Spondylitis Association of America Forums General Discussion Off-Topic Forum Rebuilding my Strat

I'm in the process of refinishing my 1971 Fender Stratocaster, and it's turning out SO well. I've finally got it down to bare wood, and I've got all the necessary materials, including the anyline dyes, grain filler, nitrocellulose translucent blue paint and nitro laquer. I am so excited at how well it's turning out! It's a really slow, painstaking process, if you do it right - it takes at least 4 coats of grain filler, 4 coats of sanding/sealer, 5-15 coats of translucent color, then finally 4-8 coats of nitro laquer to give it that 'foot deep' finish. I've even got replacement 'Fender' logos for the headstock and custom shop hand-wound pickups and kluson tuners to finish it off. Here are some 'work-in-progress' photos, I'll post more when I get further along. Wish me luck!








She's a beauty, isn't she? I've had her for over 20 years, and it's going to be SO cool to have her like brand new again!
Rob

That is way too cool ..

and as Bob Marley would say:
"One good thing about music, when it hits - you feel no pain”

It's a beauty, Rob!

I can't wait to see the finished product.


Spenser23

I do a little woodwork Rob. One of the best ways to fill the grain and seal for final finish is to use a super blonde de-waxed shellac.

Anywho, I for one will be real interested in seeing your final product! Show us the steps along the way too will ya!

Can you rebuild my strat after you're done

Chris, I can only handle one project at a time, and since the painting/drying/curing process with nitro-based laquer requires a full month (sometimes more) I won't be done with this one until late January, maybe even early February. I'll send you pictures of how it turns out, and if you're still interested, I could take a look at your strat. What kind of condition is it in, now? Does it need a total rebuild, meaning body/neck refinishing and new electronics, new bridge and tuning hardware, or are you just needing a paint job? If it's just painting you need, I could do that for you. It will mean being without your guitar for a month or two, and the materials aren't cheap. For example, just the paint & laquer order I put together was over 100 bucks, and I've dropped probably 40 bucks on stripping/sanding materials, and I haven't even started to replace the tuners or pickups, yet. You might want to consider doing it yourself, though, if you like woodworking. There is an AWESOME website that supplies all the materials you need along with detailed instructions on 'doing-it-yourself', it's called the Guitar Reranch, click here:

Guitar Re-Ranch

Thanks for all the positive feedback - I'll definitely keep you posted with pictures throughout the process - it's really kinda fascinating how it becomes something so beautiful with just a little elbow grease and a whole lot of patience...

Rob

By the way, here's a picture of a Yamaha Strat-type guitar done in the color I'm painting my Strat, though this guy put WAY more paint on then I plan to - mine will be about the same color, but considerably more 'translucent', meaning you'll be able to see the subtleties of the grain much more clearly when I'm done. Pretty color, huh?



Rob

Beautiful....I need to redo my steps, any wedsite that I could go to?

Sure is Tia.

www.woodworking.com Home improvement folder.

Thanks Ken, I'll have to check it out.

I was just ribbin' ya Rob :p But it sure could use a new set of pickups, it isn't nearly as bright as it could be. It is an early 90s model, with a floyd rose bridge I already tweaked.

Good luck with it, looking forward to seeing how it turns out