Making a single hole Tug Bar or Finger Rest for 1951-1956 Fender Precision Bass

Last year I did a restoration on a 1953 Fender Precision Bass. It was missing the single hole, wooden Tug Bar, so I made one for it (see below).



Recently, for a restoration of a '55 Precision, I now need to do it again. But rather than make just one, I figured I'd make some extras and offer them for sale. This time, I also have the luxury of having a correct original part in my shop. They are NOT the same shape as the newer two hole plastic part, but they are close.

The originals are made of hard rock maple, no doubt scraps left over from neck production. I first measured the original part. In broad terms it's 1/2" wide 3/8" tall and 2.5" in length.


I made some stock in the correct dimensions using hard rock maple.


The saw is jigged to cut precise 2.5" lengths.


The raw Tug Bar pieces are marked for sanding using the original as a jig.


The pieces are shaped by hand on the belt sander, then hand sanded to the final shape. They are then drilled for the screw hole, then counter sunk. The original part is always kept close by for reference.


Here is the finished piece ready for sealing, painting with black lacquer, then final aging.


Next we apply a coat of black nitro lacquer followed by a coat of clear. Here the finished tug bar is installed on Richard's '55 Precision Bass.


Here is the restored '55 P sporting it's new repro tug bar.

1955 Fender Esquire Telecaster and string ferrule hole restoration

This week in the shop we finished this beautiful 1955 Fender Esquire with 100% original parts down to every last screw. This is a wonderful guitar that is currently for sale:



Also we want to show you how we deal with Tele string ferrule holes. Often when a body is sanded the height changes on the ferrules and when we refinish the body, the ferrule holes fill with lacquer such that the ferrules don't seat flush with the body. We developed this tool to redrill the step in the ferrule hole so everything sits flush after the refin:



First we redrill the holes with the specially designed drill to stop depth


Here the holes are done. You can see the special copper guide on the step drill.



Finally the ferrules are pressed in flush with the body.

1965 Precision Bass Restoration and Refinish...update!

Simon's '65 P-Bass is done now and it came out great. Follow the restoration process with captions, including before shots, and the final steps in the Flickr Photo Set. Note that although the color looks a little greenish in the photo due to digital capture, it's true Sonic Blue.



Also, this week in the shop we finished the '55 Esquire body. The complete guitar that is 100% original except for the finish will be for sale after it cures and is reassembled.

And in process are the guitars you see below. L to R are '58 P-Bass, Olympic White, '64 P-Bass, Olympic White, '66 Tele, original black custom color restored, and another '66 Tele in blonde. The '58 and '64 P-Basses are customer instruments, the two '66 Teles will be for sale.

1956 Telecaster, 1968 Telecaster Bass, 1965 P-Bass Sonic Blue

This week in the shop we just finished the three guitars below, a 1956 Telecaster, a 1965 Clay Dot Jazz bass in lightly aged Olympic White, and a 1968 Telecaster bass with original finish. All great guitars, all for sale (check for sale section to see if still available):








And we are also restoring a 1965 Precision Bass for my friend Simon in the UK. It'll be Sonic Blue. Below you can see the color coat going on in the Fiesta Finishes spray booth. You can follow this project along with the Photo Set.

This Week 1956 DuoSonic, 1957 Telecaster by Fiesta Finishes

This week we completed two awesome guitars. The first is Arthur's 1956 Duosonic. This guitar is literally one of the very first Duosonics from mid 1956! It was originally Desert Sand but had been stripped to bare wood. The tuner holes had also been enlarged for modern tuners. We installed adapter bushings while Arthur sourced some period correct tuners. Then we applied a Desert Sand finish, preserving the original finish in all cavities. The pick guard assembly and all electronics, knobs, etc. are just as they came from Fender in 1956. Nothing has been touched, and the anodized pick guard is signed by "Mel." I wonder if that's Melvin or Melissa? See more photos here



Next we have a 1957 Telecaster. This guitar was in poor shape when we got it, having a bad finish on both neck and body, dead pickups, wrong tuners with drilled head stock, etc. We worked hard to bring it back to life but I never expected it to turn out to be such a cool guitar! It has a light, one piece Ash body, a pronounced V-Neck, and the rewound pickups sound simply amazing thanks to Tom Brantley at Lindy Fralin pickups! This is one of those guitars you just can't put down because it sounds so cool! I'm a big V-Neck fan so that makes it even more amazing to me personally. It really goes to show that with a little love, some good craftsmanship, and patience, a sorry old Fender can really come alive! I'd really like to keep this one, but alas, it's for sale. Check out more photos here

This Week, Melody Maker Restoration

Who says we only do Fenders? This week we completed Arthur's vintage 60's Gibson Melody Maker. It was in rough shape, so it received a complete Cherry Red restoration. Arthur and I agreed we didn't like the faded brown Cherry, and we didn't want it too bright red so it looked like a new guitar, so we found a happy medium. A nice, aged 'closet classic' Cherry Red. This guitar plays great, the neck feels like a Les Paul.

This Week, 1956 Fender DuoSonic, 1959 Stratocaster, 1958 Telecaster Fret Job

This week we have lots going on at Fiesta Finishes, restoring a Black '73 Strat body, a Desert Sand '56 DuoSonic, and a Sonic Blue '59 Strat.



And we now offer re fret jobs at Fiesta Finishes on your vintage Fender. Finding it frustrating to wait for local luthiers who can't seem to get them done on time and are not experts at Fender maple necks that often require finish work during a re fret, we've brought fret jobs in house. Here a Telecaster neck gets new vintage style frets.