Refinsh and restore " ERIC WEST GUITAR"

Tony Glassman · Post by **Tony Glassman** » 23 Dec 2011 2:46 pm

If you're gonna have an Eric West memorial guitar, I think it needs to be a D-10.

The C6th neck was a big part of Eric's life and something that the excelled at. All those lessons w/ Bud Charleton must have paid off, because he could play the hell out of Travis-style stuff and BC tunes (e.g. "Almost to Tulsa" etc) on the C-Neck. I'd chip in for parts to get the back neck up 'n' running too.

Bill Hankey · Post by **Bill Hankey** » 23 Dec 2011 3:10 pm

Whomever has possession of the SHO-BUD parts inventory, might solve the riddle. I think the parts were available by mail order some time ago. I'm not sure; perhaps Bobbe Seymour would be able to give that information.

Bob Littleton · Post by **Bob Littleton** » 23 Dec 2011 4:44 pm

Here are a few pics of the body before refinishing. My apologies ahead of time for the picture quality. I will try to take some more pics "in process" A fun project!

Bob Littleton

David Kellogg · Post by **David Kellogg** » 23 Dec 2011 5:23 pm

Well this was a first for me to machine an end plate to get all the years of bangin, droppin and kickin. The stuff was too deep to sand out without distorting so I thought I would give it a try. Had to square up bottom first so it would lay flat, my biggest concern was securing the piece to the mill. It all worked out fine after sanding out machine marks then polishing. Still has air pits but what casting doesn't. It was great knowing Eric even though it was a short time, he made me feel real welcome to the local steel guitar community and was always eager to chat about anything. Oh, thought I would through in a pic of the race car I'm building, has to be done for a race April 1st. It looks slow now but it will have 160hp weighing only 1700 lbs, just a tad heavier than a MSA D12 in the case.

Bob Muller · Post by **Bob Muller** » 23 Dec 2011 5:48 pm

Excellent job David, no one's going to believe this is the same guitar after it's done. I was looking at the wood grain again in the photos above, I think this is going to be one very nice looking guitar. Some nice looking machine tools you have to work with their also. Looks like the car is coming along well to, you are truly a man of many talents.

Eric West · Post by **Eric West** » 24 Dec 2011 7:11 am

Bob, this is fantastic! It warms my heart to see how you appreciated my son Eric's love for his music. A mother's love for her son couldn't be more "lifted up." Like Eric said in his obituary, "...playing music from my earliest years it seemed to be the common thread of my small but special life, for better or worse..." As Eric would say, "keep on keeping on", with this labor of love and I'll be a phone call away. Thanks, Bob.

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 24 Dec 2011 11:09 am

With all the repairs needed, Eric must have been playing a different pedal steel towards the end. Is this so?

By the way, great work. I'm sure Eric would be pleased.

Bob Muller · Post by **Bob Muller** » 24 Dec 2011 12:15 pm

Alan, Eric did indeed have another guitar that he played for the last four or five years of his career. He had purchased a round front Sho-Bud professional that he had rebuilt. That was the guitar he played last. It was sold here in Portland recently, and I purchased the Pro III which he had played in all of his earlier years. He had engraved his initials and "78" into the end of the neck, so I am assuming that's about when he got the guitar. His mom agrees that was about that time.

Dave Grafe · Post by **Dave Grafe** » 24 Dec 2011 12:30 pm

Duane Marrs rebuilt a SoBud for Eric a few years back and Eric posted here on his trip to Nashville to pick it up. We had it set up for all to play at our most recent Jamboree here, I believe that guitar has gathered a few notable signatures in the undercarriage along the way...here's a photo of Eric and the Marrs guitar taken at Duane's shop when he showed up to get it, you can search the forum for the rest of the adventure, it's a worthy tale

Carl Heatley · Post by **Carl Heatley** » 27 Dec 2011 8:26 am

The race car....Is that a Escort MK2 ???

Bob Muller · Post by **Bob Muller** » 27 Dec 2011 11:42 am

Here are a couple photos of the changer parts that I'm looking for for Eric's guitar. I need 10 of the changer fingers and Springs, and the two changer mounts and guide plate pictured beside the fingers. If anyone has these parts available please contact me. The changer is a double raise, single lower type.

