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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink Refinishing my Galaxie - what's best?

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I have a Galaxie IV with all of the Los Straitjackets' autographs on it. I want to put a coat of clear over the top so the autographs remain for posterity. What's the best (easiest/cheapest) way to do this?
image

https://www.facebook.com/lostremoleros/

Last edited: Jun 20, 2020 21:04:48

That's bananas! Very cool! Bango would get a pro to do it (either local hot rod shop or guitar repair place can refer to someone) . Since it's not a full refinish I imagine it would be pretty cheap. This ape doesn't have the paint experience to leave something like that to chance. The good news is that Galaxies are super easy to take apart, so all you have to send is the body (no hardware) and pro does it for you.

6 screws for the tailpiece
4 screws for the neck plate
12 screws for the pickguard assembly
2 screws for the rickenbacker style bridge baseplate
2 screws for the strap hangers

Bango paint by RowycoKustoms.com

image

Bango Rilla!


DiPintos, Fenders and Reverb (oh, my!)

The GO-GO Rillas
Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | Threads: thegogorillas

^^^^^
I agree with Bango. But since you are in the Dallas TX area, there has to be a a good guitar repair shop in your area with a luthier who can do a proper clear coating job.

Having an independent hot rod or body shop do clearing may or may not cost less but you will almost certainly have to completely disassemble the guitar yourself, including un- and re-soldering the wiring as needed.

Jack
aka WoodyJ

The Mariners (1964-68, 1996-2005)
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(1978-1990)

Last edited: Jun 21, 2020 17:48:48

That's the thing that's so bananas about Dipintos - all the wiring is connected to the pickguard. Super easy to take apart!
image

Bango Rilla!


DiPintos, Fenders and Reverb (oh, my!)

The GO-GO Rillas
Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | Threads: thegogorillas

My concern is that any prep work will have to be done around the signatures and any good clear might ruin them. There's no such thing as good and cheap when it comes to paint. Contact Dipinto and find out what paint is on the guitar as to see what's compatible with it 1st before proceeding. They may have exp. with this and good insight.

wfoguy wrote:

My concern is that any prep work will have to be done around the signatures and any good clear might ruin them. There's no such thing as good and cheap when it comes to paint. Contact Dipinto and find out what paint is on the guitar as to see what's compatible with it 1st before proceeding. They may have exp. with this and good insight.

That's a good idea.

I'm assuming the signatures were with permanent marker, so they should hold up well without doing anything unless you'll play the guitar a lot.

If you're thinking about long-term value, anything you do to alter the stock condition of the guitar will lower its value. I can just see this guitar on Antiques Roadshow a few decades from now: "It's too bad a clear coat was sprayed ..."

Maybe not practical cost-wise, but you could get another body to use and store the signed one for safe keeping.

If I'd stop buying old guitars to fix, I might actually learn to play.
Bringing instruments back to life since 2013.

Last edited: Jun 24, 2020 13:05:33

I concur on getting DiPinto's opinion on this. A lot of modern finishes are pretty dicey about taking an overspray without the new coats peeling. And some finishes need to be roughed up a bit before overspraying.

I have a couple of signature guitars. They're both old guitars and overspray would be a bad idea. One of them already has some very old body-only overspray that has significantly faded. I play the other one a lot, and some of the sigs are fading. C'est la vie. I bought them to play.

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.

https://www.facebook.com/lostremoleros/

Last edited: Jun 30, 2020 01:46:45

Thanks all, yeah the gut tells me to leave it as is. It's actually one of their guitars originally and was brought to Australia, where I live. It was used on stage at a recent LS gig they did with Nick Lowe, after Eddie broke a string mid-set and needed a replacement guitar (I had mine at the venue to get Greg and Pete's signatures, I already had the others including Danny Amis's). True story! Video and photos were taken, naturally!
With a tough-as-nails flight case, the signatures and the provenance, I wonder what it's worth?

https://www.facebook.com/lostremoleros/

Last edited: Jun 30, 2020 01:45:10

That's a rad story OzReverb!!

Tough call on the relative worth - as always, "whatever someone is willing to pay for it." In this case, "whatever a Los Straitjackets fan*atic) is willing to pay for it". Big Grin

Bango Rilla!


DiPintos, Fenders and Reverb (oh, my!)

The GO-GO Rillas
Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | Threads: thegogorillas

Totally forgot about this thread, ran across it again looking for something else. Bango got LSJ to sign a DiPinto Galaxie so ran into the same question - Rowyco said they steer clear of signatures because you have to sand the finish before you can lay down any kind of clearcoat so you're going to damage the signatures. The clear won't stick to the (sharpie?) so suggested getting clear static cling material and cut to fit or have signatures digitized and make decals out of them.

Bango is still pondering.
image

Bango Rilla!


DiPintos, Fenders and Reverb (oh, my!)

The GO-GO Rillas
Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok | Threads: thegogorillas

Last edited: Feb 03, 2022 13:01:11

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