Gibson Mini Flying V construction?

[John E Giarrizzo]

I am finishing up the stripping off of the finish on a Gibson Mini Flying V that someone else had started. Using a heat gun.

How are the threaded inserts for the bridge attached? Press fit? Screwed in like many threaded inserts are?

How to remove for finishing?

Thanks

John

[Dan Smith]

John, i have removed bushings by dropping something hard into the hole such as a short dowel.
Then screw the post in. The post screw will press against the dowel forcing the bushing out.
The bushing is open on the end and the dowel presses against the bottom of the hole in the guitar body.
I heard bb's work well.
Dan

[John E Giarrizzo]

Thanks, Dan.

I will do that ---as soon I get a metric bolt. Tried several American threads. No go. I am assuming that it has to be metric.

[Barry Daniels]

Gibson with a metric thread? That doesn't sound right.

[John E Giarrizzo]

I see what you mean. A 5/6-18 goes in for about a turn before jamming. Could be a 5/6-24. I can't find one in my junk box. Will go to the hardware store.

[Barry Daniels]

Yeah, it is likely a fine thread instead of a coarse.

[John E Giarrizzo]

I fought the "Holiday" traffic this morning and bought a 5/16-24 bolt. Wrong thread. Went back out and bought an 8mm bolt. I had picked out one from the bin, and the sales guy told me that they come in "fine" and "course". I bought both.

The "course" 8mm fits. To the best of my determination, by measuring the pitch, it is an M8x1.25.

I learned somthing new. That there are many metric pitchs per screw size.

[John E Giarrizzo]

Bushings easily removed per Dan's suggestion. Used heat gun to remove the red finish.

But now, underneath that color layer, and covering the underlying wood is a thick layer of something? It appears to be an epoxy or plastic like very light brown color. Tried paint remover. No effect.

I'm thinking at this point, the only way to remove is sanding? Any suggestion?

I'm thinking that with the work to remove this, I might make a whole new body. With some exotic wood?

[David King]

That filler is likely polyester and it's pretty bulletproof short of getting it really hot. Sanding it off works but stinks usually and will leave fine white dust everywhere. You can go at it with an orbital and some soapy water to keep the dust down if you don't have a vacuum port on your sander.

[John E Giarrizzo]

I did try heat with no affect. Maybe not hot enough. I had tried scraping some. Very hard, and it did smell sort of like epoxy or fiberglass resin.

I had advised the owner to NOT DO IT !! Opening a can of worms. The finish was good. He just didn't like the color. He started it, so I guess I'll just have to keep going. (Still thinking about making a whole new one)

Hopefully I can sand evenly without removing any appreciable wood or altering the shape much. For the flat front and back, I think that I can run it through my thickness sander. The blank does have an even thickness.

And we will see what the wood looks like. What kind? One piece? Finishable?

[Brian Evans]

Catalog says it's poplar. The ultimate paintable wood. I wouldn't bother taking the original finish off, I'd just get it smooth and shoot it another color.

[David King]

If he wanted a lovely piece of wood with a clear natural finish over it it will never look good or interesting and without that super hard polyester it will be a dent magnet. Perhaps you could veneer over the top and back with something nice if he thinks a solid color isn't for him. If a solid color is what he wants then for god's sake leave the filler layer intact and just paint over it.