Start kind of with a fibre / glass body???

FresnoKiwi · 08-25-2010, 03:56 AM

I have a Squire I am working on for a guy in our band. At this point it doesn't look like it's worth the effort other keeping the neck. But I am curious about it and haven't found much to clue me in.
The body is very light and I had a tough time getting any stripper to touch the finish. When I did get some off, the material appears to be wood fiber of glass fiber. I am picking its some sort of blown or aerated wood fiber. There may be a bit of ply in the center but it hard to tell.
Shape wise it's like a thin Strat with sort of OK Strat neck pup and some sort pretty rough humbucker in the bridge position. No trem or routing for it, hence the thinner body I'm picking. The bridge is not body through stringing. The control panel plate is a shortened tele type not unlike an old tele bass, with a push/pull double switch (which doesn't work), volume and a rotary type tone sector. To top it off, it has a 2005 Indonesian Cort tele neck that someone has bastardized a bit but that can be cleaned up.
It just seems like an odd ball and I haven't found anything on this model.
At this point I am looking at putting the neck on cheap tele wood body and dump the rest of it.
Anyone have any thoughts, and any ideas how to get the fiber body material stripped?

AllroyPA · 08-25-2010, 06:41 AM

Dont strip it, rought it, then go finish overtop if that's what you're going for.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FresnoKiwi

I have a Squire I am working on for a guy in our band. At this point it doesn't look like it's worth the effort other keeping the neck. But I am curious about it and haven't found much to clue me in.
The body is very light and I had a tough time getting any stripper to touch the finish. When I did get some off, the material appears to be wood fiber of glass fiber. I am picking its some sort of blown or aerated wood fiber. There may be a bit of ply in the center but it hard to tell.
Shape wise it's like a thin Strat with sort of OK Strat neck pup and some sort pretty rough humbucker in the bridge position. No trem or routing for it, hence the thinner body I'm picking. The bridge is not body through stringing. The control panel plate is a shortened tele type not unlike an old tele bass, with a push/pull double switch (which doesn't work), volume and a rotary type tone sector. To top it off, it has a 2005 Indonesian Cort tele neck that someone has bastardized a bit but that can be cleaned up.
It just seems like an odd ball and I haven't found anything on this model.
At this point I am looking at putting the neck on cheap tele wood body and dump the rest of it.
Anyone have any thoughts, and any ideas how to get the fiber body material stripped?

FresnoKiwi · 08-25-2010, 10:49 AM

Someone had gouged electric bolts into the body with a soldering iron. I wanted to get looking decent again. I am concerned an sander strong enough ro get through the clear coat will go straight in to the fiber/plastic body core. But you are probably right as the way to go.

asquier · 08-25-2010, 11:10 AM

Sounds like it's a Squier '51 the way you're describing the body.

FresnoKiwi · 08-26-2010, 01:20 AM

Adam nailed it. Thanks mate.
Turns out the "fiber" crap I was looking at is some sort of media in between the wood and finish. The finish behaves like a hard plastic and perhaps a layer was needed for the finish to attach to. In any even it all makes sense now.
Being that our intrepid guitarist took a soldering iron to the finish to create lightning bolts, it needs some work.
Figuring on soda blasting the finish off and cleaning it up.
The pup are obvious crap and some fool brushed some poly on the neck??? What possesses people? OK it's a cheap guitar but why cheapen it even further?
I don't own any Squiers, all mine are Fenders, Gibson, Stienbeger and Epiphone and mostly basses. What I like about this thing is the crossover of styles from the strat. The tele and old 51 bass influences are really interesting and the lack of that pain in the ass tremolo systems is a real plus and allows for a thinner body. The routes make for easy upgrades without further routing, although this one is getting a P90 up front so additional work is required. Not a great fan of humbuckers so looking at Fullertrons or similar in the rear. Machine heads, bridge and pups are all set for replacement. Should be decent instrument when finished.

FresnoKiwi · 09-09-2010, 10:48 PM

For anyone that is interested; the body has been stripped. The basswood is very soft, almost like balsa so you have to be careful with it.
The damage has been filled with solid doug fir, and car bondo to fill and seal the thing. Bondo works well for this, its solid and hard, sands well ant accepts paint well. I think it's superior to the factory media I took off.
So next is a prep coat of primer. I am using auto primer because I am using an auto white pearl paint and the clear coat.
It's getting a P90 up front and a Gibson humbucker from a 91 Les Paul in the bridge. New machine heads and the double switch which has been replaced.
Next is paint as above and the neck needs to be cleaned up.
It should look pretty sharp, and the P90 / humbucker I have done to a tele and a start with great results, this should be just as good.

YeahDoIt · 09-10-2010, 05:29 AM

I enjoy reading these accounts of how you guys modify guitars. It's like watching luthiers practicing, developing skills, getting better.

shrekfingers · 09-10-2010, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YeahDoIt

I enjoy reading these accounts of how you guys modify guitars. It's like watching luthiers practicing, developing skills, getting better.

reading them is great but including pics would be better.... reading a mod description is like listening to a Beyonce' song without video....just where is the fun in that?

Sparkfire · 09-10-2010, 11:53 AM

Yea. What he said. Pics please. Before,during,after.

FresnoKiwi · 09-20-2010, 11:20 AM

yep, fair enough; trouble was, lost the camera so no before shot. Here is current and I will get some better ones up this week.

FresnoKiwi · 09-20-2010, 11:24 AM

This build is coming along and running concurrently with the 51. Body is ancient swamp NZ Kauri, neck is 97 Custom Shop. Joe Barden Modern T is going in the week.

FresnoKiwi · 02-09-2011, 11:04 AM

sq 51 was finally completed. Here are a couple during the finish stage. A few of it complete will be available soon.

p90 in front, P180 in the bridge.
Replaced the machine heads and the stacked switch was shot and replaced that.

FresnoKiwi · 02-09-2011, 11:07 AM

couple more

captcoolaid · 02-09-2011, 11:41 AM

Wow that came out fantastic.

woolbrig · 02-09-2011, 01:06 PM

That 51 looks great! Looking forward to seeing the finished product.

FresnoKiwi · 02-10-2011, 02:36 AM

a couple more pics finished and the happy owner.

woolbrig · 02-10-2011, 09:38 AM

Great Job! That looks really nice! I like the maple neck with white.

FresnoKiwi · 02-10-2011, 11:16 AM

Thanks Wool. I put blackened machine heads on it, not black so the neck end would tie in with the body. The body is all black and white. The white is Toyota white with a heavy pearl coat and then a light metallic and finished with DuPont clear coat. It's a tuxedo kind of look and the pearl came out great, far nicer than metallic, more understated. The neck was taken back to wood and tung oiled.
The P90 sounds great and the P180 works in place of the humbucker well. The rotary switch turns one of the coils off to produce 2 P90's. So electrically it's still the same.

shrekfingers · 02-10-2011, 11:46 AM

wow.. nice job and of course your wearing the shirt of my favorite NFL team

Kid Klash · 02-10-2011, 03:59 PM

Great job taking a mess of a 51 to a showpiece of a 51!

I love the look of the guitar without a pickguard... lean and mean!!!

FresnoKiwi · 02-10-2011, 10:11 PM

Thanks. Nice website the way. My brother has a band in NZ called Smashed Executive. UTube has a couple clips.
The 51 is bag of crap guitar, it has the cheapest, nastist pickups I've ever seem and there wood screws protruding through the back when I got it. The wood is pretty crappy to. Very light and soft, and the pick guard was ridiculous. But the concept is really smart. I'm going to make a template and build a proper one. This belongs to our guitarist and is not mine, I just over hauled it for him.