The Electra Forums

Very Nice!!! Looks smooth as glass man, I'm jealous! I had my doubts about that headstock back, but I agree it looks pretty darn nice now. Can't wait to see all the hardware mounted back on, and the wood will look great with the stop tailpiece. Congrats, Mike.

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Electra Guitar Videos ===> http://www.youtube.com/user/mjm33mjm?feature=watch

awesomely shiny!!

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My Electra Pages
I have too many projects!

That looks nice.

I really should be the poster boy for "What Not To Do". Specifically, not waiting long enough before handling lacquered wood. After letting the top rest for about 3 days, I flipped it over to sand a bit on the back and when I turned it back over I had all kinds of impressions from fabric and various other indentations on the top. All are indications that I have not let the lacquer coats dry long enough between more coats - in other words, I put it on too heavy when I moved from spray to brush on coats. The top is all fixed up now and looks good, but if I'm not patient, I can easily create all kinds of problems, so I'm going to step away for awhile (10-14 days) before I attack and finish the back. Gotta let the stuff cure. I know I can and will be patient but I'm really itching to get this put back together. After the back is done it'll be at least 2 weeks of curing again. I'm guessing that it'll be 4 to 5 weeks from now before re-assembly and tweaking is complete - and that's just the way it has to be. In the meantime I can polish the frets or something. Stay tuned.

We all make mistakes even when we don't realize it. At least you know now what to do and how long to cure it with no severe damage done. This one is indeed a labor of love as it will take many hours and lots of time to make it live again. Stay with it it will work out. Great job thus far. Lots more than I ever dare to attempt for certain.

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Always give thanks for everyday, It may be your last so Rock On Semper Fi!!

It's all good. I pretty much knew what I was in for time-wise when I decided to go the lacquer route. I forgot to remember that even if the top layer has skinned over, the stuff underneath is still percolating. Lacquer is funny in that the more you build it up, the easier it is to screw it up. I guess that's why my first reaction is always to use poly even though I hate it. If I had done polyurethane, I'd be playing that guitar right now - but somehow it just didn't seem right. Tom Petty got it right when he said "The Waiting Is The Hardest Part".

Some progress today. I'm reasonably happy with the result. The only nut I've been able to come up with is a shoddy plastic one. I'll fit it and see how it does - maybe use it as template for a real Luthier to make me a bone nut.

Looks much better now than when you started. A remarkable transformation and nice work.

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Always give thanks for everyday, It may be your last so Rock On Semper Fi!!

Where did you find the Keys, and how much did they set you back? I bet you can't wait to play some Who through it!

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Electra Guitar Videos ===> http://www.youtube.com/user/mjm33mjm?feature=watch

The keys are Gotoh's originally sold by Stew MAc but picked up on ebay for $27 shipped - they're pretty nice - not double ring though. Lot's of little spots to clean up but I really wanted to get something done. I'll probably try and buff the body tomorrow. Had to fill and re-drill the bridge stud holes since the new bridge had 12mm instead of 11mm posts. The top should come out pretty nice - I left the back a little rough because it'll just get beat on what with my impending Pete Townshend thrashing.

Looking good. Take a look at Tusq nuts. I found one for my X310 project (note to self get that one started again). It was just right for string spacing and width but a bit high. It wasn't hard to modify though.

This is pretty much what it will look like. Still needs allsorts of wiring, tightening, adjusting etc. but not too bad from a couple feet away.

Look at all that Mahogany showing now! Very Sharp. Good resto documentation from start to finish... and we remember what it looked like to start. Congrats (again), Mike.

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Electra Guitar Videos ===> http://www.youtube.com/user/mjm33mjm?feature=watch

This project is officially done. I learned a lot on this job. The most important is that with patience just about anything can be fixed. This is far from perfect but light years better than when I got the guitar. The only remaining original parts aside from a few screws are the pickups, pots, pickguard, knob pointers, and 3 way switch. Everything else - tuners, bridge, tailpiece, knobs, strap locks, nut etc. is new. I'm not bothered by that at all as everything looks period correct.
Here are the final specs.
Mahogany Body
22 fret Rosewood fretboard
25-1/2" scale
1-5/8" nut with 1-1/4 string spacing - the fretboard at the nut is 1-1/2"
Action at 12th is set at .08" and .022 caps are on the tone pots
both pickups measure 8.25
weight is a light 6 lbs 1.4 ozs.
the tuners are Gotoh Vintage 15/1

Such a narrow neck made it a little tough to get used to but I like the way it sounds and plays.

Tis one really turned out very nice. You did a great job and I like the stop tail look much better. It is hard to believe that this is the same axe that you started with. Looks great and thanks for bringing it back to life I bet it sounds great.

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Always give thanks for everyday, It may be your last so Rock On Semper Fi!!