A Tale of Two Gibson SG Husks - My first expedition into refinishing

[Spox]

CATEGORY 3: OTHER CAR COLORS FROM THE 50s/60s

Now here is where things get tricky. I have been pouring through paint chip samples and color codes and I keep seeing finishes that I really like. The possibilities are endless!

For convenience, I do have some Automotive Touchup Urethane base-coats on hand. On the Left is a 1966 Corvette color "Milano Maroon Metallic" and the right is a 1969 Pontiac GTO color "Liberty Blue Metallic":




I have a pint of the Maroon. I originally purchased this to finish a guitar in my "Cars to Guitars" series on a '66 era Tele or bound Custom Tele build to replicate my Dad's '66 corvette:




Even though I'd still like to reserve that paint for the Tele project, I think it would look pretty cool on the SG. Close to Gibson's Sparkling Burgundy, but a little darker:



I also have about a pint of the Liberty Blue leftover from my '69 S-style build. I tried to replicate my Dad's '69 GTO and I think it came out pretty nice:








Also would look great on the SG. Close to Fender's Lake Placid Blue and a bit darker than Gibson's Pelham Blue. What do you think?



My buddy Tony is really pushing me to do one in silver. I also think that would be rad. Of course, in my mind I have to tie this into cars. My Dad's current car is a '65 corvette. He *thinks* it's Sateen Silver, a color available on the Corvette from '60 thru '64, but found on the early '65 models. This changed to "Silver Pearl" officially for '65. That's my old man driving his "baby" for the moment (if you can't tell he likes cars. He buys/sells them like I do guitars). The guy slumped over in the passenger seat is the guy who had the Pelham Blue SG in the 60s. Looks like they were having fun. This must have been post-round-of-golf action. Boomers being boomers...




Very close to Gibson's Silver Mist Poly normally seen on the Firebirds:



Looking at the 1960 Corvette chart we can see Sateen Silver on there...buuuuuuuut...hmm, yeah, I'd be cool with spraying pretty much any of these finishes:



Here is the 1965 chart. To my eye the Sateen Silver above has a slight blue tint to it (which I like) and the Silver Pearl has more of a gray hue. I think my Dad's Corvette is probably the Silver Pearl:



Just for fun here are the 1960 Cadillac colors. Take note of some of the original Gibson custom colors:



OK, let me see what a quart of this stuff costs in acrylic lacquer from TCP Global....WHAT??? $200 BUCKS?!?!?



This is barely scratching the surface. There are so many car colors out there. I think I may need to buy a bunch of raw Strat and Tele bodies and just start spraying everything I can. If there is something this world needs its more partscasters...

Not to tempt fate, but anyone else got some fav car colors to suggest???

British Racing Green.

 

[Record83]

CATEGORY 4: ORIGINAL OR SPECIALTY FINISHES

Just like the coed who is struggling to pay her college tuition, I am facing the same quandary with removing the finish: to strip or not to strip?

I see everyone's point that I should use the existing finish as a level base and spray over that BUT I have not explored some transparent finish ideas as of yet.

Who here likes a good Silver Fox???



Or how about the Brian Ray signature '63 SG or SG junior?




Or one of my personal favs in "TV Black"



As mentioned above, I dabbled in what they call "ceruse" finishes, but they've been better known lately in the guitar industry as "dog hair" (I believe that term may have been dubbed by Collings, the master of that finish IMO. Gibson mostly refers to them as "TV" finishes). I made two S-types, one in black with white pore filler on a Mahogany body and one white with ebony filler on Ash:





I was considering taking one of these husks and stripping down to bare wood and trying a Silver Fox (or Dog Hair, TV Black, whatever...) finish on it. If worst comes to worst and it doesn't look right, I can always shoot some sealer coats on it and then prime and paint an opaque color. The black stain I use is very strong, so I think it would have enough hiding power if there was some cherry stain left on the body.

I'm also a big fan of the "candy" finishes that Gibson has been doing. How about Candy Apple Blue (that makes no sense, have you seen a blue apple before?) or Candy Apple Green?




A few years ago Fender did a special run of 50s/60s Strats in unique colors. I loved these and I came close to buying the 50s Strat in Apple Green (and wish I did!) I dig the Violet color as well. In the Telecaster Book there is an original '56 Esquire in Apple Green. Would be a total oddball on an SG, but I like being unique





My buddy "Catfoot" and I often talk about doing some guitars/basses in late 60s/early 70s kitchen decor. How about some Avocado Green? Pea Green? Orange? Check out the "Avocado Burst" on those appliances!




Speaking of Avocado Burst...



Or check this one out! Dude at the guitar show last year had a '61 Epiphone Casino in Olive Burst with transparent green back! I've NEVER even heard of this finish until I saw it:




IF YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED YET I am kind of obsessed with finishes. I am throwing out suggestions and ideas that I obviously will not tackle on this project, but it's fun to get the juices flowing and come up with some ideas. Like I said, I've narrowed it down to about 57 choices...

