Hi Folks,
I've recently bought a 1984 gibson explorer very cheaply. Beautiful guitar, with one flaw. The Tw@t that owned it previously, tried (very badly) to route a third pickup cavity into the middle of the body (hence the price). I need to repair this, i'd like to do it without refinishing the guitar, it's black and has aged beautifully (with the exception of a bloody great hole in the middle). It's way to deep for wood filler, and i'm pretty sure the guitar is mahogany, Any ideas?
How about filling most of it auto fiberglass? I'd fill it a little below the level and then fill the rest flush with something more pleasing to the eye.
I'd suggest something similar to Nick, but using a block of wood rather than fibreglass and epoxy rather than fibreglass resin. The wood will give you a flat surface (that the pretty top can sit on) that will be difficult to achieve with fibreglass. When fibreglass resin goes off it generates a lot of heat - it might just be enough to damage the finish, especially if the rear "wall" (bottom of the cavity) is thin.
I started with nothing - and I've still got most of it left.
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I've done similar, but 'was' (past tense) fortunate to have money ($650 - 15 years ago) to have a luthier repair my repair :shock: with a custom cut and unreal - matching block of maple into a vintage Les Paul. It was good and added about $1500 - $2000 to the price of the guitar factoring in that it was already @ 50% of its potential value with the refin & non-original attempts at finding similar pickups. Someone had made a Les Paul Custom/Std. hybrid out of a Deluxe, which had mini-humbuckers??
Anyhow, work carefully with what the guys said and you can produce a solid result, which will restore the guitar decently. 8)
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
Thanks for the replies folks,
I wish i had the cash for a lutier Blue Jay but thats not an option at the moment. It'd be good to find a matching block of mahogany and then finish it, but that might be above my skill. i'm not sure about the finish i don't know if it's polyuerethane or acrylic, i'm guessing it's a nitrocellulose laquer, but i'm not even sure about that. Do any of you folks know about this model? Cheers for your help so far :)
Thanks for the replies folks,
I wish i had the cash for a lutier Blue Jay but thats not an option at the moment. It'd be good to find a matching block of mahogany and then finish it, but that might be above my skill. i'm not sure about the finish i don't know if it's polyuerethane or acrylic, i'm guessing it's a nitrocellulose laquer, but i'm not even sure about that. Do any of you folks know about this model? Cheers for your help so far :)
Back in 1984, it would be nitro - they still may be, I don't know - Gibson likes their old methods, but new rules don't allow - I'm just not up to date on that. A quick call to 1-800-4GIBSON would resolve any questions, or write to Valley Arts. I once owned a Gibson Explorer and a Valley Arts Telecaster. Good luck sir! :D http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_Arts_Guitar
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
