# Agile Septor 7 refinishing project



## Rick In Pa (Nov 15, 2009)

Hey guys, this is my first thread post here so I'm sorry if I put this in the wrong place. Anyway, I recently finished refinishing my Agile PS900 and my buddy Tony (who is also a member here, TKozuch) liked it so much that he asked me to do something with his Septor since he wasn't real happy with the paint. The crazy thing is that he pretty much gave me free reign to do whatever I want with it. So, I started getting the paint off of it this mornign at at the urging of Nick (NRussell a member both here and at AGF, where I mostly hang out) I decided to put it up here too in case anyone is interested. So, I think I'll show a couple pics of my PS to give an idea of how this all started and then the start of the Septor project. At this point I haven't completely decided what I want to do. I have an idea, but I am open to suggestions if anyone has any. So, enough of my rambling, on to the pictures.

First My Agile PS900, before and after:

Before:










And after:










So, here is the Septor 7 that I'm starting with. For those who are regulars around here, you may recognize this guitar as it used to belong to Keith Merrow. In case anyone is wondering, I got Keith's blessing for this project before I started it. Here it is:

Before:










and here are some pics along the way...
















So, at this point, the paint is completely off the sides and back and the sealer is off the back. I haven't touched the front yet, but once the sides are completely bare that will be next. So, that's it for now. Again if anyone has any ideas for something really cool for this guitar please share them. I am open to just about anything as long as it's not anything too complex like a lizard burst or anything like that. Simple 2-color bursts or solid color or stain finishes would be fine. Thanks guys!


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## TimSE (Nov 15, 2009)

i dont usually like blue guitars but those are nice


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## 7deadlysins666 (Nov 15, 2009)

Rick In Pa said:


> I am open to just about anything as long as it's not anything too complex like a lizard burst or anything like that. Simple 2-color bursts or solid color or stain finishes would be fine. Thanks guys!



Doesn't look TOO complex, but looks pretty amazing... (Im thinking leave the sides and back natural also)


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## madcansoul (Nov 15, 2009)

wow that's pretty sweet!


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## Apophis (Nov 15, 2009)

Really nice  I prefer natural look and color of the guitar's back


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## Rick In Pa (Nov 15, 2009)

Thanks guys! I should have mentioned that I plan on sanding off the tribal top too, so it will be a mahogany top as well.


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## budda (Nov 15, 2009)

Whyyy would you take off a delicious quilt?!  

Naturalize that bad boy then.


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## Rick In Pa (Nov 15, 2009)

budda said:


> *Whyyy would you take off a delicious quilt?!*
> 
> Naturalize that bad boy then.



Well, that's what the customer wants


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## budda (Nov 15, 2009)

Some customers want weird things, I'll admit it  (looks at pine tree tat)


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## Rick In Pa (Nov 15, 2009)

budda said:


> Some customers want weird things, I'll admit it  (looks at pine tree tat)




 Well, if you saw Tony's thread about this earlier, as he said, the top on this guitar is really not all that spectacular and it kind of cries out for something different. As I said originally, this guitar was originally owned by Keith Merrow and before he got rid of it he was considering stripping it down and refinishing it as well. So, it's not that big of a deal. Plus, it's just more fun for me. I love taking paint off of guitars and making them different.


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## budda (Nov 15, 2009)

I did not see tony's thread 

Any chance of dropping a graphic on there?


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## Rick In Pa (Nov 15, 2009)

budda said:


> I did not see tony's thread
> 
> Any chance of dropping a graphic on there?




Here's Tony's original thread about refinishing this guitar: http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/pi...h/99954-refinishing-my-septor-any-advice.html


And, ummm, no  I have like zero artistic skills at all. What I am planning is a two-color burst, I'm just not 100% decided on what colors yet.


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## Rick (Nov 15, 2009)

Those look really good!

I totally want a PS900 in a seven string.


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## Rick In Pa (Nov 15, 2009)

Rick said:


> Those look really good!
> 
> I totally want a PS900 in a seven string.



Thanks Rick! Yeah, that's pretty much a wet dream to have a 7-string PS! But, unfortunately that'll never happen since Kurt was forced to discontinue the PS series 

By the way, You own my all time favorite guitar! Your flat black custom shows up in my dreams all the time. I would kill for that so if you're ever considering getting rid of it, please let me know. I already have a flat black Agile AL2000, a flat black SX tele and a flat black Interceptor/Septor would just seal the deal for me and I could die a happy man.


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## Rick (Nov 15, 2009)

Rick In Pa said:


> By the way, You own my all time favorite guitar! Your flat black custom shows up in my dreams all the time. I would kill for that so if you're ever considering getting rid of it, please let me know. I already have a flat black Agile AL2000, a flat black SX tele and a flat black Interceptor/Septor would just seal the deal for me and I could die a happy man.



Thanks, man. Don't take this the wrong way, but hell to the no. 

It will be locked in my casket with me then said casket will be encased in concrete and then the concrete casket will be buried under pavement somewhere so no one can get to it.


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## Rick In Pa (Nov 15, 2009)

Rick said:


> Thanks, man. Don't take this the wrong way, but hell to the no.
> 
> It will be locked in my casket with me then said casket will be encased in concrete and then the concrete casket will be buried under pavement somewhere so no one can get to it.




