Refinishing an SG: grainfill / doghair/ silverfox

guitargeek62

So I've had a lovely Gibson SG Standard (wine red) for a while now and, as much as I like it, the idea of refinishing it has been growing on me. I've been a fan of the Collings Doghair / Epi Silverfox type finishes for quite a while now, but I'm wondering if I'd have any problems in trying to achieve that type of grainfill effect on something that's been finished once already?



DISCLAIMER: I have never tried this before, so any tips / advice on how to achieve this at home would be great, otherwise I'll think about sending it off to someone to get it done properly!

fastonebaz

Gold leaf plate it.   Would look awesome.  V shiny. 

stickyfiddle

I have no idea what the answer is, but an SG Std in that finish would be AMAZING.

guitargeek62

stickyfiddle said:

I have no idea what the answer is, but an SG Std in that finish would be AMAZING.

There was a CS model a little while back (poss. a 61 version?) that did it, it looked great! Might have been a signature model, but I can’t remember now tbh!

SteveRobinson

guitargeek62 said:

I'm wondering if I'd have any problems in trying to achieve that type of grainfill effect on something that's been finished once already?

Yes you'd have to ensure that the grain was open to accept the white/grey filler after the basecoat was sprayed. 

IMO you also need wood with a suitable grain too, the Special in the picture has very straight and consistent grain that works well. 

johnl

Apparently the SG was the Brian Ray "Silverfox"

Kittyfrisk

Nice, but I'm wondering why Gibson CS would fit a Bigsby using a Vibramate?
Edit: I looked it up & apparently it was used for reasons of authenticity.

Jez6345789

As long as its a full bare wood finish it should be fine. 
Once stripped it's worth looking at the grain as it does not work so well with some types of mahogany where grain is not that open. You can use a wire brush to open up the grain or put more of a hair pattern in the grain for the white grain filler to go into.