Advice to an idiot on stripping a neck(front and back)

mburekenge

Hi guys

I could do with the benefit of your wisdom.

For ages I've been debating selling or trading my CS tele. Unfortunately, my 16 month old is a ninja.

Somehow, she broke in and went on a studio rampage. She knocked the tele over and it landed in the worst possible way, adding some gnarly bumps in the finish on the back of the neck.

The guitar is a '97 cs '50s tele'. And came with minute frets, next to no ambering and glossy finish. None of my favourite things anyhow!

As i live on another continent, and with the pandemic, i can't get the guitar to my normal luthier to work on.

When it is possible i'll certainly be getting it refretted. 

So... should i have a crack at stripping the finish off?

In an ideal world I'd practice on a shit knock off as i have zero experience. However the situation has presented itself now!

How would you strip the neck?

I know this is a bit mental... but HOW mental?

Thanks for reading my ramblings.

WezV

I would deal with the dents first, then see where you are.   You should be able to carefully steam them out.   Sometimes this works without any finish damage, sometimes it doesn't.  If it doesn't, you are no worse off

If it's nitro, wipe if off with thinners and a rag.  If it's not, sand and scrape.

mburekenge

Cheers @WezV ;

To be honest i want to strip the whole thing as;

1) not a fan of gloss
2) neck is really nice birdseye maple but very pale... i much prefer an amber tint
3) neck shape is good but the edges aren't rolled at all.

What would i need to get to do all of the above?

Apart from having my sanity examined... that goes without saying!

WezV

I would still try and steam the dents whatever you decide.

I would strip it with thinners, as it should be nitro.  You can then do all the bits you want without altering the profile.  You can also decide if you want to keep the existing decals in situ, strip the rest and overspray that area with a tint

octatonic

How deep are the dents?
Photographs would help.

Steaming is usually easier on an unfinished surface, but it is still possible on a finished one.

mburekenge

Really, the neck finish is nitro? The body is finished in poly. I'll see if i can find more details.

One thing is certain... you know a lot more than me! Cheers

mburekenge

Also... what thinners woukd you recommend? I'll see if i can get it here.

mburekenge

octatonic said:

How deep are the dents?
Photographs would help.

Steaming is usually easier on an unfinished surface, but it is still possible on a finished one.

Thanks man. Imgur won't cooperate sadly. Let me try again

octatonic

I will defer to Wez on this but I did think that in '97 Fender were using a catalysed urethane on CS instruments, at least the non-relic ones.

mburekenge

octatonic said:

I will defer to Wez on this but I did think that's in '97 Fender were using a catalysed urethane on CS instruments, at least the non-relic ones.

Meaning sanding is in order?

octatonic

mburekenge said:

octatonic said:

I will defer to Wez on this but I did think that's in '97 Fender were using a catalysed urethane on CS instruments, at least the non-relic ones.

Meaning sanding is in order?

If it is urethane then you have a few options- sanding is one of them.

I would first work out how bad the dents are, can they be fixed and figure out what finish you have before proceeding.

mburekenge

Attack of the baby! https://imgur.com/gallery/r0uPDIH

mburekenge

Tried to post. Hope you can see!

WezV

octatonic said:

I will defer to Wez on this but I did think that in '97 Fender were using a catalysed urethane on CS instruments, at least the non-relic ones.

I don't know what they used on CS in 97, happy to defer to you on that.   I often forget they do non-relic stuff

octatonic

mburekenge

It's a crap photo... but shows how shiny it is!

octatonic

Those dents may steam out, they look to be 1mm-2mm deep right?

If they don't then you always have the topic of mostly fixing it by replacing the skunk stripe, although that is not a trivial job.
You'd need to make a jig and go down about 3-4mm with a route, make a new skunk stripe, glue it in and then shape the stripe down to be flat with the neck profile with a spokeshave and sandpaper.
You'd still have to fix the longer dent on the right that goes into the maple- you always have the topping of thinning the neck down a bit but it might change the feel considerably.

That doesn't look like nitro to me, can you provide a photo of the body?

octatonic

WezV said:

octatonic said:

I will defer to Wez on this but I did think that in '97 Fender were using a catalysed urethane on CS instruments, at least the non-relic ones.

I don't know what they used on CS in 97, happy to defer to you on that.   I often forget they do non-relic stuff

Yes, I was selling Fenders in Australia around that time (I worked in a guitar shop).
It was a long time ago but I remember most of the CS guitars we had were not relic and were not nitro, but I could be misremembering.

octatonic

At least it wasn't a semi, eh?

WezV

those dents will steam out at least 90% of the way, 

mburekenge

Body definitely poly