Members deadllama Posted March 23, 2010 Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 I've got an 87 American Standard Strat. It's been factory-refinished in Pewter and had EMG SA's installed in it because some jackoff wanted a Clapton signature model but bought a used '87 instead. Underneath the Pewter is a beautiful coat of Surf Green, which I believe is the original color since Surf Green was offered in 87 and Pewter didn't arrive on the scene until 88 or 89, whenever the first Eric Clapton model came out. (That's what Fender said, anyway. I emailed them pictures.) Anyway, so I'm sanding off the Pewter. I know this is crazy, but I don't care. I've already got a lot of it off and with just the Surf Green the body is much, much more resonant. The Pewter finish is at least twice as thick as the original Surf Green. I've also ordered a set of Lindy Fralin Real '54's and a mint green pickguard, and an "aged white" knobs/pickup covers/trem cavity cover kit, so I'm going to have to take the pickguard out anyway. All that is to say: sanding the Pewter coats off would be a lot easier with the guitar apart. How easy/hard is it to do so? I'm reasonably mechanically inclined (I repair computers for a living) and my soldering skills are well-honed. Am I going to break something? What should I watch out for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kung Fu Panda Posted March 23, 2010 Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 Very easy. all you need is a screwdriver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members deadllama Posted March 23, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 Very easy. all you need is a screwdriver. Am I going to misalign something and totally f*ck up the way my guitar plays when I put it back together, or is that pretty brain-dead easy? I'm just really nervous about getting it apart and not getting it back together, and ruining my favorite-playing Strat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lp_junkie Posted March 23, 2010 Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 when you put the neck back on, I take and put the screws in but not tighten them all the way, then I string a low and high E string and adjust the neck until the strings are straight and evenly aligned with the edged of the fretboard and hold it in that position, then I have someone (either my wife or one of the kids) tighten the screws down in place. Building Strats is easy as pie, as long as you don't lose any of the pieces and screws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ashtray Posted March 23, 2010 Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 I've taken strats apart when I was 13. Can tear it down to just the body in 5 minutes. Here's a hint- loosen the strings then cut them in half. (Loosen first so no tension!!!!). If you try to save the strings it will cost you time and frustration - ask me how I know! Hahaha no real chance of screwing it up. If by chance you don't put the neck back on right, then just try again. Don't force anything and you'll be fine. Only wire to unsolder is thr ground wire that goes to the trem claw. Oh and the two wires that go to the output Jack. The trem claw might be better off cutting the wire or disconnecting by the pots bc of the amount of solder used to hold it on to the claw part. Oh - also it's very common for necks to have a shim in the pocket - so just look got any small pieces of cardboard/paper in there when you remove the neck. To get the neck to sit how it was you'll need that shim in the same spot. If not, no worries and you can always add your own later if it needs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kung Fu Panda Posted March 23, 2010 Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 Am I going to misalign something and totally f*ck up the way my guitar plays when I put it back together, or is that pretty brain-dead easy?I'm just really nervous about getting it apart and not getting it back together, and ruining my favorite-playing Strat. Nah, just give it a try, you'll be surprised how fool-proof the design is.There's the slight chance there might be 'shims' in the neck pocket, -- little bits of cardboard that slightly angle the neck. If there are, just take note of where they're sitting and put them back in there when you're about to put the neck back on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sfarfsky Posted March 23, 2010 Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 You'll need to solder the ground back when you're done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members twotimingpete Posted March 23, 2010 Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 put a chimp in a room with just a strat and a screwdriver and he may eventually take it apart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members deadllama Posted March 23, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 You'll need to solder the ground back when you're done. Yeah, I'm going to leave the pickguard and electronics out as I've got a pre-wired pickguard with the Lindy Fralins coming from Acme Guitar Works. That will come with a new jack that I'll have to solder and I'm going to leave the ground wire soldered to the trem claw and re-use that wire with the new electronics. Thanks for all the encouragement, everybody. I'm still nervous about all this, but I'm going to buy some heavier sandpaper (I'm trying to do this with 150 grit and it's a nightmare) and give it a shot. If anyone has any other pointers, I'd sure love to hear them! EDIT: Here's a "before" picture. Right now it's got a big splotch of Surf Green up by the strap button and another one down on the rounded off corner. Gotta say, I don't recommend these EMG's at all, unless you're only using the bridge pickup and you crank the 25dB active boost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ashtray Posted March 23, 2010 Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 Careful with sandpaper - you might go through the finish underneath. Other options include a heat gun or chemicals- but it's a judgement call how much to use and how well/hard the top paint layer is. Might not be able to salvage the original paint - or you might get lucky and the top paint may come right off leaving the bottom layer in tact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bad Chile Posted March 23, 2010 Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 A couple things: 1) A good clue if there ever was a shim in the pocket is if there is a slight indentation in either the neck (unlikely) or the neck pocket (more likely) due to the shim being pressed into the wood. 2) I follow the advice for reinstalling the neck of completely restringing the neck then loosening the neck plate screws a 1/4 turn each and allowing the neck to seat itself. This creates a large amount of pressure between the butt end of the neck and the body (approximately 120 pounds, give or take), which is far more than