and I think it's harder than building.
 
I'm on hold because of lost material and this project may get big so I thought I'd share it now instead of waiting until it was to big to mess with and now that I have my photos in the right place.
 
I decided to try and restore my first electric - a '63 Harmony Mercury that my folks bought new for me in '63.
I played it until the mid eighties taking and giving lessons. Don't know when but I had it painted by a friend that had an auto paint shop- I think Toyota pearl white lol..and put some HB's on it and all I had was ambition.
 
I've had it in pieces for years so thought I'd try to get it playing again. If I blow it, just part of its story.
 
Originally had one single neck pup...I butchered it and added two mini-toggles.
 

I pulled the frets but not going to mess with the neck binding. It's a 9.5 radius and a 24.25 scale length.
The Brazilian Rosewood is really dry and the fret markers are warped...if the truss rod is wasted, game over.
That's why I started with the neck.

A little oil and it turned free.
Not sure what happened to the original tuner or the ones I put on but all these holes will be plugged.
Not going for original...just going and hope it'll play.

Got the fretboard to 12".

Didn't lose but a couple of little chips and the repairs can't be seen now that it's sanded.

Got the paint off and all the holes plugged.

Laminated the head and drilled for the tuners. I'll use Grovers that look like the LP plastic.
Had to join two pieces of Ebony for the laminate...hard to tell now but it didn't look promising at the
get go.

Gibson size nut and this shot shows how the truss-rod cover and laminate butt up against it.
Also shows how worn that binding is. It's bad around the body too and I'm going to attempt replaceing
it. My first try at that. Heard it was very hard to do without screwing up...guess I'll find out.

Got it refretted. I'll crown and polish them up and start oiling the Rosewood. The plastic inlays have
tinted yellow from age but I decided to leave them. At least they were thick enough to take the sanding
and the fret slots were deep enough after the radius change.
 
 

 
Now I'll plug those pup holes and wait for the new binding then I'll get the body ready.
Haven't decided what color to paint it.
If I wouldn't have had to plug the holes in the head I would have stained the neck/body and tried
to do a goldtop. That would have been fun. Maybe black with a gold top?
Suggestions welcome :)
 
This is what it looked like in '63 - Harmony Stratatone "Mercury".
I still have the bridge and tailpiece.
This is a closeup of the symbol on head. Pretty cool. I don't think it's ever going to look that good again LOL.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Cool!
 
(I was new back in '63 too.  I need some restoration work done as well now... )

Bonamassa style gold top, black back and black plastic might be interesting.

This is going to be another interesting adventure, Spacey. When you oil the rosewood fret board, do those fine little cracks in the rosewood go away? I assume that the wood soaks up the oil? What type of oil do you use. Should a person add a little oil or conditioner of some sort to a rosewood fret board every so often? Something that I have never thought much about, I guess?

It looks like it will be a lot of work.  Good luck with it, Spacey.  

Very cool. :) 

Looks like you're doing a great job so far. Can't wait to see how it ends up looking. Good luck!

Another fascinating journey looking forward to the process.

 
Going back to Chicago!
 
:-)

MakeShift
Bonamassa style gold top, black back and black plastic might be interesting.

This is going to be another interesting adventure, Spacey. When you oil the rosewood fret board, do those fine little cracks in the rosewood go away? I assume that the wood soaks up the oil? What type of oil do you use. Should a person add a little oil or conditioner of some sort to a rosewood fret board every so often? Something that I have never thought much about, I guess?

Well I've ordered white binding so blacks out.
 
I have two different oils that I use. Both are labeled as fretboard oil.
I don't want to get into what's good or not and I know you understand why.
Most unfinished fretboards are made with woods that are naturally oily so I think the deal is for one
to use it sparingly.
For this old one Mike I won't oil with the intention of closing any gaps. I'll very lightly oil it as I would
any fretboard. What was important to me were the fret slots. The wood hadn't pulled away from the old ones and the new frets fit good. ( I glued them- in the old frets weren't and I checked for that on the first one pulled)
I think it's a good idea to very lightly oil an unfinished fretboard-it sure doesn't take much oil.
There are many reasons and opinions about it but it does look better when it's not dried out looking and it's nice to have a clean fretboard. I guess "when" is based on numerous factors that one should consider for the fretboard needs. Climate, players hygiene (may just need to get the bacon grease off) the condition of the wood..
The wood type used for unfinished fretboards are woods that should last for many years requiring very little attention or concern under "normal" conditions. ( finding a "normal" guitarist may be the tricky part :)
Just go easy I think is the deal.
 
 
 
Thanks for the well wishes guys!

 
Great stuff Mike.