Last year, I bought two Trad Pro Vs. The first, a complete Iced Tea burst, with the intention of sanding off the finish and putting clear gloss on the plain maple for a 70s look. But the factory top started growing on me. It's currently stuffed with a JB/Jazz set and Standard 60s electronics.
So I decided to buy another in wine red as I've always liked LPs in that color. But I'm not a fan of satin finishes, so I bought this husk with the intention of changing it to a factory-like deep gloss. After picking out one on Stratosphere, I started asking questions and watching Y'Tube videos.
After buying some materials, I got to work:
This was my first time attempting such a project. I made mistakes:
The part where I sanded through the finish at the binding really worried me. I couldn't find any paint for wine red, nobody even had a paint code. So I punted and tried tried the closest thing I could think of.
After about a can and a half of gloss clear lacquer from Stew Mac, I felt like I finally had enough paint on it to start sanding again. With that done (or so I thought), I moved on to polishing. Still doing everything by hand.
It was at this point that I bought some foam pads and borrowed a DeWalt from work. Finally, finally, the guitar was getting where I wanted.
It's not perfect, and I didn't expect it to be since this was my first attempt. But I'm much happier with how it looks now. There are some sand scratches in there, and some super tiny little pinholes, and yes I've still got to finish sanding/buffing the headstock. But hanging on the wall, lying on the couch, and - if I'm ever in another band - from the stage, it'll look great.
Currently have it filled with Burstbuckers and electronics from a Standard 50s. Will probably change to an EVH Frankenstein and a SD '59. And speed knobs, definitely have to get a set of those.
See how much better it looks glossy? Really lets the detail of that top come through. And you can't even see where I sanded through the finish.
And to finish it off, one of my Rogue stickers, like I do with my modded Teles and Strats. Next time it needs strings, I'll sand and polish that headstock face.
So what do you think?
So I decided to buy another in wine red as I've always liked LPs in that color. But I'm not a fan of satin finishes, so I bought this husk with the intention of changing it to a factory-like deep gloss. After picking out one on Stratosphere, I started asking questions and watching Y'Tube videos.
After buying some materials, I got to work:
This was my first time attempting such a project. I made mistakes:
The part where I sanded through the finish at the binding really worried me. I couldn't find any paint for wine red, nobody even had a paint code. So I punted and tried tried the closest thing I could think of.
After about a can and a half of gloss clear lacquer from Stew Mac, I felt like I finally had enough paint on it to start sanding again. With that done (or so I thought), I moved on to polishing. Still doing everything by hand.
It was at this point that I bought some foam pads and borrowed a DeWalt from work. Finally, finally, the guitar was getting where I wanted.
It's not perfect, and I didn't expect it to be since this was my first attempt. But I'm much happier with how it looks now. There are some sand scratches in there, and some super tiny little pinholes, and yes I've still got to finish sanding/buffing the headstock. But hanging on the wall, lying on the couch, and - if I'm ever in another band - from the stage, it'll look great.
Currently have it filled with Burstbuckers and electronics from a Standard 50s. Will probably change to an EVH Frankenstein and a SD '59. And speed knobs, definitely have to get a set of those.
See how much better it looks glossy? Really lets the detail of that top come through. And you can't even see where I sanded through the finish.
And to finish it off, one of my Rogue stickers, like I do with my modded Teles and Strats. Next time it needs strings, I'll sand and polish that headstock face.
So what do you think?
