I was on my phone when I send my first post, so it was bit brief. It's great idea to want to change things up with your guitar. A strat is a perfect guitar to do it to, as you can literally swap anything out.
I'm with everyone else here - leave your current body alone - you'll regret doing anything to it. Also - the cost to get a professional nitro paint job could be around $400 (Conway - was that around the cost to get your Johnny Marr Jag done?) and then you have to relic it, and risk mucking it up. You could paint it yourself, but then your guitar would probably be out of action for a few months, while you strip/paint/finish it. You'll also risk ending up with a result you're not happy with.
Grab another body for it. Have a look at the MJT ones - they're more than the cost of a re-paint - but are good quality and can look fantastic. You could buy a body and paint it yourself etc. One thing, if you're going to do it yourself - don't skimp on the quality of the body. It's tempting to think, I'll do it on a cheap body, in case I muck it up - but if you get a cheap body, you'll hate the way the guitar sounds etc, and you'll just end up putting the original body back on. If you get a good body and take the time to do a nice job, you'll end up being really happy with it. Before long a good quality cheap neck will pop up - you'll grab that, and you're 90% of the way towards a second strat. .... that's how the partscaster addiction begins
Slowy wrote: To Danny, everyone is either a supplier, customer or a courier.
Years ago I stripped a Sherwood Green Fender 62RI (nitro) back to the poly base coat that Fender used to spray over the grain filler coat. The Sherwood green was badly chipped and I couldn't live with it. The body had "SB" stamped in the rout (Sunburst I assumed - meaning a nice grain)?? On close examination sure enough the sunburst finish had been factory re-sprayed with Sherwood. So I took the punt and stripped it back. I left it at the Poly base coat and painted the cavities with conductive paint which hid the paint I couldn't remove. I did nothing more to the finish. I (luckily?) ended up with a great result but to me at the time, this body NEEDED stripping. I wish I'd kept it!
A little later on I decided to strip (to natural) a fugly "Transparent Teal" Fender Deluxe Ash Strat (apologies in advance to anyone who likes that finish). I could see the lovely grain of the Ash underneath and although the Teal was in perfect condition I wanted it gone. Plus I was cockily confident after the relative ease and success of the 62RI strip. OMG... what a mistake. The Teal finish was Polyester and that stuff is like glass mated with clear kevlar, it is so tough. Strippers hardly touch it (I tried them all) and sanding is a marathon. I think I ended up chiseling it off. I eventually ended up with a nice looking "natural" Ash body but the amount of time/effort and cost involved was ridiculous. We live and learn.
[quote="Mike Clayton"]Years ago I stripped a Sherwood Green Fender 62RI (nitro) back to the poly base coat that Fender used to spray over the grain filler coat. ]
But it used to look like this.....!!!!
images (3).jpeg (36.72 KiB) Viewed 3671 times
WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1935 Martin D-45, 1942 Gibson Southern Jumbo,1950 Fender Broadcaster, 1954 Fender Strat, 1958 Gibson Moderne prototype, 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard.
1958 Fender twin, 1965 Vox AC30, 1966 Marshall JTM 45, 1977 Dumble OD Special.
Big black garbage bag full of original Klon Centaurs and TS808s.
Mike Clayton wrote:A little later on I decided to strip (to natural) a fugly "Transparent Teal" Fender Deluxe Ash Strat (apologies in advance to anyone who likes that finish). I could see the lovely grain of the Ash underneath and although the Teal was in perfect condition I wanted it gone. Plus I was cockily confident after the relative ease and success of the 62RI strip. OMG... what a mistake. The Teal finish was Polyester and that stuff is like glass mated with clear kevlar, it is so tough. Strippers hardly touch it (I tried them all) and sanding is a marathon. I think I ended up chiseling it off. I eventually ended up with a nice looking "natural" Ash body but the amount of time/effort and cost involved was ridiculous. We live and learn.
Hot air gun.... sometimes you get lucky and it literally chips itself off. Other times you need to scrape but its the best and least damaging method for poly.
So, is that low alcohol or no alcohol at all? mmmm, no alcohol, do you want to try it? Noooooooooo.
Mike Clayton wrote:Years ago I stripped a Sherwood Green Fender 62RI (nitro) back to the poly base coat that Fender used to spray over the grain filler coat. ]
But it used to look like this.....!!!!
images (3).jpeg
WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well today I probably wouldn't have done it especially given that Sherwood green is such great colour! But as I said, the Sherwood was chipped, horrible and letting go too easily. I suspect that the original factory sunburst was not put on properly in the first place and then factory over-sprayed with the Sherwood. It was the Sunburst that was letting go of the poly coat. What else can I say... PS Is that your Sherwood green Strat?