As it should be my friend 

I'll just assume that you won't mind when I have Kurt make me the exact same guitar right? 

I'll just say "hey Kurt, it's me Rick. I just need another one of those flat black 7's like you made me before, mmkay?"


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## Rick (Nov 15, 2009)

Fine with me. 

You should totally do it.


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## Rick In Pa (Nov 15, 2009)

Rick said:


> Fine with me.
> 
> You should totally do it.




Thanks man. Would you mind sending me a pm with how much that cost you? Not that I'm actually planning to copy you, but I'd like to do something very similar.


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## Rick In Pa (Nov 23, 2009)

Well, it's been slow going lately due to a new baby in the house, but between yesterday and this morning I put about 5 hours of sanding into this thing. Looking at the pics you'd never know I spent that kind of time, but inside the horns alone took me almost 3 hours to get all of the paint and sealer off! So, the status is the back and sides are completely down to bare wood and sanded to 220 and I gave the neck a good sanding with 220 as well. I think I want to work on the neck some more too. You will see in the one pic there is a big booger in the neck down near the bottom and I'm really hoping it's in the sealer because I sanded on it for a good 15 minutes and it didn't come out. May have to figure something out if I can't get it to sand out. I haven't really touched the top or headstock yet. Those are coming next.

So, we've decided on the finish direction we're going. I am going to "attempt" to do a ghost burst finish on the top. Semi-Transparent white base with black bursted edges. I think I will paint the sides a semi-flat black and the just burst the back and keep it mostly natural. What do you guys think of that idea? Let me know...

On to the pics:


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## Rick In Pa (Nov 23, 2009)

I was just looking at AudibleE's thread with the Interceptor finishes. 

This is pretty similar to what I'm planning on the this guitar only a darker black burst.






Although, I just saw this and it is Uber-Sexy!
Thoughts?


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## MaKo´s Tethan (Nov 23, 2009)

Rick In Pa said:


> I was just looking at AudibleE's thread with the Interceptor finishes.
> 
> This is pretty similar to what I'm planning on the this guitar only a darker black burst.
> 
> ...



man, very nice finishes!! how the withe one is call?


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## Rick In Pa (Nov 23, 2009)

MaKo´s Tethan;1749156 said:


> man, very nice finishes!! *how the withe one is call?*




Ummm, what?


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## Fred the Shred (Nov 23, 2009)

He's asking the name of the finish. Honestly, I can't remember if it got a name at all, Mauricio.


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## Rick In Pa (Nov 23, 2009)

Fred the Shred said:


> He's asking the name of the finish. Honestly, I can't remember if it got a name at all, Mauricio.




Oh ok, sorry.

It's basically a Ghost Burst, but a little light on the edges. The key is the semi-transparent white so you can still see the wood grain and in my case the maple/mahogany stringers


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## Zeromancer (Nov 23, 2009)

I would keep it natural.


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## Rick In Pa (Nov 23, 2009)

Zeromancer said:


> I would keep it natural.




I would actually consider that myself, but this is not my guitar and the owner wants a burst finish.


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## yacker (Nov 23, 2009)

I've always wondered if it would be possible to to give one of the agile neck-thus a more gradual neck heel. That's my primary beef with them...along with the painted necks. I've always thought about getting one and refinishing it and reshaping the neck heel....I've just never been sure whether it was possible without messing with the stability of the instrument. Any chance you would do something like that to?


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## Rick In Pa (Nov 23, 2009)

yacker said:


> I've always wondered if it would be possible to to give one of the agile neck-thus a more gradual neck heel. That's my primary beef with them...along with the painted necks. I've always thought about getting one and refinishing it and reshaping the neck heel....I've just never been sure whether it was possible without messing with the stability of the instrument. Any chance you would do something like that to?




Well, I don't see why you couldn't sand it down a little bit, as long as you don't go too crazy. I don't think I'll be doing that on this project though because I think Tony actually likes the feel of this the way it is.


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## EliNoPants (Nov 23, 2009)

Rick In Pa said:


> I was just looking at AudibleE's thread with the Interceptor finishes.
> 
> This is pretty similar to what I'm planning on the this guitar only a darker black burst.
> 
> ...



yeah, somewhere in between those two would look really good...though you could also leave it natural and then do the black edges, that would probably look pretty good too


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## Hollowway (Nov 24, 2009)

yacker said:


> I've always wondered if it would be possible to to give one of the agile neck-thus a more gradual neck heel. That's my primary beef with them...along with the painted necks. I've always thought about getting one and refinishing it and reshaping the neck heel....I've just never been sure whether it was possible without messing with the stability of the instrument. Any chance you would do something like that to?



Yes, PLEEEEEASE sand that nasty ol' heal down! I posted a thread about this a while ago, and the luthiers all agreed it wouldn't affect the strength of the instrument at all. I'd sand clear through that so the horns connect, like on a Jackson. 

Second thing is why don't you sand a crap load more out of the lower horn to give more high fret access, and a cooler, more unique look? Like Cooley's guitars, or a Rico Jr.

