ZiKi Posted September 8, 2004 Report Share Posted September 8, 2004 Hello guys. I recently bought a guitar off of a friend of a friend. Its a Fernandez strat style that has been poorly maintained. It was 50 bucks and came with some interesting yet poorly installed upgrades. Let me explain it. First it was probably a 150 dollar guitar. The person recieved it as a gift and tried "upgrading" it. It was originally a cream white, like hendrix's guitar. They put Sperzel locking tuners, seymore duncan active pickups and possibly a dimarzio tremolo (not sure if it came stock or not). They did a poor wiring job on the pickups, seemed to get a new pickguard too. They lost 3 of the back covers for the Sperzel locking tuners and strung the guitar backwards (tuning up would tune it down, ***?). Oh yeah did i also mention they spray painted it BLACK and did a horrible job, and not to mention the random dents, gashes, nicks and runs. It needed help, so thats what I'm here for. I plan to strip it down, fill the nicks and bruises with resin and paint it electric yellow with a nice clear glossy finish. I am going to build a guitar later on and I thought this would be a good starter. I may need some help on the way and thats why I'm posting this. It seemed to be very badly stored and maintained, with rusted screws and the such. I want to replace the pickguard also, and get these pickups working. I think the batteries are dead. Pictures coming soon! Now heres the questions: Is stripping the guitar with chemicals a good approach to this? They just went over the original finish with spray paint. Is resin the right filler to use to fill in the gashes? What things do i need to paint this? Sanding sealer? Primer? Can i use a can of spray paint? Is laquer a good finish? Umm i think thats it, ill take pictures of it tonight and post em up. WISH ME LUCK! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiKi Posted September 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2004 (edited) Hi, i looked up the pickups and it seems to me that they're Seymour Duncan Classic Livewire. http://www.stevesmusiccenter.com/SDLW-CS1.html okay so if i linked with img from my host will the admins get mad? Edited September 8, 2004 by ZiKi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill-Murray Posted September 9, 2004 Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 Dude, you could sell the tuners bridge and pickups for well over $50. Good buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiKi Posted September 9, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 yeah i guess so, but they arent in excellent condition, i believe the tremolo has some paint on the saddles, i might buy new ones off ebay. not sure yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiKi Posted September 9, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 currently working on these pictures, everyone calm down and be patient, jeez. :-/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simo Posted September 9, 2004 Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 There's a couple of good tutorials on stripping paint on the main site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiKi Posted September 9, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 yes but it says for use on refinished guitar, the guitar isnt exactly refinished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotrock Posted September 9, 2004 Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 I'm sure that youdon't have to sand it back to the wood, that's what I did and all it did for me was make sure that I had to fill in the grain. You should be able to sand it back to the grain filler, fill the holes and smooth it all off. I don't know about chemical stripping but I used a block of wood and some sandpaper. You might end up with a right arm like Popeye though as it's quite hard work. Not sure about the resin either but I had good results with car body filler (P38 filler). Hope this helps, but I'd take it with a pinch of salt until someone more experienced can confirm it or blow it out of the water with a better/corredt way of doing it. Good luck dude. Kaj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorecki Posted September 9, 2004 Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 Hi, i looked up the pickups and it seems to me that they're Seymour Duncan Classic Livewire. Mmmmmmm... These are my pickups of choice. Picked them over EMG's in the same guitar a long time ago..used em ever since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiKi Posted September 9, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 @Hotrock, thanks for the tips @Gorecki: I guess i got a good deal then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted September 9, 2004 Report Share Posted September 9, 2004 Um, dont post pics. Not because I dont want to see it, because I'd love to see the pics. The admins dont like it when people post pics. Hehe Both of you need to grow up! Ziki, go ahead and post a pic, one per post won't get nobody mad and you can link all the other ones, that's what I do now. If you post them just try to keep them under 600 wide. I like Photobucket because they resize the pics automaticaly. Is stripping the guitar with chemicals a good approach to this? They just went over the original finish with spray paint. If they used spray paint you can take this with Laquer thinner, just use a rag and let it soak, then with a putty knife scrape it out carefuly. I will take this paint out before refinishing again. The stock paint probably won't come out with the thinner and this is good since you can use it as primer. Is resin the right filler to use to fill in the gashes? What kind of resin, I have used 2 part bondo, marglass to fill in holes or sanding sealer or a heavy build primer to fill in scratches. What things do i need to paint this? Sanding sealer? Primer? Like I said before you can use the original color as a primer, but if you sand it all the way to the wood I would suggest you use a sanding sealer. Can i use a can of spray paint? Not the best finish but yes, and this is all I had use by now, I use Duplicolor paints. Is laquer a good finish? Almost all the spray paints are some kind of laquer, Dupli is acrylik laquer, Deft is Nitro. Ah, I for got, don't use Krylon Triple thick it lays good and is shinny but it's a pain to polish. Hi, i looked up the pickups and it seems to me that they're Seymour Duncan Classic Livewire. That link didn't worked. But the Live Wires are pretty good, Unlike Goreki I preffer the EMG, but it's a matter of taste, and if I was going to get a pair of SD it would be those. I would get the guitar going I did the same to a pair of cheap Squier and a noname one and won't regret it. you have the most important components, tunners, pups and bridge, I think Fernandes are decent guitars for the