The easiest way to strip paint off a guitar

[@GC-re3gm]

Hey, the reason the original finish cracked that way was due the incompatibility between the sealer and the finish Fender used between the late '90s and the late 2000s. They found out when it was too late and so many of their instruments made in that 10+ years showed exactly that issue. I had a Malmsteen signature (big price tag guitar) from 2006 and it had exactly the same issue, for example. Love the YT channel, keep it up!

[@Giant_Guitars]

Ok cool that's the first I've heard this thanks mate very interesting to know!

[@godsinbox]

I have a jim root squire that had the same issue. It was mahogany body, so now it is stained natural. Win WIn

[@Stewbert_72]

I’m about to do a Strat from exact same era

[@diecapsule]

@@Stewbert_72 Same! Was playing my 84-87 MIJ 62 reissue & looked at my 2006 MIM ‘72 reissue in Olympic White (one of my favs) hanging on the wall & realized the paint had cracked from the top to bottom & the paint was literally curling over. I wanted to cry because it had a nice yellow tint & nice natural aged look to it which I loved. I decided to start chipping away & had half the front side pulled off within 5 minutes so I don’t think it’s gonna be too hard to remove. And on the positive side it is an all ash body & so far I haven’t found any splices. Maybe I’ll be lucky lucky lucky & have a 1 piece haha. I think I’m gonna paint it black or else go back with the original aged white. Depends on how nice the ash body looks once it’s all peeled off.

[@benedekgabor.]

@@diecapsuleYou can achive the original yellowed off white color while going with a nitro finish. It’s a win-win situation imo.

[@Bettys_Eldest]

My 70's Sunburst Japanese Kasuga Strat copy was stripped in 1976 with the intention of refinishing it as Natural. When the french polisher stripped the old finish it revealed 5 mm thick top and back layers, and an eleven piece body. Initially I was ever so disappointed, but nearly fifty years on I have come to love it.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Haha nice, that's good to know 😊

[@jerrymorgan1752]

A kid asked me one time why almost all my guitars are natural wood. I told him it’s because they have to use the best wood to pull it off.

[@JubileeValence]

Hi Jerry! Yep! I predict crickets on your thoughts. All the possible colors and finishes completely shroud reality. Good heavy plywood would suffice just as well in this mess. 2 or 3 piece ash would be more genuine on a painted signature instrument. But we must assume the shared responsibilties of the "assemblers" here. Use up every scrap. Make it solid. Paint it. Sell it. Arrrggghhhh!!!??? Cheers!

[@anotheryoutubed]

Totally agree. I love a tinted/stained maple neck that's got a color to it, but nothing SOLID that just covers up the grain, I have never understood that. I always want to see the wood grain of the neck of the guitar I'm playing, at a minimum. I don't like solid colors on guitars, really anywhere on the guitar. Love a classic Fender color with a matching headstock, but, I'd get one made from Warmoth before I'd buy a Fender...

[@janzelf]

Unless, they used photoflames, haha.

[@jerrymorgan1752]

@@janzelf this far I only have American guitars in my collection. I have been interested in a few Paoletti guitars. Just haven’t pulled that trigger.

[@roccocroce]

wood doesn't matter for electrics. all electronics baby.

[@dougsguitarlounge7927]

I have a 1974 Fender P bass and it's a 7 piece body. It was black original, but the old finish just was coming off so I stripped it and did a natural finish. It looks cool with all the different pieces of wood showing. Lots of different wood grains. It doesn't have the top piece like yours dose. Good luck with your finish. 👍🎸🍻

[@Giant_Guitars]

Oh nice, I didn't realise they even used so many pieces back in the 70s too

[@NanoGurdian]

OMFG I laughed so loud when you threw it in the trash can!!