If I can think of any other ideas that will allow me to live vicariously through you I'll let you know!


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## Rick In Pa (Nov 24, 2009)

Hollowway said:


> Yes, PLEEEEEASE sand that nasty ol' heal down! I posted a thread about this a while ago, and the luthiers all agreed it wouldn't affect the strength of the instrument at all. I'd sand clear through that so the horns connect, like on a Jackson.
> 
> Second thing is why don't you sand a crap load more out of the lower horn to give more high fret access, and a cooler, more unique look? Like Cooley's guitars, or a Rico Jr.
> 
> If I can think of any other ideas that will allow me to live vicariously through you I'll let you know!




 I'll take those tips into consideration


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## Rick In Pa (Nov 28, 2009)

Put a few more hours work into this job and it is now completely stripped down to bare wood with the exception of the headstock. The final plan is to do a Ghost/White burst with semi-transparent white base and black burst edges. Once you see what this looks like naked, you will realize how awesome it's going to look with the semi-trans white. On to the pics...




























Ok, that's it for now. I'll update again when I start on the paint.


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## missingastring (Nov 28, 2009)

Wow. What's the deal with the maple top? Was that photo-quilt, or was it just a micron thick?


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## PirateMetalTroy (Nov 29, 2009)

Veneer my friend. Just like ibanez's cheap flame and quit tops. There's a reason we can get a quilted/flamed top guitar for $600.


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## possumkiller (Nov 29, 2009)

wow thats cool. i agree with sanding the heel and cooleying the back of the lower horn. you should totally do like a hufschmidesque distressed black finish on it!


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## Rick In Pa (Nov 29, 2009)

missingastring said:


> Wow. What's the deal with the maple top? Was that photo-quilt, or was it just a micron thick?




Yep, it's just a very thin quilted maple veneer. I'd guess somewhere around 1/32". I was pretty easy to get if off to reveal that beautiful Mahogany



possumkiller said:


> wow thats cool. i agree with sanding the heel and cooleying the back of the lower horn. you should totally do like a hufschmidesque distressed black finish on it!




Well, if this was my guitar I would consider extending the lower horn, but I may sand down the heel a bit just to make it a bit smoother of a transition. If you can get Patrick to send me a jar of his magic potion oil, I would absolutely do that finish! That is the best finish I've ever seen!


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## possumkiller (Nov 29, 2009)

how about some finished pics of that PS!


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## Rick In Pa (Nov 29, 2009)

possumkiller said:


> how about some finished pics of that PS!




Sure, thanks for asking!


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## possumkiller (Nov 29, 2009)

wow that is sexy!


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## Rick In Pa (Nov 29, 2009)

possumkiller said:


> wow that is sexy!



Thanks man, I appreciate it! She's a player too! Easily my favorite of my 3 guitars.


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## AgileLefty (Nov 29, 2009)

Rick In Pa said:


> Ok, that's it for now. I'll update again when I start on the paint.


 


welp, that settles it. i'm strippin the top of mine too. i was just going to do the sides and back like your PS , but now i'm going all out. 

i can't wait to see how you pull off this finish dude. keep us updated!!


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## tkozuch (Nov 29, 2009)

Just to chime in since it's my guitar, I did give Rick full access to do anything he thinks will look good. While I love the idea of a natural guitar, I already have my LTD SC607b in natural to satisfy those needs.

I just love non-traditional burst finishes. The idea of the natural body with a blackburst sounds cool too, but i've been lusting after a ghost burst for a long time. In fact, i was this close to ordering a $1200 carvin in ghosted white....

Anyway, it's looking great Rick. You're pretty damn good at this

Oh... and I'll probably still get the Carvin after I get married later in December


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## Rick In Pa (Nov 29, 2009)

AgileLefty said:


> welp, that settles it. i'm strippin the top of mine too. i was just going to do the sides and back like your PS , but now i'm going all out.
> 
> i can't wait to see how you pull off this finish dude. keep us updated!!



Wooo Hoo!! That's awesome Nick! Be really careful around the contours on the top. Really take your time sanding on them. Definitely the trickiest part is on the top of the horns. Can't wait to see how it comes out though. You just going to go with a clear satin oil finish or what?



tkozuch said:


> Just to chime in since it's my guitar, I did give Rick full access to do anything he thinks will look good. While I love the idea of a natural guitar, I already have my LTD SC607b in natural to satisfy those needs.
> 
> I just love non-traditional burst finishes. The idea of the natural body with a blackburst sounds cool too, but i've been lusting after a ghost burst for a long time. In fact, i was this close to ordering a $1200 carvin in ghosted white....
> 
> ...



Thanks Tony! I do appreciate you putting your trust in me to do a good job on this! I'm glad you like it so far and hopefully it's only going to get better


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## Rick In Pa (Dec 3, 2009)

So, here's where I am on this. My spare time has been little to none lately so this has been slow going, but the body, neck and headstock are completely stripped of any paint and sealer (with the exception of a couple spots still on the neck) and fully sanded to 400 grit. At the urging of Yacker and Hollowway, I decided to go ahead and sand down the neck heel a bit and damn am I glad I did. It feels F'ing AWESOME!!! Thanks for the suggestion guys! So, the next step is to finish getting the sealer off the neck, then sand with 800, 1000 and finally 2000 grit paper. Then I am going to apply a few coats of Minwax satin wipe-on poly. Then I will proceed with painting this bad mutha. Pics? Sure, here ya go...





















