Ready to start on the Wreckenbacker

[basshead]

Great
Interesting to see how the maple itself has "ambered" over the years. So it’s not only ambering of the clear coat, but also of the wood itself that contribute to the nice color of a vintage guitar.

Any plans/ideas for how to plug/cover screw holes to avoid filling them when finishing?

Hm.. That piece of pipe (or pipe of peace) in the last photo, with something wrapped around it - sanding paper? Should make the perfect tool for sand finish off walls in cavities.

All the holes that are left now are to be used - pickguard, bridge/tailpiece etc, so nothing left to fill. The piece of pipe has some sandpaper wrapped around the end for getting into the curved areas of the pickup cavities and electronics cavity etc. Came in very handy! I need to use a smaller piece of pipe though to at least scuff up the series of holes that make the channel from the electronics cavity to the neck pickup.

I got the bridge cavity plug all routed and shaped yesterday. It turned out pretty good and looks a damn sight better than the carnage that was there!

Bridge cavity repair plug all routed back to original shape.

I think I'll be pulling the frets tomorrow. I was waiting for a mate to come back from vacation who's bringing me a radius block for the fingerboard

[Wiker]

All the holes that are left now are to be used - pickguard, bridge/tailpiece etc, so nothing left to fill.

I was wondering how to avoid filling up all the small screw holes with finish when spraying. Remember reading someone plugging the holes with wax (don’t know what kind). Was considering wax for myself (when the day comes and I’m ready to spray), but thought maybe some stuff from waxes might migrate into the wood, and it might be hard to avoid smearing a bit of wax around outside the holes, maybe creating problems for the finish to stick in the areas around holes.

[basshead]

Gotcha. I have loads of small silicone plugs that I use to block holes when I'm powder coating so I could just use them. I can't imagine that you could completely fill the holes with paint though?

[basshead]

Damn, 36 year old frets do NOT like to be disturbed! Anyway, they're all out now and I've been rubbing the board down - some of the chipping will rub out but not sure what to do about the bigger chips...

[Wiker]

Ouch

Some of the experts have to come in here and give some advice. Paul, Todd ..

My first thought would be to fill them in with grain filler and sand flush. Then apply finish (clear coat in my case) with a brush over the filled in grain filler. I believe the finish will suck into the grain filler and make it solid. Sand flush again afterwards. I think that might work with the grain filler I used. Or maybe thin flowing epoxy. Or CA should work also, but is very hard to sand so I don’t like it. (The filler need to match the wood in color of course.)
Never tried it myself so I don’t know how well it'll work.

[aceonbass]

Wayne....From the looks of the bridge pocket route, the three screw holes in there, as well as the two on top, are slightly off center. This would be a good time to dowel those holes and r-drill them so that the tailpiece is centered on the body.

[8mileshigher]

Wayne....From the looks of the bridge pocket route, the three screw holes in there, as well as the two on top, are slightly off center. This would be a good time to dowel those holes and r-drill them so that the tailpiece is centered on the body.

Good eye, Dane. Now that you mention it, I can see that the screw hole in the shedua strip is off-center.

[kiramdear]

RE: small chips at the edge of the fret slots caused by de-fretting: Save the chips and glue them back in place with super glue. Do the de-fretting over a towel or sheet so that the chips don't get lost. Glue them back in place one at a time, as they happen. This will give you the best cosmetic solution.

[basshead]

Ouch

Some of the experts have to come in here and give some advice. Paul, Todd ..

My first thought would be to fill them in with grain filler and sand flush. Then apply finish (clear coat in my case) with a brush over the filled in grain filler. I believe the finish will suck into the grain filler and make it solid. Sand flush again afterwards. I think that might work with the grain filler I used. Or maybe thin flowing epoxy. Or CA should work also, but is very hard to sand so I don’t like it. (The filler need to match the wood in color of course.)
Never tried it myself so I don’t know how well it'll work.

RE: small chips at the edge of the fret slots caused by de-fretting: Save the chips and glue them back in place with super glue. Do the de-fretting over a towel or sheet so that the chips don't get lost. Glue them back in place one at a time, as they happen. This will give you the best cosmetic solution.

Lol, too late to keep all the chips - they're gone! I have a couple of pieces of Bubinga coming so that I can make some "replacement" chips.

Wayne....From the looks of the bridge pocket route, the three screw holes in there, as well as the two on top, are slightly off center. This would be a good time to dowel those holes and r-drill them so that the tailpiece is centered on the body.

Well spotted, and yes they are off centre. I had a pickguard made and a couple of the screw holes are slightly off so rather than try and run the screws in at an angle, I'll dowel and re-drill them so I'll fix the bridge mounting holes at the same time.

[basshead]

Bridge and pickguard holes are all filled and I've finished repairing the fingerboard and put some grain filler on it...

[collin]

RE: small chips at the edge of the fret slots caused by de-fretting: Save the chips and glue them back in place with super glue. Do the de-fretting over a towel or sheet so that the chips don't get lost. Glue them back in place one at a time, as they happen. This will give you the best cosmetic solution.

If the chips are gone, fill the gap with clear epoxy and block it flat (with a radius block) when you are prepping the fretboard. It will look seamless when clear-coated.

Unfortunately, that's par for the course with brittle bubinga. Best way to avoid that is heating up the frets with a soldering iron until the metal expands and seperates from the wood easier, then pulling the frets gently.

[basshead]

I did heat the frets but they still weren't too keen on coming out. I repaired the chips with bubinga filings and super glue and blocked it down with a radius block. Most of the damage/repairs won't be seen under the new frets and other various other chips are practically invisible. I'm pretty happy with the way it's come up so far.

[basshead]

The fingerboard's finished, the frets are in and the ends have been finished flush with the binding route. I started the routing for the chequerboard on the body today. Should finish it Saturday or Sunday...

[aceonbass]

Wayne.....I'm curious as to why you didn't rebind the fingerboard before you refretted it?

[Wiker]

The fingerboard's finished, the frets are in and the ends have been finished flush with the binding route. I started the routing for the chequerboard on the body today. Should finish it Saturday or Sunday...

IMG_1225.JPG

Great work How did fixing of the chips come out?

Yes, the binding should come on after the frets.