As you can tell by the title of this thread, I want to know your opinions on refinishing a strat. i have a 2001 am standard strat in a gloss black (RW board maple neck), and whilst its nice, i want something more unique and interesting. i like the colour of this strat http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkOoEssgfPQ and have got in contact with the guys at wildwood who kindly sent me the set of pictures which were online before the strat was sold.

im not fussed about resale value and have a painter recommended by my local fender authorised dude.

thoughts? I'm torn between keeping this and repainting.

thanks!

I'm not sure what that blue is in the video, but my CS is Cobalt blue.


Nice and dark.

But for a refinish, how about a Chameleon paintjob?



Something a bit different.

Goodonya ...Mark.

if i could work out how to put up the pictures the guys sent me of the guitar i would, but it doesnt look as dark as in the video, must be the lighting.

mmm ill have a think about some kind of chameleon, thanks! one thing which is making my choice hard is that i don't know what the grain of my body is like, i believe its an alder strat but i can't see how well the body pieces are joined. i wouldn't mind a trans finish but its that unknown.

on the topic of trans, anyone ever seen a trans metallic colour? I'm aware lake placid is done with a silver undercoat usually but I'm curious about trans LPB.

Hi there,

It's usually cheaper to either trade the guitar for the colour you want, or buy another body already sprayed!

I've had a Strat Plus refinished twice (I put a post on a similar subject recently) but it's not cheap and quality varies.

Cheers - Peter.

I agree. Someone else asked about repainting a Strat Plus, and I gave the same advice.

If you don't care about the value of the guitar because you're gonna keep it anyway or got it cheap: do it!

If you refinish the guitar, the resale value will drop drastically!

_________________
Kindest regards from Germany, Dee
My recordings --> http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_mu ... dID=564337
STRATS ROCK!!! but Teles and Firebirds, too!

Refinishing a vintage guitar is bad. But refinishing a newer guitar is really bad. It isn't old enough to have any real collectibility, so all you would do is completely trash it's resale value. You will get more for your guitar by trading it in for one you desire. If you like the tone of this particular guitar, don't monkey with it. A refinished 2001 American Series would be worth about $400, and that's assuming that it was a professional job and the rest of the guitar was flawless

Don't worry about resale value. Strats are so mass produced they won't be worth much anyways. Refinish it yourself just take your time. Heres one I did myself

I would take the safe route and buy a whole other body. That way you still have the original to put back on it once you'd like the guitar 100% original again.

There are sites like Warmoth where you can browse through the already finished product. Excellent work there by the looks of it.

you know what guys, i think you're absolutely right, its not as if i don't like the black i have already. thanks so much for your advice. i guess id never really be completely happy with the colour swap after having had this guitar for a while.

...and besides, i couldn't register my strat on this site and say its any other colour than ones they came standard in