Painting a vintage guitar: Sacrelige?

[adamrobertt]

I just picked up a nice 1966 Harmony Silhouette H19 - the top of the line one with two DeArmond "mustache" gold foils, and the Hagstrom bridge and tremolo. Has the usual nicks and wear for a guitar its age, but is in great playing condition. Plays great with low action, everything works as it should. BUT - it's that ugly redburst color. It actually does look kind of cool as is, but I'm toying with the idea of refinishing it, maybe in Shoreline Gold. I'd probably leave the neck as is because I don't wanna fuck with that....

So it'd be gold w/ sunburst neck. Probably just gold over scuffed up sunburst too. Is this a dumb idea? Am I gonna ruin a cool guitar? Or should I just do it?

[marqueemoon]

Please don’t.

[timtam]

I didn't realize these originally cost about the same as a strat. While you would preserve a 60's strat finish at all costs, I personally don't think that case is as clear for this very cool but somewhat ugly-finished duckling.
https://www.guitarplayer.com/gear/whack ... silhouette

[hverlind]

Lots of strong opinions in this recent thread: http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/vie ... 1&t=115549.
Different kind of guitar of course, but some of the same arguments may apply here as well...

[zhivago]

I would never, ever do it personally.

Of course, it is your guitar, so do what you like.

[mgeek]

I didn't realize these originally cost about the same as a strat. While you would preserve a 60's strat finish at all costs, I personally don't think that case is as clear for this very cool but somewhat ugly-finished duckling.
https://www.guitarplayer.com/gear/whack ... silhouette

It's exactly as clear. If it's been on there 55 years leave it alone.

That right there is someone's dream guitar, exactly as it is, and as I said in the other thread (can't believe, in the year of our Lord 2020 there are two threads about this in such quick succession, I thought this was all settled years ago! ) there's always gonna be another to fiddle with that someone pre-ruined for you back in 1975!

[timtam]

I didn't realize these originally cost about the same as a strat. While you would preserve a 60's strat finish at all costs, I personally don't think that case is as clear for this very cool but somewhat ugly-finished duckling.
https://www.guitarplayer.com/gear/whack ... silhouette

It's exactly as clear. If it's been on there 55 years leave it alone.

That right there is someone's dream guitar, exactly as it is, and as I said in the other thread (can't believe, in the year of our Lord 2020 there are two threads about this in such quick succession, I thought this was all settled years ago! ) there's always gonna be another to fiddle with that someone pre-ruined for you back in 1975!

How young does a guitar have to be in order for a refin to be OK ? Or is a refin never OK on any guitar in your opinion ?

[mgeek]

How young does a guitar have to be in order for a refin to be OK ? Or is a refin never OK on any guitar in your opinion ?

A sliding scale between 'a pointless waste of time and money' and 'not okay' on any not already ruined guitar.

I wouldn't personally give a crap if someone wanted to refin their brand new Chinese Squier, but I'd think - the paint is gonna cost more than the guitar is worth, and chances are you're just gonna char the thing with a heat gun then leave it in the garage, so i wouldn't think it was a very good idea.

By the time you get into 'guitars that are worth more than the paint costs', so it might start being a bit more worthwhile, on some level, once you put a non original finish on there, it's a parts/player guitar when you come to sell it, and no matter how much we tell ourselves 'this one is a keeper!', I'm not sure how often that's actually true.

May as well just put a Franken guitar together from bits off the internet!

[MechaBulletBill]

those harmonys are cool. leave it alone!

[jvin248]

.

It's your guitar. If you are ok with immediately cutting the guitar's value in half then have at the refin. At the end of the day that is the result. Whether someone did it 'back in '75' or last week. The guitar will be interesting to only half the buyers at half the price. And the number of players who say they 'will never sell this guitar' and actually never sell the guitar are like finding hen's teeth.

If you do the refin yourself, most people only do it once. There is a lot of work involved, so much sanding, it's messy, and often yields uninspiring results.

If you are the type who obsesses over a new scratch on a guitar or when buying a new guitar if you find a little scratch on the side and waffle about keeping it or sending it back .. no way should you get involved in a refin of any guitar.

A refin is an endeavor of working hard and, even if you manage to end up with a great looking guitar, you are still burning bills on the grill.

.

[Jaguar018]

I would always look for vintage guitars that were already refinished so that I wouldn't have to deal with this stressful situation.

Generally I just say do what you want, but sometimes the rarity of the guitar should be taken into account. It is indeed a sliding scale-- a fairly subjective one as well. Are you in the "guitars are just a tool" camp or the "this is a work of art!" one?

[Telliot]

Agreed. The only vintage guitar I’ve refinished had already been refinished...badly. So that was a no brainer for me, and I love the guitar now.

[Danley]

Agreed. The only vintage guitar I’ve refinished had already been refinished...badly. So that was a no brainer for me, and I love the guitar now.

Only way I'd do it/have done it. It's nice to have something you don't have to worry about dinging etc. initially, but now I'm overprotective of my actually pretty decent looking DIY job too

[MayTheFuzzBeWithYou]

They are cool guitars. But the red-burst sucks. I don't own any vintage guitars and find their current prices unacceptable.
If it is a guitar that you like to play - and would play even more if you'd like the finish: go for it! Gold would look good with the tort.
But as those people in the other thread do have a point: there is a reissue from Silverstone (1478) that is coming quite close. You could get one (300-600 bucks) and give it a refin (or get the black one). Or you could copy the body and finish it in gold and keep the original.
Good luck with your decision!

[46346]

since you just got it, i say hold off for a while and see how much you love playing it.

if you really come to know it as a keeper, i say do anything you like to it, and love it along the way.

but if i was looking for one of those, and saw one for sale that looks like what you are planning to do,
i would move away quickly in disgust.

and that would be sad for that nice little guitar.

cheers.