Squier Strat refinish and rebuild (massive car crash potential!)

ChrisRG

Up to now, the most work I've done on a guitar is changing the strings and tuning it.  I thought that it was about time to learn a bit more and get a project guitar.

I bought a Squier Standard Strat off fleebay so if it all goes the way of the pear, at least I haven't trashed a decent guitar.

Now, I could just practice setting up the action and intonation and maybe change the bridge and tuners.  I mean, that would be a sensible starting point for a noob right?

Well, sensible is boring so I've decided to strip it, refinish it, change the pickguard and at least 1 pickup, redo the electrics AND maybe change the bridge and tuners.  How hard can it be right? Oh, and I thought that Olympic Pearl would be a nice easy colour choice for my first refinish as I'm aiming for an HSS Shawbucker look.

http://intl.fender.com/en-GB/guitars/stratocaster/american-deluxe-stratocaster-hss-shawbucker-rosewood-fingerboard-olympic-pearl/

I thought I’d start a thread on my build so that firstly I’ve got a record of the unfolding disaster, secondly so that I can publicly embarrass myself with my ineptitude and lack of knowledge, thirdly it'll give you guys a good laugh, and finally in the vain hope that some of you kind folks out there may take pity on an idiot and offer some advice.

So, here is the starting point

More to follow..........

ChrisRG

Taking it apart was easy....

ChrisRG

Next I went out and bought a heat gun and had a go at removing the finish.  What's the worst that can happen.........

It seemed to have a top layer that came off easily but underneath that was quite a hard, relatively thick layer which I need to chip of to get back to the wood.

Anyone stripped one of these before?  Is there an easier way or do I just need to carry on (carefully) removing the thicker layer?

hobbio

Pics aren't working for me

ChrisRG

Sorry about that @hobbio. They are shared on dropbox and displaying OK on a couple of PCs and an iphone I have here.  I'll check it out.

hobbio

No worries, loads of shit's blocked at work anyway and I think that includes dropbox. I use Imgur for my pic hosting.

JohnB

Looks a bit similar to the finish that I originally hoped to "relic" on the Harley Benton mod challenge. I ended up chipping it off which wasn't too difficult but left some nasty gouges to fill in the rather soft basswood body.  If you can get the top layer off with a heat gun, do you need to remove the lower layer to do a solid finish, or can you fill and sand that? Finished mod pics will be up in the next couple of days.  I like the 2 post trem unit, rather than the 6 screws though

 

ChrisRG

@hobbio, maybe I'll check out Imgur for pics if it's more reliable.

@JohnB, yes, I'm beginning to have the same gouging issues.  Good point on the lower layer.  I just assumed I was going to be stripping it right back.  At least I started on the back of the guitar!

Andyjr1515

Hi. Yes - fairly normal for there to be a coloured top coat and then a rock-solid base covering. More localised heat and firm use of the scraper usually does it. It tends to 'crackle' off rather than soften and peel off. You need to apply care not to scorch the wood underneath or dig in with the scraper but with patience, you should be able to get it off. Under that, you sometimes get an additional thin layer of ply before you actually get to the base wood.

Andyjr1515

If it is indeed there, the ply, by the way, can either be left or sanded off depending what you want to do with it

ChrisRG

@Andyjr1515 great advice thanks very much. I was beginning to think I'd been over enthusiastic and should have done what @JohnB suggested. I'll crack on over the weekend.