Members bieke Posted January 16, 2012 Members Share Posted January 16, 2012 Musikkeller of Germany still has some replica and NOS parts for Hofners like this tremolo cover for the 164, which unfortunately slightly differs from yours, but anyway, you did a great job in restoring the original cover on your Colorama spotted this stripped body here's the link Musikkeller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members linusâ„¢ Posted January 16, 2012 Members Share Posted January 16, 2012 Nice nut pictorial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Belva Posted January 16, 2012 Members Share Posted January 16, 2012 Nice nut pictorial. I agree. I've done a bazillion nuts and never heard of the half pencil trick. What a time saver! I'm going into the shop to make a few now (if I have more than one I won't lose any. Make only one? Buh bye pencil.). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meandi Posted January 16, 2012 Members Share Posted January 16, 2012 Nice work, Stu! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members irishstu Posted January 17, 2012 Author Members Share Posted January 17, 2012 Thanks again fellas. I thought this was the way everyone made nuts. How are you doing it? Musikkeller of Germany still has some replica and NOS parts for Hofners like this tremolo cover for the 164, which unfortunately slightly differs from yours, but anyway, you did a great job in restoring the original cover on your Colorama spotted this stripped body here's the link Musikkeller Thanks again, bieke. Actually, I know about Musikkeller. Project Guitar Parts is also quite decent sometimes: http://www.projectguitarparts.co.uk/Pages/hofnerparts.html May I ask, are you a member of Hofner Hounds? I found the exact tremolo cover I needed on ebay last week, but decided not to go for it, since that's not really what this restoration is about. I really want to learn as much as possible from all of this, and if I could just buy replacement parts I wouldn't be doing that really. I also found a lovely bridge that would've been perfect, but again, I'd already decided I wanted to make my own. I still regret spending 30 pounds on 3 replacement knobs, but it's too late to worry about that now. Could I ask you a big favour though? Do you think you could measure the string spacing from the low E string to the high E string as they pass over the bridge on your Colorama? I worked out what it should be to give me a perfectly straight line from the tremolo cover to the nut and it was 43.6mm. However this means that the strings pass over the pickups really far from the outer pole pieces. I'm just curious what size Hofner ended up going with, as there may have been some compromising going on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bieke Posted January 17, 2012 Members Share Posted January 17, 2012 :cool:here's a pic showing how the strings pass over the polepieces on my 164 and when I measured the string spacing at the bridge, it was nearly 48mm hope this helps edit : never heard of Hofner Hounds, I'm actually more a Framus freak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members irishstu Posted January 18, 2012 Author Members Share Posted January 18, 2012 Thank you again, beike. Those pictures are very helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members irishstu Posted January 18, 2012 Author Members Share Posted January 18, 2012 I haven't really posted many updates on the body refinishing because each new coat of red looked pretty much the same as the previous one. However, it's nearly done now, so I thought I'd post where I'm at. Here I'm doing a little bit of spot filling again after the second application of paint: Then carefully scraping off with a razor blade: To leave something like this: The guitar was then sanded all over in preparation for clear coat. Here it is after two and a half rattle can's worth and several weeks of drying: The orange peel was then removed with 400 grit paper. I tried 600 grit first, but the clear coat was very hard and it was taking a long time to get through it. Partly done: Done: Then I sanded the whole thing again with 600 grit, 1200 grit and 2000 grit, which were, unfortunately, the only grades I could get: Now here's my problem. I've got the guitar feeling very smooth but as soon as I start to use rubbing compound on it, the scratches I've missed become very obvious. So do I have at it again starting with 600 grit, or do I keep rubbing it with compound until the scratches are gone? Ideally, I'd like to take it back to 400 grit, give it a few more coats of clear coat and then do a fine sanding, but I promised the wife I wouldn't be doing any more painting/clear-coating and I'm not sure how much more clear coat remains on the guitar, so I don't want to accidentally go through it somewhere. Any ideas? Would adding a wax polish after the rubbing compound maybe hide the little scratches left by the sandpaper enough to not be much of an issue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Flatspotter Posted