Fell for an online scammer just 2 weeks ago. They got me at half 7 in the morning before I'd woken up properly. Once made a cuppa at my mates after after a few whiskys and put his electric kettle on the hob and lit the gas under it. Old mate of mine had a full Irish breakfast before going for his blood cholesterol test.
Stupidest mistake: After reassembling pick guard after electronics mods, strings back up to tension, found that the pickups were slightly quieter and duller than before. I had accidentally knocked the volume knob down to 6 (with no treble bleed). Took me FAR too long to realize this, including taking off the guard TWICE more.
Thank ya mate - I'm currently at Birmingham guitar show. Been trying out some new mics. Didn't get a chance to test them 🙈 Almost certain poor audio vids coming in future - soz 😆👍
Yeah, I always "recycle" my strings -- so many of the junk guitars I find are missing one or two or have none at all! I'll add the missing strings for the initial repairs and setup (especially if it involves removing the pick guard: more string breakage possibility!), and put in a fresh set when everything is nearing completion.
Another good video matey, never apologise for less than Oscar worthy production, its a lot of work for 1 person anyway and what matters is the content......and you have that!
You're a lot more patient than me sir, I just jump to cutting wires when the leccys come out (theyre normally getting replaced in any case ;) ) Cant wait to see the rest of this series :) Nice job thus far sir :)
So the first time I wanted to refinish a guitar it was because I broke out a big chunk around one of the pots. I can't remember why this happened, but it for sure was stupid and happended because I was to lazy to do something the "right" way. Then I started to scrape the lacquer off with a scalpel blade. The intention was to just get the coating off, sand it down a little bit and refinish. Turned out I was not talented enough to scrape the coating off and I was hacking away big junks. While doing so I decided to evolve the refinishing job into a relicing job, so I put a little thought in where to torture the poor guitar body and after all it turned out really great. I just sealed the whole thing with an oil finish and sold it afterwards with like 100% profit. The new owner really loved how it looked. It was an inexpensive Mockingbird btw. I did all kinds of stupid mistakes when doing things for the first time. I cracked fretboards while removing frets, I filed a nut down so deep I had to replace it, I mixed up hot and ground while soldering. You name it. Every stupid thing you can do wrong I've done wrong and I turned out to be kind of competent now... Btw. I hadn't the time to sort the pics from my neck project so far, maybe I get it done this weekend.
Thanks for sharing this mate - I feel way better now! 😂🤣😜 But really - thank you 🙏 I can't remember if I caught up from the last pics you sent - Soz, I'm terrible at keeping up with emails 😬
@assidyguitar In german I like to say "Fehler sind da um gemacht zu werden" which would roughly translate to "mistakes are there to be made" - which is a great approach for everything learning by doing. I personally learn much more from mistakes than I could from getting everything right the first time. I only sent some pics of the finished neck, as I was too lazy to put in the work xD I really love how it turned out.
I did the same with a Squier Jaguar bass during lockdown. Poly finish removal was way more time consuming than I had envisioned and very messy. I've stuck it back together blinged out with nice doodats (tuners, pickups, bridge, pots etc.. only think I didn't change was the nut I think). Thoroughly enjoyed it, so much so I'm going to do similar with my Squier VM Mustang - in terms of paint job anyway, it doesn't need as much improvement in terms of hardware as the jag bass did. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Yer haudin that soldering iron like a Boss, Sir! Excellent project, very much looking forward to it. Luckily my only attempt at this was before motion pictures were invented. It was a good solid 1/10 attempt as well, damn 😂
Am I really? I'm unbelievably inexperienced with this stuff - But thank ya mate 😀🙏 Please do share any tips if you've got em 😀 Maybe like... Don't do it! 😂
03:46, Another reason not to cut the strings in the middle is to prevent the tiny bits of metal flakes especially from the wound strings to stick to the pickup magnets. Better to cut them at the headstock end like you did. (Tip from Psionic Audio)
Once the camera goes on, the brain goes on vacation! That's been my experience, anyways! I have a DIY I stained. Kept it simple with a water-based matte finish. Can't screw that one up, really!
Thanks for understanding mate - I'm more than happy to blame it on the camera 😂👍 I've got the Bolt Guitars wipe on finishing system to experiment with - Gonna have a go this weekend 😅🤞
The only time I have finished a guitar was a self build kit of a T type guitar. I finished it with about 9 or 10 coats of Danish oil. Rubbing down between coats. It looked fine just took ages for the oil to cure.
