Project Strat.

[Crash]

I constantly see questions regarding painting and modifying guitars on this site and others. I bought a bunch of Strat parts for my step daughter. I'm building it for her for her Birthday in December so don't tell her! It'll be cool for anybody thinking about doing the same thing or painting their beater guitar. I'll show processes and give sources if that's ok with admin. Keep in mind I'm not a luther, Luter, Loather. aw heck, I'm not a tech so I won't be showing any electrical mods but it will be helpful in how one comes apart and goes together as well as basic setup.
Are all yall interested,...Yes? No?

[EVH5150]

I am very interested. I was actually going to make my own guitar with the EVH paint job, but I found one already finished for less, so I bought that. I would like to see these pics for future reference.

[Strat_Copy]

Definatley- i haven't got round to doing mine yet... unexpected bills and stuff, but it'll definatley be helpful, maybe an NLG first.

[TheSharkman2k]

Looking foward to checking this out when you get it started.

[Crash]

Tentative start date is September 1st. I have my bedroom torn down to studs right now and kinda need to get that back together before I take on another project. This is going to be really cool and any of the good people on this forum will be welcome to input their ideas.

[BILLT]

Check out Guitar Re-Ranch @ www.reranch.com/101a.htm they have a complete review on how to finish a guitar and even sell the stuff you need to do it with.

Probably one of the better sites for supplies, right up there with Stewart MacDonald.

[J Gretch]

Definitely yes ! Looking forward to it...

[teegee]

just a little info on Strat building...
check this out.

http://www.desopolis.com/midwest/index.htm

[girlfromdixie]

I've got a little 51 I wanted to paint and upgrade, but when I started looking into the refinishing part it just seemed too labor intensive. I'd love to watch your progress though.

[redb]

You can paint it yourself but I definately suggest having a profession luthier finish it in nitro, it has to go on super, super thin.

What pickups have you gone with? If you have just stock ones or cant decide, you can never go wrong with seymour duncans or the fender hot noiseless set.

[Crash]

If I send it out to a luthier then that kinda defeats the point of the thread. This is a budget project for the DIY'er to show the steps and that it can be done at home with readily available materials. Nitro is nice and I could spray that myself if I wanted to but I felt this thread would better serve those of us on here that don't have the money to throw at a budget axe. The guitar I am doing is a pre-loaded Strat copy body, I purchased the neck, tuners and string trees seprate all for about 125.00.

[redb]

Well I would suggest the plastic they put on mexican strats, eurethane goes on in one step. My personal philosophy is that the more steps you have to take the more likely you are to mess it up, especially when its supposed to go on super duper thin.

[ez-one]

I messed around with a kit guitar as a project, not trying to build a fine ax or anything like that but just for fun and to learn a bit, I ended up finishing mine with automotive spray laquaer, and it really did not turn out too bad, I think that it was a 1980's Chevy Blue. I think that it really depends on how far you are wanting to go with it and how much you are looking to spend, I myself would not put $500 dollars into a $300 dollar guitar, but thats me, to each their own

[Crash]

Well my bedroom is still not together but I'm starting the Strat project anyway. Good thing I have a 5 bedroom house. Do it yourself projects come along even slower than if you hire a contractor especially if you are doing ALL the work by yourself, but I digress....

Here's the guitar in it's entirety with no strings or tuners.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/Crash167/IMG_9208.jpg

Before you start get a zip lock baggie or some sort of container for your screws and hardware, this will save you a large headache later.
First and most obvious step is to strip the guitar down to the shell. I started by removing the back cover to expose the tremolo.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/Crash167/IMG_9213.jpg



The ground wire that connects to the spring plate will need to be desoldered. You could cut the wire and use a wire nut or crimp later to reconnect it but that isn't the best way to go about it. A soldering iron will cost you about $6.00 from radio shack and solder is about $3.00. I would suggest you practice on some scrap wire if you are unfamiliar on how to use it. To remove the wire from the spring plate all you have to do is heat up the iron and touch it to the plate right next to the wire while you pull up on the wire. The solder will liquify and the wire will pop right off.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/Crash167/IMG_9214.jpg


Next you'll do the same thing with the input jack wires. This one is pretty cheap and will be upgraded but still be careful when desoldering and be careful not to melt the plastic jacket off the wires. Some guitars have a channel routed in the body for this wire and this step won't be necessary, for those of you who do need to desolder make sure you take a picture or make a drawing of how these wires go back on the jack.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/Crash167/IMG_9216.jpg

[Crash]

Now the pick guard can be removed. Just remove all the screws on the outside (circled in green). The other screws (circled in red) and vol and tone knobs will remain on the guard. Then the whole thing comes off as one unit,which makes it much easier to reassemble. Remove the tremolo by taking out just the top screws (circled in green) and the two plate screws in the back.


