The Phoenix... the restoration of a rare custom-made "Thunderbird"

[Highlander]

Ours is an R285 - we use one supplied by a UK firm and have had reasonabe success with it - I bought a new one as I did not want to risk tubing failure, and technology improves - newest chipset seems pretty good, time will tell though...

Price ratio is staggering - at least 10x cheaper...

[Dave W]

Nice job, looks like the project is finally starting to come together.

[birdie]

looks great. My limited exposure to binding left my fingers bleedin'....

[Lightyear]

Nicely done Kenny!

[FlatEric]

Kenny. WOW.

I have been slack on my attendance of your latest posts, sorry.
I have been having a look round today and seen the progress.
Looking Good! 

[Highlander]

Cheers Gents, the work goes on...

I had to strip the Tbird pup this evening as post poly the "leaf" had not taken to the surface properly, so now sprayed with a type of "primer" before I re-coat... the MB looks fine...

... and Birdie, if I could work to the quality I've seen in your efforts, I should be so lucky...!

[Highlander]

Okay... so the weather's not been perfect, but on with the show...

A lesson on "how to screw things up" first... I said "amateur" at the start of this thread (on the ReRanch version) so this is what I meant...


... the "eagle-eyes" will spot the dot marking now on the binding... just holes at the moment waiting to be filled with something or other - products from "Tonetech"...


I wanted to highlight the edges of the centre section, so I masked off as required, not realising quite how "wet" nitro is... and paid for it...!

After a clean up I am left with some "cherry" staining where I don't want it, but I can live with that...


... a couple of passes of the amber...


... a bit of wet-and-dry and a bit more amber...


... more wet-and-dry... more amber, and again...

[Highlander]

A couple of pics Jackie took whilst I was at work...


... on a meat-hook in the shed... yes, a meat hook... preping for some 'burst work...


... first pass for the cherry on the amber... the body has also now had her first coat...

There have been a couple more passes of cherry this afternoon but will post a pic once I've done a bit of sanding...

[Lightyear]

Looking good Ken!  The veneer is awesome with some color on it!

[drbassman]

Wow Kenny,  you certainly are creating something totally unique!  Looking fantastic so far!

[OldManC]

Wow Kenny, that's going to be beautiful! I love how different it's going to be from it's previous look! Talk about a new set of clothes...

[Pilgrim]

You have a pretty impressive finish going there - it really brings out the character of the wood - looks GREAT!!

[Highlander]

Thanks gentlemen (although there is one Lady round the site that is "gunning" (ME109 style) for me for the descration of her spare "ring"... )

Anyway, todays work...


... post some W&D, the body with the 3rd coat, a bit more amber and the "burst" starting to show through...


... the bodies 4th pass, and I think that will be enough amber... a bit more "burst" and then the clear...

The body will need a few more passes of the cherry and the edge of the sunburst will need some, but I will need to be careful here as the top of the "fin" and near the neck are darker - this was "mirrored" below, but is not as noticeable as the majority of the "mirror" is not on show...
The Thunderbird pup "leaf" took on the second attempt and has now had a few coats of poly, as has the ring, which is now black (much to someones disgust - can I come out of hiding yet...?)

More to follow if this weather holds...

[Hornisse]

Looking wonderful Ken!  That bass looks tiny compared to you.  You must be well over 6 foot tall I take it?

[Highlander]

6' 1", but I have never laid this beastie next to "the real thing"  and I've always had a suspicion that she's slightly scaled down - the centre section is definitely smaller (as I discovered with the pup cover that Mark sent over - I've had to "roll" the edges of the ring to overcome the difference...

Can someone measure the "fin to horn" and the opposite and I'll compare notes, also the distance from the neck in a straight line to the end of the body and I'll see if my suspicions bear scrutiny...

I recently found this pic of me with her in a much more original condition, probably taken in '81... still with the original controls (2 vol/2 tone gold "witch's hats", straight jack, and pup selector), and the addition of the MB1's coil tap switch... the #1 Badass had been fitted and the original tailpieces screwholes are still visible...