I bought a 2000 USA strat a while back. Its a great guitar to play, but the old owner ruined the paint job. It look like he tried to make it a roadworn guitar but just made it look like he sanded random bits of paint off!

I got a good price on it, and its a great playing guitar. I want to restore the paint work though. Can anyone give me advice on if this is something I can do myself or if its just for professionals. I was thinking I'd quite like it to show the natural wood, maybe just use a dark wood varnish. Would this damage the guitar or effect the way it sounds at all? I have heard its better not to sand off the paint as changing the shape can alter the value, is this true?

I can post some pictures also if any one wants to see what damage!

Check out this thread, it will have the info you are looking for.

http://www.fender.com/community/forums/ ... hp?t=26338

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2009 Fender Strat MIM
2002 Squire 20th Aniv. Strat
30 year old Les Paul copy which is currently in the process of being rebuilt.

I've made enquiries before about having a guitar refinished. A reputable company will probably be charging a very large sum of money indeed.

As for your guitar, let's hope that the home-made relicing hasn't damaged the lines and profile of the guitar body woodwork. Power tools can rip out a lot of wood in the time it takes to blink. (One of the reasons why a good refinish is so expensive).

Thanks for the replys, and the link to the other thread. It looks like it was done with really light sand paper as the scrathes in the paint are quite small. Looks like the body is still in the original shape.

I'm now thinking it was be an easier job to restore it back to black as thats the original colour and its only patches of paint that are missing. What type of paint is best, and can I just spray over the top of the paint already on it?

Thanks!