you can safely cause by cranking down on the neck screws. A warning with this procedure is that if the neck pocket is snug or tighter you may cause a small paint chip on the leading edge of the neck pocket; in addition, if the neck plate slides while doing this it may take some paint off the body. Either way, you get a might tighter body-neck connection than you could possibly safely achieve by cranking the neck screws, which IMHO is worth more than the small paint chips that I've caused over the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EJD Posted March 23, 2010 Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 I've lost count of the number of times I've assembled/disassembled a Strat style guitar. It's easy as pie, trust me. They're like Lego Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sfarfsky Posted March 23, 2010 Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 You could go ahead and sand off all the paint you can't see. supposedly, its the holy grail of tone EJ does it so it must improve tone, right? :poke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EJD Posted March 23, 2010 Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 EJ does it so it must improve tone, right? :poke: wat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soundcreation Posted March 23, 2010 Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 wat you forgot the 't' at the beginning of your word.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Ratae Corieltauvorum Posted March 23, 2010 Moderators Share Posted March 23, 2010 when you put the neck back on, I take and put the screws in but not tighten them all the way, then I string a low and high E string and adjust the neck until the strings are straight and evenly aligned with the edged of the fretboard If you have that muich room in the neck pocket you must have some big neck pockets:confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members paulskirocks Posted March 23, 2010 Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 Due to the coriolis effect, disassembly is much easier in the southern hemisphere, as the screws need to spin counter-clockwise in order to aid removal... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EJD Posted March 23, 2010 Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 you forgot the 't' at the beginning of your word.. Haha. I screwed up a bit there... I think he was talking about Eric Johnson. I thought he might have been referencing me, because my first two initials are EJ, and I get called that a lot. Facepalm on my part... I only just got up, gimme a break Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members deadllama Posted March 23, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 Anybody know of a good way to take off two or three layers of poly finish without taking off the surf green or the white primer underneath it? ...Other than sanding like a madman for the next few days, which I'm perfectly content to do, unless somebody else knows of a better way. All the Pewter left (except under the pickguard) is visible, so I don't want to try anything that could damage the paint on the front of the guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members linusâ„¢ Posted March 23, 2010 Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 someone needs to start a youtube contest timing people on how fast they can tear down a strat / rebuild one.. like marines and their rifles.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Belva Posted March 23, 2010 Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 put a chimp in a room with just a strat and a screwdriver and he may eventually take it apart. My shop has gotten so busy lately I need a helper. Maybe I'll find a monkey that will work for bananas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BoneNut Posted March 23, 2010 Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 Anybody know of a good way to take off two or three layers of poly finish without taking off the surf green or the white primer underneath it?...Other than sanding like a madman for the next few days, which I'm perfectly content to do, unless somebody else knows of a better way. All the Pewter left (except under the pickguard) is visible, so I don't want to try anything that could damage the paint on the front of the guitar. I think you may find it hard to get rid of the Pewter color without damaging the Surf Green, so you might be facing a complete refinish... which is no big deal, especially for a solid color guitar. I've refinished a couple of Strats and helped out on another two. It's not rare to start sanding and find another color under the finish... especially on Pewter. It looks like it was their "go to" color when they screwed up a finish, especially a sunburst or metallic. I didn't know EC models came with EMGs. Weren't they the noiseless Fender pups? Not sure. With the refinishes I've done, I haven't noticed any tone change that could be heard through an amp. As far as taking it apart, just go for it. Take the entire thing apart. You'll soon be learning a lot about Stratocaster setup. After you get the finish where you want it, you may want to look into shielding it. Before you install the new wired pickguard, you may want to consider an wiring mod... treble bleed... blend pot... mini switch... lots of options to consider. There are a bunch of really useful sites on the Web where you can find Strat setup tutorials. They are a bit tricky as far as all the adjustments have to work in concert, especially that trem. Since you are a Tech, you shouldn't have any problems. Just take it slow and easy. I'm sure your project will turn out beautifully, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Fred Buzz Posted March 23, 2010 Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 Anyway, so I'm sanding off the Pewter. I know this is crazy, but I don't care. I've already got a lot of it off and with just the Surf Green the body is much, much more resonant. No, the first remark doesn't sound crazy, but the second remark does ... especially because you haven't sanded the pewter coating completely off yet ... Let's ask Fender to call it Resonant Green? Sounds fancy as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members evh1984 Posted March 23, 2010 Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 How hard is it to disassemble a Strat? Has Charlie Daniels ever been #1 on the R&B charts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Orange Jackson Posted March 23, 2010 Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 Very easy. One tip that might be helpful.When taking the springs off the back, use your free hand to block the area behind the trem block. This way, if the plyers slip off the spring you are pulling off, they will hit your hand and not put a big gash along the back of the body. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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