Fiesta Finishes

This blog is dedicated to the restoration and refinishing of Fender Guitars. We also finish Gibson guitars, Martin guitars, new guitar bodies, and do repair work, fixing routes, and other unsightly mistakes made in the 70's, 80's, and 90's. We're smarter now...

We'll showcase some of our work on this site. We use the same techniques as the Fender Electric Instrument Company during the 50's and early 60's. All of our bodies are shot with thin skin nitrocellulose lacquer. We painstakingly recreate the colors and look of vintage Fender instruments. Fender is a registered trade mark and Fiesta Finishes is in no way affiliated with the Fender company. We are an independent shop located in Berkeley, CA. We are craftsmen and take pride in quality work, no matter how long it takes.

Please contact us if you are interested in having work done to restore your beloved Fender that was stripped and stained by unloving hands, poorly refinished, or finished with something other than Nitro Lacquer. We can also do custom work on your guitar, to your specifications, to improve the look and the sound.

For updates on what we are currently working on, please check us out on Instagram.

Keep pickin'.

Paul McKenzie
web: www.fiestafinishes.com
email: fiestafinishes@gmail.com
phone: 510-409-8873

Vintage Fender Guitars For Sale at Fiesta Finishes

Go to our Gbase Site and check the listings. There is also an announcement section, listing guitars coming soon. Or... click on the ebay icon below to see our current offerings.

Xavier's 1955 1958 Humbucker Keith Telecaster

This was an interesting project. Xavier brought me a Tele body from '55 and an Esquire neck from '58. He also provided a '66 Tele bridge pickup and a 60's Gibson Humbucker. He asked me to put together sort of a "Keith" Tele for him, using mostly vintage parts. I supplied a '58 neck plate, '58 knobs, and '58 control plate. I installed brand new switch, pots, and jack. Tuners are repros. This Tele is quite heavy, at over 9 lbs., due to the body... but it sounds absolutely killer. Both pickups are wonderful in this guitar and they work well together. And honestly, despite the preference for vintage pots and switch, the brand new electronics work much better than expired vintage stuff and make this Tele sound as good as the pickups will deliver.

Xavier wanted a deep Butterscotch finish, which I normally object to, and it took two tries to get it right for him. I first delivered a finish that was right on in terms of looking just like original finishes in the Black Guard Book, but this is not what Xavier wanted. Also, the old frets in the neck were worn and Xavier couldn't play the thing. I asked him to bring me a guitar he liked so I could analyze the frets and neck. He's accustomed to Jumbo's, so I did a fret job with medium Jumbos for him.

This project made me rethink my own preferences in the interest of addressing Xavier's particular needs. A good challenge for both of us, but the end result speaks for itself. This is a killer vintage/player Tele.

Todd's 1957 Style, Blonde Precision Bass Body

Recently I completed Todd's '57 style P-Bass body with a nice, blonde finish, tinted slightly to look older. This is an amazing Ash body, weighing well under 4 lbs! The aftermarket body came with funky string ferrules, so we decided to source vintage style Fender ferrules. I needed to drill steps in the ferrule holes so they sit flush like an original, early 50's Fender Bass.


Drilling the steps with our specially made tool.


Here you can see the steps are nice and clean.


Ferrules are now installed. Note the flush fit.


Above you can see the body with a few parts mocked up. Note that Todd had me make him a custom, one-hole tug bar out of Ash wood, with matching blonde finish. A unique touch for his bass. Probably would look even better with a black guard.

Making a single hole Tug Bar or Finger Rest for 1951-1956 Fender Precision Bass

Last year I did a restoration on a 1953 Fender Precision Bass. It was missing the single hole, wooden Tug Bar, so I made one for it (see below).



Recently, for a restoration of a '55 Precision, I now need to do it again. But rather than make just one, I figured I'd make some extras and offer them for sale. This time, I also have the luxury of having a correct original part in my shop. They are NOT the same shape as the newer two hole plastic part, but they are close.

The originals are made of hard rock maple, no doubt scraps left over from neck production. I first measured the original part. In broad terms it's 1/2" wide 3/8" tall and 2.5" in length.


I made some stock in the correct dimensions using hard rock maple.


The saw is jigged to cut precise 2.5" lengths.


The raw Tug Bar pieces are marked for sanding using the original as a jig.


The pieces are shaped by hand on the belt sander, then hand sanded to the final shape. They are then drilled for the screw hole, then counter sunk. The original part is always kept close by for reference.


Here is the finished piece ready for sealing, painting with black lacquer, then final aging.


Next we apply a coat of black nitro lacquer followed by a coat of clear. Here the finished tug bar is installed on Richard's '55 Precision Bass.


Here is the restored '55 P sporting it's new repro tug bar.

1955 Fender Esquire Telecaster and string ferrule hole restoration

This week in the shop we finished this beautiful 1955 Fender Esquire with 100% original parts down to every last screw. This is a wonderful guitar that is currently for sale:



Also we want to show you how we deal with Tele string ferrule holes. Often when a body is sanded the height changes on the ferrules and when we refinish the body, the ferrule holes fill with lacquer such that the ferrules don't seat flush with the body. We developed this tool to redrill the step in the ferrule hole so everything sits flush after the refin:



First we redrill the holes with the specially designed drill to stop depth


Here the holes are done. You can see the special copper guide on the step drill.



Finally the ferrules are pressed in flush with the body.

1965 Precision Bass Restoration and Refinish...update!

Simon's '65 P-Bass is done now and it came out great. Follow the restoration process with captions, including before shots, and the final steps in the Flickr Photo Set. Note that although the color looks a little greenish in the photo due to digital capture, it's true Sonic Blue.



Also, this week in the shop we finished the '55 Esquire body. The complete guitar that is 100% original except for the finish will be for sale after it cures and is reassembled.

And in process are the guitars you see below. L to R are '58 P-Bass, Olympic White, '64 P-Bass, Olympic White, '66 Tele, original black custom color restored, and another '66 Tele in blonde. The '58 and '64 P-Basses are customer instruments, the two '66 Teles will be for sale.