January 18, 2012 Members Share Posted January 18, 2012 I promised the wife I wouldn't be doing any more painting/clear-coating and I'm not sure how much more clear coat remains on the guitar, so I don't want to accidentally go through it somewhere. Any ideas? Give the wife a "day of beauty" at a spa, and clear-coat it while she's gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members irishstu Posted January 30, 2012 Author Members Share Posted January 30, 2012 Morning, folks. I know you've all been losing sleep wondering how this is coming along, so here we go.... Firstly, I ended up going over the guitar finish with 600 grit again, only this time I used a sanding block and soapy water and sanded in a very specific direction (different from the 400 grit) to make sure I didn't miss anything. Then the next thickest grit I had, which was, unfortunately, quite a jump (1200 grit). Still I did what I could, again sanding in a very different direction. And finally 2000 grit, again more of a jump in grits than I would've liked, but these were the only grades I could get my hands on. After that, I went at it with rubbing compound. I've no idea how I survived without this stuff before. Unfortunately it was getting dark, I wasn't watching what I was doing carefully enough, and I got a bit too aggressive with the rubbing compound. This led to me bolloxing up the lacquer on both sides of the upper horn. Disaster. I decided to document the quick repair in case it might be of use to someone. Luckily there was a fairly thick layer of lacquer in this area, so I didn't need to add any more. Firstly, I carefully scraped some excess away with a razor blade. Leaving this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members irishstu Posted January 30, 2012 Author Members Share Posted January 30, 2012 Then wrapped some 400 grit around a wine bottle cork and stapled it into place. Being careful to follow the contour of the guitar, this left something like this: Then 600 grit. Leaving this: 1200 grit (wet): And finally 2000 grit (again, wet): After that, it was a case of (more carefully) rubbing it with rubbing compound, to leave this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cratz2 Posted January 30, 2012 Members Share Posted January 30, 2012 This is the part I've been waiting on! Seeing how the final steps of the refinish would go. I've done a few but you can ALWAYS learn something else... esp if it's on someone else's dime. I've used 3M Rubbing Compound on every project I've done and in fact, on most guitars that I bought that were kinda scratched up. Am I looking at the pic wrong, or does it actually seem the top layer of finish slightly pulled away from the guitar? Regardless, that's definitely a bummer. Are you happy with the rest of the finish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members irishstu Posted January 30, 2012 Author Members Share Posted January 30, 2012 This is the part I've been waiting on! Seeing how the final steps of the refinish would go. I've done a few but you can ALWAYS learn something else... esp if it's on someone else's dime. I've used 3M Rubbing Compound on every project I've done and in fact, on most guitars that I bought that were kinda scratched up. Am I looking at the pic wrong, or does it actually seem the top layer of finish slightly pulled away from the guitar? Regardless, that's definitely a bummer. Are you happy with the rest of the finish? Hey cratz2. I think it was kind of a friction melt thing going on there. I had the guitar clamped onto my workbench, sitting up vertically, and I was holding opposite ends of a rag with each hand, also pulling upwards. I basically polished that area a bit like someone would shine your shoes and I guess it just got a bit too hot down there. Still, lesson learned, and it wasn't a complete disaster or anything. In fact I kind of welcomed the opportunity to learn another trick on this guitar rather than an expensive Gibson or something. My only complaint with the finish is that you can still see horizontal lines from the 600 grit/1200 grit transition, and I REALLY tried to get them out when I went at it with the 1200 grit. They look obvious in photos, but they really aren't in real life. I suppose if it really annoys me, I can go back in there with 900 grit once I get my hands on some, but so far it's not bothering me at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members irishstu Posted January 30, 2012 Author Members Share Posted January 30, 2012 Anyway, time to start putting it together. I actually ran into quite a few problems at this stage, which I'll explain later. Scraping out some of the crud before fitting the tremolo (excuse the shaky photo): Making new holes, since the old stripped ones had been plugged: Before fitting the tremolo, I wanted to mount a ground wire to it, but I wasn't too happy about connecting it to the base since I wasn't sure how the signal would transfer from the main block/drum bit, so I thought about some options and noticed that the threaded hole that holds the arm lever on the top goes all the way through the drum (although it's not actually threaded all the way through). So I tapped a thread a little bit into the bottom and connected the ground wire there: All fitted back in: And from the top (you can also see the ground wire coming through into the control cavity, which I've also shielded): Finally, the pickguard/scratchplate holes are marked and re-drilled, so that it too can be re-fitted: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mdintx Posted January 30, 2012 Members Share Posted January 30, 2012 Looks great! Excellent work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Flatspotter Posted January 30, 2012 Members Share Posted January 30, 2012 Awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Wicked_Tone Posted January 30, 2012 Members Share Posted January 30, 2012 Excellent work!!! Thanks for sharing the steps in the process. I've built 3 guitars in the past year and this thread has helped me to learn more about with your restoration process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members scott944 Posted January 30, 2012 Members Share Posted January 30, 2012 Wow! I somehow missed this thread, but just read the whole thing. Very inspiring. Love restoration "how to"s, cars and guitars. Nice (patient!) work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members axegrinder Posted January 30, 2012 Members Share Posted January 30, 2012 Looking good, Stew! Too bad you didn't have all the sand papers for a smooth transition. For future reference you might look into a set of the MicroMesh abrasive cloths or pads. They pickup where conventional sandpaper leaves off with grits ranging from 1200 or 1800 (I can't remember which) all the way to 12,000! They last a long long time when cared for properly. I use them with soapy water and change the water between grits. You don't want the old large particles getting rubbed around when you are attacking the surface to create ever smaller abrasions. I don't even bother with rubbing compounds now. BTW, I even resurfaced a bowling ball with the stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dmc69 Posted January 30, 2012 Members Share Posted January 30, 2012 Wow, it looks great! Finish looks really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EvilMinstrel Posted January 30, 2012 Members Share Posted January 30, 2012 I've enjoyed going through this thread more than I have any other in quite some time. Excellent work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members irishstu Posted January 31, 2012 Author Members Share Posted January 31, 2012 Thanks again for the feedback. It's sometimes hard to know otherwise if anyone's reading this, so it's very much appreciated. axegrinder, I have a set of the micro-mesh pads from stewmac (http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Sanding_Tools_and_Supplies/Micro-Mesh_Soft_Touch_Finishing_Pads.html), but the thinnest one is 1500 grit, so it still doesn't solve my problem of going from 600 to 1200. It's really not a problem though. Either I'll live with the very thin scratching (it's hardly visible under normal light), or I'll see if a wax polish hides it, OR if it ends up bugging me, I'll go at it again with 900 grit. Really not an issue. I also managed to make a new bridge, by the way. Expect updates presently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BryanMichael Posted January 31, 2012 Members Share Posted January 31, 2012 Stellar work, and very inspiring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NinjaModder Posted January 31, 2012 Members Share Posted January 31, 2012 I have been reading it since day one and this is by far the coolest build thread I have seen! Great work. I am astounded it turned out so beautifully given what you started with. You have a gift! Thanks for sharing it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members irishstu Posted January 31, 2012 Author Members Share Posted January 31, 2012 Thanks again, fellas. OK, as far as the bridge was concerned, I'd got as far as roughly radiusing a brass bar to 9.5". Now it was time to shape it so the strings would intonate properly. First, I put some little pieces of copper under each string. These are actually little cutoffs of thick copper wiring: Then I check with a tuner and move the copper wires forwards or backwards until the strings are intonating properly, then mark the position with a pen. After that, I remove the bridge from the guitar and mark it with a couple of lines that will more or less cut through the six marked positions. There's a certain amount of compromising going on here, but it should still end up giving acceptable results. After that, I start to shape the bridge using fairly thin files: Giving us this basic shape: Then I start finishing it, just like the guitar finish, starting with 400 grit paper and going up to 2000 grit: Finally I hit it with rubbing compound: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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