Pink Lady Restoration

Today I got the paint guns out. The weather was cooperating. I am always a bit reluctant to start as there are always many things that can go wrong. I had the Stingray 5 body, neck and the S-500 birdseye neck ready to go. The S-500 neck was satin and I decided to gloss it. The paint was too thin to wet sand and buff so that meant clearcoat. Everything went very well, the shell pink went on great and then on to the clearcoat. I did the s-500 neck first. It took the paint perfectly and is stunning. I next started on Stingray 5 neck. I was afraid of it and my concerns were confirmed. Fisheyes on the fingerboard. This wood has absorbed so many things over time that it is not clean no matter what you do. The headstock took clearcoat very well so I left it at that. I will Tung Oil the rest of it next week. That is what it originally had anyhow. So then I painted the pink body with clearcoat. Two good coats on everything and this dude is a happy camper. I will let it harden until Sunday and will then wet sand and buff. Here are some photos if anyone is interested.

Preparation complete, ready to paint.


Shell Pink now on body and headstock, no clearcoat yet.





Now the clearcoat is on.

S-500 Neck





Stingray Body





And Stingray headstock




Here is a picture with inside lighting. It is a very light pink.



I will add pictures of both guitars when they are buffed and back together.-- Darwin

An update on the Pink Lady. The body is complete with the wiring reinstalled and checked out. My initial thought after painting was that the Shell Pink was light. Much to my surprise, it darkened a bit after buffing. I hand sanded everything and hand buffed. I am very pleased with the body, it is like a mirror. The neck was a lot more difficult as I did the headstock the same as the body but had to use Tung Oil on the neck portion. It turns out that the Tung Oil is a very nice finish. The problem is it goes on very thin (wiped on by hand) and takes at least 8 hours to dry. I now have 7 coats and will probably do 3 more and then after a couple days of drying, I can finish it and hand rub it. Here are some more photos.








The S-500 neck is beautiful and the gloss really brought out the birdseye. Total success.





This has been a long project but I am happy to be on the final home stretch. Three years in the making, I had to leave it for a while but I finally got in the mood as they say. -- Darwin

Nice work, Darwin!

looks like it's going to be a beauty !!

Shell pink is a great colour, and that does look a bit light but I like it. Just a hint of pink there. Here's a shot of my tele for comparison

Darwin,

How did you work on the headstock finish without removing the serial number and logo decals?

The neck grain, birdseye and tint are really popping now and everything is quite harmonious paired with the pink finish.

Would it be much trouble to run the edge of the control plate cover on a belt sander of take a fine file to it at this point? There is a slight point deviating from the arc on inside edge. If you look face the body vertically, the point is in the proximity of the bridge's inner right corner. It is one detail that stands out as a do-it-yourself mod.

Long project... great results! Can you provide some insight on the type of paint you sprayed? I've never really looked into the various paint options for guitar only vintage cars.

Salmon, I carefully sanded the headstock. I painted over the MM Stingray5 decal with the pink paint and clearcoated the headstock. The neck originally had a tung oil finish from the factory. The fingerboard had soaked up a lot of oil and dirt from the previous owner. It would not take polyurathane and had a terrible case of fish eyes. I decided to apply tung oil again and the back of the neck is finished with tung oil and a beautiful gloss. Today I will be finished applying the Birchwood Casey Tru oil to the fingerboard as it dries much quicker and can be recoated in 2 hrs. I will have about 7 coats of tung oil on the neck and an additional 8 coats of Tru oil on the fingerboard. The results are awesome and I had never used these products before. It is much quicker to spray poly but this stuff really gives a look to the wood. I will post pictures in a couple of days when it is together.

I know what you mean by the point. It was originally that way and has a screw hole next to it. I can't remove it without worrying about developing a crack in the screw hole.

Dtheguitarman. I had regular Shell Pink mixed at an automotive supplier, a Chrysler/Desoto color from the 60's which is a PPG base coat. It is a bit lighter than Jamies Tele but it is hard to determine which mix is really accurate. Mixing small quantities is always a challenge for accuracy. I used a high particulate Automotive Poly with Catalyst for the top coats. I was able to wet sand and hand rub out the next day. I also sprayed the S-500 neck with the same poly. It is like glass and really brought out the birdseye. The Stingray neck was so contaminated it wouldn't take poly. I don't like to use fish eye remover. The Birchwood Casey Tru oil is what I will use when I do a Baritone neck for one of my Fenders. It also has a tint so it looks very vintage. It will gloss up however glossy you like. I have a Hamer which I am also restoring and will paint that with nitro and that is a piece of cake. Just spray a lot of coats, sand and buff. Thanks for asking guys. -- Darwin

I completed this project tonight with a complete setup and a test drive. It is wonderful. 8 coats of Birchwood Casey Tru Oil really did a job on the fretboard. This project was a lot of hours but well worth it. Always something learned and the anticipation of the end result is what keeps it going. Anyway, it is late, time for a couple of cold ones and I will be using it tomorrow. Here are the final pics. The neck on this was originally satin. The birds eye didn't jump out. Now it does.







You can see the transition form Poly to Tung oil ( the dark line). This is how it was originally done by Ernie Ball and I did it the same way so the gloss Poly just transitions from clear to vintage tint of tung oil. The Birchwood Casey Truoil has a beautiful vintage tint. This stuff is all applied with a rag and rubbed in. The gloss develops as you add coats so you can control the gloss. After a week or so , I can wet sand the fretboard and buff if I wish but it already has a great gloss.







I am going to celebrate just a bit tonight. -- Darwin

looks great !!

Dayum!

That looks fantastic!

it really came out nicely.

Salmon, you had mentioned the point on the lower pickguard and I did a bit of work rounding it as much as I could without compromising the screw hole. I think it is much better and this is the final step on this baby. She is finally final-- Darwin.

Those curves look nice, well done !!

Darwin,

I was wondering about applying the Tru Oil to the S-500 headstock with the serial number and logo in tact.

I guess you just worked around them?

looks amazing.

Thanks everyone for your comments. It has been a week since I finished the neck. Tonight I removed the strings, wet sanded and buffed the fingerboard. It is like glass. I am very happy with the results on this guitar. I have already started the restoration on a Hamer that I bought for that purpose. This is fun and the Hamer will be nitro, very easy to do. Here are some pics of the neck. -- Darwin

Darwin,

What kind of sanding sealer did you use on the Pink Lady? I'm gearing back up for my Duo Sonic and L-1000 projects, and hope to shoot the finishes while the weather is still nice.

Ken

Ken, I didn't use any sanding sealer on the neck. Maple is closed enough so the gloss will be unbelievable with a couple coats of poly. I used a filler, sandable automotive primer on the body (solid color). Remember that I did not use poly on the whole neck, only the headstock as I had fisheyes. I then used Tru oil and it is perfect. -- Darwin