And here's that new and improved neck heel:


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## s_k_mullins (Dec 3, 2009)

You do some great work... I can't wait to see this finished.
I have a feeling that this project is gonna turn out great!


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## InCasinoOut (Dec 3, 2009)

damn, that looks awesome, and that heel looks amazing now!!! i totally want to do this to my interceptor once i have a second agile 7.


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## conorreich (Dec 3, 2009)

i would love to do this to mine but i dont have the patience =[

looking good man, looking good


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## Rick In Pa (Dec 3, 2009)

Thanks guys! I appreciate the nice comments!


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## Rick (Dec 3, 2009)

Oh, damn. A couple of Agiles lookin' real good.


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## Rick In Pa (Dec 3, 2009)

Thanks Rick!


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## MrRedRaider (Dec 3, 2009)

wow.. very nice man! I think I may have to try this on my septor and leave it natural. Hurry up and finish it! haha


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## Rick In Pa (Dec 4, 2009)

MrRedRaider said:


> wow.. very nice man! I think I may have to try this on my septor and leave it natural. Hurry up and finish it! haha




These guitars do seem to look very nice natural, so I would say go for it! 

I'm doing my best to get it done but it's probably still going to be a few weeks. Hang in there


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## Rick In Pa (Dec 4, 2009)

Just a quick update. I got a few small things done on the Septor this morning. With the help of the dremel and a small cone shaped sanding attachment, I was able to get the paint out of the control knob bevels and the truss rod slot in the headstock and then I also got the rest of the sealer off the neck. Doesn't seem like much but that was over an hours work. It's amazing to me how much sanding goes into this process! Anyway, here's a couple crappy pictures from my iPhone


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## TimSE (Dec 4, 2009)

nice


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## vhmetalx (Dec 7, 2009)

Rick In Pa said:


> Put a few more hours work into this job and it is now completely stripped down to bare wood with the exception of the headstock. The final plan is to do a Ghost/White burst with semi-transparent white base and black burst edges. Once you see what this looks like naked, you will realize how awesome it's going to look with the semi-trans white. On to the pics...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


FOR THE LOVE OF GOD Keep that sexy natural!



tkozuch said:


> While I love the idea of a natural guitar, I already have my LTD SC607b in natural to satisfy those needs.


ATTA BOY!


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## Rick In Pa (Dec 7, 2009)

I got to work on this a bit more over the weekend and you can actually SEE progress now. I got all of the base sanding done, it's been sanded all the way to 2000 grit. Then i started applying Minwax clear satin wipe-on poly as a sealer. I applied 3 coats of that to the body, front and back, and then 3 coats of Tung Oil to the back of the neck. The next is that I will be "ebonizing" the fretboard to give it that badass ebony look. I think that will really complete the look of this guitar once it's painted. So, for now, here's some more progress pics and I'll be back in a few days with another update...


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## HANIAK (Dec 7, 2009)

Looks a billion times better in natural. Keep it that way!


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## wannabguitarist (Dec 7, 2009)

Damn, I should have ordered a natural interceptor


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## xtrustisyoursx (Dec 7, 2009)

I didn't know you could ebonize a maple board


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## Rick In Pa (Dec 7, 2009)

xtrustisyoursx said:


> I didn't know you could ebonize a maple board


 
To be honest, neither did I 

But, I've talked to a couple of people who have had success with it and I've seen pictures of a couple and they look great. Specifically, there is a guy who goes by the name Mark_Morton on AGF who did it on the maple board on his Intrepid and you would never know it wasn't an ebony board by the pictures.

I'm gonna give it a shot. I've done it on 3 other guitars so I do have the experience with it. I'll keep my fingers crossed though!


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## MaKo´s Tethan (Dec 7, 2009)

wow!! man I love oiled mahogany, awesome work, I can`t wait to see her finish.


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## vhmetalx (Dec 7, 2009)

Rick In Pa said:


> To be honest, neither did I
> 
> But, I've talked to a couple of people who have had success with it and I've seen pictures of a couple and they look great. Specifically, there is a guy who goes by the name Mark_Morton on AGF who did it on the maple board on his Intrepid and you would never know it wasn't an ebony board by the pictures.
> 
> I'm gonna give it a shot. I've done it on 3 other guitars so I do have the experience with it. I'll keep my fingers crossed though!


 Good luck to you!


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## Fred (Dec 7, 2009)

Jesus Christ it looks cold where you are, haha. Great progress so far, can't wait for more updates!


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## Rick In Pa (Dec 7, 2009)

MaKo´s Tethan;1766077 said:


> wow!! man I love oiled mahogany, awesome work, I can`t wait to see her finish.


 

Thanks Mauricio! I appreciate it!



vhmetalx said:


> Good luck to you!


 

Thanks Victor!


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## vhmetalx (Dec 7, 2009)

Rick In Pa said:


> Thanks Victor!


