an idea to ponder ??

stratburst · October 10th, 2007, 06:45 PM

i was thinking of a project to do .....
any comments or sugestions ... i was thinking of buying a used strat thats been painted from factory colour (red or black or white what ever ) & sanding it down to wood finish then stain it a unique colour then sealing it in urethane

am i crazy to try this... my buddy says they always paint solid colours cause the wood on the solid painted bodies looked like crap

nvosmeier · October 10th, 2007, 07:20 PM

Getting the poly off is the bad part. Makes a big mess. Nasty stuff.

You could find a nice piece of wood, but that is the exception and not the rule.

bobthecanadian · October 10th, 2007, 08:15 PM

Not usually a good idea. If a guitar is painted a solid color there may be a good reason for it. The wood may not have a nice look to it. It may have voids, fills, or other imperfections not suitable to a clear finish. If you just wanted to repaint it, then that would be a different story. It would relatively easy to change the color.

Jut my two cents.

Bob

stratburst · October 10th, 2007, 10:05 PM

hhmmmmm....you guys seem to agree with my buddy
taking big chance stripping off paint ...seemed like a good idea a first
but to re-paint a strat seems even better idea ..cool !!!!!

Boris Bubbanov · December 7th, 2007, 08:49 PM

The process of taking the polyester off the guitar actually seems to accelerate the loss of integrity of the whole guitar body.
I encourage people to see an asian guitar encased in polyurethane or a MIM Strat of Tele with a shell of polyester this way: The hard finish is part of the guitar, a structural part of the guitar.
While one piece walnut or heartwood alder bodies can stand in their own right without much coating, the very things that will help you attack and remove the thermoset shell also attack and destroy the adhesive holding a 2-3-4 piece body together. The thing is simply real prone to fall apart or to sound like it will.

Bubbanov

jjames783 · December 27th, 2007, 01:57 AM

why cant u just haze it up and paint over it? like you would do with a car

mobman924 · April 23rd, 2008, 05:20 PM

Strip it, fill it, prime it, paint it, Lacquer, Lacquer, play it.
Just have fun and patience.

thaus · May 29th, 2008, 11:29 PM

I've been told that you just have to use some 600 grit paper and scuff the finish enough to take new paint. I have done this and it does work! No need to strip..........

StratDen · May 30th, 2008, 09:12 AM

Since i've never done this to a Poly finish myself, if you do end up doing it, could you document with pics to show how your method actually effects the finish along the way? I've heard varying degrees of views, but all have mostly agreed Poly is a mess to deal with if you try to do too much with it. I know with most surfaces prepped for paint you want a clean surface that is open enough that it allows for adhesion of what you are applying.

Since Poly is itself a top coat protector, it seems that it makes it more difficult to have a consistent result for going over it.

thaus · May 31st, 2008, 10:57 AM

Most builders will recommend that you use the poly as an undercoat and refinish that way. If you want a natural wood-looking strat, the bodys that are poly'd are not the best looking grain. It is best to then start with an unfinished body. I started my strat refinish yesterday........scuffed it up with 600 grit paper and cleaned it off. I have the Krylon paint but have read that the formula has been changed and you can no longer use Deft (or similiar) on top. Will have to find another solution I guess........

StratDen · June 1st, 2008, 11:58 PM

Sounds pretty straight forward. I'd be interested in seeing your results...

Floridave · June 2nd, 2008, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stratburst

i was thinking of a project to do .....
any comments or sugestions ... i was thinking of buying a used strat thats been painted from factory colour (red or black or white what ever ) & sanding it down to wood finish then stain it a unique colour then sealing it in urethane

am i crazy to try this... my buddy says they always paint solid colours cause the wood on the solid painted bodies looked like crap

I think it would be much easier to
buy an unfinished body with the wood you want,
finish it like you want,
buy the used strat and replace the body with your finished one,
sell off the original body.

EDIT, I agree you could just as easily scuff the poly and paint if you want a solid color, but you mention stain, which I'm interpreting to mean you want to see the wood. Which is why I'd find an unfinished body where I could pick it out.

StratDen · June 2nd, 2008, 08:56 AM

Dave, you bring up a great point. Stratburst, you may even be able to find a finished body in the color you want on eBay. There are people parting out brand new Strats all day long and listing the parts.

As I write this, there are

194 Stratocaster bodies on eBay for you to pick and choose from...