MikeChandler Posted February 2, 2016 Posted February 2, 2016 I am now at the point that I'd like to refinish the top on my Heritage black&tan H-150 CM lightweight guitar. I'm thinking a bourbon or rootbeer type burst. I love the brown back/sides/neck and all, and I really don't think they need to be touched. Well, I hope not (I hope just the top can be done). I am just not a fan of the black & tan color scheme. Honestly, if it was just all black, I'd probably leave it alone, as I do like black guitars. But the mahogany looks nice, and I think it would like great with some type of faded burst paint job. It says CM in the control cavity, so there should be "some" figure in the wood, right? Has anybody done this to their H-150? Any advice on where to send the guitar, as well as what to expect to pay would be greatly appreciated. I thought about even giving heritage a call.. but I am thinking they are probably busy just building them new right now. Thanks!
gpuma Posted February 2, 2016 Posted February 2, 2016 if you want fantastic work at an unbelievable price send it to Pete Moreno. The only problem is that it might take very very long to get your guitar back. Think a long time and multiply it by a factor of 10.
ridethatbike Posted February 2, 2016 Posted February 2, 2016 Starr Guitars in FL, and Rosser Guitars would be my votes. They can refinish in a more vintage correct nitro formula, and I'm pretty sure a total refin is under $1k, so a top should be even less than that.
Genericmusic Posted February 2, 2016 Posted February 2, 2016 I don't think Pete is doing refinishes anymore.
Millennium Maestro Posted February 3, 2016 Posted February 3, 2016 Leave the guitar the way it is and play it! Its a great guitar as is... forget all the rest of the mumbo jumbo. Pete was excellent he did my rescue(I rescued a tore down and naked Limited Edition Deluxe), another HOC member killed it for us by raising a huge stink about the timeline on the refinish on his refinish. Pete wont do one for me so he probably wont do one for you! Mine took a year by the way. In my opinion a solid color was placed on your guitar by a master for a reason, maybe there is a big knot, messed up center seam, the top may suck or something else that lead them to go solid finish... Trust your builder its why your guitar is the way it is. The grass is not always greener.... I have seen quite a few refinish plans not go as planned... AND, the guitar is not a better guitar after.
Rod Posted February 3, 2016 Posted February 3, 2016 As far as price and time... I have a D-35 that had a defective finish (peeling) from the factory. Since I bought it used, Martin offered no help. I had it in a shop in Memphis where they tried for 3 months to repair it without having to do a total refinish. They finally gave up. That cost me $300 for basically nothing (I don't blame them for giving up. It's a serious problem). They quoted me $1000 for a total refinish. Took it to a more local shop where from what I've seen they're doing a good job. I'm confident when I get it back it'll be fabulous, but, they've had it for 13 months. They quoted me $700 for a total refinish. If the amount of time they've had it is any indication of how much time/work they have invested in it, that's not nearly enough money. I feel like I should pay them more than they quoted, but the longer it drags on the less motivated I am to do so. I won't let them lose money on it, even though they are trying my patients. After all this time my expectations are pretty high. I'm sure they know that, and are trying hard to meet or exceed those expectations. I haven't pushed them on it at all, always telling them I'd rather have it right than fast. They've done other work for me and were very prompt.
Spectrum13 Posted February 3, 2016 Posted February 3, 2016 In my opinion a solid color was placed on your guitar by a master for a reason, maybe there is a big knot, messed up center seam, the top may suck or something else that lead them to go solid finish... Trust your builder its why your guitar is the way it is. The grass is not always greener.... At 225 Parsons they have a table by the wheel where Jim and Marv grade their maple tops. One stack is marked "paint". Makes no sense to use a AAAA flame on a black beauty.
goSteelers Posted February 3, 2016 Posted February 3, 2016 I too have a black H150 with brown sides and a rosewood fretboard. Sounds great and has a neck I love, so I didn't want to give it up -- but I really didn't like the color scheme. I replaced the hardware with black parts, etc, but I could not get away from the brown rosewood fretboard -- it still didn't look right. So, I decided to take it all the way and embrace the black / rosewood combination. Rosewood pickup rings, pickguard, knobs, pickup switch, truss rod cover. Took a little time and money (much less than a refinish job), but I think it turned out looking pretty good. Since I took the photo, I also replaced the pickups with an SD 59 and Seth Lover, with black pickup covers, so it looks even better.
