Vintage Aria 1820 Restoration: Part Three

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This post is the third of an ongoing series on a vintage Aria 1820 short-scale bass restoration job. At this point in time, the body had been separated from the neck, a couple holes plugged; and the headstock refinished in Tru-Oil. The existing tuner peg holes had also been reamed to accommodate new tuners; and they fit nicely.

Now it was time to deal with the badly delaminated body. First of all, as much of the existing finish, sealer and grey autobody filler was scraped off with the aid of a heat gun. Following this, the delaminated edges of the maple top and bottom were glued and clamped to the ash center layer. Once the glue had dried, a sanding we did go; right up to 240 grit.

Having sanded off the dried glue, remnants of the old paint and sealer, as well as the most of the autobody filler; specific areas of the body that needed to be repaired were clearly visible. These areas were repaired with glued-in slivers of wood, and also wood dust mixed with super glue. Once sufficient time had elapsed, the clamps and tape used were removed; and the whole body sanded once again.

The next step was sealing, filling, and strengthening the body before anything else was done to it. Several coats of super glue were used for this purpose, with a lot of sanding done in between coats. After the last coat of super glue had been sanded, a generous layer of Elmer's Wood Filler was applied. Once the filler had dried, the body was sanded yet again; creating a sufficiently even and smooth surface.

Meanwhile, the pickups needed some work. They were functioning, for sure; but it was the leads and magnets that needed attention badly. The frayed ground/shield braid and cracked insulation meant that a short could occur unexpectedly. Also worrying was the fact that the pickup magnets could move around as they were not properly secured to the bottom of the pickups. That being said, the best remedy was to replace the pickup leads; and attach the magnets securely with a little hot glue.

As for the filthy and discolored pickguard, it was given a good scrubbing and hung up to dry. The underside was then shielded with aluminium foil. Cheap, yes, but it does the job. Following this, the new three-way toggle switch, Alpha pots, tone cap and Neutrik NYS229 output jack were installed. 

Getting back to the body, new holes had to be drilled for the neck plate and screws, and the neck reattached in preparation for the next task; locating the correct position for the new bridge. After taking lots of measurements and drawing the necessary guide lines, new bridge-mounting holes were drilled. The bridge was then installed temporarily to check for proper string/neck alignment.

At this point, most of the holes that needed to be drilled had been drilled; save for the pickguard. So the pickguard was laid on the body, aligned with the edges of the body and neck pocket; and taped in place. The holes for the pickguard screws were then drilled using my trusty Cremel [Chinese Dremel knock-off]; and countersunk 1/2" screws installed. A new tug bar was also test-fitted, as the original one had long been lost in the mists of time. 

Once the positioning of all components had been finalized, the neck was separated from the body once again, and the pickguard removed. As one can guess, this was done in preparation for the next step of this Aria 1820 Bass Restoration; namely refinishing. Refinishing should be covered in an upcoming post, so do stay tuned for updates. Thanks for checking in, and God bless :)

Vintage Aria 1820 Restoration: Part Two

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Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

This is the second post in an ongoing series concerning the restoration of a vintage '70s Aria 1820 Short-Scale Bass. In this post we will look at hardware removal, tuner test-fitting; and also headstock finish repair.

We'll start off with the bridge, then. Everything was frozen in place, the twin saddles, the slotted height adjustment screws; as well as the intonation screws. To make matters worse, the heads of the six screws securing the bridge were so rusty that they had disintegrated; making removal with a screwdriver virtually impossible.

The only alternative was to drill off the screw heads using my drill press, remove the bridge, and then utilize a hollow punch drill bit to drill around the embedded screws. This would create isolated wooden "plugs" around each screw, which could then be pried out.

Everything went along as planned, and the embedded screws were successfully removed without too much fuss. Following this, the gaping holes were plugged with wooden dowels made from sawed-off sections of drumsticks. Oh yes, maple makes for a good plug, I tell you. These plugs were then trimmed flush with the surrounding wood.

The next task was removing the neck so I could i) work on the body separately, and ii) adjust the neck pitch. To my dismay, the neck mounting screws would not turn at all despite my using a T-wrench screwdriver. I tried and tried, but only succeeded in breaking the screwdriver.

Left with no choice, it was back to the drill press. The mounting screw heads were all drilled off; and the neck plate removed. Now I was left with headless rusty screws that were still refusing to budge. It seemed that they had rusted off inside the wood and were permanently stuck in both the neck pocket and heel.