price, and later you can upgrade the neck and body as money comes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiKi Posted September 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 Well for some reasons, the black made the base coat to crack, so i gues i'd have to take both coats. Should i use the thinner way for the black and sander way for the white? If so, what grit should i start and finish with? Also, if spray paint isnt the best way to paint, what is? I do not have access to a paint brush. I want to make it a solid electric yellow with a automotive finish, like reallly glossy and smooth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 Well for some reasons, the black made the base coat to crack, so i gues i'd have to take both coats. Should i use the thinner way for the black and sander way for the white? If so, what grit should i start and finish with? Also, if spray paint isnt the best way to paint, what is? I do not have access to a paint brush. I want to make it a solid electric yellow with a automotive finish, like reallly glossy and smooth To start if the base coat is cracked Icould say t osand it out, or use the heat gun tutorial on the main site. If you are sanding get a 60 geit to start but be careful with it, once you can see that the white is almost starting to dissapear, switch to 180 and once everything is gone use 220 or 320. From here sanding sealer, then you are ready to paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerryL Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 Once you get Maiden69's suggestion done, If you use Auto paint method be sure to use Auto Primer and Auto Spray color, then Auto Spray Clear. Because we don't know exactly what kinda finish (Urethane?) they used on the Original Fernandes Finish, you wanna stick with the same type product the whole way through. IMO, I'd stay away from sanding sealer before you paint and go straight to the Primer, and use glazing putty to fill any imperfections before you spray the color, Then give it lotsa clear coats since that will be the hard protection you need to have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maher Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 Um, dont post pics. Not because I dont want to see it, because I'd love to see the pics. The admins dont like it when people post pics. your kidding right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 I'd stay away from sanding sealer before you paint and go straight to the Primer, Not realy, because primer is a pain in the butt to get the grain filled. Sanding sealer is like a much better primer for bare wood. and use glazing putty to fill any imperfections If you do a good job with the sanding sealer, you won't have to do this! but if you go the primer only route you might have to do this, remember that by usind this all you want t ofill is very thin scratches or imperfections, don't use glazzing putty to fill heavy gouges, since when dry it hardness is not strong . If you can use some kind of epoxy, I don't use glazzing putty any more, if I got to I use the 2 part bondo polyester filler and if it's a thik gouge I will get the one that is fiberglass reinforced. And yes do as many clear coats as you can, but just spray them nice and even and wait for them to fully cure to begin polishing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiKi Posted September 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 (edited) mmk thanks, i think i can get access to the fiberglass filler. okay so heres the steps: 1) Put Chemical Stripper on 2) wait 3) scrape paint off 4) sand to bare wood 5) make sure wood is free of sealer 6) put sealer on 7) put filler in 8) put primer on 9)paint with _________ (not sure yet) 10) put 150 coats of laquer on 11) polish 12) lift up a car with new muscles would this be right? would i do 6 before or after 7? sorry about no pictures. I did a unattended windows install and left out the camera component, dont know how to get my camera detected, they're coming soon! Edited September 10, 2004 by ZiKi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted September 10, 2004 Report Share Posted September 10, 2004 If you sand the wood smooth and make sure that you don't have any defects you won't need the filler, just sanding sealer and if ypou wan't to use primer just a coat will be enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiKi Posted September 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2004 there are pretty large gashes though, seems the person tried jabbing the guitar with a screwdriver. I got something its like a marine filler, sands like wood, soft like puddy, hard like steel. But i have to apply it at a fairly low temperature, like 72 F. I just hope it doesnt smell bad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted September 11, 2004 Report Share Posted September 11, 2004 I could be good, as long as it doesn't shrink when it dries. And don't worry about the smell it only smells while it cures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerryL Posted September 12, 2004 Report Share Posted September 12, 2004 Try it on some scrap wood before so you know what it'll do when it's on the guitar. The old filler I used on my ol' RG shrunk and left witness marks under the paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted September 12, 2004 Report Share Posted September 12, 2004 If you're going to learn some new stuff, I say learn as much as possible on one guitar. This is a really good candidate. I'd sand it down to bare wood, so that you can go through the entire finishing process in preparation for making a body from scratch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dugz Ink Posted September 12, 2004 Report Share Posted September 12, 2004 Well for some reasons, the black made the base coat to crack... If you put lacquer on top of other types of paint, it will cause cracking and/or boiling. I got something its like a marine filler, sands like wood, soft like puddy, hard like steel. Wood and fiberglass gel/liquid get along real good, because the fiberglass will actually soak into the wood a little, giving it a better bond. And it also gives you a surface that can be painted. My uncle used to build boats, and he would just brush on the liquid fiberglass, let it set up, sand it smooth, then paint it. D~s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkey69962000 Posted September 12, 2004 Report Share Posted September 12, 2004 i just did a fiberglass filler with a guitar i did. Really good one a pep boys. It dries in 15 min and is really easy to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZiKi Posted September 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2004 Im downloading the pics right now, they'll be up asap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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