Hi, I am itching to get started on a guitar project and I found this body on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... AQ:US:1123

It is in pretty bad condition but it looks like it is only cosmetic and If I had it refinished it would be like new.Anyone find any fault please inform me.Anyways, with that said I want to know what one would suggest to strip the paint without having to spend a 100 dollars from the local guitar guy? And lastly, my local luthier does a great job refinishing but I am curios to know if anyone ever tried any .com refinishing services.I have heard guitar mill is popular as the owner worked for fender at one point.Thanks in advance!!!

Just be careful, if that body is like the one on my USA Bullet, it is a plywood body. Chemical strippers may cause damage to the laminated body, especially around the edges! And forget scraping it with scraping tools, it will be so rough on the edges that you will likely catch slivers of wood and peel off sections of wood! IF you buy this body, I would just sand it until it was smooth, and use either a good glue or epoxy or auto body filler to fill the worst cracks and dings, then sand it smooth again before finishing. I wouldn't even try to remove all of the finish, just paint over it

For that much money you can get a brand new perfect-condition solid-wood Fender-licensed Mighty Mite body prefinished in a variety of colors.

For example: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p3902.m570.l1313&_nkw=mighty+mite+strat+body&_sacat=619

Well, I am in the process of asking him 75 including shipping.I really want to get a bullet body as supposively they are lighter and the left horn is not as long.So I will play the waiting game.

Hi Freddy: fixing wrecked guitars is kinda a sport with me:

viewtopic.php?t=30747

(See page 91 of that thread for the finished guitar.)

So I'm definitely not out to discourage anyone from having a go a restoring a write-off instrument.

However. The dramatic cracks on the front and back of this red Bullet Strat you're looking at are more than just paint damage. I strongly suspect there is serious cracking in the wood beneath. If it is indeed a plywood body then the outside layers are probably splitting apart along the grain, which is bad. Very bad.



$145 for a body with these problems is absolutely insane. $75 is better but not near good enough. For $20 I'd take a chance and see what it's like, on the understanding some grown-up carpentry may quite probably be needed to make it fly again. For a price any higher than that... walk on by.

Them's my thoughts, anyhow.

Cheers - C

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I believe it to be a plywood body like my Bullet. Ceri is right, if the laminations are splitting and lifting, it will be alot of work to get it flat and smooth. Even if it is just the thick poly coat cracking (I had an 85 $@! Strat that did this), it will be alot of work to hide these scars. Don't bother with it unless it's cheap, very cheap. These kinds of projects will discourage the new up and comer in project guitar-ing Spend more and get a good body as the starting point. Unless, you just like a challenge, and either way this body is deffinately that!