[@Giant_Guitars]

Haha glad you enjoyed it, thanks 🙏

[@slimmyjimmy2848]

I keep finding myself watching your videos and they are very entertaining since nobody else does guitar projects like this. Keep up the great content 👍👍👍👍

[@Giant_Guitars]

That's great to hear bud I really appreciate that 🙏🙏 and I will!

[@devon-aire]

I never noticed before, but after seeing you talk about the neck pocket cracks, I went and checked mine. Sure enough, hairline cracks about a centimetre in length. And I think you’re right about it being because of the 7 piece body.

[@devon-aire]

Mine’s an ‘03 in graffiti yellow. Which is funny, because I like surf green the best. My paint isn’t pulling away from the body at all, but I hope those cracks don’t get much worse any time soon..

[@Giant_Guitars]

Fingers crossed they don't get any bigger bud, I wouldn't worry all that much though they pretty much all had it - some didn't but it's rare to find now!

[@mikefarquhar5063]

7 poece- fender using leftover prices of wood probably different kinds if wood or wood left to dry out at different rates of time causing inconsistencies in the overal body after the paint job Is done it can cover up a multitude of sins, these faults/inconsistencies like I said will cause cracks in the paintwork and worse because of the lack of diligence in making sure each piece is the same humidity and density a simple test using a cheap tool can determine the moisture content of each piece of wood used to match them up to prevent these un resolvable issues that fender will blame the customer for, now, that I'd shady as hell.

[@Mark_Provan]

7 piece body on a guitar that expensive is shocking.

[@AlanJohnPeach]

Anyone paying an expensive price for a blink-182 related guitar is shocking

[@djudlz7550]

It's a Fender of course, the workmanship is poor, so is the hardware and the equiptment. 2024 and they still build their guitars as if there have been no improvements in the last 50 years

[@nick_ashley]

who cares if you can't see it? doesn't make a difference, it's arguably more stable since there are more glue joints.

[@peppesgabello]

​@@nick_ashley bro how can something made out of more pieces be stronger than a one piece? It's literally no sense

[@morganghetti]

​@@djudlz7550yeah bro. Fender is know for low quality. That's why all the professionals have used them for 60 years.

[@edesbalazs]

That came off super clean! I tried this with a Harley Benton, maybe I did something wrong, but the paint and underneath the wood started burning before they would even consider flaking off. Maybe wasn't a poly finish, I don't know. Only way we managed is carefully sanding it, but it took almost the whole day.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Oh yeah I've had to remove finish by sanding before too and it's horrible lol 😆 I don't envy you on that one

[@flashpadxxx]

What Modell exactly was it?? I have a green Harley Benton Fusion 3 and want to remove the paint...

[@AndrewGonzalesArtistry]

@@flashpadxxxI’m about to sand off the light blue finish on a fusion III.

[@gregh.2138]

humbucker bridge/ p90 neck for that PRS

[@1FeistyKitty]

is the yellow on the prs stock or what color is it ... i like

[@Giant_Guitars]

It was Manila Green 💚

[@1FeistyKitty]

@@Giant_Guitars thanks man, i subbed x2 accounts --- great info --- sexy accent --- can't lose

[@Giant_Guitars]

@1FeistyKitty well thank you kindly 🙏 I appreciate you.

[@Tobajjass]

Great tip removing lacquer with plastic scraper. I’ve always dented the wood in the past. I vote for a Shell Pink refinish, love that color. On the SilverSky, you could do a John Mayer PRS hybrid and do a SuperEagle II setup with Humbucker nickelcover - mini humbucker/singlecoil black - humbucker nickelcover. Add some coilsplitting switches. Regular 3 pcs white pickguard. That would be a pretty cool guitar.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Thank you bud, yeah I discovered that one by accident last year when I was moving house and packed up all my tools so the only thing I could find was a plastic silicone scraper and it worked a treat! Never looked back. And great suggestion thanks 🙏

[@spythetired]

that is shockingly exactly what i'm going for, this was scary

[@pitchiepeachey]