 No Problemo!
And it looks very nice where you live i must say.


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## Rick In Pa (Dec 7, 2009)

Fred said:


> Jesus Christ it looks cold where you are, haha. Great progress so far, can't wait for more updates!


 

Haha! I took those pictures at like 6:45 this morning and it was somewhere around 25 degrees fahrenheit outside 

Thanks for the compliments!



vhmetalx said:


> No Problemo!
> And it looks very nice where you live i must say.


 

Funny you say that because I'm actually from Northern California originally (Marin County) but moved to Pa. about 6 years ago so we could be closer to my wife's family.


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## tkozuch (Dec 7, 2009)

I can't believe that is my blue Septor! I know this is gonna bring some groans, but that Septor is already nicer to play than my LTD SC607b, and with the newly trimmed down neck heel, it's going to be a dream


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## Rick In Pa (Dec 7, 2009)

tkozuch said:


> I can't believe that is my blue Septor! I know this is gonna bring some groans, but that Septor is already nicer to play than my LTD SC607b, and with the newly trimmed down neck heel, it's going to be a dream


 

I don't know who you are, but this is my Septor. I have no idea why you would think this is yours


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## tkozuch (Dec 7, 2009)

I know where you live


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## Rick In Pa (Dec 7, 2009)

tkozuch said:


> I know where you live


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## vhmetalx (Dec 7, 2009)

Rick In Pa said:


> Funny you say that because I'm actually from Northern California originally (Marin County) but moved to Pa. about 6 years ago so we could be closer to my wife's family.



Pa huh? looks nice down there. i might need to visit and see how i like it down there...
*cough*and try out the agile*cough*


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## Rick In Pa (Dec 7, 2009)

vhmetalx said:


> Pa huh? looks nice down there. i might need to visit and see how i like it down there...
> *cough*and try out the agile*cough*





Eh, it's not too bad. Where I actually live is basically populated farm country. We are right on the border of Amish country, so there's alot of pretty farm land here. Where about in Cali are you?


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## vhmetalx (Dec 7, 2009)

Rick In Pa said:


> Eh, it's not too bad. Where I actually live is basically populated farm country. We are right on the border of Amish country, so there's alot of pretty farm land here. Where about in Cali are you?



Rocklin! just a couple min north of Sacramento. Its boring as tits up here.


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## Hollowway (Dec 8, 2009)

Very impressive, man! It's 11:30pm here, and I gotta get up at 6, but after seeing that heel I'm like thisclose to taking my Intrepid out in the garage and having at it!
Plus, props to Kurt and Rondo for using nice wood even on guitars that have it covered up.


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## Rick In Pa (Dec 8, 2009)

Hollowway said:


> Very impressive, man! It's 11:30pm here, and I gotta get up at 6, but after seeing that heel I'm like thisclose to taking my Intrepid out in the garage and having at it!
> Plus, props to Kurt and Rondo for using nice wood even on guitars that have it covered up.


 

Thanks man, I appreciate it. You were definitely the inpiration to do that and honestly, it made a HUGE difference in the feel of the guitar, so thanks!


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## Rick In Pa (Dec 8, 2009)

Well, the fretboard is dyed and it came out pretty good. I started by "sanding" down the entire board with steel wool. I started with a medium grade to get the gook off and try to get some of those stains off (which I was able to do) and then finished off with the fine (0000) grade to get it nice and smooth. Then I applied 3 coats of the Fiebing's leather dye wiping it off after letting each coat "soak in" for 10-15 minutes. It turned out nice and dark. There are some strange marks right up against a few of the actual frets, but unless you're right on top of the guitar, they aren't noticeable. I started working on the sides of the board but I ran out of time so only got one side done. As expected, it did bleed through the tape in a few spots so I went at it with the 0000 steel wool and it pretty much took care of it. I'll spend a bit more time later and get it nice and cleaned up. On to the pics....

This is as I was starting the process. At this point I had "sanded" the first 5 frets with the steel wool






Here, all the "sanding has been done and it's ready to be dyed:





Three coats of dye are applied:





And one final shot just to see the guitar with the board dyed. Sorry for this crappy pic, no flash and in the basement:


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## tkozuch (Dec 8, 2009)

Wow, I can't believe this started out as my blue Septor. Doing a killer job Rick. I can't wait til it's all finished!


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## tkozuch (Dec 8, 2009)

Sorry, double post.

Can't wait to rock out on it though.


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## djpharoah (Dec 8, 2009)

Everything looks awesome except for the fact that the maple board was dyed black. It doesn't work with me considering how few maple boarded 7s there are but in the end it's your decision.


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## tkozuch (Dec 8, 2009)

I had no problem with the maple board, but when Keith had the frets refinished, the guy that did the work got some gunk into the board, so it was really ugly and unfixable. In the end, I think that the ebony board will look better with the ghost white finish


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## Rick In Pa (Dec 8, 2009)

djpharoah said:


> Everything looks awesome except for the fact that the maple board was dyed black. It doesn't work with me considering how few maple boarded 7s there are but in the end it's your decision.




