I scored this Westone Rial off eBay about a month ago (some of the pics were taken with my iPhone, so, sorry in advance):
As you can see, it was a hot mess. Botched/hacked paint-job, missing bumpers, severely bowed neck, etc, etc. Luckily, the truss rod was in great shape and I was able to get the neck back in line.
Nice thing was, the electronics were in great shape and I was absolutely blown away when I plugged her in. This pickup is HOTHOTHOT!! What a thumper! I actually had to lower it as it was too damn hot. The rail mechanism was fun to play with and you can wheel in some versatile tones.
Happy with the sound, I decided to keep her. So I stripped her down and got her ready for a face-lift.
Here's what happened over the course of the last three weekends:
First weekend I took her apart, sanded the finish off, primed, and gave her a bunch of coats of Krylon Sun Yellow.
Second weekend entailed wet sanding and nitro coats. Three passes every three hours, three times a day for three days (the Rule of Threes). By Monday night I had 9 thick coats hanging to dry.
This weekend I wet sanded in succession with 600, 800, 1000, 1500.& 2000 grit automotive paper. After the 2000 round, I polished away the haze with Fender's Swirl & Haze Remover. I cannot recommend this stuff enough. What a great job it did!
Next up was shielding the pickup and electronics cavities:
Then assemply! I bought self-adhesive felt bumpers to protect the finish from the rail section.
Next up was to string her with some DR Black Beauties and tune her up. I thought this strap was the icing on the cake! LOL! Oh and she sounds f'kn AMAZING!
Now that I know everything is in working order, on the stand she'll sit for 30 days so the nitro can fully harden before I start giving her a workout.
I like her!
Whattaya's think??
As you can see, it was a hot mess. Botched/hacked paint-job, missing bumpers, severely bowed neck, etc, etc. Luckily, the truss rod was in great shape and I was able to get the neck back in line.
Nice thing was, the electronics were in great shape and I was absolutely blown away when I plugged her in. This pickup is HOTHOTHOT!! What a thumper! I actually had to lower it as it was too damn hot. The rail mechanism was fun to play with and you can wheel in some versatile tones.
Happy with the sound, I decided to keep her. So I stripped her down and got her ready for a face-lift.
Here's what happened over the course of the last three weekends:
First weekend I took her apart, sanded the finish off, primed, and gave her a bunch of coats of Krylon Sun Yellow.
Second weekend entailed wet sanding and nitro coats. Three passes every three hours, three times a day for three days (the Rule of Threes). By Monday night I had 9 thick coats hanging to dry.
This weekend I wet sanded in succession with 600, 800, 1000, 1500.& 2000 grit automotive paper. After the 2000 round, I polished away the haze with Fender's Swirl & Haze Remover. I cannot recommend this stuff enough. What a great job it did!
Next up was shielding the pickup and electronics cavities:
Then assemply! I bought self-adhesive felt bumpers to protect the finish from the rail section.
Next up was to string her with some DR Black Beauties and tune her up. I thought this strap was the icing on the cake! LOL! Oh and she sounds f'kn AMAZING!
Now that I know everything is in working order, on the stand she'll sit for 30 days so the nitro can fully harden before I start giving her a workout.
I like her!
Whattaya's think??