This channel is growing so fast because of your incredible videos. You deserved it! I'm your silent fan and subscriber

[@Giant_Guitars]

Thank you so much mate, I still can't believe that's possible but I seriously appreciate it 🙏 comments like this keep me inspired and motivated

[@davidgriffin8482]

I reliced a guitar and put some big gouges in it and changed my mind later and stripped the finish and scraped out the finish from the gouges and used one of those clothes steamer and they all came out like nothing ever was wrong. Lol. I'm surprised you got crack I always heard that a lot of pisces out more stable that glue joints are stronger than the wood is itself. But wood is a living thing and may not mix well with different ages or parts of the tree out candy from example Hartwood vs new big growth stuff from a farm. The three hundred year old trees are all gone so that's the way it goes that's why I try to rescue anything from the garbage that is old hardwood on its way to the dump. It's often the best stuff that is worth 20 or 30 dollars a board foot. Doors and tables are often mahogany and maple even rosewood and walnut. The old dark walnut. Thanks for your video. I hope this inspires some of you to get dirty. You always feel funny pulling out some thing from the pile on the street as people are going to dinner and drinks and you're going for a dumpster dive. Lol

[@Giant_Guitars]

Sounds awesome bud and yeah I appreciate turning old stuff into new things, I've started collecting free hardwood tables and cabinets to use the wood for guitar builds too

[@nolancassini]

Humbucker and tele single coil as you said would look really good on the prs

[@Giant_Guitars]

Great minds and all that 😀😀 noted bud, thank you!

[@petesworld1967]

Acoustic guitars are made from more than two or three pieces of wood and they sound fine wood is millions of grains of wood stuck to gether with natural glue so sticking pieces of wood together does not make any difference and also keep the price of manufacturing down unless you have money to burn of course.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Yeah true but acoustics are also hollow with sounds holes and bracing etc so completely different to be fair

[@nobuakisato4613]

Thank you for uploading this video, I can confirm what people say about Fender body is right. I don’t care many number of pieces and surface veneer, this is the effort to produce mass products with similar weight and sound. But if my Custom shop Strat has same body construction, I will be feel so sorry😂.

[@stevencooper564]

Finally starting my project of completely customizing a BC Rich Bich I bought with my very first paycheck when I was 18. I just turned 30 and am so excited to have it finally look the way I've imagined.

[@stevecassidyguitar]

Thanks for this! Planning on attempting my first strip and refinish this summer - so this vid was super helpful 👍 For the Silver Sky - I'd vote HSS (Chrome covered HB) Creme covered SC's and a Brown Tort Guard 🥸

[@Giant_Guitars]

You're very welcome and good luck 🤞 thanks for your suggestion too 😁

[@michaelaiello9525]

I’m stoked to find your channel because this is what I’m doing too. Not a single Tom Delonge fan commenting here ; I guess we’re all interested in your content. Funny thing, I like the PRS better w/o the pick guard.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Haha without the pickguard would be interesting! I appreciate your kind words bud 🙏

[@kingbrutusxxvi]

It's scary that those things are going for $2,000 used right now and Fender has that many pieces of scrap wood making up the bodies. Certainly doesn't make it a bad guitar but you'd tend to expect a single slab (maybe a two-piece) for that price point. As far as the PRS I actually think a humbucker/P90 combo would be cool. Cheers.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Yeah it's a bit sad really that they weren't better build quality but I suppose Fender wouldn't have known just hope big they would get, let's hope the re-release ones are better!! And thanks for the suggestion 😀

[@ramencurry6672]

It’s fine I think. However I have an import cheaper G&L guitar with a clear coat and it looks like 3 pieces. That’s a fantastic guitar

[@Giant_Guitars]

@@ramencurry6672 I suppose for bulk made factory guitars multi piece has to be expected. 3 piece is reasonable!