I totally understand what your saying. Just giving the guitars owed what he asked for though


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## vhmetalx (Dec 8, 2009)

Rick In Pa said:


> Well, the fretboard is dyed and it came out pretty good. I started by "sanding" down the entire board with steel wool. I started with a medium grade to get the gook off and try to get some of those stains off (which I was able to do) and then finished off with the fine (0000) grade to get it nice and smooth. Then I applied 3 coats of the Fiebing's leather dye wiping it off after letting each coat "soak in" for 10-15 minutes. It turned out nice and dark. There are some strange marks right up against a few of the actual frets, but unless you're right on top of the guitar, they aren't noticeable. I started working on the sides of the board but I ran out of time so only got one side done. As expected, it did bleed through the tape in a few spots so I went at it with the 0000 steel wool and it pretty much took care of it. I'll spend a bit more time later and get it nice and cleaned up.


 if i EVER think of getting an agile and sanding it down, it may have to go to you.
otherwise andrew_b will build a 7 for me.


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## Rick In Pa (Dec 8, 2009)

vhmetalx said:


> if i EVER think of getting an agile and sanding it down, it may have to go to you.
> otherwise andrew_b will build a 7 for me.


 

Let me know bud. I'd be happy to do it. I love doing this stuff. It's like my way of relaxing. 

Btw, it doesn't HAVE to be an Agile either. I could do this with most any guitar assuming it had good quality wood. 

And, I agree about andrew's work. I was checking out his build thread last night and that guitar is BADASS!!!


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## vhmetalx (Dec 8, 2009)

Rick In Pa said:


> Let me know bud. I'd be happy to do it. I love doing this stuff. It's like my way of relaxing.
> 
> Btw, it doesn't HAVE to be an Agile either. I could do this with most any guitar assuming it had good quality wood.
> 
> And, I agree about andrew's work. I was checking out his build thread last night and that guitar is BADASS!!!


 Well i only say agile because if they feel as nice as i believe they do then id get one of those in a heartbeat.
and I KNOW RIGHT? I want to see it in action.


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## Rick In Pa (Dec 27, 2009)

I was finally able to start working on painting this guitar yesterday. The guitar has been sanded, sealed with Minwax satin wipe-on poly and the fretboard has been dyed. I started applying paint yesterday with my airbrush and got 6 very thin coats of semi-transparent white paint on. We were going for a look where you can still see the grain and the maple stripes through the paint and that's what I have right now. The next step will be some very light sanding to smooth everything out and then I can start spraying the black burst. I think I have decided that I am going to leave the back natural and just do the black burst. The front of the headstock will match the front of the guitar and the back will match the back (if that makes sense). Anyway, on to the pictures.

After the 1st very thin coat of paint





Second Coat





Third Coat





I think I forgot to take a shot after the fourth coat, this is after the fifth coat





And this is where I decided to call it good with the white paint







So, that's it for today. I will put up some updates after I start spraying the burst. Thanks for looking!


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## Issor (Dec 28, 2009)

Wow, that looks just fantastic. I don't like that you're hiding any of that gorgeous wood with paint, but at least it's not a solid color - nice work!


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## conorreich (Dec 28, 2009)

wow that does look great!

i might have to give you my peavey body to finish sanding and painting.

i swear to christ i dont have the patience for that shit!


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## EliNoPants (Dec 28, 2009)

that looks awesome, if i had the patience for all that sanding, i'd love to refinish my SC-607B in something other than black...and that ghost burst idea is sounding like it's gonna look awesome in the end


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## Rick In Pa (Dec 28, 2009)

Thanks guys! I appreciate all the comments. After I'm done with this one I'll be starting a refin job for someone on another forum that I visit, but then I'll be looking for another project after that. If anyone is serious, send me a PM and we can discuss it.


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## CrushingAnvil (Dec 28, 2009)

I didn't even know dying a maple board to ebony was possible 

Good effort.


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## Ram150023 (Dec 28, 2009)

@ Rick In Pa... check out my Ibby GSR200 and my BC Rich... i have to get the headstock shots on the BC... never seen a blue metallic warlock before... nor a natural GSR... but i as well love to refinish guitars!!! Nice job from what i can see... but that 7 DEFINITELY needs to be "au natural"!!!!


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## Rick In Pa (Dec 28, 2009)

CrushingAnvil said:


> I didn't even know dying a maple board to ebony was possible
> 
> Good effort.




I was actually leery of it at first, but I just gave the board a light scrubbing with steel wool and then went for it with the dye and it worked great.


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## Rick In Pa (Jan 6, 2010)

Ok guys, I finally was able to start painting the burst on this after finishing up the base white and clearing over that with Satin wipe-on Minwax poly. I am doing this all freehand with an airbrush so I know it's not perfect but I think it's looking pretty decent so far. I have 3 coats of paint on the sides and 2 coats on the top. The sides are basically done, the top just needs some smoothing out and touching up in a few places and then I can start on the back. Here's some pics (I only put a few so it didn't take up so much space with boring "here's the next coat" shots)

1st coat on the sides





after 3 coats on the sides






And, the top after the 1st coat





And after 2 coats on the top







What do you guys think? Sorry the light is terrible in these pics. They were taken in my garage with my electric heater and the camera flash as my only light source. Once it's finished I will get some nice natural light shots of it.


