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Yahoo Group Archives » Page 30 »

Fixer-upper

Bill Bergstrom (surfbandbill) - 02 Sep 2003 02:45:54

Greetings all,
I just picked up yet another axe to add to the arsenal today - a nice
ol' Fender Bronco. I got a great deal on it because it was "re-
painted" a while back, and is just a little beat up. Now I aim to
refurbish this a little bit and make a project out of the whole
thing.
So, my main question is how to approach a re-finish job for a
guitar. I obviously know the basics of sanding it down and prepping
it for the new finish -- but what should I use to put on the new
finish? Any recommendations or pointers?
The other thing is that the previous owner got fed up with the
existing bridge (which was pretty horrible as far as holding tune, as
I recall) and put on a Tele-style tailpiece, which means no whammy
bar! So, what would you recommend for a replacement bridge? I think
a bigsby would look ridiculous, and I don't know if I want to chop
this guitar up enough to add a strat style, or even a Jag/JM style.
Do I have any other options (and if anyone says Floyd Rose, I'll
smack ya'!)?
Any pointers or help would be greatly appreciated!
~Bill~

Top

Jerry (whipeoutboy63) - 02 Sep 2003 03:11:51

Hi Bill,
I'm intersted in the refin job myself, but I have no expertise at all.
I did replace a tailpiece on a SG copy once with a CIJ Jaguar floating
tremolo. I had the guitar routed out in order to take the floating trem.
Just a minor surgery. It did improve the playing a lot and it added the
niece tone to this instrument.
In my opinion mych easier to do then putting a strat trem in. Just make
sure you measure everything and use the right tools for the job.
I had a craftsman/furniture maker to accopany me on the routing job.
But the Bronco has a floating tremolo very simelar to that of he
Mustang? Perhaps a Mustang Tailpiece might do the job?
Jerry.
-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Bergstrom [mailto:]
Sent: dinsdag 2 september 2003 9:46
To:
Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Fixer-upper
Greetings all,
I just picked up yet another axe to add to the arsenal today - a nice
ol' Fender Bronco. I got a great deal on it because it was "re-
painted" a while back, and is just a little beat up. Now I aim to
refurbish this a little bit and make a project out of the whole
thing.
So, my main question is how to approach a re-finish job for a
guitar. I obviously know the basics of sanding it down and prepping
it for the new finish -- but what should I use to put on the new
finish? Any recommendations or pointers?
The other thing is that the previous owner got fed up with the
existing bridge (which was pretty horrible as far as holding tune, as
I recall) and put on a Tele-style tailpiece, which means no whammy
bar! So, what would you recommend for a replacement bridge? I think
a bigsby would look ridiculous, and I don't know if I want to chop
this guitar up enough to add a strat style, or even a Jag/JM style.
Do I have any other options (and if anyone says Floyd Rose, I'll
smack ya'!)?
Any pointers or help would be greatly appreciated!
~Bill~
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:.
Visit for archived messages,
bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
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Top

rock verb (mono_tones_1) - 02 Sep 2003 03:33:31

I think I once saw a "les paul wammy", its basically a gibson style stop
tailpiece with a handle on it, and probably a spring somewhere. I think it's
mounted without a cavity, so it should give room for experiment without
damaging the guitar.
...... and a little googling revealed this:
and this, probably works better but looks ...uhhh...
both made for installing on a les paul without having to route the body.
you could also route it for a mustang trem.
wannes
>From: "Bill Bergstrom" <>
>Reply-To:
>To:
>Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Fixer-upper
>Date: Tue, 02 Sep 2003 07:45:54 -0000
>
>Greetings all,
>I just picked up yet another axe to add to the arsenal today - a nice
>ol' Fender Bronco. I got a great deal on it because it was "re-
>painted" a while back, and is just a little beat up. Now I aim to
>refurbish this a little bit and make a project out of the whole
>thing.
>
>So, my main question is how to approach a re-finish job for a
>guitar. I obviously know the basics of sanding it down and prepping
>it for the new finish -- but what should I use to put on the new
>finish? Any recommendations or pointers?
>
>The other thing is that the previous owner got fed up with the
>existing bridge (which was pretty horrible as far as holding tune, as
>I recall) and put on a Tele-style tailpiece, which means no whammy
>bar! So, what would you recommend for a replacement bridge? I think
>a bigsby would look ridiculous, and I don't know if I want to chop
>this guitar up enough to add a strat style, or even a Jag/JM style.
>Do I have any other options (and if anyone says Floyd Rose, I'll
>smack ya'!)?
>
>Any pointers or help would be greatly appreciated!
>
>~Bill~
>
_________________________________________________________________
MSN Zoeken, voor duidelijke zoekresultaten!