I'd like to give it a go that way in the future - removing the finish (part 2) was more painful than this part 😂 (-10 coats tho - and all that sanding! 🤯 I'll bet it looked great in the end though 😎👍
Nice logo on your jersey Steve! Fazley makes nice guitars, you make it even nicer for your liking. Personally I prefer the original color, sorry mate. As usual I enjoyed your video.
Thank ya mate 😃 And well spotted - I don't like logos/brands on clothes, so I taped ove it🙈 I think the original colour might have worked better with a different pickguard 🤷♂️ Fender do a similar shell pink star with a Torr pickguard that looks better imo 😎
I tried refinishing a cheap LP copy once. Covered it in nitromors and it basically just bubbled. Then I used a heat gun, but because the guitar was cheap, it had a glued top on, that ended up separating from the body. At that point with still half of the paint still on the guitar but the front face is the guitar having massive holes in it, I decided that guitar finishing was not for me and threw it all away 🤣🤣
Yeeesh! 😬 Thanks for sharing this mate - reading your struggles makes me feel a lot better 🤣😜 But nah, i'll bet you were gutted at the time. Soz mate ☹️👎
Steve - This was fun, if you liked the colour on the other guitar could you not have just swapped over the neck and electrics, pick guard and pups ? or did you just want to try a refinish !, enjoyable and fun vid 👍🎸😆
Thank you kindly mate 😀🙏 But yeah i've always wanted to try a refinish - If I can do it (I still don't know yet - applying the finish this weekend 😬🤞).. then I'd refinish loads of guitars 😀 But after this experience... I might not (Part 2 was a nightmare 🙈) Good suggestion about using the other body but it was quite an unconventional neck plate/bolt spacing. Not sure if the pocket dimensions would be correct either - way beyond my "skill" level 😅
Liked and subbed, curious to see how you get on. Good luck, yer gonnae need it, mate... I refinished my 1982 Ibanez Iceman II a couple of years ago, with zero previous experience. I can empathise with every step you take lol I had stripped the finish off the guitar in the mid 90s and it needed redoing. Getting the original finish off took ages and was very messy. Be prepared for a lot of sanding, wet and dry. And I do mean a LOT of sanding, lol I used black nitro cellulose lacquer. I wouldn't recommend for beginner, like me. It turned out great but the finish was difficult to apply, especially in our Scottish climate with no spray booth or any professional gear. The black also shows every minute imperfection. Still, I enjoyed it. Even learned to solder to rewire it and it now looks, sounds and play fantastically well. Really happy with how it turned out. It did take weeks to complete, to allow for drying and curing. All the best.
Nice one mate - Thank you so much for sharing! 😀🙏 I have just (very recently) passed the poly finish removal stage - everything you said is true!😅 I'm not gonna be spraying it though - thankfully you know the reasons #scottish climate I've got a wipe on finish system from Bolt Guitars uk - getting started on that on sunday... weather permitting 😜 Cheers for the sub mate 🍻
I think going with the wipe on stuff sounds good. Interested to see that. I have been contemplating buying a diy guitar kit and trying that myself Was there any nice woodgrain under the poly finish? My initial idea with the Iceman was some sort of Korina type finish, only to find some rather uninspiring basswood and birch for a body 😂😂. Solid coat was required.
@@martyrocks2091 Yes mate - I was actually really surprised after removing the finish to find it was just a 2 piece body! Unfortunately the shades were quite mismatched but the grains are quite nice - the larger piece has better figuring. (I uploaded pics to a community post a few days ago). Initial plans was for a solid colour anyway So it's all good 😁👍 The Bolt Guitar Kits (and finishing system) are getting quite good reviews. More expensive than starter kits - but better quality woods, hardware, electronics and support - worth a look (If you like Tele's)😀👍
@@stevecassidyguitar Thanks, I will have a wee look at Bolt. I do like Teles. I have a nice MIJ one I got new around '97. I do fancy trying a nice 335 kit, though. The wiring seems a bit daunting.
@@martyrocks2091 Oooft! Can't beat the MIJ Fender gear 😎👌 In that case if you're after a Quality 335 kit - I'm hearing great things about Coban Guitars just now. Check out "Rafael Jesus" he's did a few kits now -one of them a 335 too 😀👍
I just finished refinishing a guitar a few months ago. I made the mistake of wet sanding it. After it dried every place there was a screw hole (pickguard screws, around the tuners, etc) the wood cracked. :( I didn't bother trying to repair the cracks since the pickguard would cover most of it and it's used live so will get dinged and dented eventually.
