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NGD: 1972 Fender Thinline Project a.k.a. The Sparkle Survivor

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 4:38 am
by alvinstraight
Picked this for what was basically the price of a pair of original WRHBs. Someone really went at this guitar in the 80s, routing the body for a Floyd Rose, the neck for a locking nut and refinished it in what is a pretty intense nail polish-like blue metallic sparkle. Frets are kind of shot, the nut is repaired in a pretty rudimentary fashion, the back of the neck still has unplugged holes from the locking nut and tremolo route in the back looks pretty amateurish.

While the blue sparkle refinish looked pretty bad in the photos posted in the ad, IRL I kind of like it. The pickups sound glorious, the neck is really comfortable full C and somehow, despite all the mods, the guitar resonates nicely and feels stable.

Not sure yet exactly how I'll tackle this yet, so suggestions welcome once I've had time to post more photos of all the bad bits plus the guitar disassembled.

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Re: NGD: 1972 Fender Thinline Project a.k.a. The Sparkle Survivor

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 4:41 am
by BoringPostcards
OMG. Leave it alone!!! At least the strat trem and lovely blue.
Original is nice, but so are old refins in odd colours.

Re: NGD: 1972 Fender Thinline Project a.k.a. The Sparkle Survivor

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 5:38 am
by CorporateDisguise
Yeah, that thing is pretty freaking cool. I’d just plug the holes in the neck and give it a good refret and call it a day.

Re: NGD: 1972 Fender Thinline Project a.k.a. The Sparkle Survivor

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 5:52 am
by garyfanclub
I’ll admit, I expected to be scarred for life when I opened this thread but this isn’t bad at all!

I’d definitely leave it alone and play the hell out of it! If it sounds good, it *is* good!

Re: NGD: 1972 Fender Thinline Project a.k.a. The Sparkle Survivor

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 5:53 am
by Pacafeliz
BoringPostcards wrote:
Sun Feb 14, 2021 4:41 am
OMG. Leave it alone!!! At least the strat trem and lovely blue.
Original is nice, but so are old refins in odd colours.
+1000!!! :-*

Re: NGD: 1972 Fender Thinline Project a.k.a. The Sparkle Survivor

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 9:34 am
by fuzzjunkie
Pacafeliz wrote:
Sun Feb 14, 2021 5:53 am
BoringPostcards wrote:
Sun Feb 14, 2021 4:41 am
OMG. Leave it alone!!! At least the strat trem and lovely blue.
Original is nice, but so are old refins in odd colours.
+1000!!! :-*
Same. Get a pearloid cover for the hole in the back of there isn’t one already.

Re: NGD: 1972 Fender Thinline Project a.k.a. The Sparkle Survivor

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 9:50 am
by gishuk
That finish is awesome! And you really cant beat original WRHBs :?

Re: NGD: 1972 Fender Thinline Project a.k.a. The Sparkle Survivor

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 10:31 am
by Embenny
I would not touch a single freaking thing on that guitar except to play it. I don't know if I've ever seen a more perfect telecaster in my life :-*

Re: NGD: 1972 Fender Thinline Project a.k.a. The Sparkle Survivor

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 11:14 am
by alvinstraight
Thanks for all agreeing that the sparkle is pretty cool! ;D
CorporateDisguise wrote:
Sun Feb 14, 2021 5:38 am
Yeah, that thing is pretty freaking cool. I’d just plug the holes in the neck and give it a good refret and call it a day.
Cool, yeah, maybe I should just leave it at that.
fuzzjunkie wrote:
Sun Feb 14, 2021 9:34 am
Same. Get a pearloid cover for the hole in the back of there isn’t one already.
Great! I had just started thinking about the same solution before I saw your post.

Re: NGD: 1972 Fender Thinline Project a.k.a. The Sparkle Survivor

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 12:28 pm
by HarlowTheFish
Put a Floyd back on there!

That finish looks sweet and if it's already got the routing, might as well. That big chunk of metal is gonna be really interesting with a thinline. It'll probably be less fussy than a Strat trem once you've got it dialed in too.

Re: NGD: 1972 Fender Thinline Project a.k.a. The Sparkle Survivor

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 1:20 pm
by zhivago
I'd rock that as-is! :-*

Re: NGD: 1972 Fender Thinline Project a.k.a. The Sparkle Survivor

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 1:26 pm
by tequila_in_teacups
Yeah, that looks fantastic just as it is. Refret and tidy and you’re good to go.

Re: NGD: 1972 Fender Thinline Project a.k.a. The Sparkle Survivor

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 1:44 pm
by cestlamort
mbene085 wrote:
Sun Feb 14, 2021 10:31 am
I would not touch a single freaking thing on that guitar except to play it. I don't know if I've ever seen a more perfect telecaster in my life :-*
Agreed

Re: NGD: 1972 Fender Thinline Project a.k.a. The Sparkle Survivor

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 2:34 pm
by sookwinder
I love it ... I want it :-*

Re: NGD: 1972 Fender Thinline Project a.k.a. The Sparkle Survivor

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 3:14 pm
by smjenkins
This does look really good in the pics.

I'm almost scared to ask, but what does the back look like with the strat trem route?