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/Crash167/IMG_9209.jpg

The headstock on mine has some tuner holes I will need to fill because I changed the tuners with Grovers and the mount holes are slightly off. Use a wood FILLER, not a putty, if you need to do this. Putty has oils in it which ruin your finish.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/Crash167/IMG_9215.jpg

Another trick I always use with screwholes is to put a little wood glue on a tooth pick and LIGHTY coat the inside of the holes with glue. This gives the screws more bite when you reassemble the guitar and minimizes the chance of stripping out the holes. Do this step way before you reassemble so the glue has time to dry. You now have a stripped body ready for sanding and prep. This will be on the next installment.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/Crash167/IMG_9220.jpg

[Strat_Copy]

Nice going Crash... have you decided what finish you want? do it with a matching headstock i always think that looks cool.

[Crash]

I'm kinda on the fence about the matching headstock. This would be a good thing to put a vote. What do all the good people here in the forum think about it?
Should we paint it or should it be left natural?

(Jeopardy theam song playing now)

[bobthecow]

I like natural colored wood on fenders, i just think it looks better. On an ibanez or gibson, i'd match it though.

[J Gretch]

I noticed how nice the woodgrain looked on that headstock the instant that I saw the picture.Unless there is a flaw that the camera isn't showing,leave it natural.

[Crash]

Painting is the easy part. Prep is where the results come from. You'll spend more time prepping to paint than actually painting. Plan your idea out ahead of time and gather all your supplies before starting work. If your like me, I have the patience of a squirrel when I paint and can't wait to see what's been in my head come out on the "canvas". You must over come the urges to shortcut and take your time, you will be rewarded in the end trust me.
Here's the body after about 3 minuets of sanding. Now keep in mind I'm using a random orbital power sander and 100 grit paper to make the sanding go a little quicker on the flat areas, however once you get to the smaller spaces and edges hand sanding is required and it goes much, much slower. I took me 3 hours to completely sand the entire body, this is a rough sand only, shaping and finish sanding are still to come.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/Crash167/IMG_9467.jpg

Sand paper is the next issue, the higher the number the finer the grit. Grits range from 2500 which is super fine to #1 grit which is a rock glued on a sheet of paper (just kidding) actually it goes down to 40 grit. For the purposes of our project we will be using 60, 100, 150, 220, 400 and 600. Note these are courser to much finer grits, you must use graduating finer grits to remove the scratches from the previous pass to basically make the scratches so fine you can't see them. On the power sander I'm using 100 grit because I don't want to remove material too fast and gouge the wood, if you are sanding by hand you'll want to use 60 grit. Be careful not to stay in one spot too long as that will create heat and cause the paint to clog up the paper, also don't sand all the way through the paint to the wood if doing it by hand. Sand just until you start to see mostly wood coming through and then clean up with finer grit on the next pass. Always sand with the grain of the wood not against it, if you do it will show through the finish. Specialized tools will be needed here to get into nooks and crannies. I used a wood dowel wrapped with sandpaper to get to the swoops at the top of the body. I have a really cool orbital drum sander which would have worked great and saved me a ton of time but it's full of dead mice (another story for another time) and I really didn't want to clean it out. Nasty smelly stuff, which reminds me I hit a skunk today in my car, don't ever hit a skunk with your car, it's not so much the smell it's the burning of your eyes.....again another story for another time.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/Crash167/IMG_9477.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/Crash167/IMG_9473.jpg

Another thing while were at it, WEAR A MASK WHEN YOU ARE SANDING OR PAINTING. They are inexpensive and your lungs will thank you.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/Crash167/IMG_9476.jpg

[Crash]

I bought this body on ebay and while sanding I found the initials E.C. etched into the back of the body. I don't know who E.C. is but I can't understand why he would want a plain old black guitar so I sanded out the initials. :rolleyes:

Ok so here's the finished product ready for shaping and finish sanding down to 150 grit before filler and primer. It's not necessary to sand all the way down to the bare wood if you don't want to, you could just scuff with 150 grit and then primer if the finish on your guitar is in good condition. However it's best to strip all the paint off for a better end product and tone, in my opinion built up paint will dull the tone in the guitar.
Shaping is the process of smoothing out the edges that were "angled" when you were stripping the finish. This is a step done by hand only and with 150 grit sandpaper. Really a simple process just sand until all the harsh edges have disappeared. Wear rubber gloves for the finish and shape sanding or wash your hands thoroughly, you do not want oils from your hands getting into the wood.
Two more things that are important, DO NOT sand the neck pocket for any reason and find a soft surface for sanding, I used bubble wrap. It's usually found for free and it works great.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/Crash167/IMG_9475.jpg

[girlfromdixie]

I'm kinda on the fence about the matching headstock. This would be a good thing to put a vote. What do all the good people here in the forum think about it?
Should we paint it or should it be left natural?

