Questions on Strat refin project!

[BlueSnMettle]

Hey y'all. So I'm going to refinish my black Strat. Gonna take out the Hot Rails, return it to classic single coil line up, refinish the body and sand the back of the neck. Here are my questions:

I've watched several videos on stripping the paint. I've seen where the finish is completely removed to bare wood and also where the surface is just roughed. I'll need to fill a few dings. What would you do with the body, and what type of filler?

The new paint will be gorgeous deep metallic blue. It is automotive spray can. Not the cheap stuff but nonetheless spray can. I also bought the clear coat that goes specifically with the paint. Suggestions on the painting process?

I believe on the back of the neck I'll just sand and tung or tru oil. Yes? I want a smooth, bare wood feel. Thanks everybody!

Peace,

Darrin

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Questions on Strat refin project!

Yes on the neck. You’ll love the bare wood/ oil finish.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Questions on Strat refin project!

If you go to a 209k pot, it won't "brighten it up slightly". Just the opposite. Increasing the vol pot resistance will brighten, decreasing the resistance will darken. But this is a small amount of change from a 240k and you won't notice much difference.

 

[BlueSnMettle]

Re: Questions on Strat refin project!

Right, was thinking bassackwards there. Edited my original post. Thanks Doc.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Questions on Strat refin project!

There are probably several options for filling your dings, but I bet epoxy putty would be easy to use, effective, and hard.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Questions on Strat refin project!

If you're going to the trouble of refinishing, I'd do it right and strip to bare wood.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Questions on Strat refin project!

The final results will be greatly dependant on the prep.

What model Strat now? If a Fender, is it a polyester finish, urethane, or lacquer?

Polyester is by far the most difficult to remove and will have you questioning your sanity. You will have to remove it by sanding and it is a messy, tiresome job.

Urethanes and lacquers can be removed by heat gun or a chemical stripper. I would suggest a heat gun and the cheap Harbor Freight or Amazon model will work.

Many tutorials on the process

http://www.reranch.com/101.htm

http://www.stewmac.com/How-To/Onlin...How_to_strip_a_modern_poly_guitar_finish.html

https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/25496-diy-how-to-refinish-your-axe

 

[BlueSnMettle]

Re: Questions on Strat refin project!

The final results will be greatly dependant on the prep.

What model Strat now? If a Fender, is it a polyester finish, urethane, or lacquer?

Polyester is by far the most difficult to remove and will have you questioning your sanity. You will have to remove it by sanding and it is a messy, tiresome job.

Urethanes and lacquers can be removed by heat gun or a chemical stripper. I would suggest a heat gun and the cheap Harbor Freight or Amazon model will work.

Many tutorials on the process

http://www.reranch.com/101.htm

http://www.stewmac.com/How-To/Onlin...How_to_strip_a_modern_poly_guitar_finish.html

https://www.premierguitar.com/articles/25496-diy-how-to-refinish-your-axe

Yeah it's a Fender, my guess is it's probably polyurethane. I was trying to avoid removing the finish completely and just scoring or roughing it. I do have a heat gun, funny enough, the identical one that is in the premierguitar article. I like the premier article and it pretty much sums up what I was intending to do. It's good to have an article like that as a guideline. I'm going to go at it with my heat gun and get this process underway. Thank you for the advice and links. I appreciate it.

Peace,

Darrin

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Questions on Strat refin project!

I would never want to discourage anyone from a DIY project, but if you are going to go thru the process of refinishing a guitar, I assume you want it to come out as nice as you can. You can certainly spray over the original finish. However, removing all of the OEM finish will require more work but will yield a better sounding and certainly lighter instrument in the end.

The heat gun will easily remove a urethane finish (like in the articles), but won't even dent polyester. I would start inside the tremolo spring cavity on the back and see if the heat gun works. You will know within just a few minutes if you have urethane or polyester.

I have stripped two polyester Fender bodies in my life and I will never do another. The amount of labor is simply not worth it compared to buying a replacement body (finished or not). Both of them were before the days when you could have your choice of Fender or aftermarket bodies that are currently on Ebay.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Questions on Strat refin project!

^ Thanks, the links were good reading. Been interested in the topic after I finished my 1st body.

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: Questions on Strat refin project!

I have stripped one fender style body in my life. I combined chemical strippers with sanding. I'm glad I took it down to the bare wood Darrin. The guitar sounded so much better than it did before with a thick poly finish. Post some before and after pics if you can. I hope this turns out as great as it sounds.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Questions on Strat refin project!

^ Thanks, the links were good reading. Been interested in the topic after I finished my 1st body.

NP, every time I get motivated to paint my own, a suitable finished body comes up for sale. Hard to invest in all the paint and work when you can get a nice MJT body ready to go for around $300.

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Questions on Strat refin project!

Yap. I like the aesthetics of doing it myself and bringing it to a matte finish as distinct from the professionally done glossy finishes. I figured out what I'm going to do for my next one. Spray paint it with regular spray paint. Coat it with some water based lacquer to protect it from the resin. Then do a couple coats of polyester resin and sand it to 220s. ...Hmm it says acrylic spray paint won't react with resin.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Questions on Strat refin project!

Converting a Strat to a Tele is a lotof hard work. Let me repeat that...a LOT of work (blocking, filling, sanding, more filling, more sanding, sealing, grain filling, etc). It absolutely is a lot of fun and a great satisfaction when it is complete. But be forewarned, it can also be a source of disappointment if not done correctly and with a lot of patience, and that can sour you from ever doing another project.

If this is your first project of this sort, I would recommend as others have said, and keep it simple...block the trem, refinish if you want a different color, maybe make (or have made) a custom hybrid pickguard, put is some Tele pups and Tele wiring, and be done with it.

Or start with an old Tele body to begin with and just refinish it. You can also get bare/unfinished Tele body blanks ready for finishing.