Refurbishing a Peavey T-40 (picture heavy)

[7he Doc7or]

Two days ago for my birthday I bought myself an 80's Peavey T-40 for $200 because it sounds great and is USA made. But USA made for only $200 sounds very cheap and that is because the guitar is not without its flaws which is why I have come here.

It would be undesirable to many because the body is solid Oak and it makes an unchambered Les Paul look light! There were two cracks in the pickguard and one was sticking out like a sore thumb. As well as some kid named Anthony took a sharpie to the back of the guitar and two of the pieces of Oak are split. I plan to refinish the guitar in either clear coat or a light burst such as seen in these photos.So here are my questions:

-How would I go about sealing the cracks? Clamps and glue?
-When I refinish the guitar do I need to use a grain filler?
-If I use a grain filler will that effect the looks?
-What is the best spray gun and compressor?
-Do I need to set up a paint booth? If so how?
-How to I remove the string ferrules?

Now what I have done so far.

The body with the neck removed


The hardware removed.


The pickguard which was split in two.


The pickup rings removed. These go to the scrap pile along with the pickguard.


One way to store the mounting screws :D.


And last the reason why I am refinishing this guitar. You can't really see the images well but they are there.

Anthony


Flames


This one is a O with a line through it and it say 'Authority Zero' not zero authority.


The Anarchist symbol.


This one says 'Anti Flag' There is an L there. Either way it's got to go.


And a spider on a web at the upper horn.



The overall bad state of the body and the symbols above are why I want to refinish the guitar. What I need to address next is the string ferrules and the cracks. All the hardware will be cleaned in the meantime. Thank you for reading!

[OpenG Capo4]

To get the string ferrules out, feed a dowell from the front of the guitar and tap it to push them out from behind.

I think those Peaveys are Northern Ash, or some other Ash species that isn't Swamp Ash.

You could probably get the sharpie off by tracing it with a dry-erase marker and then immediately wiping behind the dry-erase with a rag. I've used that technique to get rid of the marks on record sleeves before. You might also just use a rag with some rubbing alcohol on it. Should come off without damaging the finish (unless its been re-finished with shellac or something, lol)

[BritishBluesBoy]

Those are not made of Oak. It's Northern Ash which is indeed very heavy but the thinking at the time was a heavier guitar = more sustain. The weight of these old Peaveys was seen as a good thing at the time...

My first decent electric was a tobacco burst T-60 bought for me by my father.

[mlp-mx6]

Correct - ash, not oak. My first electric was a T-60 as well.

[jefrs]

I have no idea what timber they used but I doubt it is oak, I know what oak looks like, I have an entire dining table made of it. Oak or ash, the back should clean up nicely with a bit of elbow.

Weight-wise my T-40 just tips the scales at 10-lb which is not excessively heavy for a bass. It is black, so I cannot tell what timber it is, nor how many pieces.

[Manolete]

Use it as an oppertunity to route 5kgs of wood out from under the pickguard.

[gagidlof]

Naptha works to take off sharpie too.

Don't be too quick to throw out the pickguard. You can use it to make a template for making a new pickguard. I did that with an old Teisco bass I revived and it came out great. Just taped the old broken PG together. Attached it to a piece of 1/4" MDF and used it as my pattern for a new PG template.

[7he Doc7or]

Thank you for all your useful input! Northern Ash nor Oak, check. I weighed in my bass and it weighs 13 lbs so it must've been a dense tree or trees that went in to making it (5 piece body). I plan to buy a new pickguard altogether so I do not need to old one but I am not throwing it away. It can be used for something else.

I plan to sand the guitar for refinishing so do I need to use Naptha to take away the sharpie or will the sanding accomplish that for me?
Lastly, how do I repair the cracks in the wood? Would it be better if I posted pictures of them?

[loopy reed]

T-40 'guards aren't hard to come by. Someone on eBay is always selling them made out of all kinds of materials.

Those pickup surrounds though, think twice about throwing them out. In fact, don't lose one single piece of that bass. I once lost a saddle for a T-20 and those just don't exist. I eventually tracked down Chip Todd himself (who designed the T series with Hartley Peavey) and even he didn't know where to find one.