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## Customisbetter (Jan 6, 2010)

sexy time


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## paintkilz (Jan 6, 2010)

the way you did your burst looks easy..im guessing you basically went around the top and lightly applied coats from what looks like a spray can? not that its bad, im actually going to consider this for my project...the back and sides will be black, and the top is black stain..maybe ill burst it though into the stain.


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## Rick (Jan 6, 2010)

Very nice.


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## Rick In Pa (Jan 6, 2010)

paintkilz said:


> the way you did your burst looks easy..im guessing you basically went around the top and lightly applied coats from what looks like a spray can? not that its bad, im actually going to consider this for my project...the back and sides will be black, and the top is black stain..maybe ill burst it though into the stain.


 

I'm actually using an airbrush, but it is pretty easy as long as you go slow and take your time.


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## tkozuch (Jan 7, 2010)

Sweet guitar


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## Rick In Pa (Jan 7, 2010)

tkozuch said:


> Sweet guitar


 

I'm sorry, do I know you?


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## vhmetalx (Jan 14, 2010)

siiick


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## Factionwars (Jan 15, 2010)

Thats really good looking. i am ordering a 7string from agile aswel


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## Rick In Pa (Jan 23, 2010)

Finally finished this up and delivered it to Tony who was very happy with the results. Although it's far from perfect, I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. Here's the pics:


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## AgileLefty (Jan 23, 2010)




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## Haunted (Jan 23, 2010)

awesome job man!! I'd like to start experimenting with refinishing myself
I have an old RG 470 body laying around....


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## Rick (Jan 23, 2010)

That looks awesome!


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## Rick In Pa (Jan 23, 2010)

Thanks guys! 

Haunted, Go for it! It's really not difficult, it's all about patience. If you take your time and do things the proper way, it's not that difficult to get good results.


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## Wierdoom (Jan 23, 2010)

That looks really nice!


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## White Cluster (Jan 24, 2010)

Cool..Too much black though..Needed more gray fading into the white..Of course that's just my opinion.


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## Wi77iam (Jan 24, 2010)

White Cluster said:


> Cool..Too much black though..Needed more gray fading into the white..Of course that's just my opinion.


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## TheSixthWheel (Jan 24, 2010)

To the OP: 
After viewing this thread from top to bottom (a bunch of your pics throughout the thread don't work dude) I'd have to say that this is one of the worst transformations I've seen take place on this forum, judged by finished product. I am aware that this guitar was not your own and you were taking finish requests from the owner, that's cool.

Please think of the following as encouragement and observations, as well as things to think about before you do additional work on other peoples guitars. Don't take any offense - although I don't care either way. I'm just trying to help you to beta test your work before you do it for others, especially if you're charging them money.

A burst finish needs careful testing and planning. It's to do with depth , and most importantly - consistancy of the burst itself, or fading of the finish. It's not the easiest thing to get a consistant burst, especially with the ghost burst the owner's gone with here.
The burst I'm looking at in some of the final pics here looks rushed, miscalculated and amateurish. I know everyone has to start somewhere, and usually people who mod guitars (myself included) need a bunch of experience on their own guitars, scraps and templates before they're comfortable modding for others. I'm by no means any kind of standard, I'm just suggesting that you get good with painting some scraps first, and _then_ do it for real on a fully functional guitar which belongs to someone else.
People for the most part have pretty high standards and expectations when they're getting somebody to mod their guitar. Experience is paramount, and the burst I'm looking at in these last pics really motivated me to make this post. If it were your guitar, then I probably would have left it at "Good job dude, have a few more goes at the burst paint thing". But it's someone else's guitar

I would feel bad about giving the guitar back to the owner if I did this burst to it, especially if they paid you, and in turn expected at least a semi-pro finish. Payment adds a whole extra sacred amount of responsibility when modding other people's guitars. If they pay, you'd better do a great job.

The ebonised fretboard looks decent from a distance, but the finish is uneven, especially on the higher frets. Also, anybody who knows their shit would be able to identify it as anything other than ebony in about 2 seconds. Not that you're trying to camouflage it that much, but you mentioned not being able to tell the difference, even up close? 

The sanding job looks decent, the dying job looks mediocre and the painting job looks bad. Just keep working on them dude, and you'll have some great skills built up eventually.

I've painted shitloads of other things alongside my dad with 25 years painting/signwriting experience, but I've never painted a guitar. So don't think I'm trying to be all 'holier than thou' on you, I just think paying customers deserve a decent job.

I hope anything I've mentioned has been of assistance, I'd expect SS.org members to put me in my place (and they have in the past) if something I've done has come up short. That's how we learn.

Keep modding, you'll get a lot better. But keep listening to important advice from others.


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## tkozuch (Jan 24, 2010)

Let me come to Rick's defense here as this is my guitar. It's certainly not a pro job by any means, and Rick will be the first to admit it. He charged me nothing to do this refinish, because he knew it was going to be a learning experience, and so did I. I will say, the finished product looks MUCH better in person than in photos.

Here's a photo of me messing with it this morning. Also, this is exactly the way I wanted it. I didn't want it to look like it was right off the showroom floor.


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## TheSixthWheel (Jan 24, 2010)

tkozuch said:


> Let me come to Rick's defense here as this is my guitar. It's certainly not a pro job by any means, and Rick will be the first to admit it. He charged me nothing to do this refinish, because he knew it was going to be a learning experience, and so did I. I will say, the finished product looks MUCH better in person than in photos.
> 
> Here's a photo of me messing with it this morning. Also, this is exactly the way I wanted it. I didn't want it to look like it was right off the showroom floor.



Then that's totally cool man, I'm glad you're happy with it. I was just calling this for what it seemed to be in my eyes - a very average paint job. Customer satisfaction is ultimate, and if you the customer is satisfied, then the OP's job is done.


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## tkozuch (Jan 24, 2010)

I see your point - if I was paying a few hundred dollars, I might want everything to be perfect. But for me, I basically just gave a good friend one of my guitars to try to make look a little cooler than before. I have a Carvin and a Gibson for when I want to look at a beautiful guitar. This thing is just going to be my little metal beast.

I do appreciate the spirit of your post in that you were trying to help, I just didn't want people to think Rick was trying to pose as a master painter or anything.

I think it shows a little better without the flash too


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## Rick In Pa (Jan 24, 2010)

TheSixthWheel said:


> To the OP:
> After viewing this thread from top to bottom (a bunch of your pics throughout the thread don't work dude) I'd have to say that this is one of the worst transformations I've seen take place on this forum, judged by finished product. I am aware that this guitar was not your own and you were taking finish requests from the owner, that's cool.
> 
> Please think of the following as encouragement and observations, as well as things to think about before you do additional work on other peoples guitars. Don't take any offense - although I don't care either way. I'm just trying to help you to beta test your work before you do it for others, especially if you're charging them money.
> ...





Hey Nick, First of all I will say thank you for taking the time to write up the extended review that you did. Obviously you felt strongly enough about this to write as much as you did. In all honesty, I don't really disagree with most of what you've said. There are however a couple of things that you said that I take issue with.

First of all, I didn't charge Tony (the owner of the guitar) a cent for doing this. Tony is a friend of mine and I was very clear going into this that I am still very much a novice and I made no promises as to the quality of the end results. He was well aware of this and was kind enough to give me a platform for practicing this stuff with no expectations.

Secondly, pertaining to the dying of the fretboard, I just went back through and re-read the thread and at no point did I say that it looks exactly like an ebony board and you can't tell it's not. I did say that one of the people I had talked to about this, who had previously dyed a maple board, had one that was hard to tell it wasn't ebony, in the pictures. The fretboard on this guitar had some pretty decent damage to it when I received it which made a perfect result nearly impossible. The result I came up with is pretty fucking decent given what I had to work with though. The dye job I did on it is not at all uneven, the maple on the board and the dirt and grime that were already on it were extremely uneven and you can still see some of that through the dye.

All of that said, THE most important thing here is what the owner of the guitar thinks of it and as you can tell by his comments above, he is quite happy with it. Is it perfect? Hell no. Is it a professional refinish job? Not even close. Is it a pretty decent job for a complete amateur with almost no experience doing this sort of thing? I certainly think so. Truth be told...if this were my guitar, I'd already be working on sanding it down and starting over. Again, I do appreciate your comments and you for taking the time to write them. I do plan on practicing a whole lot more and getting alot better at this with any luck. But for now, man I'm just having alot of fun with it.


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## TheSixthWheel (Jan 24, 2010)

Rick In Pa said:


> Hey Nick, First of all I will say thank you for taking the time to write up the extended review that you did. Obviously you felt strongly enough about this to write as much as you did. In all honesty, I don't really disagree with most of what you've said. There are however a couple of things that you said that I take issue with.
> 
> First of all, I didn't charge Tony (the owner of the guitar) a cent for doing this. Tony is a friend of mine and I was very clear going into this that I am still very much a novice and I made no promises as to the quality of the end results. He was well aware of this and was kind enough to give me a platform for practicing this stuff with no expectations.
> 
> ...



Tkozuch confirmed that this wasn't a paid job, which certainly does change things. And it was this post http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/1766058-post60.html I was mistaking for something you'd seen in person. In reference to my Ebony/Maple comment, maple grain just does _not_ look like Ebony.

It IS a pretty decent job for an amateur with no experience, and it's great that the owner of the guitar gave you some freedom to gain experience. Fun is important. I was just imagining money exchanging hands for this refinish and alarm bells were ringing.


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## tkozuch (Jan 25, 2010)

No worries Nick. I am lucky enough to have some really great guitars (Carvin, Gibson), but my Septor, i was never really happy with, and i'm not a big maple fan. So I gave Rick free reign to do whatever. I didn't care if he made it look like someone scribbled on it with crayon, it was still going to play awesome. 

All things considered, he really did a good job. I swear it looks 1000 times better in person.


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## Sean Babiniec (Jan 25, 2010)

I don't think it looks bad at all. It does look like a penguin, but that is pretty cool. Penguins are kickass.


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## tkozuch (Jan 25, 2010)




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