Thank you so much for this info mate - Your timing couldn't have been better! I still have little bit of sanding to do tomorrow (weather permitting #Scotland) to finish off before starting painting. You might have just saved me 😀🙏 and... sorry to hear yours got cracked 😬
@@stevecassidyguitarI was advised (after the fact) that I should have used a heat gun to remove the paint on an already drilled body/headstock. I took everything down to the bare wood with dry and wet sanding. Next time I think I would just sand off the poly down to the top layer of paint and just go for it. There's no reason to go all the way down to the bare wood. Each crack is like 1 inch long but 1/2 of each crack is covered by pickguard. The cracks along the tuner holes aren't as bad but each tuner hole does have a crack. The obvious solution to the cracks would be to use wood filler and sand smooth. I just didn't care enough to do it so it's not a total loss if it happens. It's not structural. Good luck!
@@McHale72 cheers mate 😃👍 I'm using Bolt Guitars wipe on finishing system, so I do need to be down to the bare wood for that (I think 🤔) I used the heat gun too, but ended up sanding. The heat gun part was a nightmare 🙈
oh boy, you're in for a world of learning here. Heat gun is a ROUGH way to go. I mean it's not a door frame, and that's not gloss paint! If you want a finish that shows the wood grain , then ehhhh maybe (even then an appropriate type of chemical paint stripper is better) . But it's a cheap guitar that has already been painted, so chances are they saved all the bodies with good grain characteristics for the clear coated guitars and gave you one with crappy looking grain because you'll never know. So what you actually need to do is epic sanding and a sanding machine would have been the right move. Sand until all the varnish layer is removed and then apply paint on top of existing keyed paint... if it reacts badly sand it down , apply a barrier coat & continue...then... There are several stages beyond just applying the paint, most of which require patience , time , and a ludicrous (maybe even dispiriting) amount of sanding with fine paper after each coat. But it looks like you really want to do a youtube video on refinishing a guitar without EVER watching a youtube video on refinishing a guitar. I'm not entirely sure how you've managed to avoid all 7000 of them to date, but it's your right to choose. I AM smiling as I type , and I DO wish you all the best. My final parting advice if you wish to improvise; all the things you think are going to be shortcuts , are hazards that lead you down the lonnnnnnnng path, or to dissatisfaction. Those 7000 videos you missed are all the same for a reason 🙂
My man! Thank you for this! 😀 It's now 7 months later and... believe me - I watched A LOT of YT vids and read articles on heatgun/poly finish removal. I now have the finish completely off and without giving away too many spoilers I can say... You're completely correct! 😂👍 I'm starting the paint process this weekend (hopefully 🤞). I'll be using Bolt Guitars wipe-on finishing system. The poly finish removal was THE worst 😂. I'm hoping the "colouring in" part willbe more fun 😜🤞 Thanks again for sharing your experience - Hopefully I'll see ya for the future parts in the series and get your feedback. It will take a while until it's all uploaded as I can only manage 1 (proper vid ) upload per week (atm) and I've gotta mix up the topics. Cheers mate 🍻
@@stevecassidyguitar for sure man. I have now worked on 40 or so guitar's in the last 2 year's and I've made a ton of them. So many that I've damaged and broken perfectly working guitar's and had to fix that too.
Hey Steve, just a thought: why not sand down the clear coat and use the original pink as a 'primer' and overspray it with your colour of choice? Then clear coat it again, done! Hug from Switzerland🎸🤘🏼🎸👊🏼
Great shout mate 😀👍 I'm at the point where I have (Finally!) managed to remove all the finish and have got to the bare wood. I'm using the Bolt Guitars refinishing system, (It's a wipe-on type thing). The reason for this is that spraying isn't really an option with my current living situation. I was also just too curious how hard it would be to remove a poly finish - All the YT tutorials I watched made it look EASY! 😀 It wasn't 🙈 For me anyway 😂
@@stevecassidyguitar That's great, i've shyed away from removing a poly finish, because it's such a pain! Respect mate🙏🏼 I have just finished the HB ST-62. The original bridge was a catastrophe, so i used a spare Jet JS-300 unit with Wildwood saddles. I got some special screws that have a groove and modified the underside of the bridgeplate so i have a 'knifeedge' at the back of the screwholes. I had to cut back the HB pickguard to fit and drill 4 new holes for the pickguard screws. You won't believe it, but the cheap HB pickguard sold seperately is cut differently than the one on the cheap guitar....🙄 Oh well, time to string up and see how the Guitar fetish Jimi Hendrix reverse staggered singles sound....😁 Have a great weekend, i'll post some more tomorrow! BTW the neck has some serious flame and i think we are gonna get on just fine.....😅
