The Welder Posted June 15, 2005 Report Share Posted June 15, 2005 Hi guys... I'm waiting on a Squier Strat alder body and a Mighty Mite maple neck to come in the mail. ebay purchases. The Squier body is black. I'm thinking that I want to totally remove the factory finish so that I can see how the grain looks. If the grain is nice, maybe I'll go with a clear colored finish. If not, I'm thinking about a metallic red. Does anybody know if the original black is polyurethane? If I use paint stripper will that damage the wood? It seems like paint stripper soaking into the wood could create future problems... Otherwise, is sanding my best alternative? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlGeeEater Posted June 15, 2005 Report Share Posted June 15, 2005 It shouldnt. Under the layers of paint is a sanding sealer, which is pretty thick. I have though, mistakenly left paint stripper on for 2 days and it stripped through clear, primer and sealer, so don't let it sit too long. You will wind up with problems By the way, Squiers are plywood, i doubt you will like the grain once you strip it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted June 15, 2005 Report Share Posted June 15, 2005 No they aren't plywood. The chances of the grain looking good are slim to none, though. Usually they have at least a three piece body as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlGeeEater Posted June 15, 2005 Report Share Posted June 15, 2005 No they aren't plywood. The chances of the grain looking good are slim to none, though. Usually they have at least a three piece body as well. ← I was always under the impression that the where. What are they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Balls Posted June 15, 2005 Report Share Posted June 15, 2005 I recently stripped a newer epiphone that had that horribly thick poly finish on it. I tried to sand most of it, which took FOREVER since most of it couldnt be sanded with a parm sander, and I couldnt even get all of it off by hand in the hard to get places. So I bought a $20 heat gun at the hardware store. I was amazed at how well it worked. I had been hesitant due to people's stories about hot paint flakes flying off the guitar, but it was nothing like that. After a short time under the gun, the finish started popping like jiffy-pop and got little pock marks all over it. The you just quickly scrape the area off with a scraper. Worked great, and all I had to sand after that was a little residual that didnt come up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Alex Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 the more expensive squiers are alder, but most are plywood, or agathis(crummy asian stuff not the nice pacific stuff) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_A_T_T Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 The finish will most likely be polyester, which is quite hard to remove with any stripper. I know with FENDER'S, the base coat on bodies, whether Mexican or American, is polyester, the top coat on the Mexican instruments is polyester also, but on American Fenders it's polyurethane. Polyurethane is used on all necks. I'm not sure what the body will be made of. It may be plywood, or it may be multi-piece poplar or agathis, possibly laminated with birch on the top and back (for the sunburst models)...whatever it is, it probably won't be pretty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terrax Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 i've heard that the mexis are 5 - 7 piece bodys, with a single piece veneer over the top and back to hide the glue seams. squire, i'm not sure it would even be that good of wood. i think i'd leave it, you might not like what you find dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 i've heard that the mexis are 5 - 7 piece bodys, with a single piece veneer over the top and back to hide the glue seams. squire, i'm not sure it would even be that good of wood. i think i'd leave it, you might not like what you find dave ← Not to stray too far off topic, but here's a look inside Fender's Mexico Factory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 There have been many threds on this at the fender forum. This one guy who was like the head of the squier at the factory said that it varies alot. You might get one thats 5 peice alder or one thats 9 peice alder or one thats plywood. Basicly he said that they never go below 4 peice bodies. And they laminate a vener on the sunburst models. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Welder Posted June 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 There have been many threds on this at the fender forum. This one guy who was like the head of the squier at the factory said that it varies alot. You might get one thats 5 peice alder or one thats 9 peice alder or one thats plywood. Basicly he said that they never go below 4 peice bodies. And they laminate a vener on the sunburst models. ← The body that I ordered on ebay is alder. Should be here soon. I have a complete Squier Strat that's made out agathis and it is nice but it weighs a ton. The alder body will be combined with a Mighty Mite maple neck and a double-humbucker set-up. It's for my son. OK...so the wood won't be suitable for a clear finish. I still plan on stripping it to the bare wood. I want to do a complete re-finish from scratch. Will probably go with some kind of red, maybe a metallic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devon Headen Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 My squier std strat is three piece alder, so that can't be true in every case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 If you look at the factory tour pictures very close you can see that all the bodies are laminated together out of multiple pieces, so that's no mystery. That's ok for a solid color finish, and if your Squier turns out to be multi-laminate which we almost know it will be, then you could veneer the top if you wanted it to look better, that is if you have your heart set on a transparent finish. I'm not saying it's great for the tone of the guitar, or is the proper thing to do, I'm just saying it can be done, and Fender has been known to do such work. I personally wouldn't build anything like that, but then again, I'm not building thousands a week either. I hate to say this, but I personally think that Fender might have came up with the burst in order to cover up flaws on the sides of the guitar bodies, think about it, if one of their machines gouges out a spot, they can fill it without it being noticed on a fully transparent finish. Also, it helps them hide what they call a photo-flame finish, which is just paper picture of wood glued to the top.. which I hope they don't do anymore.. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 My squier std strat is three piece alder, so that can't be true in every case. ← I'm just saying what the guy said. I don't know how reliable it is... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_A_T_T Posted June 16, 2005 Report Share Posted June 16, 2005 Fender might have came up with the burst in order to cover up flaws on the sides of the guitar bodies I don't know, Gibson used sunburst on their mandolins long before Fender was around. I think they used it because it looked nice. You could cover up mistakes with it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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