refin-ing a starfire: how to make it green??

dw

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i've got a very beat sf4 that i want to rehab and change it from red to green.

has anyone tried this?

it appears that guild used a red dye on the mahogany & then sealed it with clear.

removing what's left of the lacquer is easy, getting the dye out may not be.

once stripped, any ideas on what dye to use? most green anailine dyes i see are BRIGHT green. might have to mix dye colors. or change the tint with a glaze.

any suggestions?
 

dw

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i've got a very beat sf4 that i want to rehab and change it from red to green.

has anyone tried this?

it appears that guild used a red dye on the mahogany & then sealed it with clear.

removing what's left of the lacquer is easy, getting the dye out may not be.

once stripped, any ideas on what dye to use? most green anailine dyes i see are BRIGHT green. might have to mix dye colors. or change the tint with a glaze.

any suggestions?
 

dw

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coastie99 said:
SACRILEGE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

nah, its thrashed. not ruining anything.

besides, if it looks like this when dinished, it'll be super cool

1005b.jpg
 

dw

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coastie99 said:
SACRILEGE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

nah, its thrashed. not ruining anything.

besides, if it looks like this when dinished, it'll be super cool

1005b.jpg
 

hansmoust

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dw said:
i've got a very beat sf4 that i want to rehab and change it from red to green.

Hello dw,

If it's really trashed then a refin might be the only solution.
However, before you start, keep the following in mind:

Cherry Red Starfires usually have mahogany veneers on the outside. Sunburst and Emerald Green are usually maple. There have been some exceptions but that's usually what they did in the 'old' days. Emerald Green on mahogany may not look all that vibrant.
The dyes in most older Starfires are usually faded to a degree that it's hard to see what the original color looked like, but on the Green ones that I've seen so far (and that still had some color left) there were variations of grey/brown-ish Olive Green to almost Black and the mahogany ones usually were the darkest. So, instead of going through all the trouble of cleaning and preparing the wood (remember you need to use a filler on mahogany) you might as well go for Black right away. The guitar in the picture you posted will probably look black on stage as well.
Now, if your Starfire IV is a maple guitar (which I doubt on a SF IV in Cherry) then spraying it Emerald Green might be a good idea.

Re. the Bigsby:
Depending on when your Starfire was made you may need a different Bigsby than the one in the picture. Is the neck joint at the 16th or at the 18th fret?

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
 

hansmoust

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dw said:
i've got a very beat sf4 that i want to rehab and change it from red to green.

Hello dw,

If it's really trashed then a refin might be the only solution.
However, before you start, keep the following in mind:

Cherry Red Starfires usually have mahogany veneers on the outside. Sunburst and Emerald Green are usually maple. There have been some exceptions but that's usually what they did in the 'old' days. Emerald Green on mahogany may not look all that vibrant.
The dyes in most older Starfires are usually faded to a degree that it's hard to see what the original color looked like, but on the Green ones that I've seen so far (and that still had some color left) there were variations of grey/brown-ish Olive Green to almost Black and the mahogany ones usually were the darkest. So, instead of going through all the trouble of cleaning and preparing the wood (remember you need to use a filler on mahogany) you might as well go for Black right away. The guitar in the picture you posted will probably look black on stage as well.
Now, if your Starfire IV is a maple guitar (which I doubt on a SF IV in Cherry) then spraying it Emerald Green might be a good idea.

Re. the Bigsby:
Depending on when your Starfire was made you may need a different Bigsby than the one in the picture. Is the neck joint at the 16th or at the 18th fret?

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
 

dw

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Hans:

the neck joint - where the upper bouts join the neck, the end of the heel is farther up - is at the 18th fret (it's a '72) , got anything???

-------------------------

I realize that the color will be dark on the mahogany. That’s the look I want. I saw a SF3 a while back that was green mahogany (don’t know if it was original – assumed it was) and, you’re right, it did look almost black. That’s exactly the look I want. I do not want a screaming emerald green. I’m going for subtlety.

You’re right about needing grain filler. Blah!

I got some great suggestions from the Gretsch site re: which dyes to use to get the Setzer 6120 green. (see below - and yes, I know that's a maple top) I’ll start there. I’ve got plenty of mahogany scraps in the shop that I can screw up till I get it right.

Now if I can manage to keep the binding intact...

thanks!



http://www.gretschguitars.com/images/61 ... beauty.jpg
 

dw

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Hans:

the neck joint - where the upper bouts join the neck, the end of the heel is farther up - is at the 18th fret (it's a '72) , got anything???

-------------------------

I realize that the color will be dark on the mahogany. That’s the look I want. I saw a SF3 a while back that was green mahogany (don’t know if it was original – assumed it was) and, you’re right, it did look almost black. That’s exactly the look I want. I do not want a screaming emerald green. I’m going for subtlety.

You’re right about needing grain filler. Blah!

I got some great suggestions from the Gretsch site re: which dyes to use to get the Setzer 6120 green. (see below - and yes, I know that's a maple top) I’ll start there. I’ve got plenty of mahogany scraps in the shop that I can screw up till I get it right.

Now if I can manage to keep the binding intact...

thanks!



http://www.gretschguitars.com/images/61 ... beauty.jpg
 
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