1961 Gibson SG TV/1965 SG Jr.

This 1961 Gibson SG TV model is owned by Chris Lee of Jamestown NY. The plan is to restore the body and paint it the original Polaris White.  Be sure to come back for more in this series. 

Well what Chris believed to be a 61 TV is actually a 1965 SG Jr.. After the body was stripped and with a little research we could pedigree this vintage guitar.

Before

The Body has extreme damage from being stripped with a belt sander in the late 60s. A bad patch job by the pickup cavity can be seen in the smaller photos. It will be fixed the right way, we'll show you how. We'll see just how bad the body is after it is stripped. The headstock logo looks to have been removed with the same sander. It's doubtful anything is left under the black paint.

Well the strip down is finished, what a beautiful slab of Mahogany. Now proper repairs can be made on the body and headstock, and the finish sanding will begin to remove any imperfections in the wood. Next time we'll show you the finished body work. We also determined the original color was a translucent cherry.

The body is now repaired with the damaged areas filled and reshaped. The damage near the pickup cavity was repaired properly with wood and filler, and the holes from the old trem were drilled and plugged with dowel. The body and neck were then finish sanded, starting with 100 grit sand paper and finish sanded with 220 grit and are now ready to be sealed.

After finish sanding the guitar it was sprayed with four coats of sanding sealer, to prevent the wood from sucking in the primer when applied, and then sanded smooth with #0000 grit steel wool. Next will come the primer and primer sealer.

These photos show the body after 10 coats of epoxy primer sprayed and wet sanded between each coat, then 4 coats of primer sealer. All the body repairs are hidden so they won't show up under the paint. Next time we will show you the body and neck painted Polaris White.

The body and neck are now painted with 4 coats of Polaris White. Next we will spay a coat of clear and paint the face of the headstock black.

Here with the black headstock and 25 coats of clear it will now sit for a day before the final wet sanding and buffing starts. Check back for photos of the finished product.

Well here it is, finished and done. All the parts were cleaned up and polished before being put back on. The fret board was treated and cleaned and the frets were polished. We hope Chris believes it is his because it doesn't look like the same guitar he dropped off.