Thinking about refinishing my main Strat.

[Chistopher]

The longer you play a guitar the more you start to notice certain things about it. I've noticed that the finish on my main Strat is a bit too thick and has a sort of plasticky texture to it. Here it is:



As I'm sure I've mentioned before, but the body for this guitar came from the factory as an anniversary run of Aztec Gold that had been painted over with Ice Blue. The added thickness combined with just being a polyurethane finish probably contribute to the plasticky feel.

Anyway, my question to you guys is what should I do with it? When I decided on the Ice Blue I wanted to get a 50s Corvette vibe to it, but now I think I'm fine to change it. Maybe a solid color, maybe I'll strip it 100% (which will suck) and go for a translucent finish, maybe I'll go for an abstract art look. Just so long as it doesn't look tacky, cheesey, or gaudy.

Any ideas?

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Thinking about refinishing my main Strat.

Neon pink with a black guard!

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Thinking about refinishing my main Strat.

Start scraping and see where you wind up. F*** planning.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Thinking about refinishing my main Strat.

I was thinking about a diagonal fade from Lake Placid to Ice Blue or maybe black to white, what do y'all think?

Something like this:



Then I'll take the cover off of the bridge pickup to reveal black.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Thinking about refinishing my main Strat.

Doing it yourself won't be fun. You also have no idea of what the wood looks like under there- it could have terrible grain or be 9 triangles glued together. I'd either pay someone to strip and finish it or get a Warmoth body that is already the finish you like- and sell this one.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Thinking about refinishing my main Strat.

Doing it yourself won't be fun. You also have no idea of what the wood looks like under there- it could have terrible grain or be 9 triangles glued together. I'd either pay someone to strip and finish it or get a Warmoth body that is already the finish you like- and sell this one.

I've got connections with this guy who owns the local auto body shop and he says if I keep it fairly simple he'll do it for me know charge when he gets the time.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: Thinking about refinishing my main Strat.

I was thinking about a diagonal fade from Lake Placid to Ice Blue or maybe black to white, what do y'all think?

Something like this:

View attachment 98591

Then I'll take the cover off of the bridge pickup to reveal black.

Neon pink to black fade?

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Thinking about refinishing my main Strat.

Neon pink to black fade?

Nah, I don't think this one is pointy enough for that.

I'm also thinking of switching out the A2 magnets (PGn/59Cb) with an A4 in the neck and an A8 in the bridge. I've got enough guitars on the vintage end of things right now, so I might beef this one up a bit.

 

[Driver Blues]

Re: Thinking about refinishing my main Strat.

Hey, sorry if I'm changing the subject of this thread a bit, but I chose the pickups for my Stratocaster based off the ones that you use, a pg neck with an AlNiCo 2 and the same magnet in the bridge 59/custom hybrid. I LOVE the neck tone that I'm getting from it, but I too was eyeing an AlNiCo 8 for the bridge pickup.

Do you think that this will still match the neck pickup? Or will I need to make changes to the neck pickup to make sure it still matches pretty close in tone and output with the bridge?

 

[Francois]

Re: Thinking about refinishing my main Strat.

Yes Mincer is right : you need to see the grain of the wood and the number of pieces before opting for the see-through finish.
But don't sell you guitar number one !

 

[Clint 55]

Re: Thinking about refinishing my main Strat.

About the mags. If u want to beef it up go for double thick A8 in the bridge. And if you don't want it vintage, don't use unoriented mags. A6, A5, or A9 for the neck.

 

[NegativeEase]

Re: Thinking about refinishing my main Strat.

You know what fixes that plasticky texture? Playing it way way more often -I kid i kid.

I don't trust guitars that look brand new and flawless -it's like their a china set your grandmother only brings out once a year. So if you refinish, make sure to play it right out of the new gross stage as fast as possible.

BTW -that Strat already looks pretty cool to me. -but I really like mint or seabreeze, shoreline mist or seafoom green on a Strat for some reason

Like these but as but as a Strat

Seafoam Green and Off White with Silver Hardware

or this off Green with Black Pickguard with Silver Hard and Off White Pickups.

 

[ehdwuld]

Re: Thinking about refinishing my main Strat.

Dont do anything to it just buy more

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Thinking about refinishing my main Strat.

Looks great. Leave it be.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Thinking about refinishing my main Strat.

forgot to mention, the other reasons for the refin are twofold: firstly, there are subtle lines where the paint isn't level that show that it's a three piece body, and there are also a few spots of damage on the wood that don't look so great. The wood is poly, so the regular wear and tear that ends up looking cool on a nitro guitar looks like crap.

Honestly, the more I think about it the more I'm considering just stripping it and refinishing it in a thinner coat of the same color in nitro. I've gotten pretty good at factory looking finishes, so we'll just see how it goes.

Oh, and Driver Blues, an A8 in my book can best be described as a louder A2 with more bass. But the one thing I forgot to consider is that it also has a more ceramic-like attack and stiffness to it. Now I'm looking at just tossing in a double or 1.5x thickness A2 in it so that it keeps the same vintage character, but with the EQ shifted down a bit.

 

[TVFV]

Re: Thinking about refinishing my main Strat.

Obvious solution is to relic it. Also go with open coils.

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[Chistopher]

Re: Thinking about refinishing my main Strat.

Obvious solution is to relic it. Also go with open coils.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

Like I said, it's very thick poly, it won't relic nice.

 

[TVFV]

Re: Thinking about refinishing my main Strat.

Like I said, it's very thick poly, it won't relic nice.

I would change the pickguard to a black one. Keep the white accents. How do you have that wired up out of curiosity?

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[Francois]

Re: Thinking about refinishing my main Strat.

And why not back to its original colour : Azted Gold if you don't find this too bling...

I had a Fender Japan Aztec Gold Jazzmaster from Ochanomizu for my one year scholarship in Rangoon, Burma and it looked georgous (and matches the golden covered pagodas of Myanmar). But I gave it to a Burmese friend when I left the country long ago.

The gold finish would suits your humbucker covers.

I also like the HH Strat idea.

 

[Obsessive Compulsive]

Re: Thinking about refinishing my main Strat.

Why would anyone paint over such rare colors as Aztec Gold/ Inca Silver/ Poison Pumpkin/ Salmon Pink? That's the dumbest thing you could ever do to a guitar's finish. I would kill for an Aztec Gold strat.