This old Bigsby designed Magnatone entered the shop stripped of all of the original finish except in the body cavities. This picture is after it had already had the fretboard trued and the new frets installed.
This is about half way through the leveling process. The dark areas are low and have not been touched by the sanding beam yet. Gives a very clear picture of how badly this was needed.
The head plate had been poorly stripped and showed significant distortion, so the surface was trued and an ebony veneer was added to restore the original thickness.
Masking off the fretboard before paint.
The Bigsby made pickups needed to have new leads added but were otherwise in excellent shape.
The pick guard was the only original part that was missing so an updated design was created.
Here's the new guard in vintage Mother of Toilet Seat plastic.
The completed restoration. The headplate badge is a reproduction.