Tokai Breezysound repair/restoration

[KelvinS1965]

I was asked by a former colleague to see if I could fix his 1980s Tokai Breezysound. He had lent it to a 'friend' who kindly dropped it, breaking a chunk of binding off the back of the body, smashing the volume and tone pots and knocking two of the tuners back out through the headstock.


Look away now if you are squeamish.

Not too bad from the front:

Rear damage:

Tuner damage:

Not so obvious from the front, just very dusty:

 

[KelvinS1965]

I got it taken apart, so I could concentrate on sorting out the binding and will eventually give the body a machine polish after I've touched in the paint next to the binding.

He wants me to fit a 3 ply black pickguard, so I've taken the original one off. I will clean and polish this one up, to give back to him with the guitar.

Took the neck off and stripped the rest of the body:

Some of my parts order arrived today, so I was able to start a repair to the binding: He didn't want or expect me to replace the whole of the binding on the back, just to replace the broken section. That way it won't feel rough to play it, or snag on his clothes. He wasn't even bothered about me trying to touch in the paint, but I thought I'd see what I can do.

I bought the wrong width of binding, but was able to trim this short section to width. The red paint slightly covers the inner edge of the binding, so the replacement appears too wide in this photo, but will also be painted over eventually:

I glued the section in and then used a small amount of filler to close the gap on the back and where the paint/wood had pulled away on the top edge of the binding. I've touched this up with primer, so will flat that down tomorrow and touch in with some silver base coat. I then plan to spray the top section with some transparent red I have that I used on a CAR Jaguar I sprayed for myself last year.

 

[Greggorios]

Hope you'll keep us posted. Those are real nice guitars. I can understand accidents but not neglect. Once repaired that instrument deserves a better home.

 

[KelvinS1965]

Hope you'll keep us posted. Those are real nice guitars. I can understand accidents but not neglect. Once repaired that instrument deserves a better home.

Thanks, though it's got a good home...it was the fact that he lent it to a friend and he dropped it, not the owner.

 

[Greggorios]

Thanks, though it's got a good home...it was the fact that he lent it to a friend and he dropped it, not the owner.

Good to hear. I can sympathize-I lost a prized guitar after lending it to a "friend". Glad you're going to restore it.

 

[THX1123]

I want one. And the Strat version also.

 

[msalama]

Man, please keep us posted. Looks VERY interesting.

 

[JDRNoPro]

Good work so far. Interested as it progresses!

 

[KelvinS1965]

I decided that the 'patch in' binding didn't look good enough, so I've taken it back to the half way point: One end using the original join by the neck heel and the other side next to the strap button (so will be hidden by the strap anyway). It's involved more chipping of the paint, which is also why I didn't take the whole piece off, but I've prepared those bits now and will blend in some primer, silver and red transparent once the new binding has arrived and is fitted.

It's getting the best job I can do, even though he only wanted it patched up and working...hoping this leads to more work in future, mostly word of mouth, so it's worth going the extra mile I think.

 

[Fendereedo]

Rule #1 NEVER LEND GEAR TO FRIENDS!

 

[Peegoo]

You're doing it the right way. Good job!

 

[KelvinS1965]

Good work so far. Interested as it progresses!

Thanks...I've been away on a post retirement trip, but the parts have arrived while I've been away so I can get back on with it now. However, there is a long bank holiday this weekend in the UK, so I might not get started until next week due to street parties, etc. Will see.

 

[KelvinS1965]

Today I got on with sorting out the neck and tuners. The tuners were a straight swap, but I gave everything a good clean while the parts were off. The fretboard wasn't pleasant, but came out well.

Fretboard before:

After a gentle clean:

After I'd fitted the new tuners and given the headstock a clean and polish. I swapped all six tuners, but put the originals back into the box the Klusons came in.

This was before:

After:

I also fitted the binding. I'd ordered a different size as the first attempt was too wide and I wanted a better fit as I'm now doing half of the rear section instead of a smaller repair. The colour isn't such a good match though, looking more white than cream, so my plan is to spray it with the same tinted nitro I've been using on my guitar necks. It's going to take some careful masking and touching up, but at least it's on the back of the guitar, so the main thing is that it stays in place and won't have the broken rough edge anymore.

