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I picked up a 1957 trem block (for cheap) that was beat up and had a broken piece of arm in the threaded hole. I've removed the broken arm and all is now structurally sound. It was rusted and all paint was missing so I want to refinish it. All surfaces are now clean and ready for paint. Anyone know what these were originally finished with or what I should use?
I've never seen a painted trem block. Maybe they exist, but I've never seen one.
Sorry, no help here either on the specifics (but I am interested in how you removed the busted piece of the trem arm).
They were painted a dull (not flat) silver grey. If I were you I'd just go down the the local auto parts store & match up the silver paint on the block w/a rattle can or two. Tape off the very top of the block that mates to the bridge plate, though. That surface was unpainted.
According to A. R. Duchossoir's Stratocaster book, from '54 through '71 (inclusive) the trem blocks were painted "light gray". He doesn't specify the exact shade but I have personally examined blocks from '57, '63, and '66 and they all looked like shade# FS 26231 as shown in the U.S. Government's FS 595a publication (a fan deck of some 725 color samples routinely used for GSA-purchased equipment). This color is also sometimes known as "Dark Gull Gray" and is often used on military aircraft and military aircraft components. The Testors line of hobby paints lists this color available in both acrylic and enamel versions.
HTH
Yeah it's a grayish color. I checked Testors site but this color seems to be only available in a bottle. I would really prefer a rattle can. I've never seen one that wasn't painted. To get the broken arm out I put it in a vise on my drill press and drilled a hole in the arm and then took it out with an easy out. It took about 2 minutes. If you don't have a drill press forget about doing this because you'll probably mess up the block. Here's a 1959 block.
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g8...ey/59Block.jpg
If that '59 block is the original color (and I suspect it is) and your block looks similar, I'd say that's definitely a much lighter shade of gray than FS 26231.......closer (to my eye anyways) to FS 36440 "Light Gull Gray", also known as "Grumman Gray". I think Testors does offer that color in a rattle can. Check a hobby shop for local availability.Quote:
Originally Posted by Guitar Whiskey
HTH
Yes I checked this out and that color is available in a flat spray and the color looks about right to me; http://www.colorserver.net/showcolor.asp?fs=36440
Thanks for the help.
Happy to hepp, GW.
:hi:
I guess they do exist...