Hey all so here is my latest project. I'm taking a Squier Strat and refinishing the neck and body. I'm starting with the neck. Sorry I didn't take too many "before" pics so you can't see how dinged up it was. (But I will show you before pics of the body later when I get to it.) SO here we go!

Here's the one "before" pic I have:


First up was to remove the original finish. Bye bye logo



And the first coat of new stain. Perrrrrty.



I may add one more coat of stain, but I can't decide. I have 2 questions though:

1. What is the best way to clear coat the neck? I have nitrocellulose, pollycrylic, and polyurethane.

2. I really want the logo on the headstock back. I don't want to support aftermarket logos, but this is a legitimate Squier product... What should I do to make sure this does have the "correct" logo?

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Cool, good job so far.

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Excellent job!

Feel free to start a new thread on the Squier Guitars discussion page. I think that's the most adequate discussion lounge to discuss everything else about Squier guitar-related stuff.

My pref for the neck's was Polycrylic, mostly because of the ease of application and the less problems with fumes from a waterbased coating, however the propellent is still unhealthy.

If you check out my thread " Stratopartster I and II " in this Strat. forum section there are quite a few pics of the neck refinishing.

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

I know the type Squier you have. I have one just like it. Same logo. Its very solid and mine is quite heavy. The necks are quite good. I think they are early 2000's MIC.

Good work.

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I remember when we were free!

53magnatone, I have definitely been keeping an eye on your thread. You're doing an amazing job. I can only hope mine can compare to your work!

oneal, thanks for that. I actually didn't know what model this is and I was really curious. That really helps!


So here's my latest progress:

I evened out some stain on the neck and went to coat it with polycrilic. I won't go into gory details (and I won't post ugly photos ha!), but it came out horrible. Long story short, I removed the coat and I'm touching up the stain right now.

In the meantime, I decided to clean up the hardware, because it was GROADY!

Here's how the trem looked before I cleaned it:


And after:


Then I got to start stripping the body. The blue glob is what the new color will be. Quite a refreshing color, I think. Here are the "before" pics:

[img]http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/3616/25262052.jpg[/img

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Turnme,

Yep! Mine has a black body too, its quite heavy, I am unsure of the wood variety. My specimen was without serial number. I found out why. I found a near identical one in a pawn shop. The serial numbers were not engraved, by merely a sticker applied to the back of the neck. I imagine they peel off easily.

Mine was missing the first fret. I just found the right size fretwire and will replace that. I bought a new bridge, tuners, jack plate and a prewired pickgard from GFS, I bought everything "black" so the only chrome left are the screws and the tops of the pickups.

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I remember when we were free!

Thanks for the compliment, there really isn't any secret other than you have to be patient with the process, allow plenty of dry times between coats and always doublecheck on a phase that you are unsure about.




What did you use for stain I use Minwax mainly because I use their products extensively in my work and have found them to be about the best. ( their website www.minwax.com ) has a lot of info on application as well as troubleshooting ( after the fact )
What happened with the Polycrylic Are you spraying it from an aerosol can or are you applying it from a can with a brush I prefer to use the aerosol cans, it provides a much easier and a more controllable process. I also warm the cans up in a pot of hot water, ( not boiling, you should be able to insert your fingers in the water and it should not be so hot you cannot keep your fingers in the pot. This allows for a better mix of the polycrylic and the propellant inside the can. Very important otherwise you get splotching when the can is too cold. )
Did you allow enough drying time between staining and the 1st coat of poly.
24 hrs at least, even though stain may feel dry, it often isn't.
Did you apply the stain with a lint free cotton rag, let it soak in for a few minutes then wiped off the excess with another clean cotton rag

Nice job on cleaning up the trem. A word of caution, if you used WD-40 for anything, make absolutely sure you have completely cleaned it off, it will eat your paint if it seeps onto the painted body.
Personally I dislike using the stuff unless it is for loosening a rusted bolt or screw. The chemicals in WD-40 are hazardous to just about anything especially rubber and plastic.

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

This one definitely has some weight to it also. I think it is alder. I'll post pics of the stripping process a bit later. Mine doesn't have a serial number either. That worried me at first, but the sticker things makes sense. Sounds like a bitchin guitar you've got there. GFS has some great stuff, I love most of their products, especially the pickups!

I'm using Minwax stain. Golden Pecan. Looks great on the maple. I appplied with a clean lint free rag and did wipe the excess. I let it thoroughly dry before I applied the polycrlic.

The problem was that the polycric can hadn't been sealed properly last time it was used. It was pretty dried out. I thought I could get away with just mixing it up and brushing it on. I let it dry overnight, but It came out horribly thick and spotted. When I started sanding, it just kind of peeled off in places. I had to sand/ peel it all off and even out the stain.

For the trem, I used a similar product to WD-40. I think I got all of it off. Is there a good way to do it other than wiping with a clean rag? I general I try to avoid as many chemicals as possible, but sometimes I just gotta use what I have.

Thanks guys! More pics later today.

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These are really nice guitars for the money. I may go get the other one I saw in the shop. It was in great shape. Put some nice humbuckers on that heavy dense body.

I am re doing the neck on the one I have now. I am going with the classic amber nitro finish that Stewart Mcdonald sells.

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I remember when we were free!

Sounds like you will have a really nice guitar when you're through with it. Post pics!

Here I began stripping her
Looks like alder, no? I'm not quite experienced enough to tell just by looking at it.

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I really an not good at identifying wood yet either. I will say mine weighs about the same as my 07 Alder MIM. Th craftsmanship is as good as any Strat I have seen. This series is a steal.

As I said before I think these are early 2000 MIC. The one in the shop I saw that had a serial number sticker on it, started with CE 02#######. I take it to be 2002 China.

With that info maybe the type wood can be identified.

You have done a great job on the stripping. I know its a lot of work getting that old finish off. Keep it up and let us see the finished product. What color blue is that your planning, looks like lake placid blue?

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I remember when we were free!

I looked it up but couldn't find anything. The colsest I could find was that some Chinese Squier Bullets used to be made of basswood.

Thanks for the compliments. It was quite annoying getting all of that finish off. ha.

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2 things I would suggest to remove all traces of the oil would be
1) rubbing alcohol. It's a pretty decent degreaser and dries fast.
2) Naptha (cigeratte lighter fluid or buy Naptha at the hardware store).

I kind of prefer Naptha but since you mentioned not using chemicals, Rubbing Alcohol (still a chemical but...) would be another good choice.

Jeff