(Jeopardy theam song playing now)

I don't usually like a light headstock against a dark fretboard, but that's just me. What color are you going to paint the body? It should be something original. Something you can't just get at the shop, to make it worth all this trouble. You keep working, and I'll keep watching. :)

[Crash]

Not going too fancy on the color or scheme but it is different. I'm using Pontiac Blue with an antique white racing stripe across the body. Going for an old school look and it's the closest thing I could find to seafoam green in a spray can. Here's a link, it's the de1610
http://www.duplicolor.com/products/colors/highheat.html

[srv_evh]

I just built and painted this one. I made the body from Swamp Ash and the neck is Premium Birdseye Maple. I bought an old Kramer Pacer and traded out the Floyd Rose and Schaller Tuners so I could have that "real" Vintage/Aged look and I used a Seymour Duncan Custom Shop 78 Pickup which in this body/neck combination is simply incredible.
I had a hard time deciding on what neck to make for it but this is what I ended up doing. The Birdseye is amazing!
http://divebombinc.com/VH/i/Done1_BeakMonster.jpg
As you can see I have a few more projects in the works.

[jmorovan]

I bought this body on ebay and while sanding I found the initials E.C. etched into the back of the body. I don't know who E.C. is but I can't understand why he would want a plain old black guitar so I sanded out the initials. :rolleyes:

Eric Clapton!!!!

[Crash]

Very cool srv_evh I can't wait to see the other two when you’re finished, make sure you post em when they're done.

My apologies to all for the time span between posts I apparently have way too many irons in the fire, but I have been working on the guitar and it's almost finished.

Let's start with the next step: Previously the body was at the final shaping stages before sealer/primer. Use 150 to knock off all the sharp edges and then finish sanding with 220 before the primer. Wood as we all know is porous and will absorb liquid easily and will swell when it does for this reason you will need to use a couple coats of sealer/primer and sand in between coats with 400 grit. There are different types of primer so read the can label, you will want the sealer/primer and a can of filler primer preferably in a diff color than the base primer to see where you’re sanding. This is another point the color of the base primer is important to the finish color coat, for lighter brighter finish coat colors you will want a light color primer like grey or white for darker color coats obviously you'll want to use the darker red primer or black primer if you can find it. I am basing this off what's available off the shelf at your local auto supply store or Wal-Mart etc as this article is designed around the do it yourselfer (DIY'er). Some auto parts stores mix paint and can even mix custom colors in spray cans for approximately $25.00 per can if that's what you want. I found my top color coat at the local hobby store made by testors ( http://testors.com/ ) just make sure you stay with the same type of paint, enamel or lacquer, those are the two most common over the counter types of paint.
Spray the first coat of primer lightly and let dry for about 2-5 mins depending on the ambient temp and humidity (read the label) then come back over with subsequent coats until completely covered letting the primer set for 2-5 mins between each coat, you do not need to sand between these coats. The reason for the lighter initial coats of primer is due to the porous wood thing, if you put it on too heavy and wet the wood will swell like this...

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/Crash167/IMG_9612.jpg

Your first coat should look like this....

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/Crash167/IMG_9608.jpg

After the body is completely covered with primer and dry, fill and large dents or scratches with body filler. This is also readily availably from any Wal-Mart or auto parts store. Do not use wood putty, again due to the oils in the putty. Then sand the entire body with 400 grit until smooth. Fill the new dings and scratches you find after sanding with body filler and sand smooth after it dries. Don't worry if you sand through the primer to the wood this will happen, just make sure you aren't bearing down with super human strength when sanding, use a block on the flat surfaces and sand by hand on the curves LIGHTLY. You are ready for your next coat of primer after you clean all the sanding dust off and remember to keep you finger oils off the finish or it will "fish eye" on the next coat. This second coat will also be with the sealer/primer and repeat the above process. Then for a final coat use the primer/filler this will fill any low spots. You will probably need two coats of primer/filler before actual color is laid down. More or less you will be ready for paint once the base is smooth and no or very little wood is showing through the primer, preferably no wood should show through. Yeah I know it's a lot of sanding and painting but like I said before this is where all the work is to get a nice clean finished product and don't rush the process, let the paint fully dry between coats.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/Crash167/IMG_9613.jpg

This is what you are looking for before color will be laid down.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y182/Crash167/IMG_0152.jpg

[Jess]

The E.C. is for Eric Clapton.