hey there guys! This is the new guitar I bought of a buddy of mine for 25 bucks (with an amp + cable). I've been a bass player but i've always wanted to customize guitars sense I started playing and nows my chance. Me and my dad removed every thing from the guitar.

This guitar is the definition of a crappy guitar.... it was totally unplayable but I think I can get it to work and look pretty good with time. It has no names or serial numbers and honestly I don't really care were it came from.

My question is: What could I use for a finish on my guitar?

Right now i just want to know what affordable options i have when I put a finish on this guitar. i can do the whole scrape it down and ad verithane or whatever i just want to know what finish is available. I also have access to a air gun to paint it.

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Basses:
Fender '51 P bass RI
Squier affinity jazz bass
Guitars:
Squier tele custom
Amps:
Peavey Max 115
fender rumble 15

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!!!

I did a similar project with a MIM (thread is somewhere on this forum, can't remember where I posted it)

I took a sander and did the flat surfaces (front and rear)
Expect a LOT of time to get to even see the bare wood.

For the sides, specially the horns, I used a dremel with a round sanding barrel and SLOWLY sand till you see the bare wood. You have to be very careful since you can eat up quickly into the poly finish that way.

For the finish, I used MinWax pecan Polyshade that fill and stain at the same time. It gives a satin feel. A quick way to give a new look to a project guitar.

My 2 cents.

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1998 American Standard Strat MIA
2008 Fender Strat Road Worn 50's Sunburst
1993 Fender Standard Strat MIM (MY BABY)

Lol I agree with stickers thing. I was originaly going for a rivers cuomo of weezer look but my dad has a way of convincing me to do bigger things. I might have to convince him to le me go back to my original plan of an easy project.

My dad is an incrdeble carpenter in my opinion and I bet he could make it look good but he knows very little about guitars. I think I'll tell him that I talked to you guys on the forum and decided not to do anything to fancy.

I'm gonna feel really bad though because this is the first time he's shown interest in any thing music or guitar related... Thanks a ton for your info though!

_________________
Basses:
Fender '51 P bass RI
Squier affinity jazz bass
Guitars:
Squier tele custom
Amps:
Peavey Max 115
fender rumble 15

A couple of website's to visit are ranch.com and stewmac.com. There is a current thread about a partscaster on the telecaster forum that you might want to read there are couple of good links in it.
Most of all have fun with it____

And deprive your dad of the chance to "play"? You say the man is good with carpentry, let him have a whack at it! Could be good a good learning experience for both of ya! And hey, if ya'll botch that up. THEN you can cover it with stickers.

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"I started out with nothing, and still have most of it"

Here is what you should do ...

1) Leave the finish alone. It actually looks like a nice color and good condition in the pics, and the refinish
work involved on that type of guitar is not worth it.
2) There are some inexpensive and good looking "loaded" picjguards on eBay and also from GHS.
These are likely orders of magnitude better than what you have (and good looking, too -- pearloid, etc.).
Drop one of those in there.
3) The trem is likely horrible. So when you do your setup, go with "no float" (bridge flush against body). The guitar will stay in
tune better, especially on this guitar. To do this screw the claw-screws all the way in and/or add trem springs.
4) eBay also has some cheap bridges. I'd pick up one of those, too.
5) Clean the thing up.
6) Tuners are likely a problem, too. You are a bass player, so you know what tuners do. You may just want to see if they are decet or not.
If "not", pick some used ones up off of eBay.
7) Strings and good setup.

With those new pickups, it might actually be work out pretty well for you.

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Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...

Hi Will,if you're painting it a solid colour it isn't really necessary to strip it down to bare wood.Allyou need to do is sand down the existing finish enough so that a primer will adhere to it.Once you get it primed you can go on to paint as you wish.There are some fine spray cans available from Dupli-Colour and in many cool colours.Years ago you could even get Candy Apple colours in spray cans,theywere a bit involved to put on(A 4 step process)but the results could be dazzling.Personally I wouldn't go the sticker option,it's too easy and there's nothing unique about it.If you decide to paint it you could have your own one off guitar that could be possibly the envy of your friends or anyone that sees it.BTW If the Candy Apple paints are still available the end result certainly makes it worth the extra effort.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

i stripped the same one, i used that chemical stripper to get down to wood. I had to use multiple coats of the stripper. they are really rough so take your time. after that just sand it and shoot it. i used auto paint on mine. i did one like that and an old teisco at the same time. The Teisco was MUCH easier.

I probably won't step into this territory but, from what I know, a strat usually has individual routings for the pickups right? this one has just the big rectangle so would it be easy to replace the back pickup with a humbucker? using a new pickguard of course.

Also on the subject of pickups, can i remove the white (pickup covers?) plastic covers on the pickups and colour them different as well for a cool contrast to the white pickguard?


Thanks,
Will p

_________________
Basses:
Fender '51 P bass RI
Squier affinity jazz bass
Guitars:
Squier tele custom
Amps:
Peavey Max 115
fender rumble 15