. after they soak for a few hours (maybe longer if you have a ton of rust) clean them off by using a ton of elbow grease and a rough terry cloth cotton towel. Sometimes I use a course toothbrush as well. if that doesn't get the rust off, you can switch over to using "0000" steel wool and rub it out gently. when I do this I usually dip the steel wool into the mineral spirits concoction, instead of rubbing it out dry.
Once that’s done use a liquid metal polishing compound/scratch remover. Reranch.com sells it and it’s great stuff, but it’s a little on the pricey side and you can find the similar stuff at most local auto supply stores for a lot cheaper. I forget the brand name of the stuff I use, but it’s really the exact same stuff for half the price. The stuff reranch sells is called Finesse-It II.

http://www.amazon.com/3M-Finesse-It-Fin ... B0009KJ21O

If you have a hardwired electric drill gun and a vise grip, you can attach the gun to the vise grip and attach one of these to the gun.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_s ... g_Pad.html

And presto, you have a stationary buffer. You can use the same polishing liquid to buff up the lacquer on the neck and the frets as well. I would recommend removing the parts first before you do this including removing neck from the body. Also use one foam buffer for just metal and one just for the lacquer finish. I presoak the foam buffers with water to prevent the buffer from heating up too much while buffer lacquer. Plus it allows you to save on the buffing compound. After buffing switch to a good quality car wax, preferably a white or yellow colored wax. I use brand called black magic, but any will do. And only use a soft cotton cloth to rub it on and wipe off. The only material I trust is flannel.

I do guitar finishing/refinishing professional, if you would like me to do it for you, just let me know. Just PM or email me at oipunkguy@aol.com if you are interested. .

[ElBrewski]

Thanks for the additional tips, I'll pick up some mineral spirits and lemon oil.

I may go ahead and put it back together after the metal clean up with the finish as is for now and then plan the refinish in the budget; I need to sell off another piece of gear first (anyone need a 66' Deluxe Reverb? ). I'll email you for a ball park estimate if that's ok.

[oipunkguy]

sure, anytime. what finish did you have in mind? i was thinking a mosrite sunburst.

[ElBrewski]

sure, anytime. what finish did you have in mind? i was thinking a mosrite sunburst.

Me too!