Last edited by MikeC on Tue Apr 07, 2020 2:46 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Mike Clayton wrote:A little later on I decided to strip (to natural) a fugly "Transparent Teal" Fender Deluxe Ash Strat (apologies in advance to anyone who likes that finish). I could see the lovely grain of the Ash underneath and although the Teal was in perfect condition I wanted it gone. Plus I was cockily confident after the relative ease and success of the 62RI strip. OMG... what a mistake. The Teal finish was Polyester and that stuff is like glass mated with clear kevlar, it is so tough. Strippers hardly touch it (I tried them all) and sanding is a marathon. I think I ended up chiseling it off. I eventually ended up with a nice looking "natural" Ash body but the amount of time/effort and cost involved was ridiculous. We live and learn.
Hot air gun.... sometimes you get lucky and it literally chips itself off. Other times you need to scrape but its the best and least damaging method for poly.
I didn't use (or have) a hot air gun at the time but the finish did kind-of come off in sheets with a wide scraper once it had been attacked multiple times with paint stripper. But today I probably wouldn't purchase a Polyester finished guitar and I definitely wouldn't try to strip one!
Mike Clayton wrote:Years ago I stripped a Sherwood Green Fender 62RI (nitro) back to the poly base coat that Fender used to spray over the grain filler coat. ]
But it used to look like this.....!!!!
images (3).jpeg
WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well today I probably wouldn't have done it especially given that Sherwood green is such great colour! But as I said, the Sherwood was chipped, horrible and letting go too easily. I suspect that the original factory sunburst was not put on properly in the first place and then factory over-sprayed with the Sherwood. It was the Sunburst that was letting go of the poly coat. What else can I say... PS Is that your Sherwood green Strat?
Nope. But I'm looking to have a Sherwood green jazzmaster done before the end of lockdown! The paint letting go would have made it awesome in my books!
1935 Martin D-45, 1942 Gibson Southern Jumbo,1950 Fender Broadcaster, 1954 Fender Strat, 1958 Gibson Moderne prototype, 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard.
1958 Fender twin, 1965 Vox AC30, 1966 Marshall JTM 45, 1977 Dumble OD Special.
Big black garbage bag full of original Klon Centaurs and TS808s.
Well today I probably wouldn't have done it especially given that Sherwood green is such great colour! But as I said, the Sherwood was chipped, horrible and letting go too easily. I suspect that the original factory sunburst was not put on properly in the first place and then factory over-sprayed with the Sherwood. It was the Sunburst that was letting go of the poly coat. What else can I say... PS Is that your Sherwood green Strat?
Nope. But I'm looking to have a Sherwood green jazzmaster done before the end of lockdown! The paint letting go would have made it awesome in my books!
Yep, no arguments from me now . I'd originally imported this Strat from the USA in 2004 and sold it the same year (still Sherwood green at that stage). I purchased it back again in 2006 for significantly less as it had deteriorated. On my second term of ownership I had the fretboard "compounded", a refret done, installed an expensive set of Kinman's and stripped the body. All these things were done to "improve" the guitar but as much as I loved it (due mostly to my efforts and cost) I virtually never played it, so eventually sold it for a second time. Overall I came out $685.00 ahead and learned me some good stuff. So I'm still quite happy. FWIW there is only 1 guitar I regret selling and it was also a 62RI but in Sunburst.
Great job Mike. That Strat sure looks lovely in its natural finish... although I did quite like the original colour regardless of the aforementioned flaws. Thanks for sharing
Well today I probably wouldn't have done it especially given that Sherwood green is such great colour! But as I said, the Sherwood was chipped, horrible and letting go too easily. I suspect that the original factory sunburst was not put on properly in the first place and then factory over-sprayed with the Sherwood. It was the Sunburst that was letting go of the poly coat. What else can I say... PS Is that your Sherwood green Strat?
Nope. But I'm looking to have a Sherwood green jazzmaster done before the end of lockdown! The paint letting go would have made it awesome in my books!
Thread hijack - yeah I’m in this camp. I’m not sure what’s cooler than a Sherwood green finish over Sunburst, factory to boot, with chipping and looking aged...that’s like a gold mine that you filled in and then started to dig again for tin.
"Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible god and destroys a visible nature. Unaware that this nature he's destroying is this god he's worshipping." - Hubert Reeves
Great job Mike. That Strat sure looks lovely in its natural finish... although I did quite like the original colour regardless of the aforementioned flaws. Thanks for sharing
All true and thank-you. And for what it's worth I voted "Nah, you'll regret it"
I refinished a sunburst CS 69 Strat. The nitro was easy to remove but that poly base coat was a bloody nightmare. It was as hard as nails. Nothing like poly I've removed on other guitars which generally peeled like an orange once a bit of heat was applied.
.... that's how the partscaster addiction begins 