Top

Phil Kucer (surfbass7) - 02 Sep 2003 11:16:37

Take a look at this site. A whole bunch of re-finishing info. And
supplies too.
Phil
On Tuesday, September 2, 2003, at 03:11 AM, Jerry wrote:
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bill Bergstrom [mailto:]
> Sent: dinsdag 2 september 2003 9:46
> To:
> Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Fixer-upper
>
>
> Greetings all,
> I just picked up yet another axe to add to the arsenal today - a nice
> ol' Fender Bronco. I got a great deal on it because it was "re-
> painted" a while back, and is just a little beat up. Now I aim to
> refurbish this a little bit and make a project out of the whole
> thing.
>
> So, my main question is how to approach a re-finish job for a
> guitar. I obviously know the basics of sanding it down and prepping
> it for the new finish -- but what should I use to put on the new
> finish? Any recommendations or pointers?
>
> The other thing is that the previous owner got fed up with the
> existing bridge (which was pretty horrible as far as holding tune, as
> I recall) and put on a Tele-style tailpiece, which means no whammy
> bar! So, what would you recommend for a replacement bridge? I think
> a bigsby would look ridiculous, and I don't know if I want to chop
> this guitar up enough to add a strat style, or even a Jag/JM style.
> Do I have any other options (and if anyone says Floyd Rose, I'll
> smack ya'!)?
>
> Any pointers or help would be greatly appreciated!
>
> ~Bill~
>
>
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> .
> Visit for archived
> messages,
> bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
>
>

Top

Jeff (bigtikidude) - 02 Sep 2003 21:43:51

-Bill,
Preston(rhythm guitarist) for the Eliminators has a Tele with
a Bigsby style tremelo on it. It doesn't look half bad. And you
don't have to worry about choppin up the body.
good luck,
Jeff(bigtikidude)
-- In , "Bill Bergstrom"
<swingin_cat@h...> wrote:
> Greetings all,
> I just picked up yet another axe to add to the arsenal today - a
nice
> ol' Fender Bronco. I got a great deal on it because it was "re-
> painted" a while back, and is just a little beat up. Now I aim to
> refurbish this a little bit and make a project out of the whole
> thing.
>
> So, my main question is how to approach a re-finish job for a
> guitar. I obviously know the basics of sanding it down and
prepping
> it for the new finish -- but what should I use to put on the new
> finish? Any recommendations or pointers?
>
> The other thing is that the previous owner got fed up with the
> existing bridge (which was pretty horrible as far as holding tune,
as
> I recall) and put on a Tele-style tailpiece, which means no whammy
> bar! So, what would you recommend for a replacement bridge? I
think
> a bigsby would look ridiculous, and I don't know if I want to chop
> this guitar up enough to add a strat style, or even a Jag/JM
style.
> Do I have any other options (and if anyone says Floyd Rose, I'll
> smack ya'!)?
>
> Any pointers or help would be greatly appreciated!
>
> ~Bill~

Top

Jerry (whipeoutboy63) - 03 Sep 2003 00:31:41

Yes,
I've sen and played the Tels with Bigsby style tremole as well. A nice
guitar. Dille from "The O' Hara's" (Belgian instro Surf-Mariachi band/
very worth to check their music) plays one too. The one I saw and played
in a shop once was a U.S. made tele from customshop with the Bigsby
inslated. It worked fine, sounded really good (I like the twangy tele
sound) and should be the least difficult to mounth on the Bronco I
guess.
The tremolo units used on Mosrite are very simelar to the Bigsby style
tremolo.
They operate very smooth (IMHO)
jerry
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff [mailto:]
Sent: woensdag 3 september 2003 4:44
To:
Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Re: Fixer-upper
-Bill,
Preston(rhythm guitarist) for the Eliminators has a Tele with a Bigsby
style tremelo on it. It doesn't look half bad. And you
don't have to worry about choppin up the body.
good luck,
Jeff(bigtikidude)
-- In , "Bill Bergstrom"
<swingin_cat@h...> wrote:
> Greetings all,
> I just picked up yet another axe to add to the arsenal today - a
nice
> ol' Fender Bronco. I got a great deal on it because it was "re-
> painted" a while back, and is just a little beat up. Now I aim to
> refurbish this a little bit and make a project out of the whole thing.
>
> So, my main question is how to approach a re-finish job for a
> guitar. I obviously know the basics of sanding it down and
prepping
> it for the new finish -- but what should I use to put on the new
> finish? Any recommendations or pointers?
>
> The other thing is that the previous owner got fed up with the
> existing bridge (which was pretty horrible as far as holding tune,
as
> I recall) and put on a Tele-style tailpiece, which means no whammy
> bar! So, what would you recommend for a replacement bridge? I
think
> a bigsby would look ridiculous, and I don't know if I want to chop
> this guitar up enough to add a strat style, or even a Jag/JM
style.
> Do I have any other options (and if anyone says Floyd Rose, I'll
> smack ya'!)?
>
> Any pointers or help would be greatly appreciated!
>
> ~Bill~
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:.
Visit for archived messages,
bookmarks, files, polls, etc.
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to