Out came the hollow punch bits, and eventually the neck was separated from the body. The screws were still stubbornly embedded in the neck heel, so the hollow punch bits were once again used to create plugs around the screws; as had been done while removing the bridge mounting screws. 

Sure enough, these stubborn neck mounting screws were finally removed, leaving gaping circular holes that needed to be plugged. And plugged they were, with wooden dowels and wood glue. The oversized holes in the neck pocket were also plugged in a similar manner; and trimmed flush.

Meanwhile, I was also working on fitting new tuners as the stock ones were unusable. Every few turns, the gears would slip. Besides this, the tuner posts were awful "wobbly," for lack of a better word. They had to be replaced, no doubt about that. Unfortunately, generic Fender-style open gear tuners would be too large for this headstock, and protrude over the top if installed.

The only alternative was to install Ibanez-style tuners, which had a smaller housing. As luck would have it, the existing tuner post holes were way too small to accommodate the Ibanez-style tuner posts. Enlarging the holes with a reamer did the trick, and the tuners were test-fitted. Of course, the 16 old tuner mounting screw holes were not left just like that. They were plugged with bamboo dowels and super glue.

The issue of the damaged finish (lacquer, perhaps?) surrounding the black "Aria" lettering also needed to be addressed as it was cracking and flaking off; exposing the precious lettering to damage. As it stood, exposed portions of the lettering had already started to fade. The solution? Super glue, of course!

Super glue was applied thinly in successive layers to the lettering and surrounding lacquer, making sure that it seeped underneath the edges of the flakes and into the cracks. In time, this would help seal the cracks and secure the flakes to the headstock, thus preventing further deterioration. The process was terminated once the super glue buildup had exceeded the thickness of the existing lacquer; as it could now be sanded flush.

The super glue layer was carefully wet-sanded using successively finer grits of abrasives until it was level with the existing lacquer on the headstock face. Following this, the entire headstock face and back were scuff-sanded in preparation for the final step; sealing with Tru-Oil. The application of Tru-Oil served well in blending the super glue and existing lacquer into one adequately-smooth layer, which was then waxed with Birchwood Casey Gun Stock Wax and buffed by hand.

Of course, one can still see the patch of super glue upon close inspection. However, as the objective of the exercise was to repair the finish damage and protect the valuable "Aria" lettering; I believe we should be satisfied with the outcome. That's about it for this post, folks. There's lots more that needs to be done, and these will be covered in upcoming posts. Till I see you again, stay home, stay safe, keep on rocking; and God bless :)

 

1984 Ibanez RS130 | Part 3

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5     

Neck Refinish

This post is the third of a five-part series on a gloss black Ibanez Roadstar II RS130 Strat-style guitar. In this post, I will focus on the neck refinish job I had to carry out. Readers might remember that my last post was about refretting the neck. Well, having done that, it was time to remove the masking tape I had used to protect the fingerboard from files and such.

So I carefully peeled off the tape segment by segment. Mind you, I'd previously "de-tacked" the tape by sticking it onto my t-shirt. But, as luck would have it, I'd seriously underestimated the fragility of the lacquer. It just peeled off in strips along with the tape. It was a total disaster, with finish flaking off the fingerboard face, edges, and even the back of the neck. I'd worked on old guitars before, but this was the first time something like this had happened.

Resigning myself to my fate, I gingerly removed all the tape and cleaned up any glue residue with lighter fluid. Then I realized that tiny slivers of semi-decayed maple had come off with the lacquer. "Way to go," I thought to myself. That settled it. I'd have to refinish the whole neck, and here comes more scraping and sanding!

Subsequently, the fingerboard was scraped clean with a razor blade, while the back of the neck was sanded down to bare wood (I stopped at 600 grit). The face of the headstock was left untouched, to avoid removing the patina or damaging the decals. I decided on a superglue finish for the fingerboard face and edges because it would soak into the wood, halt the decay, and fill up the numerous craters that had appeared.

Thus began the tedious process of applying a thin layer of superglue (trying my best not to get any on the frets), waiting for it to dry, wetsanding, applying the next layer, wetsanding, ... you get the picture. As I had feared, superglue did get onto the frets. It was a total PITA removing it and repolishing the frets without scratching the fresh fingerboard finish. For the back of the neck and headstock, I decided on a teak oil finish, which gave it a smooth, sensuous feel IMHO.

