Dean Z project

[WezV]

Wez, since i'm going to need all of this body work done, would it add a great deal of time/money to the project if i wanted to add some body binding to match the neck? and do you think the neck binding will need replaced or can that just be re-dyed or painted or something to bring it out to a nice color again?
and what do you recommend i use to sand all of this paint off? i figure i can at least get started on that for now...

hard to say with the neck binding, it might clean up but if not replacing it wouldnt be too hard.  Not sure i would bother - i dont think it should be about making it look new anyway.  i probably wouldnt bother with body binding either but it is quite possible - even if a little fiddly around the neck area

if in doubt with the sanding then dont go rougher than 120 and always use a sanding block.  It pays to have different sized sanding blocks - i might do the edges with one thats quite hard one, i.e a block of wood with felt attached then the sandpaper.  I might attack the paint on the top with an eraser wrapped in sandpaper... go slow and it will get there eventually.  i would do all this with the sig covered with low tack masking tape or something similar... just incase, also try to sand with the wood grain when you can.   i might also use a scr@per to remove a lot but thats a tool that takes practice to use effectively.

this has got my interest now, if you want to discuss the prices i would be after then PM me - might be able to work out a deal on the whole thing :)

[CJ]

pm sent wez.

some good news at least- i emailed grady (dime's old tech), and obviously he's not dime, but he did say the signature looked legit.

[CJ]

hey guys. well, it's been a while and my guitar is still just hanging on the wall. unfortunately i can't really find the funds to just go ahead and fix this thing up.

now i've got a question for some of you DIY'ers and luthiers. i'm thinking of doing at least some of the work myself. i've got another unrelated project i'm working on that i need a router for. what do you guys think about getting a router and doing at least part of this work myself? i've been looking at some routers on ebay, and they're cheaper than i thought. $50 at cheapest, are any of these any good? such as... http://cgi.ebay.com/Makita-3606-1-HP-Professional-Router-30000-RPM-New_W0QQitemZ310152132435QQcmdZViewItemQQptZRouters_Bits?hash=item483681f753&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1205%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

i'd think with a router i could at least take out all of that bondo cr@p and then from there i could maybe consider filling the block back in. or if i couldn't do that if i at least routed it out that would make it a lot easier for the luthier to fill it back in.

so basically, can i do it, and what router would you suggest (without killing the bank)?

thanks guys.

[MDV]

Dime wouldnt want you to tart it up!

He'd want you do rock out on it!

[CJ]

Dime wouldnt want you to tart it up!

He'd want you do rock out on it!

which is what i'm trying to do. it's not playable in its current state. i'm trying to route out the bondo mess, fill it in, and throw on a regular bridge and tailpiece.

[HTH AMPS]

slap a confederate flag body-wrap on it and be done, sheesh!!!  :lol:

cool guitar, I hope you get it playable - love the Dean Vee headstocks.

[CJ]

slap a confederate flag body-wrap on it and be done, sheesh!!!  :lol:

cool guitar, I hope you get it playable - love the Dean Vee headstocks.

ha, no thanks. i'm from the north. anyway, i'm not doing anything to the paintjob or anything, i'm leaving it exactly as is. i just need to fix the bridge.

[HTH AMPS]

slap a confederate flag body-wrap on it and be done, sheesh!!!  :lol:

cool guitar, I hope you get it playable - love the Dean Vee headstocks.

ha, no thanks. i'm from the north. anyway, i'm not doing anything to the paintjob or anything, i'm leaving it exactly as is. i just need to fix the bridge.

I'm just kidding with you - Dime used to have an ML with a confederate flag thats all.

I would go with Wez's suggestion though of adding the veneer to the top and leaving the signature intact - if you haven't seen Wez's work already, lets just say you won't be dissapointed.  All his guitars I've seen have gave me major GAS (damnitt!!!).

[CJ]

slap a confederate flag body-wrap on it and be done, sheesh!!!  :lol:

cool guitar, I hope you get it playable - love the Dean Vee headstocks.

ha, no thanks. i'm from the north. anyway, i'm not doing anything to the paintjob or anything, i'm leaving it exactly as is. i just need to fix the bridge.

I'm just kidding with you - Dime used to have an ML with a confederate flag thats all.

