I have a confession to make

[Tonar8352]

I have a confession to make

In a moment of insanity I went and checked out the vintage Strat bodies at Warmoth last night and ran into this real nice alder body.  Some how I managed to hit the buy it now button.  I need another Strat like a hole in the head; I really want a 54 Gold Top Les Paul with P90’s but that is another story.

Here is the plan. I have wanted a nice vintage 3-tone sunburst for quite awhile so this will be getting a 3-Tone finish and I’m leaning more toward a 59 with the faded red. I might even do this one as a relic because Jack and Trevor put the subliminal whammy on me and I might not be able to help myself. It will get a ¼ sawn maple neck with a brazilin board.

I’m a guitar addict!

 

[erogenousjones17]

Hooray! Strats for everyone! Your bursts (as a matter of fact, your finshes in general) are fantastic, so I'm sure this will be great. I'm sure it'll even look killer as a relic job.  :icon_thumright:

EDIT: Hey hey, that was my 1000th post!  :toothy10:

 

[line6man]

If you start feeling too guilty about it, you're welcome to send it to me for safe keeping. :blob7:

 

[mullyman]

You have come to the wrong place if you're looking for someone to get on you about frivolous spending on anything guitar related. It's like an alcoholic going into a bar to try and stop drinking.
MULLY
great score and can't wait to see the finished product. Pics along the way would be nice too :cool01:

 

[exaN]

As long as you post pictures of the finishing process :headbang:!!

 

[line6man]

As long as you post pictures of the finishing process :headbang:!!

*Off topic*

You have sent me spam emails twice now, exaN. :sad:

 

[Nando Vallart]

Nah, you really need a weird finish on it! Alright yours 3 tone burst are prettier than Fender ones, but you've done them a lot now, you need to go crazy Greg!

 

[B3Guy]

I'd say give it a subdued relic . . . some crackle in the finish and faded plastic, but don't go dragging it across the road or nothin' . . .

 

[jalane]

if you're thinking relic, my vote would be to do a sunburst and then do a fender custom color over it, then relic it.  Many of the custom colors were painted over failed sunbursts, and imho that is the coolest freaking relic look there is, when one of the custom colors is chipped or worn revealing sunburst under it.  Kinda like this:

 

[B3Guy]

dude . . . Beatles Sonic Blue over a burst . . . yea.

 

[line6man]

if you're thinking relic, my vote would be to do a sunburst and then do a fender custom color over it, then relic it.  Many of the custom colors were painted over failed sunbursts, and imho that is the coolest freaking relic look there is, when one of the custom colors are chipped or worn revealing sunburst under it.  Kinda like this:

Is it just me, or are those saddles intonated strangely?

Also, what's that lighter colored stripe down the middle of the pickguard?

 

[smjenkins]

dude . . . Beatles Sonic Blue over a burst . . . yea.

+1000.  That's a seriously awesome finish idea.

 

[B3Guy]

its a beautiful blue color . . . not many strats in that color. (I don't know if it really is sonic blue or another blue). Reason I know about it is that (cool story coming), my uncle who lives in Botswana fixes guitars as a "hobby" (he's dang good at it, tho). Anyway, some guy came to him with a guitar that needed some fixin'. IDK what the first guitar even was, but after my uncle did such a good job on the first guitar, the guy was like, "hey, would you take a look at this knock-off strat for me? I don't even know if its worth fixing. there's something wrong with the volume knob."

Well long story short, my uncle starts taking this (what he thinks is a cheap imitation) strat apart, but the more he takes it apart, the more he realizes it is the REAL DEAL . . . a '50s strat. He contacts several knowledgeable people and positively I.D's it as a '58 . . . in a custom blue color (most famous for being on a Beatles Strat) . . . all original, except for one pot.

It's a beautiful color, and once I get a sunburst strat, it's the next finish on my list . . . so why not combine them in an awesome relic job?

 

[Tonar8352]

B3,
That is a great story!

I have done a burst under a solid color before and it is very traumatic to shoot a solid color over a nice sunburst :sad:, I think I'll pass and stick with the burst on this one since I'm keeping it.  :hello2:

 

[B3Guy]

man, I'm totally with you on that! I was just saying that if you were to put solid over a burst, Beatles Blue would be killer.

But just like you, I'm a sucker for a beautiful burst. My Martin and my Gibson (Acoustics) are both bursts.

I'm thinking about bursting my new Hammond M3 when I build a new case for it, but I'm not exactly sure how it would look . . . might just go with Tolex.

 

[bigguspickus]

what's that lighter colored stripe down the middle of the pickguard?

That's where the strings supposedly kept the dirt from gunking up the pickguard. Some relics have it, some don't.

 

[line6man]

what's that lighter colored stripe down the middle of the pickguard?

That's where the strings supposedly kept the dirt from gunking up the pickguard. Some relics have it, some don't.

Sweet Jesus, that's a sexy vintage Strat.

It just seems like the pickguard would fade more evenly. I guess I'm wrong. :dontknow:

 

[Jusatele]

what's that lighter colored stripe down the middle of the pickguard?

That's where the strings supposedly kept the dirt from gunking up the pickguard. Some relics have it, some don't.

Sweet Jesus, that's a sexy vintage Strat.
It just seems like the pickguard would fade more evenly. I guess I'm wrong. :dontknow:

notice the bottom of the PG in front of the controls is whiter, oils from the hand, fingers resting on the guard, see it back along below the swtch, that guitar gets played and that is natural, now below the strings should be darker unless he runs a cloth under there a lot, the guard dies not get cleaned there a lot so it collects dirt there.
I have an aluminum PG on my strat, I have witnessed how a PG ages in quadruple normal time because of the material it is That PG is how one ages

 

[B3Guy]

I just can't imagine it being as simple as the strings protecting from dirt in the sense that if I threw a handful of dirt at the guitar, that part would get less dirty. but, when you think about which part of the pickguard would get lots of sweat, hand juice, etc. . . . it would be everything minus that under the strings. (assuming you kept the guitar stringed up.) Also, most folks don't exactly clean/dust that part of the pickguard every day, so mebe dust and (yuck) skin flakes somewhat protect that part just a slight bit more over a really long period of time (from the sun?) IDK. Just some guesses on how it might actually happen. Obviously if they do it to relics, there must be some vintage instruments that this happened to. and if it happened, there must be an explanation for how it happened.

 

[line6man]

what's that lighter colored stripe down the middle of the pickguard?

That's where the strings supposedly kept the dirt from gunking up the pickguard. Some relics have it, some don't.

Sweet Jesus, that's a sexy vintage Strat.
It just seems like the pickguard would fade more evenly. I guess I'm wrong. :dontknow:

notice the bottom of the PG in front of the controls is whiter, oils from the hand, fingers resting on the guard, see it back along below the swtch, that guitar gets played and that is natural, now below the strings should be darker unless he runs a cloth under there a lot, the guard dies not get cleaned there a lot so it collects dirt there.
I have an aluminum PG on my strat, I have witnessed how a PG ages in quadruple normal time because of the material it is That PG is how one ages

I thought pickguards faded from UV exposure, which is why that white stripe down the middle doesn't make sense.

When I changed the pickguard on my first Strat, when I took off the knobs, the pickguard was pure white underneath them while everything else had faded to some degree. The discoloration was even throughout the entire pickguard though.