In retrospect, I should have been more thorough in assessing the condition of the fingerboard before refretting the neck. I should have scraped off all the lacquer, refinished the fingerboard, and then only carried out the refret. This is one painful lesson I'm not likely to forget!

1984 Ibanez RS130 | Part 2

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Full Refret

This post is the second of a five-part series on a gloss black Ibanez Roadstar II RS130 Strat-styled guitar. In this post, I will focus on the full refret carried out. To start off, this guitar's frets appeared to be original, and as expected, were terribly worn and in need of replacement. The back of the neck, as well as the fingerboard face and edges; were scarred and pitted.

To compound the situation, the original lacquer had chipped off in several places, and the exposed maple there had become blackened; a sure sign that decay was setting in. After removing the original frets, I sanded the whole neck lightly and cleaned the fret slots of gunk and other debris. In the process, I also smoothed out the chipped finish, and sanded off any decayed wood I found.

I then ran water-thin superglue under the edges of the cracked finish to seal them. Superglue was also used to even out the pitted and scarred wood surface, especially along the fingerboard edges. Having taken care of that, I refretted the neck as I usually do, using Fender "Jumbo Guitar" fret wire.

Ibanez Blazer BL-300NT Super Glue Refinish

The headstock proudly proclaims "Ibanez Blazer Series Custom Made." And rightly so, for this Blazer is not just another strat-wannabe. In fact, in clean mode, it's even 'strattier' than most Fender strats I've played (IMHO). Let's take a closer look. I do not know when this particular guitar (owned by my good buddy Abg Remy) was made, as the neck plate was seriously rusted (no serial number visible). However, based on the info sourced from vintage Ibanez catalogs, I'd say it's from the early 80s. 

This Blazer sports a 'Natural Matte Finish" (NT) over an ash body. The neck is a single slab of rock maple (25.5" scale, 21 frets), the machine heads are chrome-plated die cast Smooth Tuner IIs, while the bridge is a top-load solid brass 'Accu-Cast' with brass barrell saddles. As the saddles' height adjustment screws were permanently fused, despite various efforts to free them, I had no choice but to replace the entire bridge.

Stock, this guitar would have featured three Ibanez Blazer SB single coil pickups, master volume and tone controls, a 5-way pup selector switch, and also a phase switch (please refer to the first pic, courtesy of Soul Guitars). However, what arrived at my doorstep was far from stock. The pickguard had been cut and material removed from the area between the neck heel and neck pup (for reasons unknown) while the section housing the output jack had broken off completely. 

Meanwhile, the fretboard (from the 9th onwards) had been scalloped, leaving raw wood exposed. Needless to say, years of sweat and grime had taken their toll on the fingerboard and back of the neck, decaying and blackening the wood in several places. I would have to strip the entire neck, remove damaged wood, and refinish it. The somewhat worn frets would remain untouched, though. Abg Remy loved them to bits, divots and all, and would not hear of a refret. Case closed.

The pup configuration was S-S-H, as a previous owner had substituted the stock bridge pup with a DiMarzio humbucker. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the stock pups and DiMarzio worked very well together, either clean or overdriven. It is interesting to note that according to Ibanez, their SB single coil pickups "utilize a single blade polepiece for high energy output with a minimum of string pull."

The ash body was in a sorry state, with all sorts of gunk coating it. A refinish job was in order here, no doubt about that. Abg Remy also wanted to replace the pickguard-mounted output jack with a strat-style 'boat' output jack plate. Hmmm ... the pickguard's already broken and he only wants master volume and tone controls, no phase switch needed. That being the case, I would just have to shorten and reshape the existing pickguard to as stratesque a shape as I could manage, plug the exposed control cavity, and carefully chisel out the wood to accomodate the output jack (no, I do not own, nor have access to a router).

Eventually, besides taking care of the repairs/ mods already mentioned, I replaced the pots with full sized 500K pots (thank you, Roka Dyer Maker), replaced the rusty 5-way pup selector switch, and upgraded the innards with a Sprague 'orange drop' 0.022mF tone cap. The body was refinished in super glue, an approach I'd already tried out on a Fender Prodigy II strat last year (also Abg Remy's). The back of the neck and headstock were also refinished in super glue, and now it feels really slick and smooth. For the fingerboard and headstock, I opted for a thin super glue sealer coat, followed by clear varnish.

'Nuff said. Let's look at some pics and a short video.

Abg Remy and his Blazer