I would go with Wez's suggestion though of adding the veneer to the top and leaving the signature intact - if you haven't seen Wez's work already, lets just say you won't be dissapointed.  All his guitars I've seen have gave me major GAS (damnitt!!!).

yeah, i'm kidding as well. i was never a fan of that guitar, although the USA one's look pretty nice.

i was actually talking a lot with Wez about doing this guitar for me, but unfortunately i never could get the money to do everything, and the more i think about it the less i'm willing to ship it overseas. my plan is to just fill the trem route with a bridge and tailpiece, and then paint over that area with some flat black to match the rest of the black patches on the guitar. add some battleworn black warpigs and i've got one beast of a guitar.

[FELINEGUITARS]

I would be tempted to completely and neatly fill the old hole and start again - especially as the old trem wasn't very nice
This is slightly involved but it gets the neatest job in my opinion
Please note that I have a lot of experience in using routers and power tools and they MUST be treated with care and respect - hurting yourself is not part of the plan

What I would do is have somebody make me a matching pair of templates to a shape just bigger than the existing hole (a male/female pair that fit inside each other).
Almost like a square jigsaw piece that fits perfectly in the hole in the other piece.
They would use a CNC roter to cut these and it may be expensive but it will get the neatest job
Typically I have had these made in 3/8" plexiglas (www.Simscustom.com have been great in this capacity)

Using a router and a cutter with a bearing follower I would position the female template (the one that is the hole just bigger than he existing hole) so that I could cleanly cut out all the bondo and rough wood to leave a clean hole just as deep as is needed to get rid of all the cr@p, or just as deep as the piece of wood that you will be using to fill in the old hole

Then you would be able to fit the male part of the template into the hole if you wished and it would be a snug fit.
Take a piece of matching timber (mahogany) just deep enough to go deeper than the old hole used to be and cut a piece exactly the same shape as the male template.
As I have an inverted router table I would actually use a bearing follower router cutter to get the block I will use to fill in the hole really snug to the template.

So I will be left with a neat hole in the guitar, and a block that would perfectly fill that hole
Glue the block tightly into the hole and once dried level perfectly to the top of the guitar

Now you can either drill or rout for the bridge of your choice

Yes I have skipped a lot of the considerations needed to execute this job totally but I just wanted to give you the idea

[CJ]

hey, thanks for the help feline. having templates made was not something i was considering, and that sounds like a very good idea. do you think i should be able to get the job done with a $150 router, or at least part of the job done? i'd think having the templates made should limit my errors, but never having done this before i can't claim to know what exactly i'm getting into.

and if you think i can, is there any specific attributes i should be looking for in a router?

thanks a lot for that response feline, i appreciate it.

[CJ]

Wow, it's been a while since I've been here. Decided to come back and do some posting. Wanted to give a short update on this whole project. Due to money, things have been going slow. So far what's been done was that terrible bondo was taken out. I'm glad i decided to do that, the stuff just crumbled under a chisel. My uncle helped me route this out and fill it in.








And now over the winter i've taken it upon myself to learn how to do the re-fret myself. well, hopefully. i bought tools from stew-mac, and i'm hoping to do this myself once i'm back home for spring break. i bought the fret press caul, the inserts, a de-sta-co vertical clamp to use the caul with, flush ground fret cutter/puller, tang end nipper, a set of diamond files, and my friend who works at a welding company brought be home a 1"x1" solid block of aluminum to use as a level. I'm fairly confident with the procedure... the only thing I haven't thought about yet is how I'm going to go about getting the neck perfectly straight and holding it in place while i press the frets. Thoughts?

Oh, I also uncovered the serial number finally. It's a '79... not many of those around.

[FernandoDuarte]

It's looking very nice now!

I'm no expertise, but when I did fretting I just adjusted truss rod till the neck get straight... if you have a big rule it can help you, I've just hold the guitar in front of me with the neck ponting forward and see if it were straight...
I'm sure Wez or Jonathan will have a much more technicall and safe solution :)

[CJ]

thanks man! i'm really excited i've finally bought everything for it! all i need to do is refret when i'm home, drill the bridge holes, put a veneer over the front of the headstock, and then clear the headstock and body. I'd also like to spray the dean logo on the headstock... i was thinking of just printing out a scale size dean logo on sticker paper, and just spray painting it on.

and yes, i'm sure that's just fine for actually putting in the frets... although i still need some type of brace or something to hold the neck so it doesn't break under the caul's pressures. and then once i go to do leveling i figure i'll just use my square aluminum piece to level it.

[MDV]

How $%&#ing high are those walls?

Do you live in a cathedral?