Halfmoth '62 Strat

[grak]

I have completed a tribute to the '62 Stratocaster using my Warmoth Jazzmaster neck that I had lying around . I  used a no-name swamp ash body that required a fair bit of love and attention. It is painted in ocean turquoise... always have loved  that color !! It has a traditional single ply pickguard with 57/62 Fender pickups, hipshot tuners with nickel butter bean knobs. I also painted the headstock to match the body.

 

[bagman67]

NIce work.  That's a very attractive fiddle.

 

[LushTone]

Beautiful finish, sweet guitar!

 

[BigSteve22]

Pretty color!

 

[Cagey]

I agree. Very nice.

 

[stratamania]

I like the colour. At first I thought the headstock lighter than the body but it's probably the way the light is catching it in the first photo.

Can you tell us more about the finish, type of paint etc ?

 

[grak]

No worries Stratamania. The color is ocean turquoise of course. I painted it in acrylic lacquer. I obtained the paint code for  an early 60's Mustang which is what Leo used apparently. It is over grey undercoat with a few layers of clear over the top. The headstock is the same color..probably the angle of the light. The finish was then flattened out with 2000 grit then hand rubbed to the final gloss. The back of the neck was done previously by me in nitro which was finished in 2000 and only lightly buffed out.There are a few extra coats of clear on the headstock to "bury" the decal but a lot of that was removed to level out the finish where the decal  was placed. Acrylic lacquer is nice because you don't have to build up a really thick finish if you don't want to. The thing to remember is not to sand the metallic coat until clear has been applied......Hope this answers your questions.

 

[stratamania]

Thanks Grak, it does answer them. Certainly agree on the clear coat over metallic.

Did you use rattle cans or a spray gun ?

It's just useful for others looking at threads to get an idea how someone did a job.

 

[grak]

Sorry for a slow response stratamania..I have been away for 4 days.  I used  a spray gun.. Luckily I have an automotive paint shop that would mix me the color in small quantities like 250ml.

 

[stratamania]

Not a problem Grak, we all have stuff to do.

Looks like you put the time in to get a good result.

 

[Fat Pete]

I wish Warmoth would add this colour - looks great. Always love a matching headstock too. Nice work!