I found this old body that was going to be burned/scrapped. There's a barely legible date in the neck pocket that looks to say "(can't read) MAY 84" I plan on getting some paint thinner, stripping everything, and painting it graffiti yellow with a brown tortoiseshell 3 ply pickguard, black trim (knobs, switchtip, pickup covers, etc), maple neck, and Kluson Deluxe tuners. I found a pre loaded guard with white trim for $89, bridges are like $12, and the other stuff (claw, insulating tape, soldering lessons ) should be around $50 or so.

I hope for this build to just be a free time + extra cash thing.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

I loved it up until I saw 'brown tortoiseshell'.

On Graffiti Yellow?!!!!?!!?!?!!

I don't like brown tortoiseshell at the best of times, but C'MON!!

Pearloid. Cream. Black. Anything but that!

Apart from that, sounds awesome.

EDIT: I would say set aside some dough for some decent pickups. Seymour Duncan Quarter Pounders don't cost much and they're pretty cool. Beefy. Fender Custom Shop pickups... can get those for a reasonable price... just sayin'. If you're gunna build it, may as well make it sound as good as it can get.

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'01 American Deluxe HSS Strat.
'87 Japan HSS Strat.
'11 Custom Shop FMT HSS Strat.

"Without music, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines and dates by which bills must be paid."

Before I build I have a vision of what I want it to be. Also, the corners are filed in the neck pocket where the plate would go. Time to break out the bondo.

I don't want black on yellow. Mint green would look... Sickening... White is too common... Tom DeLonge models in graffiti yellow use white tortoiseshell, so why not brown? (Tom's models suck, tbh. 1 humbucker doesn't cut it.)

Also, the pickups I found with the loaded guard are apparently alnico 5s, which apparently is a step up from the standards on American Strats. Although I don't care what pickups it has (just as long as it functions properly), this is pretty nice.

I hope it goes smoothly :p

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

Corners? Filed? Explain...

So by process of elimination, you end up with brown tortoiseshell... think you may be missing a trick with black. Maybe black pearloid or machined aluminium? Meh. I want to see it first.

Not only do Tom's models suck $@! with 1 humbucker, they've got the 'wrong' headstock and 'wrong' bridge...

Fair enough on the pickups. However, Texas Specials can be had cheap and they're awesome... nice wiry tone, and you can roll back the volume a bit and they transform into standard Strat pickups... you know you want to.

Good luck! Last time I had a Strat project, it was my red one. It went very well. I hope my good luck passes on to you. And then back to me. I have a new project coming too.

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'01 American Deluxe HSS Strat.
'87 Japan HSS Strat.
'11 Custom Shop FMT HSS Strat.

"Without music, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines and dates by which bills must be paid."

Basically, the outside of the pocket, next to the screw holes looks like it was sanded on the corners. I'll mould new ones out of bondo I guess. What kind of primer should I use?

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

Picsorban, but I think I know what you're getting at...

Regarding primer, probably some kind of wood primer would do the job nicely.

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'01 American Deluxe HSS Strat.
'87 Japan HSS Strat.
'11 Custom Shop FMT HSS Strat.

"Without music, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines and dates by which bills must be paid."

http://www.ebay.com/itm/KRYLON-51806-Br ... 083wt_1185

Found this nice color. Not "Graffiti Yellow", but a close match to it.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

You should go check out the bamboo yellow with copper back Gretsch Nashville's. I wonder if you could find a copper colored metal pickguard?

I think copper on yellow would be a bit... Drab...

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

I'm off school today. Once everyone leaves for work, I'll get to stripping. (not like that )

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

I just sanded the surface layer of paint off. It's beautiful. I might keep it the way it is. It shows all of the original battle scars still.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

Worthless without pics.

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'01 American Deluxe HSS Strat.
'87 Japan HSS Strat.
'11 Custom Shop FMT HSS Strat.

"Without music, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines and dates by which bills must be paid."

I'll get em. I'm just trying to let the paint thinner from the pickup slots to dry.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

It has a lot more beat up spots and cracks, but my camera couldn't pick them up. I also couldn't sand the horns very well. Any suggestions?

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

I would give you advice, but last time I stripped a guitar I kind of set it on fire.

Looks good so far- I have a feeling it may look a little like the first Highway 1 HSS when you're done. Black bobbin pickup at the bridge ftw.

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'01 American Deluxe HSS Strat.
'87 Japan HSS Strat.
'11 Custom Shop FMT HSS Strat.

"Without music, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines and dates by which bills must be paid."