Stripping a Strat SE

[bluecar]

Well.....this has not been fun.

I bought my last Squier, a black 2006 Strat SE, in hopes of having
an easy project. ha ha

The neck is tinted and I am building the clear.

So I started by using the heat gun to remove the paint on
the body. I did manage to get both the front and back stripped of
the black paint, but I also ended up with about a dozen
gouges that will require filler.

I also tried the paint stripper that I used on my Affinity that
worked great on the Affin. It did not even begin to remove any paint.

Took my new Craftsman 1/4 sheet palm sander and finished
doing the edges with it. My hand it still all tingly feeling.

Even used a metal file to cut the paint out of the horn areas
where the sander would not reach.

This one had a real thin layer of black paint, another thin layer
of white primer and then a real thick hard shell coating of
sanding sealer. Kind of like a big M&M. Mmmmmmmm candy.

Sorry. My question is who else has stripped an SE
and what in the world short of a flame thrower did you use ??

These are great guitars for painting and modding, plus there are
a lot of them for cheap.

Still blowing my nose from the sanding dust in Kansas,
BC

[Stratatattat]

i tried stripping one. no go. just scuff it up, prime it and go with a solid color IMHO.

[ghostwolf]

heat gun is the best choice. next time, round off the corners of your scraper, no more gouges. and wear a dust mask. that stuff isn't good for ya. you should use a respirator when you paint, too. nasty fumes...

[Stratatattat]

i love the smell of spray paint in the morning!

just kidding!


...kinda...

[motoman45]

strippin is so much work...

[TwoMartinMan]

I'm working on refinishing an SE right now. Mine was black and the new color will be Olympic White. I chose to sand off the black down to the bare wood beause I wanted to be sure that the dark black would in no way bleed through to the white. I used my 1/4 sheet finishing sander with 60 grit to get down to the wood. I used a small drum sander that works with a hand drill to get into the hard to reach areas of the horns. All of that sanding took about 2-3 hours. Then sprayed a couple coats of sanding sealer and sanded smooth down to 320 grit. For this project, I'm using Dupli-Color Olympic White Acrylic Lacquer aerosol. So far, I've applied 6 coats (which took 2 cans), wet sanding lightly between each coat with 400 or 600 grit to assure smoothness and even coverage. I'm now doing a test assembling of all the parts to see how it looks before deciding whether to just buff out the paint to a gloss shine or to apply some clear coats. So far, I'm pleased with the results.

[Hugh]

are SE's poplar ?

[Stratatattat]

SEs are a great base for modding. They're full sized, readily available, and fairly inexpensive. The electronics are ok as is, but for the price u can get 1 at, it's easy to put the money u save into upgrades. the downside is the finish. it's thick and nasty to strip if you choose to go that route...me? like i said, next time i get 1 i'm gonna scuff it up, use some primer, and stick w/ solid color.

[nomadh]

Sounds like the same prob as my Johnson. I had to grind away for about 10 or 12 hours before I got through. I never would have bothered except I wanted raw wood.

[bluecar]

Well I prevailed sanding the body down to the bare wood. Sealed it and primered it. Sprayed two coats of the Metal Specks Burnt Copper Metallic. Managed to spray two light coats of clear.



It blushed just a little bit.



I also amber tinted the neck, filled the second string tree hole, added a Fender decal and cleared it. Still need to buff it.



I am going to use the stock pearl pickguard, GFS vintage tuners, GFS vintage pickups, Fender Mexican vintage bridge, and new 250k pots.

Best,
BC

[bluecar]

It should end up being close to this color after clearing.



Best,
BC

[bluecar]

Just had to share an in progress picture.

Wet sanded and buffed it today.



Best,
BC

[Stratatattat]

ooooh that makes me wanna another project!!! that looks great BC!!

[edandis]

Absolutely stunning, thanks for posting it.

[EGrier]

That DOES look great!! Looks like you got a good shine on it.

[bluecar]

Well, I take back my first sentence from this post.

Now it is fun !!







Thanks for looking and encouraging.
BC

[manticus]

Originally Posted by nomadh

Sounds like the same prob as my Johnson. I had to grind away for about 10 or 12 hours before I got through. I never would have bothered except I wanted raw wood.

Can't really say I want raw wood, but if I did, I'm sure that grinding on my Johnson for 10-12 hours would do it...

Sorry... Couldn't resist...

[ghostwolf]

Originally Posted by Hugh

are SE's poplar ?

nope, agathis.

Bluecar- what color is that, and who made the paint? that looks killer on a strat, wondering what it'd look like on my tele....

[D.Allen]

Wow that is a beauty! I still have not wanted to take the time and effort to go to bare wood on my SE. But this is motivating me....Hmmm

[wickedtools]

Looks great, know I want to repaint my SE

[Kyri]

Wow excellent!!! looks really great...

[bluecar]

Guys,

Thanks for the comments.

ghostwolf,

It's by Duplicolor.





Try any auto parts store.

Best,
BC

[peskypesky]

that guitar is freakin' gorgeous now!

[nomadh]

Originally Posted by manticus

Can't really say I want raw wood, but if I did, I'm sure that grinding on my Johnson for 10-12 hours would do it...

Sorry... Couldn't resist...

Finally someone hit my pitch

[Sparkfire]

THAT LOOKS GREAT! I am going to have to do one myself now.