mbaker824
Junior Member
so_ber said:
Wow, I like it a lot as is! I have a custom Taylor done in a very similar stain, and I love it.
refinishing a d25...
- Thread starter so_ber
- Start date
Wow, I like it a lot as is! I have a custom Taylor done in a very similar stain, and I love it.
so_ber
Junior Member
Wow, I like it a lot as is! I have a custom Taylor done in a very similar stain, and I love it.[/quote]
Really??! thanks! for me though, it's just too dark and too much red. i want something that looks like a real slab of wood, haha! and i like more contrast with the pick guard, and to be able to see the tortoise pattern in the pick guard. i guess people could say i'm too picky, but to me, a guitar, drums, furniture--anything practically--is, aside from its intended purpose, a work of art. more so than any painting in a museum. well, to some extent anyway.....
Really??! thanks! for me though, it's just too dark and too much red. i want something that looks like a real slab of wood, haha! and i like more contrast with the pick guard, and to be able to see the tortoise pattern in the pick guard. i guess people could say i'm too picky, but to me, a guitar, drums, furniture--anything practically--is, aside from its intended purpose, a work of art. more so than any painting in a museum. well, to some extent anyway.....
cjd-player
Senior Member
mbaker824 said:
I like dark-topped guitars. They're different from the common ones, and have unique character. I don't like them painted black, but I like darker tops.
To me, those dark areas in your top look like classic nonuniform stain absorption by the wood. The pines and spruces are very difficult to stain uniformly. My two cents.
Dadaist
Senior Member
So_ber,
So here you have it. A simple question regarding refinishing a D25,
and you get more than 22 responses and years upon years of combined guitar ownership opining about your options.
The bottom line is that it's your guitar, and regardless of what you decide it nice to know there's a place where folks would freely
give their time and advice.
One last point, the only "issue" with a guitar that's in perfect condition, is that you'll always be waiting for the first nick, gouge or scrape and think twice about whether you take it out to a Jam.
Trust me,...I know this from experience!
David
David
So here you have it. A simple question regarding refinishing a D25,
and you get more than 22 responses and years upon years of combined guitar ownership opining about your options.
The bottom line is that it's your guitar, and regardless of what you decide it nice to know there's a place where folks would freely
give their time and advice.
One last point, the only "issue" with a guitar that's in perfect condition, is that you'll always be waiting for the first nick, gouge or scrape and think twice about whether you take it out to a Jam.
Trust me,...I know this from experience!
David
David
taabru45
Enlightened Member
Dadaist said:
so_ber said:
Hi so_ber and welcome to LTG. The stain will have penetrated the top maybe as unevenly as you seen the color distribution now. To get 100% bare wood, you'll be sanding in some places more than in others. Further, some tops were selected for staining because they didn't have the same aesthetic appeal as the ones that didn't get stained. If you try to get all the color out, you could have a top that isn't a uniform thickness and shows the attributes that somebody tried to hide in the first place.
If you want something with more eye-appeal, you might try Meguiar's Scratch-X or some other rubbing compound to return a luster to the guitar. If you still don't like it, you can still sand it down to bare wood. Good luck whatever you do and welcome.
adorshki
Reverential Member
If your piezo is under the saddle, you want to take into account the change in saddle height after removal, and whether it will fit in the saddle slot in its new home, and whether you have to drill a hole (in the saddle slot slot) for the leads to the jack. And then you have to think about the same ssaddle height issues for the guitar you transfer it to. Unless you're lucky and you can just swap the saddles along with the pickup. Adjusting the saddle isn't a major job but it is a precision one or you WILL degrarde the sound of the guitar to some degree..And yes probably the endpin jack is wider than a regular endpin.so_ber said:
And again if the guitar was made with the piezo it would probably be more valuable as is and not worth the modification expenses to transfer it to a new guitar.
I agree with you about functional asthetics, that something like an instrument should be as beautiful as it is useful. I know the Japanese have that philosophy, but you're right, they're also very much "future-oriented" these days.
I agree with Carl about the dark finish, I think it's pretty attractive and it's also fairly uncommon. You might want to look at it from that perspective, it may grow on you.
Yoko Oh No
Member
DON'T DO IT!!!
Sell it and purchase an instrument that's to your liking. Trust me...it will NEVER be the same (finish and sound). I remember a saying my grandaddie yous"d ta say to me:
"yoko....the mahogany is always redder on the other side"
...then he died and i never knew where the other side was.
