I have a Stratocaster body (plain ol wood), a neck coming to me (maple capw/rosewood), a new jack, and custom springs for the saddles.

I need some advice here. I'm going to refinish the neck with a hot pink Fender logo with enamel if possible. Would enamel react with the overcoat of finish? Also, where can I get decent finishes for a good price?

For pickups, I might do Squier CV 60s pickups of the great tones they give. I'm also doing a mint green pickguard and aged trim.

I want to do albalone inlays on the fretboard. How can I remove the current inlays?

I'll post more when I get all of my material organized. This project has been driving me crazy.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

Same here, it's staying that way too. ooooo! it's fit for the "F" tuners. Always wanted a set.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

Need picts!!! Sounds like a cool project!

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Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

The neck isn't here yet. It should be here sometime this week. It's also late, so I don't want any lights on in my house (waking mom or brother)

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

Xhefri, here's the neck. I just copied my whole op from the other thread.

My neck is here!!! It's a very comfortable neck, but it really needs a refin. It looks like someone relic'd it and failed But it was a great buy at $40.

Things it doesn't have: A logo or very much finish on it, for that matter.

Things it does have: Very nice, dark, rosewood fretboard, pearloid inlays, maple cap, 22 frets, bit of nice play wear, proper mountings for the classic 'F' tuners (correct me if I'm wrong),the original ferrules and trees.

I was wondering, could I ship it off to one of you guys, and maybe pay you to refinish it? After all, I was only a C student in woodshop

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

Enamel will not react with any finish on the existing parts. So it is safe to use. As for cheap finishes, go to a home improvement or hardware store and just use good 'ol spray paint. Or go to an auto parts store and get a few cans of spray lacquer in the color you like. You don't HAVE to use nitro With finishing wood, take your time, spray light coats, let coats dry enough before adding more paint to prevent sags and runs. Also, letting the paint dry fully before wet sanding and buffing. believe it or not, you can turn out a very professional looking job with just spray cans if you are patient enough to wait for the paint to dry well, and don't skimp on steps like surface prep, sanding and buffing

I actually have it sanded and buffed now. I believe the original finish was nitro. It rubbed off with minimal passes with even the lightest sandpaper. I kind of want a splotchy amber nitro look when It's done. Also, before I sanded, I looked and there was a "tanline" of the old SN. It's a 97 Chinese Squier neck. Amazing quality

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

The finish on that neck was not nitro.....not unless someone before you took the neck and refinished it. But regardless.....it really doesn't matter what finish you use as long as the finish underneath is clean and fully cured before you spray over it

Hi Buxom: slightly mixed messages here. On your other thread in the Lounge you said you were planning to do the logo in "hot pink nail polish". Which is not enamel.

The solvent for nail polish is acetone, so it is highly likely that if you shoot nitro (as mentioned on the other thread) over the top of your logo the one will dissolve into the other to some extent, which might not be a look you are aiming for.

On the other hand, if you are in fact going to use real enamel I believe it should be OK, though I have no personal experience of that combination of materials.

Complicated, isn't it?

Cheers - C

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Buxom I would suggest having a build thread in one location only, not two, it becomes confusing and often replies are on one location and missed at the other.
Combining would be best if possible..

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

I couldn't find enamel, and nail polish was too thick when I tested it. But, I did do the logo, around 9:30 last night. I was letting it settle all day and I just did the final touch ups. It wasn't hot pink, but a nice, pastel, color.

Most of it was free hand, although, I made templates for the small areas. I also boldened it up.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

Sorry, I made this one and then couldn't find it. Then it just popped up somehow.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

I'm starting to really love the grains of the wood. I was also thinking of different finishes. Maybe I could wax the neck and buff it until it's smooth That drill I found has buffer attachments as well as sanding and drill bits.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

"Very nice, dark, rosewood fretboard, pearloid inlays, maple cap..."

It can't have both a rosewood fretboard and a maple cap. A maple cap is a glued-on maple fretboard.

Some all-maple necks are carved out of a single piece of maple -- the neck doesn't have a separate fretboard (the truss rod has to be installed from the rear, then after the rod is installed they fill the cavity with another piece of wood -- usually walnut for a contrasting skunk stripe). But some all-maple necks have a separate maple fretboard (those usually have the truss rod installed from the top before they glue on the fretboard so they usually don't have skunk stripes on the back). *

People often refer to "maple fretboards" on 1-piece maple necks so the term "maple cap" is used instead of "maple fretboard" to make it clear that it's a separate piece of wood from the main part of the neck.


*I used the qualifier "usually" a lot in that paragraph. That's because there are lots of exceptions to skunk stripe rules. Fender now uses skunk stripes on most necks that have separate fretboards, as well as on 1-piece necks (it makes production a little simpler to install the rods the same way on the mass-production necks) . But they didn't use skunk stripes in the '60s, so the Custom Shop Reissues with maple caps don't have them. Skunk stripes are sometimes maple or very pale walnut rather than dark walnut.

I thought maple cap meant without a skunk stripe.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic