TheCross Posted May 26, 2006 Report Share Posted May 26, 2006 (edited) Yesterday the father of my girlfriend gave a Strat copy to me he never used(he planned to use it as a slide guitar for like 10 years and never really went for it) cos I needed a cheap player for my next three years (leaving home every 3 months for another three months and the other way around). so I needed a guitar I can leave at my flat with a practice amp si I won't have to take all my favorite stuff with me. It's a no name Strat copy. All black body, finished maple neck, 21 frets(of bad quality), a THREE way selector, VolVolTone pots... I really liked the neck, it's nice n beefy but... it's finished which I really don't like, so can I simply take some sandpaper and at least ruff things up so it doesn't feel so sticky? Or even remove the hole finish? I'll post some pics later when I've restrung it and I'm back home. I just can't find the truss rod access. Can it be behind the neck plate? My question would be: what should I change? Is the guitar worth a fret job(Which I have never done before)? I guess I'll first swap the 3way for a 5way and throw in some better pots. I'll have to do some testing first with my amp to determine how usable the pups are(I won't gig with that guitar so hum etc. won't be such an issue, I guess I'll use headphone anyway) but I'd love to have a good player. Maybe I really like the trashy sound of it anyway - something to tame. The nut seems rather tiny so I don't know about that one. I guess I'll change it out. Any other ideas or tips? I mean I got it for free... so should I spend too much on it? (I already feel the G.A.S. in me thinking about some GFS stuff or something) yours, chris Edited May 26, 2006 by TheCross Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sumphead Posted May 26, 2006 Report Share Posted May 26, 2006 Im still a rookie by all senses of the word both player and builder. I do however have a passion for the strat and tele. I have 6 actually. Not all fenders either. One of my favorite guitars is a squire tele. I changed the pickguard and knobs for the aesthetic appeal and the pups are the GFS vintage. So for less than around $60 I have a tone monster. As for the strats I even have a charvel strat with a set of pups from a G&L lagacy that is well straty. I would leave the nut and frets as long as they are "good enough" and you can play them, but GFS is great for just this sort of thing as they are not top quality but definately worth the prices. Perhaps one of thier wired pickguards to choose your fancy and then replace those pups with the hot strat set in the clearance section? For $50 that's would change the sound and pretty it up bit. HTH, R- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted May 26, 2006 Report Share Posted May 26, 2006 CAVEAT: the Guitar Fetish preloaded pickguards do not come with GFS branded pickups. Jay says these are generic no-name budget cheapos and should not be confused with his top of the line brand. That said, if the thing is playable and you just want something to noodle around on while you're away from home, why bother changing anything? Money spent on a freebie takes the freebie out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted May 26, 2006 Report Share Posted May 26, 2006 That said, if the thing is playable and you just want something to noodle around on while you're away from home, why bother changing anything? Money spent on a freebie takes the freebie out of it. +1 If you just want a beater, don't throw any money at it, otherwise you'll be sad if it gets broken or stolen. Unless one of the pickups, tuners, etc. is broken, I'd just leave it alone. You could probably cut and polish the finish on the neck with some fine steel wool or a ScotchBrite pad if you want a little mo' grip. The truss rod nut is probably at the heel of the neck and you'll probably have to remove the pickguard or the entire neck from the body to adjust it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted May 26, 2006 Report Share Posted May 26, 2006 Besides, you're going to be playing through a headphone amp...it just doesn't matter what the stock pickups sound like. Chances are it'll sound like a guitar. Replacing cheap stock parts with overpriced cheap pickups won't rock your world. Sorry, but most of the GFS pickups are the same pickups you find on all the cheapo Asian guitars flooding the market, Jay's marketing hype notwithstanding...they're just magnets and wire after all! Since the guitar has never been played, there should be no reason to worry about fret wear. And since you're not planning on taking it onstage, you don't need ultra tuning stability, either. But obviously you've got a case of PMS (persistent modification syndrome), so nothing we say is going to change your mind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCross Posted May 27, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2006 well actually... it did work... I restrung it and played it a bit and I really liked it(ok I guess almost every guitar will sound great through my Framsu RubyRiot I that's why I love that amp so much, it will save me a lot of money on guitars)... but yes I'm an addicted modder. the frets show some wear at the first three frets though. The trussrod thing pretty much sucks´. The main point I dislike is the sticky neck and fret board(all finished no-fretboard-neck). so making it a real player(playing thorugh a practice amp or headphones that's all I need - right.) I should change that. Can I make any mistakes using some sandpaper? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marksound Posted May 27, 2006 Report Share Posted May 27, 2006 Can I make any mistakes using some sandpaper? Well, depends on whether you're wearing pants. Get some fine steel wool and just knock the gloss off the neck. And wear pants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted May 27, 2006 Report Share Posted May 27, 2006 But obviously you've got a case of PMS (persistent modification syndrome) ^ hehe, never heard of that disease before... :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted May 27, 2006 Report Share Posted May 27, 2006 Can I make any mistakes using some sandpaper? Well, depends on whether you're wearing pants. beat me to it....grumble grumble... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregP Posted May 27, 2006 Report Share Posted May 27, 2006 It's just a beater. Heck, on my pre-Fender Guild, I went to the neck with some 0000 steel wool to give it a more satin feel. If it's a player (my acoustic is), it shouldn't be sacred. A no-name strat... you've gone nothing to lose by using some steel wool! I don't think sandpaper will give you the right feel, though. Wool / synthetic wool is my suggestion. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted May 28, 2006 Report Share Posted May 28, 2006 As an experiment, I took a generic guitar neck and sanded off all of the finish (I was reshaping it). It's a maple neck, so I'm assuming there's no sealer coat under there? Dunno. I sanded to 1500, then steel wooled it. Put a couple of coats of tung oil on there, steel wooled it again...and it's one of the smoothest necks I've ever felt. The difference is amazing. So since it's a freebee, I recommend trying that. The only problem is that I didn't use the proper tools for the edge of the board --I should have used a long flat block for sanding there, and used better sandpaper as well. So the fretboard isn't straight anymore (I'm going to try to fix that though--I'm using it for a practice neck build). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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