MikeChandler Posted February 3, 2016 Author Posted February 3, 2016 Everybody pointed out to me that it's a black guitar for a reason - not burst worthy underneath. Marty Bell got the job. He's going to do it like the one below, from his website. Cost is about $300 if I do all the disassembly, and ship him the guitar ready to be masked and stripped. Shipping is all on me as well. I am disassembling and boxing it up tonight. He can't do the exact look of a vintage goldtop as they no longer make the bronze powder paint, but he can get it this close:
MikeChandler Posted February 3, 2016 Author Posted February 3, 2016 Quick question - with the strings removed for a couple months, should I give the truss rod a little bit of a loosen up?
Millennium Maestro Posted February 3, 2016 Posted February 3, 2016 Quick question - with the strings removed for a couple months, should I give the truss rod a little bit of a loosen up? I would, the truss pulls the neck straight/back if it pulls the neck into a backbow that can be a very difficult repair after the fact. Learned that lesson on a strat neck. If you are stripping it, I am very curious what you will find underneath and IF it has a nice top under there(Which will not surprise me either)
Millennium Maestro Posted February 3, 2016 Posted February 3, 2016 Oh, and keep us posted on the finished product.
MikeChandler Posted February 3, 2016 Author Posted February 3, 2016 I would, the truss pulls the neck straight/back if it pulls the neck into a backbow that can be a very difficult repair after the fact. Learned that lesson on a strat neck. If you are stripping it, I am very curious what you will find underneath and IF it has a nice top under there(Which will not surprise me either) That's what I am thinking too - I am loosing the truss rod. BTW - I am not stripping the finish from the instrument so I'll never see the wood. What I meant to say is that I am removing all the hardware and electronics. Otherwise he will charge for doing that. Marty will mask it off, strip the finish, and re-paint it. Oh, and keep us posted on the finished product. I will keep you posted. It's a great sounding guitar and it will make a great goldtop - I'll be going nuts of course until I get it back.
MikeChandler Posted February 3, 2016 Author Posted February 3, 2016 This will be the look when done (but it will have the jimmy page pickups with the push pull pots). lol
ridethatbike Posted February 3, 2016 Posted February 3, 2016 What does the inside of the control cavity look like? Sometimes if the maple is flamey you can see the backside of it there.
MikeChandler Posted February 3, 2016 Author Posted February 3, 2016 What does the inside of the control cavity look like? Sometimes if the maple is flamey you can see the backside of it there. It's nearly perfectly white, with one singular visible dark grain line. At best I think it would have been a plain top. I don't know why, but I am not a big fan of the black & tan look. And I love all black guitars - most of my guitars are exactly that, even the PRS McCarty Standard (all mahogany) I traded for this guitar was all black. But goldtops in my opinion should always have that tan back & sides. This guitar has a perfect neck and I love how it plays and sings. It's just IMHO (hey, everybody has one) the look is a little doggy, and it did have some dings on the top before I got it, and either way they bother me. I did the trade for the guitar because when I felt the neck carve I was blown away, and it sounded like rat farts and I felt I could fix that, which I did (it was more extensive than I anticipated but well worth it). If the guitar had sounded and played like it does now there is no way he would have done the trade with me. So doing this as a goldtop with the jp pickuups and switching should be just the thing. Well that's the theory at least. I really hope the paint looks as good as that photo above.
MikeChandler Posted February 22, 2016 Author Posted February 22, 2016 I just got emailed from Marty Bell Refinishing - the guitar is done - and shipping back today. He sent pics!!!!!
Polo Posted February 22, 2016 Posted February 22, 2016 Wow...Mark Belle is officially on my radar! Looking good!!
MikeChandler Posted February 22, 2016 Author Posted February 22, 2016 Is it no. 20902? That's very close. The middle digit is different. Why do you ask? EDIT: Wait a sec - you must be the Wolfe guitars on the sticker inside the backplate!
Conneazoo Posted February 22, 2016 Posted February 22, 2016 That looks super good. Can't wait for the finished pics.
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