Have you tried classic auto repair places Michael?  I seem to recall getting things chromed at one of those places in the distant past.

No I haven't Craig. I tried a few metal plating places last week but they're industrial.
Tomorrow I'm going to start calling the auto body shops in town. I'm betting there is
a place in Little Rock or Shreveport they use.
Thanks Craig.

spacey
Drew, I buy strings in bulk and all sets are 10-46. That's what I'll put on it if I get that far.
 
 
J , man I'd be glad to do it if I knew how and new I could. This is my first shot at binding and I decided
to try on the body only.
I couldn't figure out how to do the neck- to be honest about it.
With a curved fretboard and the neck contoured I didn't feel I could safely remove the old binding and
re-rout for the new.
I was concerned about fretting over the binding- never done that either but had the fret nippers and files
to do the job so gave it go.
The trip of binding the body was a major factor in doing this project. If I get a handle on it then I'll get prepared for binding a neck and head.
 
From the little I know... If one can remove the old binding then the new binding can be sized to replace. There are tools to help re-size the binding as needed. (none of which I have yet ...and not cheap)
 
 Would enjoy seeing the pics and thanks for the kudos.
 
I like that J!
I thought about rigging up to spray metal-flake but decided I'd do that down the road. I hear the gold is tricky enough for a beginner like me.
 

Well, it might be your chance to try because half the neck binding is broken off, so you'd have a chance at removing some and you certainly couldn't make it any worse... I'll get some pictures to you.
Then if you feel like you want to give it a shot we'll talk. I am not worried about the possibility of something going wrong, if works out good if not well, we tried... if you decide you'd want to. No pressure, if I wan to pressure you I will try and get Bapu on it.
 
J

 


Well, it might be your chance to try because half the neck binding is broken off, so you'd have a chance at removing some and you certainly couldn't make it any worse... I'll get some pictures to you.
Then if you feel like you want to give it a shot we'll talk. I am not worried about the possibility of something going wrong, if works out good if not well, we tried... if you decide you'd want to. No pressure, if I wan to pressure you I will try and get Bapu on it.
 
J



J, I sincerely appreciate that you have faith in me and should I acquire the tools to perform the job correctly I would be more than pleased to make the repairs needed.
 
Until I have the correct tools for "replacing binding" correctly then it would be a situation that even if the binding was removed without damage to the wood then one would still need to match the new binding to the area that was created for the old...that is why they have tools so the replacement binding can be custom made/re-sized to fit. (tools I don't have yet)
 
The reason I'm attempting the body binding and not the neck binding is because I think I have the correct tools to safely do the job- no damage to wood or myself ( hopefully).
Well not all the tools...I'm on hold waiting for a gramil and sharpening stones but have no current plans for the re-sizing and fabrication of binding/purfling. Reasoning; When I know I can install new binding then I will move on to custom fabrication and installation of neck/head/body binding.
 
So J, it's all about timing. Give me just a little more time and we'll do it when we have more than faith in our favor :)
 
 
 
 

Ahhh, OK. I understand. I will still take some pics and maybe you can give me some advice, or perhaps someone will know what the guitar is.
 
Thanks!
Julien

After stripping the paint it's easy to see how bad I butchered it up when I was a youngun and nothing but ambition getting those HB mounted and a couple of mini swithes that never did a thing.
 
 
I finished spraying the top so took a shot.
 
I opened up the old pup holes and filled them in then I routered out for the mini-humbers.
I filled in part of the access hole so the pickguard (I have to make) would have some wood under it.
Also filled in the two holes for the mini switches.
 
My first binding and paint job. So far I think the worst part was in the prepping for paint.
I have excuses. The guitar is so old and worn that I just didn't want to sand enough to eliminate the wear...I could have sanded through either the top or back.
A couple of mistakes...I didn't fill a couple of the original pick guard screw holes because I was going to modify one like the original and now I'd like to have one similiar to a LP. I should have filled all the holes regardless of any plans.
Another mistake is I had sprayed the sealer coat and then filled in a couple of areas and thought they
were smooth enough...they weren't...I can tell but not sure if somebody else could. The filler was also darker and I could see the shade through the gold. Lessons learned.
 
I'll cleanup the binding when it dries and start the clear coats.
 
I used ReRanch Gibson black and goldtop - rattlecans. No complaints.
This guitar may play again someday! I'm excited about that.
 

 
Here's the back for what it's worth.
 

 
If I finish I'll try to get some shots in the sun ...that'll show all the goofs and stuff.

Looking good Spacey!

Ooo... That's going to look nice!

Looks nice.
 
And don't feel obligated to show us all the minor anomalies. 

Thanks guys!
LOL...it does look good..........from a distance!
 
I just finished scraping the binding....up close and geeze....
 
I have a lot to learn about painting.
 
The sealer that was recommended was white. I found out when scraping the headplate that the white would show up under the black.
When I taped the binding off to spray the body with the white sealer I stayed away from the binding a little so the gold and black wouldn't have white
under it so when I scraped the paint off the binding the white problem wouldn't be there. Now up close I can see the difference of sealer and wood under the gold.
Now it's not much and you have to look close but still...it's not right.
Something I'm missing.
 
The little things I'm seeing that I don't like are not from using rattle cans. The claims are that ReRanch rattlecans can give results as good or even better than pro spray rigs....I have to say the little problems I see were made by me. The product is excellent.
 
Well at least the project is still moving forward and I'm learning. Also have a great time sharing it here so thank you guys for that.
 
The good side...the binding job went amazingly well. The worst part was the tight bend around the horn and one short area that the tape came loose and let the binding move away. I worked out of that but I'll try to get a shot later.
I used a hair dryer on the binding but the purfling is a composite...I'm not sure what I didn't do right in prepping the purfling. Have to check on that.
 
Took a full can of gold for the top. It's not sprayed with the same technique as paint. To get it like Gibson you have to spray from a couple of feet away and it's kind of like letting it fall on the surface. If I were spraying a build I'd have two cans ready. You don't want to use a full can anyway. Leave the dregs in it. Best to waste some paint than waste a paint job.