Members the_gunslinger Posted October 20, 2009 Members Share Posted October 20, 2009 Hello, first post... Recently I saw a beat up squire strat with a single bridge -h-bucker in a pawn shop for 20 bucks, and it got me thinking about buying it and customizing it. For 20 bucks, it would definetly be a good parts guitar. Basically, the only thing not damaged is the body, and neck(which wouldn't matter anyway, as I might get a warmoth neck). I want to build an 80's style super hotrodded strat, complete with a wild paint job. Mods would include a top mount Floyd Rose, one bridge h-bucker and one single coil in the neck, and one push-pull volume pot that would function as the pickup selector, ala George Lynch's kamikaze. My main concern is the body. It seemed excessively heavy for a strat, which would lead me to believe that it would naturally sound dark. I would like it to be as bright and resonant as possible. There are dings and gouges in the body, which would need to be fixed. Also, I'm not into pickguards, so I wouldn't want to put that back on. I think it is only routed for the one pickup. I have a router so routing a neck pickup wouldn't be a problem. I was thinking of glueing a block of similar wood in the control cavity, and routing out a cavity in the back. I also want it to be as resonant as possible, so I would use laquer paint. Other details I would work out later. As far as the neck goes, the stock neck is still useable, but would need new tuners and would work fine to test the tone of the body. My questions are, What should I use to fill in the imperfections? Maybe Bondo? Would bondo show through laquer paint? Should I use primer to coat and sand the body first, and would the primer kill the resonance of the body? Or do you think this is a bad investment, and should start with a strat body already meeting my specs? I would definetly appreciate any feedback. I have a lot of expierence hotrodding guitars, but nothing on this type of scale. Thanks, and sorry for the rather long post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted October 20, 2009 Members Share Posted October 20, 2009 Heavy body means its not plywood. Heavy wood means good sustain not a dark sound. Grab it and get to work. "What should I use to fill in the imperfections? Maybe Bondo?" Its not an automobile. Most squiers have a poly finish which is difficult to repair. Would bondo show through laquer paint? Get some pics after you pick it up so we can see the battel scars. Should I use primer to coat and sand the body first, and would the primer kill the resonance of the body? Poly requires a heat gun to remove it. If you're going to poly coat it you can sand everything down smooth then apply poly over poly. You cant apply laquer over poly or poly over laquer. If you're going with laqure you need to take it down to the wood. This can be a problem around the neck pocket because the original finishes are so thick the neck can overhang the pocket with it stripped down to the wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members easilyspooked Posted October 20, 2009 Members Share Posted October 20, 2009 hey can i ask a question? why is it that poly requires a heat gun? is it more of a plastic than a paint? (obviously both bad terms, just trying to wrap my head around this, as it comes up pretty regularly on these forums) what happens if you try to just blast through it with a motorized sanding unit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted October 20, 2009 Members Share Posted October 20, 2009 Polyuerothane is basically an epoxy or a plastic. It dries very hard, its resistant to scuffs, and resistant to paint removers. The only weakness it has is to high temp. Like most plastics it can be melted off and like most plastics, certain chemicals wont bond with it. Something like Laquer is alcohol based and it wont perminantly bond with plastic. Imagine spraying a plastic bottel then squeezing the bottel, the Laquer will crack. You may be able to get it to coat, but temp changes or knocking it will cause it to peel back off. So you either need to recoat with more Poly or remove it and start over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members easilyspooked Posted October 20, 2009 Members Share Posted October 20, 2009 excellent thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the_gunslinger Posted October 20, 2009 Author Members Share Posted October 20, 2009 I was going to sand it to bare wood anyway, to see what I have to work with. Since I don't want to use a pickguard, I want to fill in the control cavity with the same type of bodywood, and re-rout the control cavity to the rear, and fill in any screw holes. I've seen bondo used before on guitars, which is why I suggested it, but if there is a better product, I'm all ears. I've never painted with laquer before, so I don't quite know what I'm getting myself into. Anyway, I'll try to pick up this guitar this weekend, if possible. If anything, it would make a good spare parts guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted October 20, 2009 Members Share Posted October 20, 2009 If you want to fill the cavity, use wood. Bondo or wood filler is nearly impossible to get smooth and contoured like wood is. It would also suck for sound because its basically plastic epoxy. Wood, cut to size and glued in will resonate, especially around the pickups to add to their tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the_gunslinger Posted October 21, 2009 Author Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 I kinda just mentioned I was going to fill the cavities in with matching wood above. I have another junked squire strat that I found smashed in the dumpster near wear I live, which I think is basswood. It's in several pieces, but I should be able to cut it up to fit nice and smooth in the cavity. As for refinishing, should I use grain sealer first then spray laquer on? Don't worry guys, as soon as I purchase it, I will take plenty of pics and document my work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Belva Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 Check for yourself. Guitar reranch recommends sanding poly, fixing the dings & primering with B.I.N. white shellac based primer. Then laquer away. You wanna try to remove the poly, be my guest. But you're wasting your time. This will cause a {censored} storm, but I speak from experience. It works. Don't listen to the naysayers. They aint tried it so they don't know what the phuck they're talking about. Shellac is the original bleeder seal. It's been used for that purpose since Christ was in diapers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members stratotak Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 I tried removing poly with stripper. I tried some automotive stripperI got at autozone..Poly just laughed at it..lol.. I didnt have heat gun..I spent a good 4-5 hours one summer hot day sanding the poly off..By hand..No sander..Just a bunch of 100 grit paper...I think theres is a brand of stipper that I herd will strip poly..Lowes has it..Cant remember the name..haven't tried it..but I herd it will remove poly..But that may be bull. As far as paint..Grab a can of favorite color of duplicolor and clear at local auto zone.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stricken Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 First I'd like to ask, what bridge does it have? Will you even be able to fit a FR in existing rout? Also Im wondering about filling in the existing cavity with wood and routing the back...I just think that would look like hell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Belva Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 First I'd like to ask, what bridge does it have? Will you even be able to fit a FR in existing rout? Also Im wondering about filling in the existing cavity with wood and routing the back...I just think that would look like hell :thu: Getting a fill piece to disappear under your finish is very hard. Voice of experience once again. I recently did a hardtail conversion. I still can see where the fill pieces are. Nobody else can until I show them. But the finish I did is busy enough to mask the patches. Getting a 1 hum p/g is by far your best option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the_gunslinger Posted October 21, 2009 Author Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 The color scheme I have will complety disguise the cavity patch job. I'm a pretty good body repair man on automobiles, the guitar patch shouldn't be any different than pulling and hammering out a dent, and repairing with bondo, if necessary. I'm going to use solid black, with a custom airbrushed graphic, then a few coats of clear. I'm not using transparent colors. I'm going to have to rout for a floyd rose, which I expected. It's like building an engine. Sometimes the parts don't work together, you have to make them work together. I don't expect to have to much of a problem filling in the cavities, but haven't painted a guitar before. My main concern is the overall tone. After the patch's, I'll mock it up before I finish it, to see if I like the tone and then I'll refinish it. BTW, I checked out guitar reranch. Great site! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Belva Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 A big problem is with different types of wood. On my hardtail conversion I filled with poplar on an alder body. Close but not close enough. The 2 different types of wood expand & contract at different rates. You're most likely working with ash on the body you plan on filling. If it weighs 8 or more lbs. total guitar weight I'd almost bet on it. Filling with basswood is not an option. I don't care what you do it will show. If you really want to do this get some wood as close as possible to the existing wood for a filler piece. It will end up being cheaper in the long run to get a $99 poplar body from KnE. Routed for Floyd ready & to finish. I pulled my hardtail conversion body out of a dumpster. And I would have spent about the same money with a KnE body. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stricken Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 I remember that conversion neat thread. +1 with customtele, it will show. And you say you work with cars... You should already know that black paintjobs are the hardest to do because black shows every inperfection. I think you're better of with the black PG. You could always airbrush onto the PG... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Belva Posted October 21, 2009 Members Share Posted October 21, 2009 I remember that conversion neat thread. +1 with customtele, it will show. And you say you work with cars... You should already know that black paintjobs are the hardest to do because black shows every inperfection. I think you're better of with the black PG. You could always airbrush onto the PG... Yes, black is the WORST! I did a motorcycle once in black. Never again! I like the idea of airbrushing on a p/g. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members the_gunslinger Posted October 22, 2009 Author Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 After reading your guys input, I'm thinking the best option is to get a replacement body and start working on it, but I'm still on the fence about it. At least I would know going in that I wouldn't have to worry about any tonal deadspots in the body. This is still a cheap find, I'll pick it up anyway, and maybe down the road I'll build something cool out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Belva Posted October 22, 2009 Members Share Posted October 22, 2009 After reading your guys input, I'm thinking the best option is to get a replacement body and start working on it, but I'm still on the fence about it. At least I would know going in that I wouldn't have to worry about any tonal deadspots in the body. This is still a cheap find, I'll pick it up anyway, and maybe down the road I'll build something cool out of it. Good idea. Use the parts on your new body. If you go with KnE let us know how it is. I'll most likely go that route when I get around to re doing the hardtail. But that's about 6 projects down the road unless I find a rich girl to marry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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