Can I restore my orignal S300-D

[kissfan101]

Hello everyone! First post to show off my very first guitar I purchased in 1981 and to ask if anybody in the Connecticut/New England area can recommend a luthier that could restore my baby and make her look and feel brand new....





I love this guitar. Its got over 30 years of mileage on it and I want it to look and feel new.
Is there any hope ...?

Thanks for any help!

 

[TVeye]

From the pics, it's hard to tell what's wrong. Can't recommend anyone in your area but I can tell you, I've done alot more with alot worse.

Welcome and congrats on your loyalty to a fine guitar.

 

[DThomasC]

I like the way it looks and if I were the one that made it look that way then it would hurt me personally to undo it. But I won't tell you what to do with your stuff if you don't tell me what do with mine.

OTOH, maybe just start with a good clean-up and set-up? You can always do a full restoration later if you really want to.

I haven't even tried to answer your question...

 

[S100]

What's wrong with it other than the stickers?

 

[SFIV1967]

Welcome to LTG!
Check with Ken Nash, he is however currently in the process of moving his shop from New London to to Walker Hill Rd in Groton on August 1st. So you might wait a few days.
He worked at Guild in Westerly as far as I know.
http://www.theguitarmechanic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Guitar-Mechanic/102571029815175?fref=nf

Ralf

 

[walrus]

Welcome! I also like it as is, without the stickers, but I'm guessing those would not come off easy if that's what you want to do.

walrus

 

[Maxer]

Welcome! I also like it as is, without the stickers, but I'm guessing those would not come off easy if that's what you want to do.

walrus

Those stickers should come off pretty easily. We do this in the film and television industry all the time with surfaces at shooting locations that require restoring - there's a product called Goo Gone (any decent hardware store should stock it). Peel off what you can by hand, then smear a goodly amount on each sticker and give it several minutes to do its business. It'll eat the glue residue without harming your guitar's finish. Take a nice hard edge that's not overly sharp - an old credit card is good - and then scrape the resultant gooey gunk off; apply a clean cotton cloth or rag to the area to wipe away any excess fluid. You might have to rinse and repeat, depending. But it'll get the job done.

After that, do you want to remove the guitar's finish entirely and start afresh? What kind of wood is underneath? Might look nice as a stained natural finish with maybe some tung oil.

 

[SFIV1967]

After that, do you want to remove the guitar's finish entirely and start afresh? What kind of wood is underneath? Might look nice as a stained natural finish with maybe some tung oil.

That's a gamble. Because sometimes guitars with a solid color have less attractive wood used...Or had defects that were covered with filler and paint...So he might get dissapointed if he expects a perfect wood look underneath. If the white was original (he could check what the label in the potentiometer chamber say?) I would leave it untouched with all the mojo it got over it's life! One destroys any "value" if he strips the paint...If the white is not the original paint the owner can do whatever he likes. At the end it is his guitar, he can do whatever he thinks is right anyway.
Ralf

 

[Maxer]

That's a gamble. Because sometimes guitars with a solid color have less attractive wood used...Or had defects that were covered with filler and paint...So he might get dissapointed if he expects a perfect wood look underneath. If the white was original (he could check what the label in the potentiometer chamber say?) I would leave it untouched with all the mojo it got over it's life! One destroys any "value" if he strips the paint...If the white is not the original paint the owner can do whatever he likes. At the end it is his guitar, he can do whatever he thinks is right anyway.
Ralf

Sure thing. You'll note I never told him he had to strip the finish! It's merely an option. Yeah, the wood might be ghastly. Or it might be sweet - it's a gamble you have to be willing to make. If the finish is original, removing it will lessen its resale value, certainly. But that wouldn't stop me. I've seen some of these guitars refinished and they can look amazing. And really, there are many different ways to personally assign "value" to an instrument.

For me, that all vanilla look is kind of "meh." But it ain't my guitar! At the very least I'd start by removing the stickers.