NGD, project SG

[deeaa]

Bought an unknown to me SG copy for 70€.
As you can see, neck has come off at some time and repair was ugly. But it reveals the guitar is real wood, so I'm gonna sand it down, at least the backsides, reshape the neck and then see if it's worth putting in new frets.

Probably will have to put in new frets, because the fretboard is nigh flat. Never seen so flat a board on an electric. I should sand it to a nice 15" radius I think and put in SS frets.

That will however also likely require me to lower the pickup rings, they're too high already, and adding to the radius will only lower the strings in relation to the body.

That means also probably shaving a bit of metal from the underside of the bridge, to make super low action possible.

It's a bit of a challenge, but a fun project.

Pickups are surprisingly good, even very nice.

I think it would look good if I shaved the back entirely to wood, dyed it darker brown, and leave the top cream. Maybe give it a faux black binding.

Maybe I'll sand and shape the headstock to Gibson shape, but I'll try to preserve the top & the logo. If that won't succeed...well maybe get some novelty logo for it.

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[mozz]

When i find a cheap SG it will be made into this.

[tlarson58]

Keep us in the loop!

[tonebender]

Looks like a nice copy, pics along the way please.

[deeaa]

Yep, pics will follow. Today I sanded off the paint from the whole backside. But, it's apparently very difficult to get everything off, it's got some kind of grain sealer below the paint...easy to get the paint off but that damned sealer...gonna leave it there in most places, as long as it's smooth.

I'm gonna dye it kind of brown and striped at the back, the front is gonna stay stock. Mostly because of the unevenly spread grain filler - some parts of the wood soak up dye some totally reject it. So I need to sort of paint it partially. We will see if it turns out not crazy looking.

The neck has a slight twist to it, not bad at all but without strings it's visible. It's very straight, but a slight propeller twist anyway.

I'm gonna take off the frets and see if I can sand the fretboard to 15" radius without taking too much off, and in the process also straighten that slight twist. Hopefully it won't get worse later on.

Then in go some new frets and fingers crossed I'll be able to lower the bridge enough for killer action.

A lot of things to fix on this, but it's a real nice challenge! Nothing to lose but some time spent, and it's all good learning.

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[deeaa]

Backside first pass done. Used various magic markers to make it kinda look like faux striped wood and gave it a coat of tru oil. After it dries proper, may still touch up on it. But I think it looks fine at least from some distance.

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[toomanycats]

Backside first pass done. Used various magic markers to make it kinda look like faux striped wood and gave it a coat of tru oil. After it dries proper, may still touch up on it. But I think it looks fine at least from some distance.

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Hell yeah! That is looking righteous! You're a real artist to with make that faux wood grain look so good. Are my eyes deceiving me, or did you put the divot in the open headstock too? I was going to suggest that. You have most definitely got your 70€ worth out of this guitar.

[deeaa]

Yep, gave it a little dip - didn't care for that tit shape Thanks!

[deeaa]

The frets came off way too easily. Could have just used my nails really. May have to glue new ones in. You can probably see the slight twist, but the lucky thing is the fretboard' is also slightly thicker on the offending side, so I should well be able to sand it straight when I radius it to 15" anyway.

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[tonebender]

Looking good!

[deeaa]

Couldn't resist putting in a few frets already. I was able to sand it straight, not a big issue at all, like half a mm at most maybe, and radius it to 15".

Whoever did the fretboard originally has had some weird approach however. Despite making it flat in center, the very edges have a clear drop to follow like maybe 9" curve at the first frets, getting even by the 5th. It's slightly more than 15" really, so if I look really close I can see the final 1-2 mm of the fret base isn't totally flat against the wood, there's a barely visible opening because the wood tapers off at the very end.

I'm pretty sure it'll be unnoticeable once the ends are dressed and filed, but it is also possible I may have to round the very last fret ends with a mallet a bit. That's gonna be a challenge to do and keep the frets level.

As usual, I want to keep leveling need to absolute minimum, so I'm checking the levelness of each fret super carefully as I go on and rather adjusting by clamping or malleting till perfect, than leave any for leveling phase. It takes time but I've managed to install them well enough usually to only have to micro -tweak a few frets once it's all set up.

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[deeaa]

A few coats of tru oil today in and finished the fretwork as well.

I'll probably rub in one more coat of tru before hitting the sack tonight, and polish the entire guitar tomorrow.

Then it's just a matter of putting it back together. However, I ordered a new roller bridge for it and it will probably be here late next week or so...maybe later. Also some top hat knobs.

I'll probably string her up with the old strings before that however.

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[Rollin Hand]

Jeez, you don't play around, do you? To get as far as you have would take me two years!

[deeaa]

It's surprisingly quick work to install frets really.

I had enough time in the morning before leaving for work to polish 'er up and do initial setup. Still have to do the soldering and awaiting a new bridge and control knobs. Action is too low too, it's so low it's almost hard to bend notes really, I like it a wee bit higher but that's just a setup issue....but I'll let it wait tuned up for a while now and adjust the truss etc...although I'm not sure what strings are on it now, probably tens though. I'll put on 9.5s when I get the new bridge.

Oh and I put a Gibson 498t at the bridge after all.


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[SamIV]

That looks great. Having an issue with action being too low is usually not a problem with most guitars. Might have to give this refret thing a go one day. You do make it look too easy though. Don’t think I will have the same experience.

[deeaa]

That looks great. Having an issue with action being too low is usually not a problem with most guitars. Might have to give this refret thing a go one day. You do make it look too easy though. Don’t think I will have the same experience.

Have you checked out my videos on the subject? Parts 1 & 2. I find especially with SS frets it is indeed rather easy, all you need is some basic tools and like a Dremel....and the key to success seems to be indeed that you take your time to level the board and to press the frets in so level that you need next to no filing afterwards, as that's a little more difficult with SS.

I got a cheap vice press with correct radius bits off AliExpress for like $20 or so, and a couple of different diamond files from the local store for like $15, a few wooden radius blocks and sandpapers another $20 maybe ...good thongs with flat head...filed mine flat myseld...a chisel, some masking tape ...and a polishing kit or two for a cordless drill. Probably the only more expensive thing I had to buy was SS fret cutters, which were like 60;- from Hosco. Then some other small stuff, paper, cloths, polishing putty, a fret rocker, crowning file...most of which I got from AliExpress.

StewMac I would have bought loads from, but with postage and customs fees they're expensive for me.

And for finishes, tung oil of course....and I need some cheap reading glasses to properly see things as well, almost like magnifying glasses really.





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[deeaa]

And yeah, I've bought Sintoms pre-radiused SS fret wires from Philadelphia luthiers, those are great and cheap and they will provide any radius desired. The only difficult thing about SS frets is bending them to the right radius. You probably need a good bending machine and lots of straight material. I have tried, and it's nigh impossible to bend SS material evenly with home tools....but with prebent stuff, well, they don't buckle and deform like nickel so you really just have to press them in evenly and it's gonna be great right there.

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[deeaa]

Just final pics of the finished SG repair.
I did end up adding a zero fret and swapping the bridge pup to a Gibson 498t, and new control knobs were needed, but other than that I only used parts that came with it when I bought it for 70€.

[SamIV]

Looks great, but you do make it look easy. And I did watch your videos. Commented to you on one of the Facebook groups about it. Years ago I owned an Ibanez SZ, and sold it because it did not like the small frets. Might pick up a used one for nostalgia, and try a changing the frets.