Franken Strat

[ansil]

So here it is i have been working on this strat for a bit o time now. it started out as a squier strat pack type guitar but had an intriquing neck and a not so intriguing body. but it just so happens my broken neck american needed some loving so away we go.

NO idea what the body was made out of. If i had to guess i would say ash but it was a lower end quality as they primered the whole damn thing b4 painting so alot of that showed through.

relic'ing with the original scars too.

i loved this thing till it broke the nut [ok ok i broke the nut with my heavy as hell 13 guage strings tuned to standard while cutting a lead at the studio.] so i figured lets rip it apart and canibalize it.

body was already pretty worn so i figured i would maximize on that with a few modern tools such as a hammer and razors good ole fashioned sandpaper and other goodies.

after baking the body in the oven for a few hours on low, it was straight to the open flame to burn designs and random stuff into it with natural gas and lighter fluid [everything was done with controlled bursts and fire extinguisher standing by got to keep the kiddies safe] where it promtly got cleaned up and put into a plastic bag and shoved into a freezer for two weeks. not a deep freezer just a regular 10 degree freezer like most people have in their kitchen.

after removing it we went to chipping off burnt paint and stripping the bad areas away.

a light sanding with 400 then 600 grit. wire brushing the inside of the control cavitiy to make for better adhesion.

then after plenty buffing with 0000 grade steel wool and 1500 grit with lubricating oil we cleaned it up and started applying the copper shielding tape.

skull inlay and foil tape

close up of tape

i found this on ebay for really cheap its only an inch or so wide but its real thick i was impressed and free shipping.

i guess i should point out this is where we decided to add in the synth where the old output jack would be and add a new jack jem style on the rear of guitar. [still working on that].

also during initial wood workign and burning stages i added the skull inlay i belive you call it flood filled with black epoxy. its finally cured and sanding all that down now. still got a bit to go but hey its a work in progress.

finally got the fat brass bridge off another american strat vintage saddles and some other goodies.

hope you enjoy the pics.

ed

oh yeah rough scalop on the back of neck join with a nice snake skin type motive carved into wood then dyed and tung oiled.

also decided that after using all the proper tools to make the scarf here look pretty and it did it didn't fit the whole motif of beat to a pulp so i butchered it up some more. some of the body gouges are from slamming it face and back first into the rough brick on side of my apartment and the smoothing it out with oil and sandpaper. went with stainless steel thingies and brass neck screws for the look. and still finishing the scallop job from 10th to 21 fret. back of neck was done Clapton style with super glue for a vintage feel. [do not try this without plenty of fresh air or a respirator its highly fumey]

anyway sorry for the bad misspelling its late and i am tired

ciao