@@gearViewmirror Sounds awesome mate! 😀👍 You work fast! 🤯 That's really interesting about the HB pickguard doesn't fit a Harley Benton 🙈 If you made a vid on that - it would probably get a lot of traffic 😎👍
@@stevecassidyguitar I've only refinished one guitar back in 1997 where I was given an extremely cheap acoustic and just did a black and white spray over the original finish. I didn't care. The top was white, the rest was black. It absolutely sucked but looked cool about 10 feet away. I definitely don't recommend it. That said I don't buy guitars that I don't like the finish on. If it's beat up, I bought it because I like how it looks beat up. Otherwise I hotrod the guitar but leave the finish "as is." It's just a can of worms I don't want to mess with. My patience for spray and sand and repeat is definitely the root of the problem. It's just not worth the aggravation.🤨
@@gringogreen4719 Mate! I Totally get that 👍 After this experience - I think I'm with ya - buy the finish you like, Getting poly off is too time consuming 🙈 Although we'll see if I can get any enjoyment out of the "colouring in" part 😜 Starting that on Sunday 😅🤞
@@stevecassidyguitar I know there are wraps that you can get, like the ones they use on cars and trucks. This could offer you something else. Also you could do a "Pink Tiger" where you use a lighter pink base like what you had and do "hot pink" tiger stripes on top of that. That seems like it may be up your alley.🤔
@@gringogreen4719 I have seen some vids on these wrap finishes on guitars - but they seem a bit too "magic" for me 😆 and it's got to be very carefully applied. For me... I can't even put on a phone protector screen straight without bubbles, so.. probably not a good fot for me 😅 Still a great shout though mate - cheers! 😀👍
Thank ya mate 😃🙏 I just had a look at the loaded Fazley Phynica pickguard as it's currently off of this guitar. Unfortunately I can't see the markings as it's covered by solder 🙈 Soz mate - no luck with a forum search just now either. I would guess 250k but... Pinch of salt n all that. Jet have a booth at Birmingham guitar show a week today so... I'll ask em 😃👍
@@thelolguy007 I'm gonna try to get some vids - but might be tricky, I've not figured out how I'm gonna record the audio yet (very loud/noisy environment apparently)& selfie stricks n tripods etc 🤯🤷♂️ Will do my best tho 😃👍
😂👍Thanks mate! 🙏 As you can see, I'm a total expert at this stuff 🙈 Couldn't decided between the safety Flip Flops or Clogs. You'll be glad to know I opted for the flops 😎👍
Can't believe the locking tuners 😂😂 should have called the vid, not live but still without a clue 😂😂 very entertaining sir 👏 😀 Who do you get to make the pickguard for your js400. Payday next week so looking to get started on modding mine.
I know mate - I'm such an idiot 🙈 I'd only put them on a few weeks before too 😂 I've not had a pickguard made for a JS400 yet, I've just been swapping them about. But there is a Guy I've used before based in Glasgow. His eBay store is called "earlpilanz" - If ya search for "Harley Benton pickguards" on eBay you'll find him 👍 You won't find Jet pickguards in his listings, but just send him a message - he can trace your current one and make a copy in whatever material you like (that he has)
@@stevecassidyguitar cheers pal i will check him out. I bought one from bax that fitted Fazley stype but it didn't fit the jet because of one darn screw being out about 6 mill. I was gutted lol
Soz mate - It's a Harley Benton branded one from Thomann 😬 One of these things where you need to spend a few extra quid to get the "Free" delivery 😆 You can get similar from Amazon though I'm sure 👍
Ha! Cheers mate 🤣👌 After checking the reviews on Amazon, it appears many people have ended up sounding scottish with these mics - Returned for a set that makes me sound like Christian Bale's Batman 😎👍
@@stevecassidyguitar you are doing a great job! And I love your channel, it made me buy a JS400 yesterday. You deserve way more views, just hang in there and keep it real, neutral and authentic and i am sure good things will happen to your channel.
@@TheTerracide Thank ya so much mate! 😀🙏 Happy NGD when it arrives 👍 Bit of advice - chuck the stock strings immediately, polish the frets, put on your strings of choice, maybe a tweak of the action if necessary, then enjoy Strat heaven 😎👍
I ASSumed it was the stock tuners. The worst part is, it was ME who installed the locking tuners 🙈 and only a few weeks before too 😂 Apologies for my idiocy 🙈
Well spotted! 🤓👍 The tape on the jumper is coz I don't like Brand/Logo's I don't understand (Which is all of em 😂) Good point Re the hat - I might have to refinish that too 🤔 😜
No, no, no, yer doing it all wrongo! 1st thing is, stand with yer back to the East, turn 3 times, throws the salt over the left shoulder while reciting, not singing, Twisted Sister's We're Not Gonna Take It....