 

[Hodgo88]

I'm also a big fan of the "candy" finishes that Gibson has been doing. How about Candy Apple Blue (that makes no sense, have you seen a blue apple before?) or Candy Apple Green?

The history of Candy Apple Red is worth digging into if you haven't yet, something your dad is probably aware of too. Allegedly Joe Bailon (the legend behind many customs and hot rods before it was cool) saw tailights in the rain and it lit a fire in him to recreate that jewel-like red. After some experimentation he came up with the process - a metallic gold (sometimes silver) with coats of translucent red and clear over the top to give it that depth and shine. Most factory CAR finishes never get that right.

Another color from the modern era I think would be neat, also requiring a middle coat, would be Ford's Nitro Blue Pearl. Like with most pearls and sparkles, this color doesn't photograph well because you need to see the light interact with the reflective elements. But under stage lighting, I bet it's insane!

 

[fenderchamp]

I'm kind of conservative when it comes to gibson guitar colors. I even think TV yellow looks silly on an SG.

I don't generally like white SG's either even though that is a traditional color for them.

Black is alway good on an SG. The nice dark cherry, like the CS '61s is sweet too, the faded cherry they use on the american originals doesn't do much for me. I never really get the Fender looking pastel colors on SG's.

I saw a silver sparkle SG once, that looked very Glam and cool.

If it was me, I'd go black and Dark cherry, black on the straight grained one, and Dark Cherry on the one with the good looking 1 piece body.

Maybe a real Aztec Gold or a Bronze/Copper would be cool too.

I think Pelham blue is pretty boring and I'd leave the surfy looking pastel stuff to the fenders.

Fun project and fun thread so far, thanks for sharing.

 

[David Barnett]

I think Pontiac called it "Verdoro Green" in 1968.

 

[Record83]

I think Pontiac called it "Verdoro Green" in 1968.

I really, really, REALLY like this one. It's growing on me...

 

[teletimetx]

Not a car color, but over in the Random Photos/Bad Dog forum, @dougstrum posted a photo of some robins eggs and many thought - hey, not a bad guitar color:

Sort of turquoise, blue-greenish & metallic

 

[jimmywrangles]

I like the Sherwood green as it's Robin Hoods colour and he definitely played an SG....probably.

 

[DrASATele]

British Racing Green.

What spox said.

 

[David Barnett]

I really, really, REALLY like this one. It's growing on me...

When Pelham Blue yellows it sort of looks like this color. So I figured why not just start there?

Kind of like how Lake Placid Blue can sort of turn into Sherwood Green...

 

[Record83]

Not a car color, but over in the Random Photos/Bad Dog forum, @dougstrum posted a photo of some robins eggs and many thought - hey, not a bad guitar color:

View attachment 991495

Sort of turquoise, blue-greenish & metallic

I always thought "Robin's Egg Blue" was more of a pastel Sonic Blue, but definitely leaning more towards Turquoise. And, unfortunately, I love the color... I need more guitars to refinish.

 

[stratisfied]

This looks like an easter egg hunt:

Now this is an SG:

 

[mexicanyella]

When I was a kid a lot of my friends’ parent’s cars were big Ford sedans...early 70s LTDs and Galaxies in dark metallic brown. Back then we all thought bright colors were cool, or black.

But I’ve come to really like dark metallic brown since seeing it come back on 1990s Infinity QX SUVs, and more recently on these Kia Tellurides that are selling like hot cakes around here.

I think an SG might look cool in that color. With plenty of “metallic” in it.

And that coral look of old Fiesta Red would look pretty rad.

 

[Record83]

A tale of two SG husks turns into three...

My good friend who is committed to purchasing one of the SG refins in metallic green came over a few weekends ago and we discussed the details. I showed him how I was going to block the sideways tailpiece and he objected. "Then it's just for show? Can't you remove it and convert it to a regular tailpiece???" My response was, "well, yeah, but you've got holes and routes in the top and those will always show, even if I fill them. And don't you want to look cool???"

These "modern" guitarists make me sick. All they care about is owning a guitar that plays well, stays in tune and is functionally sound. That's not what playing guitar is about. It's about looking cool, antiquated hardware with a fine patina, rare colors and then posting a pretentious picture of it on social media with it leaning up against a beat up tweed amp adorned with a $200 bottle of Scotch and some stupid caption that reads "just hanging out with the finer things in life. #blessed" Now THAT'S what playing guitar is all about.

A reasonable person would be more reasonable.

A reasonable person would change course...or maybe plan this out a bit better.

But I am not reasonable.

What does a guy who already has thousands committed to these projects with no actual buyers on the horizon? Why, he goes and buys another SG!!!



I stalked Reverb for a good refin candidate and picked out a 2019 '61 Reissue SG with factory stop-bar to refin for my friend. Got it at a reasonable price and will still be on budget when completed.



Now I have 3 SG projects!




At least now I get to try THREE different finishes. BUT, once again the projects are piling up:



Am I crazy? Or am I not alone in this obsession???

 

[drmordo]

Yes, you are crazy.