My 1989 Fender Strat Plus has a factory stock black-paint job and a maple fretboard.  I'm considering having the body professionally refinished, to a natural, see-through clear finish, or a mild sunburst. I have owned it since '92, and LOVE it but have always found the black
Color to be unimpressive.

Anyone have a rough estimate of costs of having a professional to strip the black coat, to either:
1: the natural finish
2: a sunburst finish

What wood do you think fender used for the 1989 standard strat plus body? any idea on how a refinish would affect the guitar's value?

Thanks!

I would recommend that you do not repaint it. This will hurt it's value. This is unless you never plan on selling it.

I owned an '87 Strat plus w/ rosewood fret board that was stripped to the wood and retained in a really nice golden brown when I bought it for $600 back in '93.

Unfortunately when I traded the guitar in for a different model of Strat I got next to nothing for it.

If you don't want the guitar, sell it to me.

Or you could just buy a different body. The bodies and necks are interchangable. That way if you want to sell the guitar later you won't lose anything. Also a different Strat body would be as much or cheaper than repainting.

The body wood for an '89 Strat Plus should be alder. I think I would agree that it might be better to just get a replacement body - not only for the resale value of the Strat Plus but also because you have no idea what that body is going to look like under the finish. It's going to likely be a 3-piece body (or at best a 2-piece body) but who knows where the seams will be, how well the grain is matched, etc. I would assume that Fender would probably have cherry-picked the best looking bodies for transparent finishes back then and covered up the ones without a lot of grain, odd matches, etc. with solid finishes.

Guys,

Thanks for the replies. Definitely will consider that. I love this axe, so I want to be sure I don't "mess up a good thing."

Hi jgouveia,

I have an early 1993 Strat Plus RW which I bought (new) in one of Fender's metallic greens. Inside the trem cavity you could see this had been sprayed over red! Not unusual in the old days but it surprised me for a '93. I've since had it stripped and sprayed orange for £200 (GBP) and it was the stripping of the polyester finish that cost the money - not easy apparently.
More recently I've had it stripped again and sprayed Sonic Blue (both finishes have been nitro cellulose) which cost me £180. Wearing nicely and looks great!

I agree with other posters that (1) it can be cheaper to buy another body in the right colour, or (2) trade it for the Strat you want, and (3) it must affect the value - although not so much if you plan to sell privately.
But unless your guitar's COMPLETELY original and in great condition it won't be worth top money anyway, and most 20+ year old Strats won't be original. Mine has various repairs and I accept that the value is probably shot. Still plays great, though.

The other point relevant to the UK is that finding a USA Strat in an unusual colour isn't easy. For Fiesta Red / MN I had to buy a CS at £1,600; for Graffiti Yellow you can forget it! Makes a £200 refinish relatively cheap. If you're in the USA this may not be so pertinent, of course.

Basically it's up to you, isn't it? If you love your Strat but really fancy it in a different colour (like me) you won't care too much about future value. You just need to weigh up whether you can get a decent replacement body (in the colour you want) cheaper than a respray for the existing body.
Actually, re future value, refinished Strats go on eBay for decent money, even if not as much as a totally original Strat Plus...

Cheers - Peter.

Hi guys, I reached out to the guy who sold me the guitar. He said, ..."that strat is an example of me making sort of a hybrid "strat plus " out of an American Standard...that is ,vibrato stays in tune but has regular strat pickups which I have always preferred. Many players love the late 80's early 90's era and would consider the aftermarket nut and spertzel tuners a benefit. in the picture it looks like you have really taken care of it."

Now knowing it is a an aftermarket-upgraded 1989 american standard, (adding sperzels and nut), any thought on its street value?

And on the type of body wood used and # of body pieces?

Did 1989 American standards come with gold lace sensors, or would he have added those later?

Thanks,
Jason

A few American Standards were sold with Gold Lace Sensors during the late 1980s/early 1990s. They were often called "Deluxe American Standard" because of the Laces, but lacked off the locking tuners, Wilkinson roller nut and Hipshot Tremsetter the regular Pluses had. Unfortunately these guitars lasted only a couple of years then discontinued.