How I refinished this stripped vintage guitar.

I was given a stripped 1977 Fender Hard Tail Stratocaster. I brought this guitar back to life using a guitar refinishing kit from Stew Mac.
The first step was to apply grain filler to the body. The idea is to fill the grain of the wood and begin to level out the surface to prepare it for paint. After adding grain filler th ebody is sanded to level, checked and then grain filler was reapplied if needed.
Once this was complete I added a few coats of sanding sealer. The same apprach was used in that I would apply, allow it to cure sand and reapply as needed. There was at least a few coats applied. The next step was to begin adding paint. Again, paint, allow to cure, sand and reapply. There were several coats of paint applied to the body.
The final step was to buff and polish the body.
After that I added copper shielding to the pick guard and body cavity and installed Seymor Duncan Texas Antiquity pickups, aged jack plate and strap buttons, an aged Callaham Vintage Hardtail Birdge and stainless steel string Ferruls.
I took the guitar to Cosmo in Toronto and had them install Jescar Stainless Steel frets and a new nut. The final step was to put the machine on the PLEK and give it a great set up.
The guitar cost me around 600 to finish and it took several weeks to complete.
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[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

Consider Supporting The Channel By Getting Your Merch - Here's the Link and THANK YOU! lucas-crossley-guitar.creator-spring.com/

[@leesbassment6393]

You chose a nice color combo for the strat. It's period correct, and given the big headstock, three bolt thing, it leans a little Yngwie.

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

Thanks Lee. I really like this old hunk of wood ;).

[@JJR3991]

Great refin man, well done looks awesome

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

Thank you! It turned out ok. Defined not perfect but I’m ok with that. :). Cheers!

[@telecasterbear]

Nice job, Lucas. I have a 1968 Fender telecaster bass body that i have started working on last week. A very brief video of photos is on my channel. Blonde is my choice, and the sanding sealer, blonde lacquer, and satin finish coat will be here tomorrow, all the way from Stew Mac.

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

Hey thanks for the kind words. Drop a link to your video so I can check it out. Make sure you update us when you get it finished. Cheers!!

[@telecasterbear]

@@LucasCrossleyGuitar kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4rPm4eYq8-BqJI

[@74dartman13]

Looks great! I'm getting ready to paint a semi hollow Strat body, that I built from scratch. Gonna use the same color!👍😎🎸🎶

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

That'll be killer! Can't wait to see it!

[@74dartman13]

@@LucasCrossleyGuitar yep...me too! It's so cold here, it makes painting difficult, without a heated spray area.☺

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

@@74dartman13 I went through the same thing. The amount of patience required is truly heroic! I had a space heater in the room and eventually set up an area where I could get away with it BUT that paint stinks to hell and back. Make sure you have the correct masks. Every time I put a coat of paint on the body I got heck from my wife ;) The smell lingers for a long time while the solvents off gas.

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

@@74dartman13 Another trick too if you are using the Stu Mac stuff give them a call because they say you should warm the cans up in warm water. You will get better flow that way. Definitely call them about this first so they can recommend the water temp. Would not want you to blow anything up :)

[@74dartman13]

@@LucasCrossleyGuitar wow! I'll definitely wear a mask, for sure! Thanks for the video and advice!👍😎🎸🎶

[@BradAngove]

Nice work Lucas. I think you may have saved yourself some time by using some sealer, but it sure looks good. I find the string ferrule heating trick surprising, since heat causes metal to expand.

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

Hey Brad! Great to hear from you. I would have loved to have your input on this one. As you know I've always been a fan of your work. With resect to the string ferrules the trick here is that nitrocellulose lacquer softens when heated. I think I remember watching a video from Stew Mac where he repairs a patch of finish on a guitar by first applying the paint to paper and letting it cure. He then removes the patch from the paper and places it over the damaged spot on the guitar and hits it with a heat gun. The repair was amazing. I did use sanding sealer on this refinish but my biggest challenge is my lack of patience lol. Man you really have to have some discipline between coats. I just want to play ;) Thank you for taking the time to watch and comment. Always appreciated! Cheers!!

[@BradAngove]

Thanks for the explanation Lucas. I've seen Dan at Stew Mac do that trick using lacquer thinner. I must have missed the version with the heat.

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

@@BradAngove Dan is awesome. I love their videos.

[@vitamojo6087]

What fret size are they? Jumbo , Medium?

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

Jescar 47 104. About a medium Jumbo. I would go bigger if I could.

[@KaosII1968]

Is that a 9 volt battery cut out on the lower horn..???

[@LucasCrossleyGuitar]

I believe that might be what that was. It was quite a hack job to make the hole. Lol.