Let's talk about my MIJ to AVRI project :)

[TheMilford]

Ok so, I stripped my lefty sunburst MIJ Jazzmaster MONTHS ago... I used the heat gun and plastic scraper method (worked very well). I still need to finish-sand it and maybe use some sort of solvent to get rid of any stain or poly that’s left.

I want to paint it Olympic White nitro to match my VI... I need help with a few things:

-I want to finish it using the Yellow stain/ fullerplast method but that may be overkill... what products are available and what have you guys used?

-I want to also refinish the headstock... I was planning on sanding it down to wood or should I use stripper?

-After paint, do I then spray the headstock face with Nitro? I'm not stripping the neck.

-How do I get a good replacement decal?

Besides refinishing I want to upgrade a few more things... I already have USA/RI Bridge, Trem, PUs, electronics and rhythm assembly (knobs etc.)…

-Where do I find a good Lefty nitro tortoise guard? Should I have them trace the MIJ guard... and if I want the shape more vintage or AVRI can I just get a left p.g. made-up and make new screw holes in the body. What's the best way to do this?

- What’s the best way to get or make an authentic shield?




-

[mezcalhead]

I think you'd need to finish the headstock the same way as you finished the body.

Replacement decals can be found on ebay, or there's a shop in the UK that makes them - I've got their URL somewhere if you want it.

Nitro guards .. Pickguardian?

Pickguard shields you can get from GPR .. the AVRI shields are essentially the same as vintage. I guess for a lefty you just turn it over.

[Orang Goreng]

Replacement decals can be found on ebay, or there's a shop in the UK that makes them - I've got their URL somewhere if you want it.

That would be this, I think: http://www.thedecalshop.co.uk/
They used to advertise faux decals on their site, but no longer do. Someone must have complained.

[fullerplast]

-I want to finish it using the Yellow stain/ fullerplast method but that may be overkill... what products are available and what have you guys used?

A small can of "Colonial Maple" stain from ACE hardware (or similar) will give a yellowish undercoat. It's not as yellow as an original, but it gives the look. You could always add dye to it to make it more yellow if you're really a stickler. Stain it after sanding but before the sealer coat.

-I want to also refinish the headstock... I was planning on sanding it down to wood or should I use stripper?

Since you're just doing the headstock face, I would sand it. Remove everything with 220 and then finish sand it with 400/600/800 etc. You may want to stain it before you clearcoat it, so it's not so white. The colonial maple works well for this too. ReRanch has yellow tinted nitro, but I find it is too yellow (as opposed to a nice amber/golden neck color. A certain brand of Colonial Maple matches well, I think it's Valspar but I can't remember offhand.

-After paint, do I then spray the headstock face with Nitro? I'm not stripping the neck.

Yes. I don't know if you plan to use a compressor and gun, or a spray can. ReRanch (untinted) clear is easy to apply and very forgiving. You will need several coats to fill all the fish eyes, then lightly wetsand and polish prior to appying the decal. You can do several coats of nitro in a relatively short time, it dries very quickly. Like any paint (especially clear) just mist on the first few coats. Don't go for a nice wet coat until the entire surface is covered. The nitro goes on over itself much better than it goes over the wood. The next coat actually rewets the previous and blends in. Don't worry about rough-looking overspray, it polishes right out real easy.  Use masking tape around the sides of the peghead and over the nut.

-How do I get a good replacement decal?

You'll have to get a bootleg, as others have suggested. There's good ones and bad ones on eBay. There's a place in Germany that sells the really good silkscreen ones, they are very authentic. They go around $30, about twice the price of an eBay inkjet jobbie (well worth the price). I have the email address at home. They have a website, but they don't advertise the logos for obvious reasons.

Good luck. We fully expect pics and updates... 

[TheMilford]

Wow! thanks guys.

Fullerplast... I'll be ordering from the reranch next week. I don't plan to yellow-tint any of the clearcoats as I actually like the stark Oly white. I'm finding that my CS Bass VI is actually turning more a light green and less a yellow... I kinda like that.

What sanding sealers do you like?

Is it ok to go light on the clear coats?

Do I clearcoat after the decal? My CS VI doesn't seem to have much if any clearcoat over the decal.

Mezcal... I'm checking out pickguardian right now.

I'll post pics of the stripped body soon.

