colour is pretty good and I spray the side
with more cellulose sanding sealer. Once
dry, this is flatted back and it looks passable.
Disaster is averted, but I will need to buy a
new rasp.
GOING DOTTY
Projects like this always reach the point
where the guitar looks worse than it did
before you started. However, there is
something I need to do before spraying
that may redress the balance. I want to get
the lacquer off the fingerboard and replace
the dots.
I begin by removing all the frets, and
stabilising any chips along the fret slots
using Super Glue. Drilling a test hole on
one of the marker dots reveals that they’re
not plastic. Instead, I suspect Epiphone used
some sort of filler paste that was packed
into the hole and allowed to solidify before
the board was levelled and sprayed.
Celluloid pearl dots can be sourced from
Rothko And Frost (rothkoandfrost.com)
and at 6mm, their diameter is slightly wider
than the factory dots. I carefully mark the
centre point of each dot and then drill them
out with a 6mm brad-point bit. Centralising
the bit is crucial, but I end up with cleanly
cut holes and the celluloid dots tap in with
a dab of Super Glue.
With the truss rod adjusted to straighten
the neck, within a few minutes the dots
and fingerboard are levelled using 240-grit
paper attached to a 12-inch radius block.
Sanding through the coating reveals the
grain and true colour of the pau ferro
fingerboard for the first time and I think
the playing feel will improve along with
the looks. The smaller frets that the owner
requested are installed and I’ll be dressing
the ends before respraying the guitar.POST-HOLE PLUGS
The bridge-post holes were drilled with two
different diameters to conform to the shape
of the metal inserts. Viewed in cross section,
the inserts are ‘T’ shaped, so rather than fill
the holes in two stages, I decide to drill out
the holes to 0.5 inches. This is slightly widerthan the top of the existing post holes, and
I tap in two lengths of 0.5-inch ash dowel
rod after coating the insides of the holes
with Titebond glue.
Once the glue is set, I run a generous
quantity of Super Glue around the outside
edges of the dowels and leave it to set
overnight. Of late, I’ve become a big fan
of Super Glue for grain and gap filling and
once the dowels are sanded flush with the
top, they feel completely smooth.
I’ll apply some of the leftover amber/
brown stain to the dowels and cover the
ends with more Super Glue to seal the
grain before spraying. It will be impossible
to make the plugs invisible without a
solid-colour finish, but the pickguard will
cover the treble side and I’ll use a second
thumbwheel at the base of the string post
to conceal the plug on the bass side.
Next time you see this guitar, the respray
will be done and I’ll be onto the relic’ing
and reassembly processes. In the meantime,
while the lacquer is setting, I’ll turn my
attention to re-fretting a Strat neck...DO IT YOURSELF134