Ernie Ball Music Man Silhouette Restoration Project!

**meenahga** · 05-18-2009, 06:07 PM

Hi all!

I recently acquired a used Silo in need of a refinish. The Silo played great (as all Silos I have ever played do!), It just needed a makeover. The original humbucker pickups had been swapped out to Seymour Duncans, a Jeff Beck TB-4 in the Bridge, and a vintage '59 in the neck. Great sounds.

The poor guitar had seen some hard times and the finish had been dinged up to say the least! Large chunks of the clear coat had been picked away and were missing and I decided to refinish the guitar myself. I took some pictures along the way to show my progress.

Here is the guitar body after I removed the neck and hardware:

You can see large chunks of the tinted clear coat are gone and cracking. The previous owner was pretty rough on this guitar to say the least!

I bagged the hardware I removed in sandwich baggies to keep everything sorted.

You can see more missing finish on the front of the body:

and here:

I was able to remove the string ferrules by pushing them out from the front of the guitar with a small brass rod, maybe the diameter of a coat hanger.

I had researched on the forum and on the web a bit about removing polyester finish and I ended up using a heat gun and a putty knife. I had no problems using this method. The finish came right off. It took a little time and care but overall was a pretty simple process. I then used a disc sander and my oscillating spindle sander (to remove the finish on the iside curve of the horns)to remove the sealer coat, and get down to the bare wood. I then proceeded to sand out the body thru 120 grit, down to 320 grit.

I am a carpenter and have done a fair bit of cabinetry. I decided I was going to use a Danish oil finish. I decided on natural for the Danish oil as I thought it would enhance the beauty of the alder wood body.

Here is some of my supplies:

More pics to follow...

**THE_EB_KID** · 05-18-2009, 06:11 PM

Sweet project!!!! Keep the pics comming!

**Sticky1973** · 05-18-2009, 07:02 PM

Originally Posted by meenahga

More pics to follow...

Oooh, love it!

There's been a great mix of project threads recently, and I am well looking forward to seeing the results on this one.

Oil finish, classy.

Quality effort

**banjoplayer** · 05-18-2009, 07:19 PM

love the project threads too.
more pics please
you silo has mojo!

**meenahga** · 05-18-2009, 07:59 PM

So now I have the body stripped down to the bare wood, and sanded really smooth with 320 grit paper. I wipe it down with some alcohol which raises the grain slightly, so I lightly resand and then use a tack cloth to remove the fine dust.

The Danish oil finish is kinda a slow process, for you have to allow it overnight to dry between applications. The first "coat" I applied liberally, applying the finish heavily, allowing it to flow. It really soaked into the end grains of the wood. I kept brushing it on heavy.
I had previously attached the body to my "hanging handle neck" (just a piece of soft maple about 1/2" thick by 1 1/2" wide about 2 feet long, with a cord attached) with a couple of screws. This gave me a handle of sorts, to hold the body and apply the finish, and also gave me a way to hang it for drying.

After applying the oil finish, you wait 1/2 an hour then wipe down the whole body with a clean lint free soft cloth (old cotton t-shirt rag).

The next day, I applied more oil finish and wet sanded with 320 grit and the oil finish. After 1/2 hour, I wiped of the excess finsh. The guitar started to get a really nice sheen and the grain started to really "pop".

The next day I sanded with 400 grit, tack clothed it, and applied more finish.

Next day I went to 600 grit, more finish.

I repeated with the 600 grit:

Now the grain was really taking on an almost 3D effect. Very sweet natural color!!!

The next day, I applied Feed-n Wax, a beeswax and orange oil wood enrichment product. I really rubbed it in good, let it sit for 1/2 an hour, and then buffed the heck out of it with a clean cloth.

After 2 treatments of the fret board with my trusty Ernie Ball Music Man Wonder Wipes Fret Board Conditioner, I re-assembled the guitar, strung it up and gave it a set-up. Wowee!!! What a great playing and sounding guitar, and it once again... it is a real looker.

(Drum roll please)

The back...

and the front...

I am very pleased with the way it turned out. I just wish my old 2.1 MP digital camera was better, as these pics do not do the guitar justice. It's much nicer looking in person.