I'd post a pic and sell the guitar here 1st.
my .o2
Sell it and purchase an instrument that's to your liking. Trust me...it will NEVER be the same (finish and sound). I remember a saying my grandaddie yous"d ta say to me:
"yoko....the mahogany is always redder on the other side"
...then he died and i never knew where the other side was.
I'd post a pic and sell the guitar here 1st.
my .o2
Drka
Member
so_ber said:
Sober my friend, go to Ochanomizu. i went there this summer. probably the most amount of guitars, Guild included (a few every store and there are about 20 stores) on just that one street. The prices arent too bad either i think. definitely not cheap but reasonable considering thatthey dont stray too far from what some people ask on craigslist here for some of their guilds.
Cheers,
Drka
so_ber
Junior Member
so many replies and useful input, i really appreciate it! in addition, just wondering, would leaving my guitar in the sun give it a suntan or sun fade??? i know organs get faded pretty bad (btw, i also love hammond organs!!!!!!!!)
in response to:
dadaist and taabru45, about the condition, of course i'd like it to be decent and not beat to hell, but i don't care if it's perfect (even though i'm a perfectionist....). and yeah, i don't want to have to worry if it gets a scratch, etc! thanks for the concern and the tip though!
cjd-player, adorshki and mbaker824, dark might be cool, but to me, it looks too nice; not rugged enough. i'm not so tough, so i need a tough looking guitar. :lol: for what i do, playing raw music, i'd like a raw guitar. it just seems natural.... if i played more refined music, maybe the darker stain would be better. kind of like a beautiful classical piano for liszt but not for boogie woogie.
Drka, thanks for the info about ochanomizu!!! i've been there a few times but haven't looked closely at the guitars! how familiar are you with tokyo? i've also heard there's a good vintage shop in nakano. i'll probably go there to have them work on my guitar if necessary.
adorshki, do you think if i got another D25 i'd be able to swap the saddle too? same guitar so maybe similar. not exactly sure what kind of pickup is installed, but i think there are a couple of silver colored discs under the bridge area....
in response to:
dadaist and taabru45, about the condition, of course i'd like it to be decent and not beat to hell, but i don't care if it's perfect (even though i'm a perfectionist....). and yeah, i don't want to have to worry if it gets a scratch, etc! thanks for the concern and the tip though!
cjd-player, adorshki and mbaker824, dark might be cool, but to me, it looks too nice; not rugged enough. i'm not so tough, so i need a tough looking guitar. :lol: for what i do, playing raw music, i'd like a raw guitar. it just seems natural.... if i played more refined music, maybe the darker stain would be better. kind of like a beautiful classical piano for liszt but not for boogie woogie.
Drka, thanks for the info about ochanomizu!!! i've been there a few times but haven't looked closely at the guitars! how familiar are you with tokyo? i've also heard there's a good vintage shop in nakano. i'll probably go there to have them work on my guitar if necessary.
adorshki, do you think if i got another D25 i'd be able to swap the saddle too? same guitar so maybe similar. not exactly sure what kind of pickup is installed, but i think there are a couple of silver colored discs under the bridge area....
GardMan
Enlightened Member
That's a pretty D-25... looks just like mine.
So-ber, I've avoided getting into the discussion up until now, because it's your guitar to do with as you please... seems we had a similar discussion some years ago when a member contemplated trimming down the headstock on a Guild dread as a weight-reducing measure (and to make it look more "Martinesque?"). That discussion got pretty intense... I would be concerned about the effects of a refinish on the guitars tone, tho'...
In answer to your question,
It might... based on my experience with my D-35. When I lived in SF, I rented a basement with a West facing sliding glass door... in front of which I rested my D-35 propped against a chair. The daily exposure to the afternoon sun (when it penetrated the fog!) over a period of 5 years gradually lightened the deep "burgandy" stain on the neck, headstock, and exposed part of the back. You can see the effect looking at the headstock in this pic... it's far left. You can see when you remove the TRC that the headstock started out as dark as the G-37 (2nd from left) or D-25 (far right).
Actually, I like the bleached color... much more like natural mahogany. Unfortunately, the lower half of the back and one side was more protected, and so the effect is quite uneven. I am embarrassed that I never noticed what was happening until it was too late (note this is the only one of my Guilds where I don't show a pic of the back). I would caution that I don't know how it would look on the stained spruce...
