1953 Vintage Fender Precision Bass Restoration Refinish

This week in the shop we have a '53 Fender Precision Bass. The P-Bass came out in 1951 and revolutionized the music industry. This bass is # 08XX, so it was one of the very first made. It was restored in 1957, when it was given a two color sunburst finish and a white guard, which was the new style P-Bass finish of the day. Then goofed with probably in the 70's with a brushed on "natural" finish (ouch). Currently we are bringing it back to original specs. The butterscotch blonde finish is being applied though the florescent lamp in the paint booth makes it look a bit green! And it will receive the proper black guard. The bass will be offered for sale in a few weeks once everything is done and the lacquer is cured. Feel free to inquire about details if interested.

1963 Vintage Fender Telecaster Humbucker Route Repair

This week in the shop we are working on a 1963 Telecaster, fixing the humbucker route and restoring to original Fender Telecaster route. Fortunately, the owner kept the original neck pickup, and this will be installed. See photos and descriptions here.

1959 Fender Telcaster Restoration, Nice!

We just completed this 1959 Fender Telecaster. This is an early "slab board" neck model. Although the bridge pickup has been replaced, it has so many other things going for it. The finish is amazing and the original pick guard has an unbelievable patina. The neck is rock solid and plays great, and the guitar sounds wonderful.

View more photos here and click on "All Sizes" above the images to see a larger size.

1959 Fender Stratocaster Style Body 'Faded '59'

This new body mimics the look of a faded 1959 Vintage Fender Stratocaster. It features a very deep tobacco brown outer, a faded and receded red burst, and an amber center. This is an Ash body so it combines the best attributes of the '54-'55 Ash Strats with the beauty of the faded '59 3-tone burst. At Fiesta Finishes, we can do any degree of fading that the customer desires. From a bright red NOS look, to an extremely faded, almost two-tone look.

Fiesta Finishes Shop Notes, week of May 10, 2010

Pictured above are three jobs in the shop this week. A Dakota Red '62 Precision Bass (restoring original custom color), a 1959 Telecaster, and a '71 Precision Bass. The '62 P-Bass and the Tele will be for sale next week, while the '71 P-Bass belongs to a customer.



This is customer Geoffrey's beautiful figured Ash Stratocaster body. Geoffrey had a vision for a 3-color tobacco burst. So we took our "Faded 1959 Stratocaster" look and took almost all of the red out of the burst. These colors, along with the great wood make a striking combination. The body is also very light, well under 4 lbs. with finish. It's great to help a customer realize his/her vision.

1957 Fender Telecaster Refinish and Restoration

This '57 Tele has to be one of my all time favorite guitars. Wish I could have kept it. It came into the shop as you see it on the left of the photo. I picked it up and it almost flew out of my hand it was so light. I put it on the scale as you see it without strings, pick guard or knobs, and it weighed 5.8 lbs! I started doing the math in my head to determine that if, with the new finish, and correct parts installed, it could be the first sub 6 pound Tele I'd ever seen. It was close, at 6.04 lbs. complete as you see it on the right hand photo.

The Tele was purchased in 1957 and played steadily through the early sixties. Some time around 1962 the original owner refinished in in the blue green color you see here. In 1968 he sold to the second owner, who played it a bit, then decided to refinish it. He started sanding (the back of the guitar was almost bare wood), and then halted the project sometime around 1970. The guitar sat in a closet since then before we brought it back to life at Fiesta Finishes with our restoration effort.

We removed the rest of the finish from the body, then carefully sanded as to retain original contours. We then applied a thin skin Nitro Lacquer late 50's style finish. We then sourced an original '57 pick guard and period correct knobs.

We did some light relic work on this guitar. The lower bout had some arm wear on the wood. Rather than filling we elected to relic this area and also create some chips on the finish where they were originally. Overall the look was perfect as it matched the condition of the neck and other hardware.

This is truly one of the finest Fender guitars I have ever had the chance to work on. It has a nice big boat V-Neck, perfectly straight, and the light weight and resonant tone of the body is just amazing. See more photos of this great guitar here:

1957 Telecaster

A typical day in the shop at Fiesta Finishes

Lots of bodies in the shop this week for finishing. Hanging: Surf Green '73 Precision Bass, '72 Telecaster Blonde, '73 Precision Bass Olympic White. On bench: '57 Telecaster Blonde, '57 Stratocaster two color Sunburst, in Paint Booth: '66 Precision Bass, Candy Apple Red. All bodies were in pristine condition except for the Oly White P-Bass which required a repair for an extra bridge pickup route and an enlarged control panel route.