Wow, that action was ridiculous! Great thread and nice work.This guitar is fighting me all the way. After the last photos I masked off to spray the binding with some tinted lacquer and got a hard 'edge' to the paint which then lifted some of the red making a very visible line. I wasn't happy with it:
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Over the last few (very hot) days I've sanded it down, sprayed it silver base again, done the transparent red, back to where I was on the previous page. The top edge matches the original paint on the lower horn a bit better I think this time (and therefore matches the original front better too):
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I then sprayed tinted clear over the binding (without masking as the tint doesn't show against the red). This went well and I put some of the tinted clear across the whole back to use it up and trying to build more shine. That looked good if a little dull (would have wet sanded and buffed up, but I prefer to be good enough to go straight to buffing).
However when I started the final clear coats the lacquer came out like small 'strands' of paint leaving a whitish/silvery very rough finish on the edges and back. I couldn't help myself, but I grabbed a can of clear nitro aerosol as a test and just did the edge. That has melted in fine as below:
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I will leave it until tomorrow and then try wet sanding the back: If it sands smooth, then I may just buff it to a shine and call that it. If not I will mix some more clear and spray another wet coat on the back to level it and maybe give it a better shine like the edges. I didn't want to do the whole back with the can, though I might if it comes to it. I'll just leave it longer before wet sanding and buffing as I never get as good a finish as I do from the spray gun (above effect not withstanding).
I'll be glad to get this back together and with the owner again.
By contrast I had a break from this Tokai and worked on a cheap 2002 Squier Showmaster I bought locally to practice fretwork on. It had a ridiculous action, needed a really good clean and the body was marked where stickers had been and covered in scratches. I spent about 4 hours doing the fret level and crown, tidying up the wiring and machine polishing the body (I didn't respray it).
From this:
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Look at this action:
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Buffed to a shine:
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All back together and used for band rehearsals last night with a nice low action and no buzzes after my fret job:
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