Finally Joining the Ranks of a Charvel Owner

[Bengal65]

This Model 1 is in excellent shape and is my first Charvel. When I recieved it from the UPS man yesterday, I opened her up and it was the dirtiest guitar I had ever seen. It had like a 1/4" of dust under the saddles and a nasty brown film inside the control and pickup cavities! After a complete dissassembly (and I mean every part) spending 4 hours cleaning and buffing it and the chainsaw case, she looks pretty good. I couldn't even play it when I got it. The volume knob was broken off and the strings were solid rust. After a thorough cleaning, I replaced the original pickup with a Duncan SH-6,installed a CTS 500K pot, replaced the black screws that were worn or rusted, installed new larger gauge American wiring and NEW STRINGS. I dislike Jap electronics. Sorry [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] The seller told me it had been hanging on the wall for a long time. What, 20 years? [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] I wanted to measure the neck thickness dimension for reference, between the nut and first fret, it's .780" and at the 12th, it's .080", pretty consistent. Sorta between a DK1 and a PC1. Here's some eye candy
[img]/images/graemlins/band.gif[/img]

[1trussell]

Re: Finally Joining the Ranks of a Charvel Owner

Yep, I'll bet the Duncan Distortion in there makes that hting an absolute beast. Nice going.

[txcharvel]

Re: Finally Joining the Ranks of a Charvel Owner

Model 1s are great guitars Mark, congrats [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]

[Razor]

Re: Finally Joining the Ranks of a Charvel Owner

Nice score!

[Davey]

Re: Finally Joining the Ranks of a Charvel Owner

nice axe. how much did ya pay for it?

[Budman68]

Re: Finally Joining the Ranks of a Charvel Owner

<font color="aqua">Beautiful! Perfect example of simple yet functional beauty, right there - [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img] </font>

[sonicsamurai]

Re: Finally Joining the Ranks of a Charvel Owner

nice one man - same colour as my model 4 [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Nuclear Vampire]

Re: Finally Joining the Ranks of a Charvel Owner

Very nice! You should have taken some before shots for an example of "now not to neglect your guitar". [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[JRE]

Re: Finally Joining the Ranks of a Charvel Owner

Nice!

Some of us here were watching that one!


CONGRATS [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]

[Bengal65]

Re: Finally Joining the Ranks of a Charvel Owner

Thanks for the comments. It was a lot of "elbow grease", but it looks very good now inside and out. If you were watching this one, here's a pic of the repaired chip on the back of the headstock. I'm waiting for the clear Nitro to set up before buffing it out. It's barely detectable now. I might use a tad of tinted nitro to match the aged finish a little more closely.
[img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[metaljunkie]

Re: Finally Joining the Ranks of a Charvel Owner

Nice [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]

[sonicsamurai]

Re: Finally Joining the Ranks of a Charvel Owner

nice how u do it?

[Bengal65]

Re: Finally Joining the Ranks of a Charvel Owner

[ QUOTE ]
nice how u do it?

[/ QUOTE ]
If your meaning the "chip" on the end I can repair them two different ways. I'll probably need to do a tutorial in the Q & A section soon. The first method is for repairing the chip in which the wood grain is showing on a transparent finish (such as this one). The 2nd method I use for painted or opaque finishes in which I used fiberglass 2 part resin. The fiberglass resin method is a much stronger repair, but can be used only on opaque finishes. In this case I used method 1, which uses a wood filler close to the shade of the wood. (I don't use Plastic Wood because it does not tint well). In this case I used "Famowood" maple wood filler. The bottom of the "chip" in this case was quite jagged and would provide a good base for the filler to adhere to. After cleaning the area with Naptha (lighter fluid), I make a mold (mould)for U.K. folks [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] from automotive masking tape around the repair area. I thin the wood filler with acetone because it is quite "cakey" coming straight from the can. I thin it so it smoothes easily. It will however dry very fast so you need to work quickly. You fill the repair area so that it is over filled and you press the filler inward all around the reapir but leave enough to file and sand it back flush with the surrounding wood. Then when dry (about an hour depending on depth) I take a file and lightly level it back to the original wood profile. I then use a sanding block (small) using 320 grit paper and blend it in further. Once the area is smooth, then a clear coat can be applied or a tinted clear coat depending on what the shade is in the adjoining wood. I put 2-3 more coats of clear on and let it sit for 24-48 hr. or longer if using Nitro clear lacquer. Sand, Buff and polish as you would other parts of the guitar. The very end of the tip lost some of the black, so thickened black lacquer (spray lacquer that was exposed to the air for awhile) was put on prior to finishing up with the clear. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] There ya have it!

[skorb]

Re: Finally Joining the Ranks of a Charvel Owner

wow, very nice Model 1 you scored there! I love those! great job on the cleanup/rehab too. [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]