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The first order of business was to stabilize the instrument and
'undo' the mistakes that had been made previously. Nearly the entire perimiter needed to be reglued and re-routed.
Insided the instrument, the bridge block needed to be reglued.
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You really never know what kind of 'treasures' you'll run into when
working on an old instrument! That dust bunny was big enough to eat a mouse!
Notice the original red color left behind after the finish removal. This gives me a clue
about what I need to recreate. I want the guitar to appear as though it's color has aged for about 40
years when all is said and done. Because of this, I won't be able to use a Gretsh factory color.
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Removing neck binding (this was not original binding)
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Straightedge routing jig for 'freshening' up the binding rabbet.
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The headstock still had the original 'pearloid' inlay, but it had
to be removed because of the shrinkage caused by chemical stripping.
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Recreated headstock inlay. (Aged appearance is intentional)
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After the sides were cleaned-up and the binding rabbet re-routed,
3-ply ivoroid binding was replaced.
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After the binding was installed and flush-sanded, the neck was radiused to
10" and refretted.
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About the green stuff - I always tape the fretboard when dressing
frets. The new frets were then leveled, re-crowned, end-dressed and finally polished.
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Closeup shot of fret detail after final polishing.
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The whole guitar was then 'final-sanded', masked and finished in
a 2-tone black cherry burst. Then lightly shot with vintage amber to artificially age the binding. This was followed
with another 6 coats of clear.
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Gretsch uses an interesting material for headstock overlays.
It's almost like a phenolic resin. I was concerned about how it had blanched out after years without any finish, but
as you can see, it came back beautifully.
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The hardware is reinstalled after the finish cures and is final-polished.
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Closeup detail of the factory strap button, re-installed.
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A nearly completed Gretsch.
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Mark Bennett with his newly refurbished Gretsch and sadly for me,
the end of a fun restoration.
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