I said recently in a thread that the Squier Bullet is an absolutely fantastic strat for the money, so taking it apart & risking doing irreparable damage to it just felt like the natural thing to do
Really though, apart from the dirty fretboard (which I fixed) & the finish, which is a film of some sort rather than a typical paint job from what I can tell, I just love the guitar, so why not give it a bash.
The idea came to me after seeing a video recommend on YouTube randomly yesterday. I ended up watching a few guides, & most people started did the stripping process with a heatgun. Makes sense, and they're nice & inexpensive...
... But I'm an impatient twat, so here's what it looks like after 45~ minutes with a B&D Mouse
(Heatgun is on the way, though!)
The polpar under there actually looks quite nice, although I'm going to paint over it after the fact. Since the picture was taken, I've taken the neck & bridge off to make it a lot easier to work with (I just cut the ground wire as there's plenty of excess to address that later on).
Anyway, now I've got everything off apart from the loaded pickguard, I can get to work sanding the hell outta the back & sides properly. Should hopefully make it a lot easier! Did the sensible thing & ordered a heat gun
Will keep you updated.
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Just remember low heat and keep it moving, you don't want to melt that plastic, just soften it and get under with a blunt scraper.
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/61134/sarge/p1
Any recommendations? Tempted just to grab the cheapest B&D from a reputable eBay store for like £20. Should do the job
The standard pickups sound pretty damn good, so they're certainly not on the chopping block for now! I do kinda like the idea of making it a one humbucker/one volume kinda deal, though... Sparkly purple with a metal pickguard
Done & done. Ordered this heatgun: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2000W-Hot-Air-Heat-Gun-Dual-Temperature-Paint-Stripper-DIY-Tool-4-Nozzle-UK/351948108890
Should both be here around the end of the week. Hopefully the weather will be good so I can make some good progress.
Get a wallpaper scraper and blunt the edge, it's really easy to dig into the wood with a sharp scraper... And you'll be sanding again
I have the same brand iron in a slightly different casing and 58watt, it works but after a couple of jobs the screw/nut keeping the tip in place came loose, it is held in place by a tiny center punch dimple! I had to crimp it with pliers to stop it spinning when changing the tip.
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/61134/sarge/p1
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=old+butter+knife&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari#imgrc=0z3lDYnjO22FvM:
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