I'm talking to the owner tonight (a former colleague) as I gave him an update and he then asked me about pickups, so I guess he might want me to fit some other ones than the standard. His choice I guess, but I'll make sure I put all the original bits in a box for him should have ever want to return it to standard.

 

[KelvinS1965]

Turns out the owner thought that the original pickups might not be any good, though just based on heresay more than anything else I think. They have cloth covered wire on them and the bridge pickup has a chunky metal plate on the bottom (brass?), so they don't seem like cheap pickups to me.

I'll dig out my meter and measure the DC out of interest, but I suggested I just refit them with the replaced pots and set it all up. He can compare it to my MIM Tele that I recently finished as that has Fender OV pickups from about 2005 in it. My guess is that it'll sound fine though, with the heights set up optimally.

The binding seems to have come out well, though needs a little touch of filler/primer in a few places, then I can touch in the paint: He doesn't expect perfection, but that won't stop me trying to achieve it.

 

[Fretting out]

Today I got on with sorting out the neck and tuners. The tuners were a straight swap, but I gave everything a good clean while the parts were off. The fretboard wasn't pleasant, but came out well.

Fretboard before:

View attachment 992282

After a gentle clean:

View attachment 992283

After I'd fitted the new tuners and given the headstock a clean and polish. I swapped all six tuners, but put the originals back into the box the Klusons came in.

This was before:

View attachment 992284

After:

View attachment 992285

I also fitted the binding. I'd ordered a different size as the first attempt was too wide and I wanted a better fit as I'm now doing half of the rear section instead of a smaller repair. The colour isn't such a good match though, looking more white than cream, so my plan is to spray it with the same tinted nitro I've been using on my guitar necks. It's going to take some careful masking and touching up, but at least it's on the back of the guitar, so the main thing is that it stays in place and won't have the broken rough edge anymore.

View attachment 992289

I'm talking to the owner tonight (a former colleague) as I gave him an update and he then asked me about pickups, so I guess he might want me to fit some other ones than the standard. His choice I guess, but I'll make sure I put all the original bits in a box for him should have ever want to return it to standard.

What!? You took off the mojo!?

 

[KelvinS1965]

I've been otherwise occupied since finishing work with various related things that needed sorting out (mainly changing cars and then subsequent servicing, etc). Finally got back round to looking at this Tokai. I had sprayed some silver on the top edge and around the back, but it looked more like grey primer so I wasn't happy with it as I didn't think it would look very like Candy Apple red without the sparkle of the silver.

I got hold of a can of bright silver, so today I've done a faded area on the back that I can then do a faded area of transluscent red over. I know my friend only wanted some new binding putting back in to fill the gap and 'touching in' the paintwork, but I can't help myself.

I'll get the top edge masked off and sprayed silver later as it's a nice hot day here and great for drying paint. Then I can mix up the transluscent red as I'll apply that with my spray gun. I think it's looking a bit better than the first pictures in this thread. Not perfect, but it's the hidden side anyway and I'm sure he'll be happy with it once done:

 

[KelvinS1965]

Nothing too exciting, but just to document the steps, this is the top edge sprayed base coat silver. I'll see how it is tomorrow and perhaps get the transluscent red on, if not Monday. The paint I use hardens really quickly especially in the hot weather we're enjoying here.

'Just touch it up' he said.

 

[Fendereedo]

Great work Kelvin.

 

[KelvinS1965]

I wasn't happy with the blend on the back as the silver was showing through. I decided to spray the whole of the back silver and spray it with the transparent red to get a more even finish. I was able to blend the edge where the jack socket is and due to the binding the slight colour mis-match isn't looking too bad: I still have some tinted clear to put on the new binding to dull it down a touch, but slowly getting there I think...

Sanded the whole back and primered the areas that had gone through to bare wood and a bit beyond:

Silver base coat applied over the whole back (and top edge). The rivets made a handy mask for the string ferrules:

Top edge and whole back sprayed with transparent red (with a touch of black added to help match the original front better). Scraped the overspray off the binding and I've started wet sanding the back to remove a few defects before final clear coat to get a better shine:

No reason why it shouldn't be as shiny as my Player Jaguar that I striped and refinished in the same Candy Apple red finish last year (except I used a gold base coat on that guitar):

 

[Fendereedo]

That's awesome mate, really impressed.