Vintage PartsMaster Project

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 4:20 am

eeeenteresting

Dice · Post by **Dice** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 4:22 am

Ain't it?

This is the "inspiration" for the finish... I love this guitar... (And need to get it some day-um original, or at least "aged," pickup covers!!) The forearm wear will be similar as well.

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 4:26 am

ah i see it now. it looks drastic on the blue, i suppose the white is more subtle because its an even fade and naturally occured over many years.
it'll be interesting to see how that finish turns out though

Dice · Post by **Dice** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 4:55 am

Here is a MusicMaster that I *almost* won on eBay. (I should have taken the bid up a bit!!!). The new owner snapped this pic of it - hopefully he doesn't mind that I'm linking to his photobucket...

You can see the unevenness of the yellowing on this one even more so than you do on my Mustang.

Haze · Post by **Haze** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 5:04 am

that lucky fucker, i saw that thread over at offset, great looking guitar, its amazing how time makes beautiful things beautiful

Dice · Post by **Dice** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 5:12 am

I stopped bidding at $635 and he got it for $640.

I wish I wouldn't have bid at all - he would have probably scored it in the low $500s!!

It looks like a real winner...

I talked to him a bit over at Strat-Talk.

robroe · Post by **robroe** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 5:44 am

this is very convincing to me. looks great.

Dice · Post by **Dice** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 6:07 am

Thanks Rob! I think that the finish sanding and polishing might help it blend a little bit...

No major catastrophes so far on my first attempt that this... I can see more projects such as this in the future!

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 4:55 pm

that's fuckin class a, dice. good job, i love it.

Dice · Post by **Dice** » Fri Mar 12, 2010 5:08 pm

Woot! I'm happy with it too - thanks buddy.

Dice · Post by **Dice** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 12:53 am

I did a better mockup here. The neck is not what I'll be using, nor are the bridge saddles - everything else is ready to go, though!

The finish still needs a couple of weeks to cure, but it is set up enough to gently place hardware on it.

The lower edge doesn't usually get much sun, and is generally lighter...

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 1:13 am

wow. even better. looks amazing.

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 1:22 am

That looks great. To echo Rob, that is very convincing. Nice work.

Dice · Post by **Dice** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 1:36 am

Richard/Hotrod - Much appreciated. It came out better than I thought it would!

I've got enough lacquer left to do one more body if I'm careful (probably just enough for 2 color coats). I'm trying to decide if I should strip one of my cheap guitars just for the heck of it!

finboy · Post by **finboy** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 7:46 am

that looks a LOT like the finish on my new '75, very good job.

stewart · Post by **stewart** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 11:31 am

that looks cracking, well done!

Dice · Post by **Dice** » Sat Mar 13, 2010 11:57 pm

Thanks fellas.

I'd love to see that '75 if you feel like posting a pic right here in the thread!

I did the forearm wear today - and I think it came out pretty close to what you see on my white Mustang.

This is it for the wear. I did the wiring and attached the hardware today. Just waiting on saddles and the '64 Jag neck. I figure the neck will still be another 1.5-2 weeks - by then the guitar should be ready to handle. I'm excited!

finboy · Post by **finboy** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 12:53 am

it's at the jam space but i can post this....

I'll try to get some more shots but it might take a while as it is the last month of classes and my sister who has the good camera is back and forth between LA and calgary. I can tell you right now that you are getting the aging and wear perfectly, mine has a very similar wear pattern where the arm is. Also, there is quite a bit of wear like the arm wear at the end of the neck pocket at the back of the neck.

James · Post by **James** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 1:02 am

The refin looks a touch off, but I think it's only because there's not a ding on it. For a finished to be that aged (and the aging looks very convincing) you expect to see a couple of dings, even they aren't through to the wood. With a few small dings I think I would believe that to be an original finish.

Great job.

Dice · Post by **Dice** » Sun Mar 14, 2010 2:40 am

Finboy - I remember seeing that guitar here the other day and talking to you about it a bit. Good choice on deciding to take it back to the "traditional" look. I love the single pup MusicMasters, but the Duo-Sonic setup is nice as well.

James - I'm going to let the other dents and dings come along as I play it. I don't have the heart to purposely beat up a 45 year old body - even if it is a refin. I thought about checking it as well... and then decided against it.

I suppose that a very cautious owner could get this kind of yellowing and forearm wear without any dents and dings. That definitely isn't me - my stuff gets played pretty hard.