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1958 Supro Super Question

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by stargate » Sat Oct 22, 2011 8:38 pm

Long story short. Found an old guitar in a dumpster. Guy was cleaning out his garage. Took it home to practice my airbrushing on it. It had a serial number on it so I decided to see what it was. After a lot of searching on the net I found out it was a 1958 Supro Super. It had been sanded down and clear coated, fret board and all! Yuck! So I have sanded it down, and removed the clearcoat from the fret board. So now, I have two questions. Should I airbrush it, or finish it in the original colours. An old catalogue page I found stated it came in an Ivory Fawn White finish, with a black neck. However, under where the neck joins the body, and under where the pickup mounts, it is a pale yellow colour. The nutserts for the pickup do not have paint on them, so I am wondering if this guitar ever came in a yellow colour.
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by Spud1950 » Sat Oct 22, 2011 9:56 pm

If it's truly a '58, that was the first year for that model and it only came in the white finish.The '59 catalog shows it only available in sunburst finish.The yellowish tint you're seeing is due to the aging of the original finish. It's most likely nitrocellulose and that's what it does over many years. Here's an example I found of a '58 that has acquired a yellowish tint to the finish.



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At this point,it's really a personal choice as to how you re finish it. As a collectible, since the original finish is gone, the damage to the value is already done. Just do what makes you happy and enjoy the guitar for what it is.
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by stargate » Sun Oct 23, 2011 4:50 pm

Hi Spud. The pic you have is not the guitar. Here are some photos.
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The first one shows the poster ad. The second is what it looked like when I found it. The third shows the yellow colour under the neck area. Note the pickup nutserts are not painted. Also, you can see a bit of white under the neck area. As the yellow colour is really yellow, I think it may have been repainted at one time and not the white yellowing. Still not sure.
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by johnnyb » Sun Oct 23, 2011 5:05 pm

i can see in the neck pocket that there is another layer of lighter yellow underneath the darker. maybe that is the original color.

these are fun little guitars. the scale is very short, i dont know if you have ever played one of these, but they are pretty cool and dont sound half bad. they make slide a little easier. i think it would be a fun relic project and it looks like everything is there except the paint.

john
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by Spud1950 » Sun Oct 23, 2011 5:18 pm

OK.I should have actually checked the 1958 Supro catalog.The picture I posted was tagged as being a 1958 Supro Super. Anyway, the yellowing has occurred in the clear coat,which is sprayed over the color coat. That's what you're seeing in your neck pocket. Before the clear coat yellowed,your guitar was just as the catalog indicates.
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by stargate » Thu Jan 03, 2013 9:57 pm

Well it took a long time, but its finally done. I decided to paint it my way.
2 coats of black base, 1 coat of aluminum base using plastic wrap to get the wrinkle look, then 8 coats of candy apple blue. Finishing with 3 thick coats of clear urethane. Then I had a pro guitar guy redo the frets and make a new nut for it, string it and set it up. Lots of polishing of the brass, and it turned out great. It sounds awesome, I really mean awesome. The pickup has gone microphonic, but I don't care. You wouldn't believe how this thing sounds. After all, Neil Youngs black guitar is microphonic as well.It stays in perfect tune, harmonics are perfect, all the electronics work perfect. Not bad for a rare guitar, found in a garbage bag in a dumpster. Final cost for everything, $250.00 in materials and for the tech's work, and about 15 hours of my time. I have been a drummer for over 40 years, only tinker playing guitar, but I think I'm gonna keep it. My friend says to put it up for sale, but I don't know. I guess if the dollar offer was right, I might let it go. LMK what you think. I feel pretty good about restoring it. Pretty proud of myself. And I haven't lost my old airbrush talent. Its been 18 years since I last painted something. LOL. Enjoy!
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by Phizix » Fri Jan 04, 2013 11:23 am

I think it turned out great! Way to save the lil guy from the landfill. You should definitely keep it to inspire yourself for future projects.
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