The Refinished SG
click to enlarge
This project took me about 9 months to complete, mostly because I had never really done a job like this before. I have done loads of carpentry, had several jobs in woodshops, but never got much experience on the final step of applying a nice, professional-type finish.
So here I am experimenting on my '71 SG Deluxe.
It came out rather well, though, if I do say so myself. Not as good as I had envisioned originally, for sure, but once I got a couple of months into it, a lot better than I started to think it would come out. Mostly because that's a brushed-on finish, not sprayed, which makes it harder to get the final product really smooth. I must've brushed-on about 30 coats.
But the neck came out especially nice and the action seems even better than I remember it. And it sounds geat, too. I must've done something right.
The improved action could also have something to do with the tailpiece. This was the whole reason for undertaking this project.
Those of you who know this guitar, or know this model, will remeber that it came with a Bigsby tailpiece. I disgarded that long ago, because it sucked, and installed the stop tailpiece, but mounted it back where the Bigsby was. You can see where the holes for the bushings were in the top right image. Those two lighter-colored mahogany plugs are where the tailpiece was located. This is too far away from the bridge to produce enough pressure to keep the strings in their saddles, especially during hard playing. The stop tailpiece on the standard Gibson model is 1 1/2 inches behind the bridge. Where I located it was about 3 inches, so twice as far as it should've been. I wanted to correct this, but couldn't think of a creative way to disguise the two old 1/2 holes I would be left with when I was finished. So, refinishing was the answer.
I never really liked the red finish anyway.