Hi:

I have a 1992 Strat that has a couple of deep chips in the paint from dropping the guitar that I'd like to repair. My question is, can anyone here tell me what type of paint was used on these Strats, i.e. Poly, Lacquer, etc.?

OR where I could find the spec on the finish?

Thanks!

Hi kingtf: more info needed than just the date. It will be a different finish depending on the model and the country of origin.

Give us more to go on...

Cheers - C

Thanks for the reply. The Strat is an early 90's, American made, Strat Plus, black paint, brushed silver hardware, locking tuners

Hope that helps.

Was wondering if I could use an opaque black glue filler to seal the chips up

Hi kingtf: I'd wait on someone who can tell you for sure, but I believe that your Strat Plus will have a polyurethane finish on it.

Luckily, black is by far the easiest to match for repair. You have to decide if just the clear coat is damaged or the color coat as well. If it is chipped right down to the wood that's something else again.

Several people here who can help on repair if that's the way you want to go, but now you need to show us some nice clear, focused close-up photos so the advice can be accurate. Time to familiarise yourself with the "macro" setting on your digital camera!

Over to you...

Cheers - C

Ceri, it is definitely chipped down to the wood, no doubt. I'm afraid it could get worse if I don't seal it up.

I'll have to take a photo and post it, but it's not a good thing.

kingtf, any minute now this thread is going to fill up with folks telling you to just leave it and call it "mojo", or battle scars, or whatever. That's up to you: I make no judgement.

But if you do want to repair it then it will involve carefully sanding out the damaged, respraying with black, sanding that so that the join disappears into the existing paint around it, and then clear coating on top.

If you feel confident to undertake that then we can talk about it in more detail. Otherwise, it is not at all a challenging repair for a good tech/luthier (emphasis on the "good"). Just make sure he understands it is a polyurethane lacquer - assuming I was right about that (and I don't know for sure).

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable on that will look in shortly...

Cheers - C

Thanks for the advice! I'll consider my options.