Rick Abbott · Post by **Rick Abbott** » 27 Dec 2011 11:56 am

Bob, the changer I have would make more work for you I think. The string retainers are peg style and some need replaced. The 1-2-3 strings fingers are too tight on the shaft as well. Also, it is a single / single. If folks chime in that they are compatible,and you want to work on it, I'd send it to you. I really like what you are doing here. Eric was probably my favorite posting Forumite. Would love to have known him personally!

Bob Muller · Post by **Bob Muller** » 27 Dec 2011 12:53 pm

Hi Rick,Is it possible for you to post a photo of the changer? If yours is from the crossover the mounting may be close to the same type, i'm not sure. Would help to see a photo.

Rick Abbott · Post by **Rick Abbott** » 28 Dec 2011 12:24 pm

Bob, the changer is from an early Professional...I think. I only have the parts you see. You may be able to tell that there are a couple drilled for double raise...don't know if it would work.

Bob Muller · Post by **Bob Muller** » 28 Dec 2011 6:26 pm

Rick, I'm not sure by looking at that changer, the fingers look like they could almost work except for the single raise. Let me see how things develop I may have to get back to you if I can't find the correct type. Thanks for posting the photos.

Ron Pruter · Post by **Ron Pruter** » 29 Dec 2011 10:31 pm

HEY JAMES M. I for one salute your generous offer. What are those early pull rods made of anyway? Mine are dark and ugly and I can not get them to shine up at all. Ron

James Morehead · Post by **James Morehead** » 30 Dec 2011 6:07 am

Ron, Thanx for the kind words. About your pull rods not shining up--sometimes the corrosion is pretty deep. I have a couple tricks to get a mirror finish. Shoot me an email.

Dickie Whitley · Post by **Dickie Whitley** » 2 Jan 2012 7:55 am

Don't know if this is the first time and/or the last time Eric "washed" his steel, but an entertaining "Eric" thread to say the least.

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopi ... highlight=

Bob Littleton · Post by **Bob Littleton** » 5 Jan 2012 5:27 pm

Here is a pic of Eric's guitar after it has been stripped, sanded, and sprayed with a coat of shellac. The shellac brings out the birdeye figure in the maple. The aprons will be transparent blue and the rest will remain the amber maple you see in the picture. Coated the body with vinyl sealer today and will begin coats of lacquer.

Kevin Hatton · Post by **Kevin Hatton** » 5 Jan 2012 7:38 pm

Nice Bob. Great job.

Steve Hotra · Post by **Steve Hotra** » 5 Jan 2012 9:20 pm

That's cool, Bob!
This guitar is going to have quite a few years left in her.

Bob Muller · Post by **Bob Muller** » 6 Jan 2012 6:00 pm

Here are some photos of the parts I'm cleaning up for Eric's guitar. The large end plates, pedal rack, neck, and key head were re-polished by David Kellogg. David had to machine down one of the end plates to get rid of some very deep scratches.

I will have to get the second neck polish now as it's going to be a full D-10 instead of the SD-10 I had originally planned on.

These are some of the underside shafts, and knee levers from the guitar. This is a preliminary cleanup, but all of the parts appear to be in good usable condition. I plan to replace all of the mounting brackets with a new style that have the nylon bushings inside them.

The cleanup of the parts certainly takes a lot of time and effort, but the end result should make the guitar look and play a lot better than it did before.

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 6 Jan 2012 6:20 pm

WOW... Looking real good guys.

Bob M. Did I detect that you even polished up the knife? I love it.

Tony Williamson · Post by **Tony Williamson** » 6 Jan 2012 6:54 pm

i can only hope mine turns out half that good. beautiful.

Bob Muller · Post by **Bob Muller** » 6 Jan 2012 7:57 pm

Here are a couple of photos showing mostly the original cross shafts with the new style mounting brackets with nylon inserts. Got these parts from James Morehead, along with some new screws, Springs, stop brackets, knee lever shafts, and changer bracket. The photo shows the cross shafts with the new mounting brackets in place.

I still have lots more work to do but at least it's moving forward at this point. I'll post more pictures as things progress.

The Steel Guitar Forum

Refinsh and restore " ERIC WEST GUITAR"

Some pics of the guitar before refinisning

End Plate Restoration

Refinish update

wow