So...be careful! At least the T-40 is a bit more common, but if you need to replace some part of it you typically have to find someone who has one parted out...and those people are hard to find as well. Everybody it seems has a T-guitar they're trying to fix up.

Good luck!

[loopy reed]

And yeah, let's see those cracks.

The ones in the guitar.

[Hiker]

This one looks ready for phase I, keep us posted on the progress.

[7he Doc7or]

Originally Posted by loopy reed

And yeah, let's see those cracks.

The ones in the guitar.

Bad pictures but here are the cracks, and yes the ones in the guitar . A better picture of the cracks is in my original post in the picture with the flames.


Small one on the right, big one on the left.

Originally Posted by loopy reed

T-40 'guards aren't hard to come by. Someone on eBay is always selling them made out of all kinds of materials.

Those pickup surrounds though, think twice about throwing them out. In fact, don't lose one single piece of that bass. I once lost a saddle for a T-20 and those just don't exist. I eventually tracked down Chip Todd himself (who designed the T series with Hartley Peavey) and even he didn't know where to find one.

So...be careful! At least the T-40 is a bit more common, but if you need to replace some part of it you typically have to find someone who has one parted out...and those people are hard to find as well. Everybody it seems has a T-guitar they're trying to fix up.

Good luck!

Thank you for the luck! I put all the hardware in a plastic baggie which I then put on a shelf in my shed so everything is safe. I kept the rings as I am going to use them as templates for new ones, I have some spare walnut laying around which is going to look great. I looked up the serial number as well and my Peavey is from 1983.

Are the any votes on the color so far?

[mr newhaven]

Cool thread

I'm gonna watch this one

[loopy reed]

Can you open the cracks by hand? If so, work some Titebond in there and clamp across the body with several bar clamps, making sure you get glue squeezing out evenly around the crack. Let it sit overnight in the clamps and clean it up with warm water and a rag. Super simple.

Hm...color...I think the T-40's look good in white. That said, the sunburst finish was cool too...but why not do something unusual? It's not like it will devalue the bass.

I'll definitely be following this thread. I love the Peavey T's.

[7he Doc7or]

Originally Posted by loopy reed

Can you open the cracks by hand? If so, work some Titebond in there and clamp across the body with several bar clamps, making sure you get glue squeezing out evenly around the crack. Let it sit overnight in the clamps and clean it up with warm water and a rag. Super simple.

Hm...color...I think the T-40's look good in white. That said, the sunburst finish was cool too...but why not do something unusual? It's not like it will devalue the bass.

I'll definitely be following this thread. I love the Peavey T's.

Do you mean fully separate the pieces of wood or just put some titebond in there and clamp it down?

[loopy reed]

No, I wouldn't fully separate them unless they're almost completely separated. What I would do is work glue in by spreading it into the crack and try to open and close it by hand.

[jefrs]

Originally Posted by Manolete

Use it as an oppertunity to route 5kgs of wood out from under the pickguard.

The T-40 Bass weighs 4.5kg of which the neck is about 2kg, surprisingly heavy things necks are. The smaller T-60 will maybe be 1kg lighter.

The bulky looking body is actually thinner than that of a tele and carved front and back with tummy and elbow relief.

[jefrs]

Originally Posted by loopy reed

No, I wouldn't fully separate them unless they're almost completely separated. What I would do is work glue in by spreading it into the crack and try to open and close it by hand.

You can get a plastic syringe from model shops and such which you can use to inject wood glue into cracks, especially if the crack can be gently prised open.

[Lowbassnotes]

One of my buddy's has a T-40 bass and loves it. One of his friends gave him a beautiful vintage Fender Tele bass(nice gift eh?) but my bud swore by his old Peavey and ended up giving the T-Bass back to the guy. I thought he was crazy but I can respect that brand and vintage value meant nothing to him, his preference is just to play what feels right for him.

[rangercaster]

those aren't cracks in the wood ... they are actually separations in the body glue joints ... a serious restoration would involve completely separating the joints then re-gluing the body ... or you could just fill the areas level with a clear glue ...