So-ber, I've avoided getting into the discussion up until now, because it's your guitar to do with as you please... seems we had a similar discussion some years ago when a member contemplated trimming down the headstock on a Guild dread as a weight-reducing measure (and to make it look more "Martinesque?"). That discussion got pretty intense... I would be concerned about the effects of a refinish on the guitars tone, tho'...
In answer to your question,
so_ber said:
It might... based on my experience with my D-35. When I lived in SF, I rented a basement with a West facing sliding glass door... in front of which I rested my D-35 propped against a chair. The daily exposure to the afternoon sun (when it penetrated the fog!) over a period of 5 years gradually lightened the deep "burgandy" stain on the neck, headstock, and exposed part of the back. You can see the effect looking at the headstock in this pic... it's far left. You can see when you remove the TRC that the headstock started out as dark as the G-37 (2nd from left) or D-25 (far right).
Actually, I like the bleached color... much more like natural mahogany. Unfortunately, the lower half of the back and one side was more protected, and so the effect is quite uneven. I am embarrassed that I never noticed what was happening until it was too late (note this is the only one of my Guilds where I don't show a pic of the back). I would caution that I don't know how it would look on the stained spruce...
so_ber
Junior Member
GardMan, thanks for the info, and for sharing your pics! You have some niiiiiiiiiiiiiiice Guilds!!! Good grief!!!
I think your D25 is a shade lighter than mine, I dig it!!!
I think your D25 is a shade lighter than mine, I dig it!!!
so_ber
Junior Member
Updates..... I went to Ochanomizu ('guitar street') in Tokyo the other day. they did have one D25M--of course it turned out to be a 77, and the color/condition was quite similar to mine (except the headstock wasn't black). they were originally asking 100,000 yen for it, but it was on sale for 80,000. (right now, over $1000, down to about $850) didn't buy it of course. but i did go ahead and buy a 76 D25M from a guy in the states that listed it on ebay a little while ago, but it didn't sell as the reserve wasn't met. he just sent it out today..... i'll post one of his pics...
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also, another thread about K&K pickups prompted me to find out what kind i had in my guitar. i wrote earlier that i'd like to move the pickup from one guitar to the other, and i thought i had an under the saddle piezo. but sure enough, i have the K&K Pure Mini system. so i need a little advice. i checked their website/manual and it said it is possible to remove and reinstall the pickups, but a little risky. has anyone tried this? would you recommend it? or just buy a new one (as they aren't that expensive)? here's a pic taken with my mobile phone:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
also, another thread about K&K pickups prompted me to find out what kind i had in my guitar. i wrote earlier that i'd like to move the pickup from one guitar to the other, and i thought i had an under the saddle piezo. but sure enough, i have the K&K Pure Mini system. so i need a little advice. i checked their website/manual and it said it is possible to remove and reinstall the pickups, but a little risky. has anyone tried this? would you recommend it? or just buy a new one (as they aren't that expensive)? here's a pic taken with my mobile phone:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
so_ber said:also, another thread about K&K pickups prompted me to find out what kind i had in my guitar. i wrote earlier that i'd like to move the pickup from one guitar to the other, and i thought i had an under the saddle piezo. but sure enough, i have the K&K Pure Mini system. so i need a little advice. i checked their website/manual and it said it is possible to remove and reinstall the pickups, but a little risky. has anyone tried this? would you recommend it? or just buy a new one (as they aren't that expensive)? here's a pic taken with my mobile phone:
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
I have removed a K&K. The chances of removing the p/u's out w/o damaging the small disks are very, very slim. The pickups are typically installed with super glue. Looks to me like you can see a bit of the glue around the edges of the pickups. You'll need to work blind, with a very small, thin and sharp putty knife or a single edge razor blade. Get the knife/razor at the edge of each disk and carefully cut between the wood and the disk. Not easy. And if you get it out in one piece you'll wind up with a 1/2" hole where the end jack is. You'll need to plug that to put in a strap button. My opinion, better to buy a new K&K..
adorshki
Reverential Member
Second that. Especially if that kind of work isn't in your skill set already.evenkeel said:
Also So_ber, sorry I didn't see that last question about swapping saddles 'til just now. Maybe now it's moot. I have seen variations in thickness of saddles. If you're thinking about trying it between two D25's of similar vintage it should be pretty easy, either it'll fit or it won't. :lol: