I really don't understand the impulse to leave the dirt on that some have. Can you imagine if Nicola Benedetti, and all the previous violinists that have acted as caretaker for her Stradivarius, felt that way about playing grime? It would just be a vaguely violin-shaped lump of gack. Lovely work, Huw.
Meguiar's Auto products makes 90% of the finish products used on guitars By Luthier's (sold and repackaged rebranded by retailers)..I uses Maguier's products on all my musical instruments and autos. Sold on Amazon and other sites .......guarantee you will save a tone of money.
Try Kit "ScratchOut" Plexiglas/perspex cleaner on lacquer finishes. It's only very slightly abrasive, in a good way, and can really put a clean, glossy finish on most guitars without damage. I use it on everything, and it's really a great product. Take my word ...
Love your channel! Just a quick note of cheerful correction. I've heard several luthiers on YT who are far younger than me, refer to the dark, smelly, sticky residue that has collected on vintage guitars as 'nicotine'. This residue, of course, resulted many times from the guitar being used by musicians who played in small pubs, clubs, etc., where smoking was freely allowed back in the day. That residue is actually the tar from cigarette smoke. I know all about it this gunk, having smoked for many years myself. The sad part is that a smoker's lungs collect far more of this garbage than vintage guitars ever did and I am very glad that none of the people I've heard calling this stuff 'nicotine' know the real story. This probably means that none of you have smoked. Sermon over! Nice job on the Strat.
Hello from Canada! This is excellent, I always look forward to these videos. Although I don't have a vintage Strat to restore nor Chris' outstanding skills, these are very informative and perfect entertainment during these interesting times. Be safe and thanks for sharing!
Absolutely chuffed to see this restoration. Is Chris planning to do a refin to the body? Is that a "Selmer" refin or just someone's home job? Cheers from Canada.
Fair comment Anthony, but it's actually an attempt to realistically document a vintage restoration and the vast majority of the work required here involved the neck. There are a lot of vintage restoration vids out there that are pacier than ours and make things look easier than they really are. But the reality is that this type of work can be very time consuming and exacting. Instead we try to go heavy on the details and provide the deepest insights we can into the subjects of our videos. But this is the last one on the neck we promise ;)
I, for one, love the level of detail you guys have gone in to on this restoration. Thoroughly enjoying this series. Just proves that quality work takes time and patience. 👍
Hey guys! This is my second time watching this Restoration on Chris's 62 strat and I have a question. Speaking of Kluson tuners, I have them on my strat and how often should a person put grease into the little oil hole? thank you....take care!
That’s a relief. Wonder when StewMac & the wider vintage guitar community will realise that there’s gold to be made in rebranding old linen as fine cotton cloth rinsed, free of any nasties by 100s of washes ... floral print cloth would command a premium price of course ...
I mean... 3 weeks later, and we get a video about dying a wire? That's it? Is this the tantric youtube channel, or something? What are we doing, here? How fine can we split this hair? Just sayin'........ :P
Something to remember: pretty much all the great recorded works of solo violin were with “player’s” Stradivarii. The necks alone are generally of the 19th century or at least reset and adapted to post-baroque music (i.e. anything after Bach).
The virtuoso does have a abrasive, ever so slightly. I prefer lighter naptha. Doesnt hurt nitro a bit and non its non abrasive. And does brill job of cleaning. 2nd, i had a broken e tuner on my 63. Didnt want to pay a fortune for a single line, so i managed to fix it. Took alot of experimenting but i got it down. There a guy in u.s can do it. Everyone seems too break the tabs. I have got spare vintage peg too. Im happy to fix it for chris. If interested let me know. Im in brighton.
Firstly, this video series has been wonderful to watch and follow (especially during this lockdown period), so thanks for sharing the process. One question though, and please forgive my ignorance, but where do you get your naphtha from over here (UK)? Also, could you tell me what brand you use as well, as I'd love to try it on my guitar fingerboards. Once again, thanks for sharing the videos.
@@tonetwinstv2863 Hello, thanks for the reply! Is it a specific type (basically, anything to be careful of if using it on a rosewood board)? Cheers guys.
If you get new tuners can you do a mini shootout to see if they sound different to the old ones, maybe I’m crazy but I thought the old ones sounded better on my strat.
Have you found anything else to help clean up nicotine stained nitro? I have a 57V strat from 1988 thats just brown on the neck. I tried searching for the Legend cleaner Hugh used in this video but allparts UK are out (did you buy them all?!?!). Have you found any other products that work for this purpose? Thanks for these vids - I've really enjoyed watching this progress.
Last word i heard when I stopped to comment was "Brilliant" which this was. Nicely done ! The opening with the Strat being played was amazing, too. I had a '75 hard tail in '76 (19 at the time) and i'd rush to my room after work to play it, plugged in or not. I have 3 S types now and love playing them 'acoustically'. Those have trems,,,,HT still had a sound I dug. Never heard one with the guts out. Almost wish for a clone since I live in an apartment :) man, saw the first installment before the 'shutdown'. Then saw an installment from Norm's filmed around then with Chris, in store jam. Hope he's not stranded.
My high E string tuner is the same on my 59 strat. Still winds up just fine and has never been an issue. I did recently put repro klusons on just because it’s my main guitar and I wanted more tuning stability.
Brian Kavanagh Check our the other videos to see the state of the back of the guitar. Trust me, a denim jacket is the least of its worries! 😆Besides, the moment it’s finished (and we’re allowed to go outside again...) it’ll be going on tour with me. It’s a working guitar, not a priceless relic 🙂
I haven't seen you in years Huw! We were in band for a short time in the 90's.Rob,tall,long hair, Ephemera. Anyway,brilliant channel and a quick question, if i have a couple of stiff tuners would it be better to clean them both out first and then add the grease or is it ok to mix it in with whatever's already lurking inside the casing.Thanks for any advice in advance!
Just humour me. might be me mssing something. When you profiled the bottom of the nut, surely the base of the nut was originally inlaid flat and the top surface would have been curved?
Thank you for great videos! You have found the perfect balance for what you should do with a vintage guitar. Keep the mojo were you can keep it, and still make it playable.
Nice one! Can't wait to see what's going to happen with the body. I'm hoping it will be possible to bring back the original colour! Looking forward to the next episode :)
really fun to watch this series. I have never seen anyone radius the bottom of a nut... is the mating top edge of the maple neck under the rosewood fretboard not flat?
It depends on the guitar. The US Fenders all have nut slots with a radius that matches the board radius. Asian manufactured guitars tend to have flat nut slots.
Thank you for another episode. As a tradesman, I understand that there is a Miriam of considerations regarding work for clients- decisions over labor cost, personal taste, time constraints, reasons for doing the work, how the finished product is going to be used/increase or decrease in value, etc... These are not all always binary decisions with a right and wrong answer. It is difficult enough to keep one client happy with your work, let alone the whole of the internet as well. I look forward to the next episode lads.
Funnily enough, I've just been given one by my dentist friend. Looking forward to trying it, but it arrived a few weeks after I restored these tuners - H
Soap and water works pretty well to clean a really dirty guitar. As long as you only use a damp cloth, then wipe over with cloth damped only with water and wipe the guitar dry afterwards, I haven't found it does any harm.
I Don’t get the point into removing that nicotine patina from headstock, heel and tuner, it won’t bother playing and it’s part of the guitar story, so many people would pay to have that patina. What sounds even stranger is that you didn’t do the same process with the back of the neck, and we all know a sticky neck is a bigger issue with nitro finished guitars..
Actually if you go back and listen, we do refer to cleaning the back of the neck, but it wasn't quite as dirty. We would respect your opinion on leaving it dirty and smelly, but equally you should respect Chris' choice to have his guitar cleaned. Our role in this project is to work with Chris to turn this tired, unplayable and filthy guitar into the vintage Strat of his dreams.
Just wondering if you’ve ever smelled gear that coated in vintage nicotine, because it is truly disgusting. Quite a strong smell. We have cables, guitars, amps and pedals that still smell, almost twenty years later, and not coated to anywhere near the same amount. I personally would want all the nicotine taken off. The choice to remove the original nitro is surely Chris’s after playing it for the first time.
I just got a filthy 63 been round world few times. Had this blacky stickyness to it. Cleaned 90 percent off, kept some for mojo but whatever i did to the neck it was bit sticky. What fixed it was playing. Just a wipe of naptha on string change an it has settled down the wood feels lovely. Chris needs to play it for a good 3 months to fall in love with it
I really can't see the point of not changing an old worn out nut, we've changed the frets coz they're worn out, we've changed the tuners coz they're worn out, the pots are worn out but we've got the original nut.
I imagine that the patina and wear on the rest of the neck would make a new nut stand out and look out of place. It was probably also less work than cutting a new nut. I’m no expert but I’ve watched a luthier friend do that from scratch.
You can artificially age a new nut, Fender call it relicing, people pay extra money for that. By the way I'm a retired luthier. Anyway it's just opinion but I feel if a part doesn't function the way it was made to do perfectly then it should be replaced if the guitar is to be used as a musical tool not just a piece of art. Saying all this I am really enjoying this series of videos, keep up the good work.
Joe Isitt fair enough. Thanks for clarifying. Surely this was less labor than cutting and aging a new nut though? I guess there are more than one way to swing a cat or something... But I completely understand that as a functioning instrument it would be better in many ways to have a new nut, and that you are a professional.
