Vibra Artiste- reasonable B.I.N

[mgeek]

Yeah- not sure what the number is about

Is it on a piece of paper, or stamped into the wood?

Sometimes there were internal numbering systems, but I don't think Burns started using an overal serial number until the bolt ons started. Could mean it's the 153rd artiste made rather than the 153rd burns made up to that point?

[burnsbonkers]

I'm not sure, I think it may mean 153rd artiste made,and the L may be the initial of the guy who made it?.
It is stamped with a punch, not paper.
Maybe one for Paul Day..

[burnsbonkers]

I'm not sure, I think it may mean 153rd artiste made,and the L may be the initial of the guy who made it?.
It is stamped with a punch, not paper.
Maybe one for Paul Day..

[Graylion]

Why not get the chromework re-chromed? I don't think there's anything wrong with that. My V-A will get that treatment one day in the near future, (I'm retiring this June!) but the paintwork is much better than yours so it won't need much more than a polish and just maybe a touch up on the black here and there - apart from re-chroming!

To be brutally honest, they aren't worth a lot of money, like say a Strat or Gibson from that era. I've had my V-A since 1962 but I'd like to keep it bright and smart and not looking like an old nail. Rusty steel is unacceptable on any guitar, especially a trem as you might get hurt! I'm saying that you probably won't devalue it much by giving it a 50-year "service". As to refinishing the body? Even a sympathetic restorer will be pushed to get the original semi-translucent cherry sunburst right!

My old 1959 Norton Dominator rusted away for over 37 years before I decided to be a "born again biker" and restore it it. As it WAS a rusty old nail, the only way to go was up. I'm going for concours so sod the purists!
Good luck, Lionel

[burnsbonkers]

Hi Lionel.
I also agree with the chroming, as for the body, it does look a terrible mess, but there are ways around it. As with your bike, you wouldn't want to own something as gorgeous as that looking like a rusty nail? .
People don't buy old cars, get them working, but then leave the rusty paint on them and take to shows do they?.
Just want to get that guitar looking great again, so it will last another 50 years !

[Graylion]

Yeah, I'm not a purist. I want it to look as good as I can get it - guitars or bikes - but always using original or authentic parts wherever possible. To get the semi-translucent Burns finish I'm guessing that you would only want a single coat cherry "blowover" with a couple of black edge bursts but several clear topcoats over the whole thing. In the olden days when we used cellulose paint ("Nitro-cellulose" if you're "foreign"!) it was usually 6 coats in total. I used that as a minimum on cars, but I guess you won't be driving a guitar out in all weathers

Burns used "synthetic" paint anyway so don't use cellulose on any existing paintwork. I found out the hard way in 1962, just after I bought mine and sprayed a clear lacqueur on the back! It melted a bit. Even today most car touch-up spray paint is cellulose, in spite of the fact that manufacturers haven't used it since the 1970s! Best to look for acrylic paint. I've tried water-based, tinted varnishes indoors at home - it's complete poo! It scratches as soon as you look at it so I'm sticking with 'exterior' polyurethane or yacht varnish in future!

Obviously if you do a strip back to bare wood you can use whatever you want - don't forget that cellulose can 'melt' some wood glues though. That's not really a good thing!
Cheers, Lionel

[RayL]

One of the reasons why my Artist was resprayed (thirty years ago now) was that the cherry paintwork on the body was crazed - not the fine lines that add 'character' to a vintage instrument, but noticeable cracks reminiscent of crazy paving. As the guitar was made in late '59 and I bought it in mid-'63 with the crazing already there it seems likely that there was a problem when the original spraying was done - maybe one coat was done on a damp day over a film of moisture and the coat shrunk as the moisture dried?

Anyway, it never got any worse, and the black neck had no crazing so when other work had to be done (I will pass over The Awfullness That Happened At The Swanley Social Club) I decided that all-black would look cool. Now, of course, I realise that black guitars are like black cars - they show all the dirt and fingerprints unless you keep them polished all the time.

Maybe some day I will have the Artist restored to it's original cherry-red (without the crazing) but in the meantime it is as you see it on my avatar.

Ray

[mgeek]

Nitro-Cellulose paint is pretty much a must for any restoration.

Sort of stating the obvious really, but 'these days' laquer crazing is positively sought after. Fender and Gibson even go to the lengths of doing this on purpose to make new guitars look old.

Apparently it dries harder than anything else (hence the cracking), which allows the wood to resonate better- ie it's good for tone. I'm not sure whether I believe that or not, but it does feel like that when you compare an old guitar to an eighties or beyond poly finished instrument. Do seem a bit more constained somehow. I even feel this about my later Burns Vista Sonic- the finish is so thick!

[burnsbonkers]

If I was to have her totally re finished, it would actually cost less than having the finish sympathetically touched up! .
It's not like there's honest play wear , like my other guitars, its been cosmetically abused! .
Id probably take it to Doug wilkes, or DM guitars for a pro refin