Excellent! Remind me: was the other Strat a Deluxe or a CS? It was nice, whatever it was!


Click the second of the two links in my previous post and you shall discover...

Anyhow. Anytime you're in town do feel welcome to drop in for another beer. And we've had some more nice wine deliveries at the wife's office, if that would be of interest, too...

Best to you - C

Update:
I nipped to Halfords just before closing time and got hold of a tube of T-Cut - the 150g one, which says Rapid Scratch Remover.

Unfortunately the application did nothing to the marks. They are still there

Any other suggestions?

No improvement at all? Oh dear, that ain't good news. It means the stain has penetrated deep.

You could try sanding at it with P600 wet-and-dry paper. In this case you have to be prepared to carry on till you get down into the finish below where the stain has reached. We have no idea how far down that might be. If you do that and it works then you can rebuff the finish to gloss and it will be OK. ...Unless there is a clearcoat over that white. Within which case the clear will have to be resprayed. That's not as terrible as it sounds - but it isn't nothing, either.

If the stain penetrates all the way to the primer coat then you'll have to respray the white topcoat afterwards. And a clearcoat on top if you want it.

Alternatively, you could just decide right now to refinish the guitar. That will have to involve sanding the existing finish off though, because that stain will migrate up into new lacquer as well as down into the paint that's on there now. This job ain't the end of the world either - but it means your Strat is no longer how you bought it.

Or you could just decide to live with it.

These days I'm fully equiped for respraying in the lacquer of choice. And I do it for fun not funds, so... Have a look at my finishing work on that thread I linked to, and if you wish let me know and we'll take it from there.




Or just go back to Halfords for some aerosols of automotive paint. They have everything you need if you want to do it yourself. That's the way I'd go...

Good luck - C

OK, so the T-Cut doesn't work.

Next I tried the 600 sand paper on a inconspicuous area (typically covered by the back plate) and it did not help either. I did at least 10 passages with the sand paper which produced scratches, but the stain is still there, as prominent as before.

It looks like it will need some more serious treatment. I just can't believe a leather strap would cause such a mess.

Ceri, thanks for the offer. I appreciate it. I'll see if I can "live with it" for the moment and if not, I might take you up on the offer to refinish it. Would you be able to hit the same cream white colour and top shine finish?

Is it Olympic White? We could try matching it using Behlen products, which in the UK we can buy direct from the manufacturer:

http://www.behlen.co.uk/Merchant2/merch ... y_Code=COL

Or more simply, where we live we can just buy an aerosol of Olympic White nitro from this fella:

http://www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk/lacquer.html

The nitro primer and clear topcoat are easily done with the spray gun.

BTW: can anyone confirm - do we know for sure whether Fender clearcoat their '62 Reissues? I'm guessing they do, but...

Cheers - C

I've used Tonetech for nitro in the past (but i crap at spraying so can realy comment on the quailty)

http://www.tonetechluthiersupplies.co.u ... ducts.html

Andy

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Pending Greatness

Andy mate, we have to form a team. I have no worries regarding finishing - but I hate doing tummy and forearm contours. Misery. On the other hand you just sailed through those on your current build thread without a care in the world!

So I'll send mine to you for contouring and you can send yours to me for finishing. Howzat? My, that Brighton-Victoria line is going to be busy!

Cheers - C

Wow, the A team!

Well I'm totally flattered Mr C, but I'm not sure you should lower your standards to the Big Hairy level

Joking aside, I'd be petrified working on someone else's pride and joy. I need a few more years of practice before I can join the Ceri School of Master Builders

Those books you recommended should arrive next week so I can start learning how to do things properly and raise my game.

Cheers!

Andy (gone all shy again)

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Pending Greatness

Balls!

Dude, I know quality when I see it. As Mr TA says, it'll be the A Team!

And I can't help but notice that head you have for electronics - leaves the likes of me standing. So howzabout you do the amp innards and I cook up a nice figured timber cab or two? Put those poncy PRS paisley amps to shame!

Now. Fancy coming for a beer or three when TA delivers his white '62 for refinning...?

Cheers - C

The T-Cut didn't work!?? That's surprises me.

Anyway, Ceri should be able to help you out.

I see that Ceri pointed to an old thread in which we went down these same lines of communication. I guess we do just say the same thing over and over again. We say the same things over and over, I guess. How else do we get 5000, 7000, or 10000 posts?

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

I have seen something like this before- but it was an old acoustic from the seventies being stored in a red lined case. What happened was that the clearcoat went red because it soaked up the red- although the red itself wasnt faded (well the case was over 20yrs old- of course it would have faded a little) the back of the guitar had a very noticeable red tinge to it. The front not so much because the front was not in direct contact with the velvet plush.

Why you may ask would this happen? because it was red. red is a colour that is quick to fade- quick to stain. You want a colour that will stain carpet the worst? red wine. Your white shirts in the washing machine? a red t-shirt. Notice your girlfriends red hairdye on her white pillow? tomato juce on your white table cloth? and so on...

Your white strat? why has the black strap left a red stain? because 2 reasons-

1, Leather is pigmented and dyed quite somewhat so even the leather pigments will rub off and fade

2, the undertone of black is... red. You dunk a black Tshirt in a bucket of household bleach and water- you will have a bogus red coloured shirt.

for example, Nitro is a finish that will age and yellows the fastest of most conventional guitar finishes. In a smokey (cigarettes im talking) environment it will turn yellowish. Its little surprise to me this has happened, given dyes can be absorbed by colours/finishes- and Nitro is soft.. so ageing, stains and knocks & dents will happen, on a white colour (which by way of physics- naturally absorbs other colours and reflects white) especially if its a thin-skin. Im not too sure what you could do about it to be honest.

Perhaps a strong cutting compound to lift the stain and a finer one to buff. or even household bleach diluted with warm water if all else fails (I mean if all else fails!! ) I dont know if it would react to Nitro- but hey, it gets red wine stains off my white kitchen bench- try an inconspicuous area first

Update- after reading what Ceri had to say, I would bet the strat has a clearcoat nitro over the white and the stain has penetrated deep into the clearcoat.. because the strat is white it would obviously show. If you had a black strat with a clear coat of nitro- I beleive the same would happen, only you would not be able to notice it

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Now that's uncanny Mr C, as once my build is done I intend to make a nice little value amp for home use (my signed Marshall VS100 is way too loud). I currently know naff all about amps but I will be spending the winter months studying. This will be a good project to work towards. I'll keep you posted on my progress. Its a shame Nik is not about as I was hoping to pick his brains on that subject.


Beer sounds good!





Enjoy!

Andy

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Pending Greatness

More on that... later.

Far as amps are concerned, putting aside the one Nick has just built (which seems like a pretty ultimate beast, by all reports) he also has a little old Watkins amp which can be heard on a track or two of his (worth hunting down), and is a thing for the ears to behold. Pix here:

http://www.fender.com/community/forums/ ... ht=watkins

Two knobs for volume and tone. What more do you need? (Actually, I'd like seperate gain and volume knobs if I may, please... .) And look at that circuit. Good grief, even I stand a chance of understanding that one, if I study for a few years.

I seem to recall he rates that amp at about a watt or two. £140 / $223 in NOS condition. Makes you want to weep.

Cheers - C

PS Forum user Chet Feathers has also done some very, very beautiful amp building. Well worth a glance through the archives...

I used to get black scuff marks all over my '62 reissue when I left the strap on it in the case. I had one of these 1980's generic Fender straps:



After a while I just started scrubbing the marks off with steel wool or sandpaper. Now I keep my straps in the case pockets.