Finished my "AR112 from 1983" restora...

Log Out | Topics | Search Moderators | Edit Profile

Author Message   Musash (Musash) Posted on Monday, April 15, 2002 - 2:58 pm:    Finally I (almost) finished the restoration of my AR112 from 1983. Found it covered in black paint, and restored it to a nice guitar! Still have to put on the strap-locks and find the plastic 'washer ring' for the 3-switch (anyone has one lying around, either white or black will do...). Heres the pic: For fun, check the 'before' pictures (some were also on an old threat on ICW): AR112 before and after...   Johns (Johns) Posted on Monday, April 15, 2002 - 6:05 pm:    Musash: Fantastic job. The before and after is dramatic! You saved a truly beautiful instrument from a fate worse than a broken headstock...living the rest of it's life under some "goth" paint job. It would be cool to see more up close shots of the "after". I forget, did you have to refinish or just take off the top paint? Did you manage to save the serial number?   Musash (Musash) Posted on Tuesday, April 16, 2002 - 11:19 am:    John, thanks for the compliment :-)! Here's the story: I took samples of the black paint and the finish underneath it. I took those to the 'paint department' of the laboratory where I worked, and someone put the samples in an analyzer. It turned out that the black paint could be removed with pure alcohol, without destroying the original laquer. So there I was, working for hours with cloth and pure alcohol to remove this black horror finish. After that all the black was gone, but the guitar was very dull. I took it to a professional guitar-repair shop. They buffed the guitar to bring back this original finish. The body still has its dents and bruises, but hey...I dont really mind. It gave me back the serial number also: D83xxxx. So, from april 1983...? As you can see, I had to replace the 'pick-up-rings'. Thanks to 'Steve Gitfiddle (see this board)' I managed to get hold of two! The gold on the pick-ups is gone, sadly... I decided also to put in a replacement Gibraltar bridge which I found by coincidence in a shop. I took out the whole electronics and re-wired and re-soldered the whole circuit. Only had to replace the 3-switch and jack-input, the rest stayed original. Now I am still looking for 4 Suregrip knobs, and the rubber ring under the 3-switch. I still have the original 'V-shaped' strap-locks, but I will use a safer system for those. Thats it! Here's two extra pics:   Maniac (Maniac) Posted on Thursday, April 18, 2002 - 9:55 pm:    Musash, OUTSTANDING JOB ! How lucky was finding a 12 string bridge too ! I have sure grip knobs for you if you haven't found them yet. Mike G.   Johnm (Johnm) Posted on Friday, April 19, 2002 - 3:52 pm:    Musash, Excellent work! And what a patience you must have had to remove all that paint. Great job. JohnM   Harry (Harry) Posted on Saturday, April 20, 2002 - 4:29 am:    Musash! Hats off!!!!! Like a Phoenix risen from it's ashes! How could anyone possibly have the nerves to spray-over this beauty (look at that flame top!). Should be legaly forbidden! My respect for your patience and the result. Great job! Harry   Camulus Username: Camulus Registered: 05-2006 Posted on Monday, May 22, 2006 - 10:53 pm:    Musash, Nice work. The perpetrator should be strung up by the soft bits.

Add Your Message Here Post: -Color- Black Red Green Blue Yellow Purple Orange Cyan Gray White -Font- Arial Courier Symbol Times Verdana -Size- Smallest (-2) Small (-1) Normal Large (+1) Largest (+2) Enter Item number: Username: Posting Information: This is a private posting area. Only registered users and moderators may post messages here. Password: Options: Enable HTML code in message Automatically activate URLs in message Action: