Pleasantly Suprised

[Graffiti62]

Somethimes thinkin' and drinkin' gets me in trouble, but not this time. I decided, with the help of Seagram's Seven and Sprite, to take apart an Indiana Strat knock off that I bought at a rummage sale for $50 and take the paint off of the body. I was pleasantly suprised when I hit the body with 200 grit. I'm obviously not done with it yet, but check out what was underneath the red paint:

Can anyone tell me what I have here?  I'm thinking either ash or alder. This is a complete flip project for me--new finish, electronics, etc. I'm also open to any ideas on what to do with finshes and electronics.

 

[yyz2112]

Whatever wood it is, I would be sure to finish it in a solid color. You've got 3 or 4 pieces there, and if you do any kind of dyed/natural finish, it won't look too good imo.

 

[TroubledTreble]

Looks like an alder to me. What size routes are those? They seem non standard. The neck pickup is really the one that sticks out. If you're willing to do a little routing that would open up the possibilities. How about 2 P90s, leave the middle open or put something different there like a tele neck pickup. Or do the "next" thing (kinda) and put two humbuckers.

 

[smjenkins]

From the color and grain, it definitely looks like alder to me.  I agree that a dyed, natural or even burst finish wouldn't look too good with the wood sections, but I do think a transparent color would look good.  It would show some grain, but not too much.  The the tremolo standard fender sized?

 

[Cagey]

I don't think it's alder or ash. I think it's luan, sometimes called "Phillipine Mahogany". It's very common in the pacific rim, often used for furniture and passed off as mahogany. Here, you see it a lot on interior doors. It's an attractive, inexpensive and lightweight wood, open-grained and similar in color/appearance to mahogany except for the density. Or, it might actually be mahogany, but they finished it in a solid color because it's a severe glue-up made of mill ends.

 

[TroubledTreble]

Cagey, I think you may be correct. I almost thought it was that then had second thoughts. It does look like that. I was thinking it was a low grade alder with the sanding sealer embeded a little. But looking at it again, especially the second piece from the right it looks more like Luan.

 

[Graffiti62]

Looks like an alder to me. What size routes are those? They seem non standard. The neck pickup is really the one that sticks out. If you're willing to do a little routing that would open up the possibilities. How about 2 P90s, leave the middle open or put something different there like a tele neck pickup. Or do the "next" thing (kinda) and put two humbuckers.

I had dual 90s on a Squire I did up--they sound tops, but since they mount right to the wood, the screws wouldn't stay out of the tremolo springs. And, it is vintage 6-screw Fender--the holes don't show up due to the flash on the camera and a little dust

 

[Graffiti62]

Update on refinishing the Indiana Strat:

Your hand will always feel really good after having it in laquer thinner (burns like hell). The stripping is coming slow but sure. I think I have an idea on how I'm going to restore this thing. Here's a quick Kisekae:

Here are going to be my specs:

Mary Kaye finish (showing just a little wood) w/ matching headstock
Whatever name-brand Strat pickups I can grab around the $100 range (Texas hot?)
Tortoise shell pickguard
Master volume, master tone, on-off toggle to turn the neck pickup on in order to get a neck/bridge combo or a neck/middle/bridge combo
Earvana nut (the original needs to be replaced--may as well go all out)
Re-used chrome hardware

Feel free to let me know if I'm "Nuckin' Futs" on any of my ideas--whether its way too out there or anything like that. I'll keep updates of my progress.

 

[smjenkins]

Love that mockup.  Only thing I'd change is white knobs. 

 

[erogenousjones17]

Mockup looks great.  :icon_thumright:

I'm not 100% sold on the matching headstock, but I've always preferred plain maple headstocks to finished. And I agree that white knobs are the way to go. For pickups, if you're looking for something cheap, I'd suggest GFS; I've got a set of '64 grey-bottoms and I really like 'em.

 

[elfro89]

I'm pretty sure its some kind of mahogany.

 

[Velcro]

1oo|(5 t3h 1337ness :headbang1: :headbang1:

 

[Justinginn]

Dude! Stop stripping now! Clear-coat the front and leave it! Does everyone else not think that looks kinda cool?  :glasses9: