Shergold Modulator Restoration!!

impmann

Hi All,

Another Shergold has entered the fold - sadly this one has not had such an easy life and at some point, a previous owner got jiggy with the blunt chisels and a bad paint job. It currently looks like this...

For those that don't know (or don't care) the Modulator was an unusual design in that you bought a standard guitar and then could customise it with different switching modules to suit your needs... there was one that had regular switching, another with Phasing, another that was Stereo (another that was allegedly Quadraphonic although no-one has ever seen that module) and even one with a booster circuit built in.

As you can see, the module/control cavity has been butchered and the impossible-to-find connectors for the module have been lost. It came minus the pickups or any electronics - it clearly had a big custom made pickguard previously - and no machine heads.

The plan is to infill the bad end of the cavity (true up the sides first to make a proper square), re-route it to original and then cover the mess with a plain-ish sycamore veneer. I have a bottle of Emerald Green Rothko and Frost stain that will then be deployed - I'd like to burst the edges back to black, as that was an option when it was new but not sure how that could be achieved at home. Any ideas?

I already have a pair of pickups (well, one is with Ash currently while he rebuilds one of the pickups on another of my Shergolds - he needed a good working one as a pattern) and I think I have tracked down the bare bones of a Module 7 (the rare 'booster' one). This will need a little adaptation, as there is no chance of finding the connectors (they were bespoke and there are just none left), so I will hard wire it in. Not the end of the world, IMHO, as the connectors can be troublesome when they get old anyway.

Oh - the neck is perfect! Beautiful frets, great condition... I've got a NOS box of the correct Nylon bodied Schaller machine heads (I bought them ex-factory when it closed) and so they will go on shortly... however I do have to deal with a sheared screw in the headstock. Never ceases to amaze me how many of these I fix on *all* types of guitar...

The first job is to strip this god-awful paint off it...and then track down some Obeche off-cut to repair the cavity butchery.

WezV

looking forward to this, kinda jealous as I would relish a project like that

impmann

I'm just hoping I can find some Obeche...

WezV

Shouldn't be an issue. I had some here but I think I used it.... And I cant remember where I got it sadly. Check for its other names though

ICBM

impmann said:

... however I do have to deal with a sheared screw in the headstock. Never ceases to amaze me how many of these I fix on *all* types of guitar…

You've probably come across this method already, but if not, I heat the end of the screw with a point-tip soldering iron (use a small drop of solder to get a good thermal connection), to just before the point the wood starts to brown, then grab the screw shaft with some needle-nose pliers and turn it - the heat will have dried the wood so it shrinks away from the screw, and as the screw cools quickly when the pliers grip it, it also shrinks and will come loose enough to turn fairly easily.

You sometimes burn the wood slightly, but it won't show outside the footprint of the tuner.

To be honest, given the state of that guitar I would probably just make a new big pickguard that will cover the whole cavity as it is and not worry about trying to make it original.

WezV

Nah, its gonna lose some originality but it can still look mostly like it should.

I would go with the fill and veneer option for that reason. Not that difficult a job

personally I would be going for a black finish anyway. They look good in black

JohnB

Why go with plain sycamore? flamed sycamore looks great  (if not original) - or just use something cheap like tulipwood

impmann

Thanks @ICBM but I find using the proper tool from Stew Mac makes it so simple. Plus on this one it's sheared off flush.

I'm not into flamed wood etc and I like the utilitarian aspect of Shergold guitars. But having said that, I like greenburst on Shergolds!!! :-)

@WezV what would you search under? I'm still drawing a blank for something big enough...

WezV

Obeche should be okay but woods often have different names in the USA/japan led guitar world to the uk wood working world.

SL hardwoods have it in plank form. Best bet would be to ask for an offcut/sample or order a few metres and make body blanks from the rest.. If you're set on obeche

Tbh, if you are veneering anyway I wouldn't worry about matching wood type for this, its not structural and the veneer will help to conceal and wood movement lines.

OilCityPickups

I did a Shergold bass restoration a few years ago ... it had had punk slogans carved into the top ... so I used burl olive veneer died blue with a burst to black

I have a soft spot for Shergolds ... so a photo story of the pickup rebuild is underway.

impmann

Wow, Ash, that is gorgeous!

I'd love a Marathon!

Can't wait to see the pickup resto - and better still hear it/play it!

impmann

WezV;828981" said:

Obeche should be okay but woods often have different names in the USA/japan led guitar world to the uk wood working world.

SL hardwoods have it in plank form. Best bet would be to ask for an offcut/sample or order a few metres and make body blanks from the rest.. If you're set on obeche

Tbh, if you are veneering anyway I wouldn't worry about matching wood type for this, its not structural and the veneer will help to conceal and wood movement lines.

I had wondered that, Wez. I had considered chucking some pine in there that I have in the garage - Obeche is a softwood too, so with a veneer over the top it wouldn't show!

WezV

Obeche isn't a softwood, just like balsa isn't a softwood. they are just very soft hardwoods

impmann

Ah! I sit corrected!!! :-)

OilCityPickups

impmann said:

Wow, Ash, that is gorgeous!

I'd love a Marathon!

Can't wait to see the pickup resto - and better still hear it/play it!

Played nicely too ... I picked it up for £100 on the flea bay ... sold it to fund a better amp a couple of years later. As usual with Shergolds, the electrics let it down badly ... the switch was crude and odd, largely as it was the same as fitted to a Pifco hair dryer!

The neck, as always with with Shergolds was superb. It was a great bass actually ... sassy, funky sound, with good weight and balance.

impmann

I agree with you on the pots - plus they are the wrong value for the pickups (100k log).

The switches are actually high quality Lorlin units that were otherwise used in hifi and high end audio. It was the Watkins Rapier that used switches from a Morphy Richards hair drier. I don't think one of these Lorlins would take 240v... See the picture!

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b59/impmann/Mobile Uploads/9BBBBF4B-90E6-48C5-8729-0AC250A8077C_zps8w5g3osh.jpg

OilCityPickups

Thats right ... long time since I did the rebuild lol ... Sadly I have seen several basses and guitars fitted with DiMarzios and similar .... and the old pickups were so unique ... hell of a shame.

Sarge

I really fell for the shergold marathon stereo bass when my father in-law asked me to sort his loft find out.
Refretted it and new binding on the neck, resoldered the electric Gubbins (no mean feat!)

https://goo.gl/photos/6riuknEGHZpJYD2C8

HarrySeven

Coincidentally, I've just picked up a stereo Marathon bass in a trade...

impmann

HarrySeven;830127" said:

Coincidentally, I've just picked up a stereo Marathon bass in a trade...

Well, you know who to call if you want to find a new home for it! ;-) I don't have a Shergold bass right now...

JCA2550

I had a 1976 Marathon bass in black with the transitional rebadged Hayman 4040 neck. It was great and my first proper bass. In my 17 year old naivety I defretted it ( I wanted to be the next Mick Karn and Jaco Pastorius) and even after such abuse, it still sounded and played great. If I still had it I'd restore and refret it. Good luck with the restoration, I look forward to following it.

C