Top

Brian Neal (xarxas) - 03 Sep 2003 19:26:59

Bill,
Can't help with the refinish, but if it was me, I would try to put a Bronco
bridge back on the guitar, especially if it was a late 60's model. I
wouldn't want to mod something that old.
BN
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bill Bergstrom [mailto:]
> Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2003 2:46 AM
> To:
> Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Fixer-upper
>
>
> Greetings all,
> I just picked up yet another axe to add to the arsenal today - a nice
> ol' Fender Bronco. I got a great deal on it because it was "re-
> painted" a while back, and is just a little beat up. Now I aim to
> refurbish this a little bit and make a project out of the whole
> thing.
>
> So, my main question is how to approach a re-finish job for a
> guitar. I obviously know the basics of sanding it down and prepping
> it for the new finish -- but what should I use to put on the new
> finish? Any recommendations or pointers?
>
> The other thing is that the previous owner got fed up with the
> existing bridge (which was pretty horrible as far as holding tune, as
> I recall) and put on a Tele-style tailpiece, which means no whammy
> bar! So, what would you recommend for a replacement bridge? I think
> a bigsby would look ridiculous, and I don't know if I want to chop
> this guitar up enough to add a strat style, or even a Jag/JM style.
> Do I have any other options (and if anyone says Floyd Rose, I'll
> smack ya'!)?
>
> Any pointers or help would be greatly appreciated!
>
> ~Bill~

Top

Dick (flatwound01) - 03 Sep 2003 19:43:53

Hey Bill!
I agree with Brian on this - if it were me, I'd put a Bronco bridge
on the guitar (even if it doesn't keep tune so well). One advantage
is that there won't be any compatability issues with a Bronco
bridge :)
Can't help on the refin stuff, but you may want to check out Dan
Erlewine's "Guitar Player Repair Guide" - I think it has a section
or two on how to refinish guitars that's a good primer (no pun
intended . . . or was it?). There may be better reads on the topic
out there, but I've got the Erlewine book, and it's pretty good.
Sounds like a cool guitar - enjoy it!
-Dick
--- In , "Brian Neal" <bneal@i...>
wrote:
> Bill,
> Can't help with the refinish, but if it was me, I would try to put
a Bronco
> bridge back on the guitar, especially if it was a late 60's model.
I
> wouldn't want to mod something that old.
>
>
>
>
> BN
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Bill Bergstrom [mailto:swingin_cat@h...]
> > Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2003 2:46 AM
> > To:
> > Subject: [SurfGuitar101] Fixer-upper
> >
> >
> > Greetings all,
> > I just picked up yet another axe to add to the arsenal today - a
nice
> > ol' Fender Bronco. I got a great deal on it because it was "re-
> > painted" a while back, and is just a little beat up. Now I aim
to
> > refurbish this a little bit and make a project out of the whole
> > thing.
> >
> > So, my main question is how to approach a re-finish job for a
> > guitar. I obviously know the basics of sanding it down and
prepping
> > it for the new finish -- but what should I use to put on the new
> > finish? Any recommendations or pointers?
> >
> > The other thing is that the previous owner got fed up with the
> > existing bridge (which was pretty horrible as far as holding
tune, as
> > I recall) and put on a Tele-style tailpiece, which means no
whammy
> > bar! So, what would you recommend for a replacement bridge? I
think
> > a bigsby would look ridiculous, and I don't know if I want to
chop
> > this guitar up enough to add a strat style, or even a Jag/JM
style.
> > Do I have any other options (and if anyone says Floyd Rose, I'll
> > smack ya'!)?
> >
> > Any pointers or help would be greatly appreciated!
> >
> > ~Bill~

Top