New project... DaLefty!

thermionic

I picked up this left-handed Squier Strat from facebook marketplace for a project (next to my MIM Classic 60s for comparison).

https://i.imgur.com/2X43p0a.jpg

First job will be to get the strings off and glue the nut back in its rightful place!

https://i.imgur.com/BuKhfg7.jpg

Then to fill in a couple of small chips.

https://i.imgur.com/FF1Izii.jpg

CY denotes China, Yako (which is actually in Taiwan - politics eh), 1998. Which makes it 5 years older than its intended recipient! These Yako-made instruments seem to have a good reputation. Full depth body and a 43.2 mm nut width.

https://i.imgur.com/bNXTXGN.jpg

I gave it a good once over before handing over the cash, but missed this - embarrassing schoolboy error). Pots, caps and jack socket are going to be replaced anyway.

https://i.imgur.com/EVeRY42.jpg

SteveRobinson

Great tribute to a Fretboard legend! Don't forget the essential step of severing your fingers on a bong and having them reattached

Paul7926

I'll be following along with interest as I've just acquired on old bullet squier and it has similar chips.  I had every intention of just leaving them but might not after I see how you tackle yours.

thermionic

I've touched up a black edge on sunburst quite successfully, and even managed a reasonable job on a CAR (the gold layer was intact, so I just touched up transparent red). I'll probably try building up with primer to make up some depth, then it will be case of getting a good match for the red. The Stratocaster Haynes Manual shows filling chips in with wood filler, so that might be worth a try.

SteveRobinson

I recently did a similar job on a red Squier. I took it to Boots, found a matching nail varnish and drop-filled the chips with that.

thermionic

Not a swimming pool, but a big route:

https://i.imgur.com/lL7QDqd.jpg

Skinny pot metal tremolo block as expected:

https://i.imgur.com/auIKz0m.jpg

Not sure if it's worth upgrading, as a left-handed block with the right spacing could be quite expensive.

The pickguard has changed to an unappealing cream of mushroom soup colour. Replacement is on its way.

https://i.imgur.com/jWwFQhF.jpg

Ceramic bar magnets and 500k pots. I probably won't upgrade the pickups but the pots are a bit scratchy.

https://i.imgur.com/ShvNZEV.jpg

Trem plate is a bit dirty:

https://i.imgur.com/CcT7RGi.jpg

Autosol is a wonderful product!

https://i.imgur.com/jWfZZ1B.jpg

One of the most satisfying jobs I do on an old guitar - scraping off all the gunk, polishing the frets, and oiling the fretboard. The frets are quite narrow and low with no real grooves in the "cowboy chords" positions, so it's possibly had a fret dress in the past.

https://i.imgur.com/7Xf0Qsp.jpg

I noticed that the fretboard edges are nicely rounded, not really surprising on a 21-year old guitar.

thermionic

I think the necks on these were originally satin finished, but this had glossed up over the years. I bought some Scotchbrite type pads in Halfords and gave the neck a once-over with the green, followed by the grey... now it feels stunningly good! Tempted to do the same on one of my other guitars now...

Paul7926

Nice progress on this.

thermionic

Slow progress this week. Mainly drop-filling chips in the finish and ordering bits for the rewiring. I got a nice white pickguard from Guitars Electric on ebay, along with a left-handed tremolo arm with metric thread. I think white will work great with the darkish red, not really going for the vintage look so avoided mint (which would probably be too green) and parchment for this.

https://i.imgur.com/eoovZsc.jpg

It looks like a good fit (always a risk with aftermarket guards), with almost all the 8 holes in the body lining up with 8 of the 11 on the guard. One is very slightly off.

thermionic

Wiring up a left-handed Strat can get a bit confusing... I copied the pot wiring off the original, but I have a standard 4 terminals either side switch rather than the cheaper all terminals in line in the original. Hopefully I won't have to re-do anything.

https://i.imgur.com/Go7ZCVP.jpg

Not 100% happy with the drop-fills, I might scrape this out and try with a closer shade of red - the touch-up looks considerably lighter in the flesh.

https://i.imgur.com/qDSjbxD.jpg

Quick mock-up. The white guard goes a long way to make the guitar look much younger than 21 years I think.

https://i.imgur.com/po1hRQP.jpg

thermionic

Did you spot the er, deliberate mistake?

paulnb57

thermionic said:

Did you spot the er, deliberate mistake?

No! its looking good though....

thermionic

I got my bridge and middle pickups mixed up. They’re a RWRP set, hence the different magnet colours. Ironically I only noticed after I realised the black and white wires were soldered to different tags compared to the other two. They’re swapped over now.

thermionic

So... bit of a hiatus while I moved house. Just before I packed up all my worldly possessions (the ones that didn’t end up in the tip), I finally settled on an acceptable shade of touch-up paint. The first pot, some Ford red colour from Halfords, was too light. I thought that even though it was unlikely to be genuine Dakota Red, it’s pretty close - so I bought a pot of real Dakota Red touch-up paint. That looked more like Fiesta Red in comparison! So back to Halfords to look for more red, but darker. It’s not perfect, but it’s as good as I can reasonably expect I think.

https://i.imgur.com/8MT5I5V.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/xQESeLF.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/eCXUtvE.jpg

I gave the body a going over with two grades of Scotchbrite pads, mainly to take off any dirty or faded top layers, blend in the touch-ups and try and remove some of the deeper scratches. Followed with rubbing compound and then this Meguiar’s scratch remover. It didn’t remove all the swirl marks, but it’s not looking too bad for a 21-year old guitar.

https://i.imgur.com/EkdOtPq.jpg

thermionic

Ran into a problem with the pickguard screw holes, but came up with a neat yet lo-tech solution.

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/167721/strat-pickguard-routing-problem

I plugged it in to check that the wiring worked ok (there’s a danger of getting something back to front when you’re rewiring a lefty from a right-handed wiring diagram). Tapping the polepieces with a screwdriver while operating the switch and knobs revealed everything works as it should.

thermionic

I strung it up with 9s, decked the trem and set the intonation. There’s a little more relief than I’d like but the truss rod feels pretty tight and I fear I’d round off the bolt if I try and heave it round another quarter turn. The action is nice and playable with very little buzz and rattling so I’m happy with it. The ceramic bar magnet pickups sound fine, quite high output in Strat terms but still with plenty of quack. Very satisfying to pick up a neglected guitar and bring it up to a much improved playability.

https://i.imgur.com/yzZWdeq.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/SFYUyZD.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/lIrbBXU.jpg

So why the lefty? My girlfriend’s son has recently been getting into music, him and his mate seem pretty obsessed with Nirvana at the moment. His mate has been learning to play on acoustic but he’s been frustrated because he’s left-handed and can’t do much when he tries picking up the guitar. He’s been asking his mum if he can have a guitar and she’s been saying “well if you save your money maybe you can afford one in a few months.” It’s his birthday next weekend and he has no idea!

Adam_MD

Nice surprise

clarkefan

Very cool present, and nice work   And thanks for the push, my old lefty Squier needs some tlc starting with a new scratchplate, yours looks great so I'll grab one of those