MM Blues '28 prototype refinish

[tomgiemza]

I refinished MM Blues '28 prototype II (2009) that I bought this year. I like polychrome finish, but this one was far from looking right and I think Michael mentioned that polychrome was very difficult to achieve, so he finally decided to go with sunburst instead.
I wanted to use a wood stain, but I failed to strip the body clean. I tried acetone, chemical strippers, sanding, but there still was a stubborn spots of an old paint and I was reluctant to sand it too much. So I decided to stain just the neck and use a solid colour on the body and headstock. I put oil on the fretboard and the neck, matt laquer on the body.




It look almost white on a photos, but it's not. I mixed vanilla with olive green and coffee brown.

More photos: drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-7WXm4Ix9SlWyasXsETMWuu7rkVD2PId

I also leveled and crowned the frets. Very nice guitar. I'm still thinking about painting the coverplate.

[Michael Messer]

Tom, the guitar looks great! You have done a beautiful job.

Maybe something like a grey or brown Hammerite on the coverplate, like my blue Dobro.





Shine On
Michael

[tomgiemza]

Thanks for the kind words and for the tip about the Hammerite. I was already thinking about it, it's available in 3 kinds of finish: smooth, matt and hammered. I was curious about the hammered, I think I can see it on your dobro and it look very good.

I had an unexpected problem with fitting the new tuning machines, I measured the poles and enlarged the holes a bit before refinishing, but I didn't notice that the holes for a strings are almost touching the inner sides of the headstock. I made a provisional shims, but I think drilling a new holes inside the poles would look nicer.

[resotonic]

I've done a few cover plates in different brown finishes. Hammered is especially effective; the contrast between the lighter body & the cover plate color changes the appearance a lot. I've tried to match the cover plate with the fret board color & have been pretty satisfied with the results.

Nice work on your refin - takes guts!

[tomgiemza]

Do you remember what colour it was on white one?

[resotonic]

It's a Rustoleum product; can't remember the color, but I will check for it next time I'm at the hardware store. Sorry about that!

[Michael Messer]

The hammerite finish on my Dobro was not done at home. It was "Stove Enamelled" by a professional stove enamelling company 40 years ago and is still as perfect as the day it was done.

Shine On
Michael