Not directly CBG question, but I thought someone would be able to help on another project. I am doing a restoration on a 1938 Harmony Serenader parlor guitar. One of those faux wood painted finishes with white painted bindings. The surface has some cracks, scratches, and places where the finish needs restoration. 95% of it is good, so I am not looking to sand it down to the wood and do a complete redo.
What kind of paint would have been used on these old painted Harmonys and Kays. And is there a clear coat I can apply after restoring to preserve the entire finish?
Thanks!
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I've done plenty of of Stellas and Harmonys - just leave the paint as it is. Overspraying will make it look and feel wrong. The only thing I ever do if there are some really unsightly scrapes or knocks, particularly on the painted-on "bindings" is to touch these up, but otherwise I leave the finish alone. It doesn't need "restoration", its an old guitar. That reminds me of a client I had,who was restoring an old farmhouse in France and had problems with damp. The French builder (mind you, in France they afford craftsmen rather more respect, and he was addressed as "Monsieur le maçon". When asked what to do, he simply shrugged his shoulders and said "Madame, the house is over 200 years old, of course it's damp!".
It's not so much refinishing, but preserving the finish already on it. The paint is chipped and cracked in a few places, and I want to make sure the majority of it lasts from here as best i can.
Here is what she looks like after I did some work to straighten out a very warped top and broken bracing.
Beautiful little parlor rig. My thought on further efforts is,..don't. I enjoy a fine restored git (I know that isn't what you want to do), but a nice patina is priceless to me. You seem like a thoughtful and diligent owner, but I have seen some beautiful old gits (and guns) devalued by well-meaning owners who want to "clean a little and preserve". My .02.
It's a Harmony. They were cheap guitars back in the day. The only reason people are collecting them now is that they are still relatively cheap compared to the guitars people really wanna collect. Who can afford a 56-57 Fender Strat, for example? It's simple economics.
Aside from that, when fixed / set up properly, these can be sweet-sounding (and in this case, -looking) tools for creating old timey music. Sure, mend a broken rib or strut. Oil a rusted tuner. Give it a quick polish.
But, re the paint chips, scuffs and scratches: leave 'em be, sez I. They're earned, like grey hairs. Or fading tattoos.
And just remember: Willie Nelson's Spanish guitar has a gaping great hole in it from wear. He has said repeatedly that there isn't another guitar that sounds like it, and he'd never fix it.
You have restored the voice to this box by fixing the broken bracing, allowing that gorgeous top to flex properly. Wipe it down with some good furniture polish, put on some new strings, and call it Done.
And that's what I have done. I am hoping that a few coats of guitar polish will protect and preserve the finish.
When I get a free moment, I certainly will upload a quick video. The only place I would like to touch up is the painted white binding on the back from where I separated it from the body to fix the bracing. Any idea what kind of paint was used back then? Acrylic? Enamel?
Start your research here:
http://harmony.demont.net/faq.php
https://www.facebook.com/HarmonyGuitars/
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