BTW: i'm pretty sure this guitar is Alder and not Basswood (it's a mid 90's MIJ)

[mezcalhead]

Mezcal... I'm checking out pickguardian right now.

Never used him .. just heard good things about him.

[fullerplast]

Pickguardian did the guards and truss cover on my Ric copy (see FS section). I've used them once and WD twice for custom guards and was happy with both companies.

The only reason I mentioned the tinted clear on the headstock is because after you sand the headstock and remove everything that's there, the wood will be very white and look odd in contrast to the sides and back of the neck. The colonial stain I've used matches that vintage amber pretty well. I'm referrign to a non-matching headstock, if you are painting it,  never mind.

The decal goes on last, over the wetsanded and polished clearcoat. The vintage decals were over the finish until the late 60s poly-finished necks.


Sure, its OK to go light on the clear, but you have to put enough to smooth out (wetsand and polish) without going through.

[TheMilford]

I just heard back form Pickguardian... he says they have a few JM patterns on-hand but I should still trace or send my PG for PU,bridge and neck pocket placement.

How different is the MIJ fron the vintage and AVRI PGs? I know the USA ones follow the edge of the body a little differently than the MIJ ones. I wanna mimick vintage as much as possible.

Also, I'm ordering Reranch stuff today.

What do I need? I read the stuff on the site but i'm curious what you guys would do.

So far in my shopping cart I have:
1 can Olympic White
1 can White primer
1 can sand and sealer
1 can gloss laquer

I will probably pick up the stain you recommended this weekend along with sandpaper. Should I get some naptha to prep the body?

am I missing anything?


Cheers,
David

[fullerplast]

The only thing that I see that you omitted and may want to use is 'grain filler'. It's mandatory on any open-pore wood (such as ash or mahogany) and not so critical on other woods. But it doesn't hurt on otehr woods, though, because it will level any imperfection and provide a nice surface.  It's easy to apply and easy to sand. Reranch has it, but you can probably get it at Home Depot (or the like).

[TheMilford]

The only thing that I see that you omitted and may want to use is 'grain filler'. It's mandatory on any open-pore wood (such as ash or mahogany) and not so critical on other woods. But it doesn't hurt on otehr woods, though, because it will level any imperfection and provide a nice surface.  It's easy to apply and easy to sand. Reranch has it, but you can probably get it at Home Depot (or the like).

Do I need it with Alder? the wood has pretty tight grain.

So steps would be:

finish sand and clean with naptha
Yellow stain
sand
Sand & Sealer
sand
primer
sand
color
sand
clear gloss
sand/polish

[bassVIst]

yes, i'd use the grain filler

and definitely wouldn't use stripper on the headstock if you're only refinishing the face...
even with masking tape, you could get some chemical where you don't want it and leave blemishesh

or need to refin the entire neck

Tony at Pickgaurdian is awesome
he's the guy that made the JazzmasterVI and the one-piece guard on my LPB USA CG VI (no control plate)

as well as three other standard VI guards for me...

[Pumpkin]

All this sound cool dude,im actualy gona refin my CIJ in nitro too,the poly will stay new for ever and i like beat up guitars so its a must do.

[TheMilford]

I used a heat gun and used just enough heat to "crackle" the finish... then you scape it off with a putty knife.

Move around only spending a little time in one area and moving to another area so heat doesn't build up and burn the wood. Also I sanded the finish with 80 grit first to rough it up. Iit'll look pretty bad once it's stripped so you can use a stripper to get rid of the under coat (mine was sunburst). Then finish sand.

Don't over heat, don't over sand, TAKE YOUR TIME.

What color is your's now?

[Coronado]

I'm also thinking about refinishing my MIJ in nitro.... It's ten years old (almost vintage!  ) and it still look brand new. The main problem it's the decal, it's a CAR matching headstock so i HAVE to strip te headstock also....

TheMillford, do you have any pics of your striped body? I have a 96 but I don't know if it's alder or basswood.

[mynameisjonas]

I'm also thinking about refinishing my MIJ in nitro.... It's ten years old (almost vintage!  ) and it still look brand new.

hey, mine´s 20 years old and apart from a few pretty large chips, it also looks like new. i´m also thinking of refinishing mine (probably nitro too). i don´t like the look of sunburst over basswood.