[@ruminantmelanoid5444]

If it has that big "F" on the headstock, they can get away with most anything. I have a 2012 FSR American Standard Tele that has a three piece body with a *stained finish.*

[@charlescowart5423]

There’s no way any MIM fender body with a solid color is going to be a two piece at least from back then. Good for them in a way. There’s no sense wasting wood.

[@mr.c7522]

i did strip an old tesco in a similar fashion

[@bazzathegreat3517]

If wood is properly dried the amount of pieces doesn't matter. And for a painted guitar if done properly there is nothing wrong with multi piece bodies. One of my favorite guitars I had was an old Electra X-260. The called them their Workingman series. The were intentionally made with cost in mind. The gave them natural finishes and you could actually see how many pieces of wood they are made of. It was a great guitar. I had a Les Paul around the time as well. The Electra was better than the Les Paul. Even with what some people consider inferior construction. Finishing is less about what is used and more about technique. And better finishes take a lot more time.

[@Giant_Guitars]

You make some excellent points 👌

[@lesblack413]

Right on mate. Everything you said I agree with!!

[@bldallas]

You’re there! Humbucker Bridge, single coil mid and Tele neck pup, sort of a Nashville style combo, would be pretty cool.

[@Giant_Guitars]

The pickguard is here!

[@nomoremrnicebry]

Thank you for this. I was researching this method but seeing you actually do it makes it seem so much more accessible.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Glad I could help, thanks for watching and commenting, I appreciate it 😁

[@rustyaxelrod]

Wow! I wold have never guessed that would work like that! Is it because of the type of paint? I have a Jackson Pro Series I painted (badly) back in the ‘90’s that I would like to try this on. Very nice playing and sounding guitar but a bit of an embarrassment in appearance. The original paint was in good condition, looked very thick and deep but it was purple, I gave it a quick scuff, primer, sand and finished in an enamel. I’ve considered trying to sand back to the purple (it is still intact under there I believe) but for several years its been in the case under the bed because I wasn’t sure how I wanted to proceed. Any suggestions?

[@vav413]

Humbucker tele single coild would be really unique! Cool idea

[@Giant_Guitars]

Thanks 🙏 this is the most popular choice so far I think

[@briankeenan4901]

I've seen paint cracks on guitars since the early 60s. It seems to happen more on cheap butcher block multiple piece guitars. So, you are correct in assuming that.

[@JohnBoy-Ramone]

The trouble with polyurethane is that (unlike nitrocellulose) it basically hermetically seals the wood, which normally shouldn't be that much of a problem, but when you combine that with the multi piece body and what looks like a seriously thick layer of paint, then I think it may just have created a perfect storm resulting in the wood contracting under a finish that was too thick and hard to move with the wood.

[@Giant_Guitars]

So going with nitro for the refinish like I plan to should be a better choice?

[@JohnBoy-Ramone]

@@Giant_Guitars the nitro will eventually sink into the exposed joins in the wood, if my '70s Les Paul with a 3 piece maple top is anything to go by.

[@Giant_Guitars]

@@JohnBoy-Ramone 🤔🤔 decisions

[@JohnBoy-Ramone]

@@Giant_Guitars I've just done a Four piece body (Chinese kit guitar) with nitro a few months ago... it's fine so far, but it's early days.

[@Giant_Guitars]

@@rossforrest I was actually thinking about this yesterday and I might use resin!

[@John_balcarcel]

A Very Good video dude, it helps so much to those who want to strip a guitar o bass body like i need 😊 ... can you tell how much airflow are you blowing on that body please, actually dont have a heat gun like yours... but i have a desoldering heat gun blower instead, and it has 480 degrees as a maximun heat... Cheers happy 2025 🎉🎉 blessings

[@Giant_Guitars]

Thanks bud and happy new year to you too! I don't actually know how hot it was to be honest but it was a corded DeWalt heat gun if that's any use. The best advice I can give is start low heat and work your way up until you find the sweet spot! You don't want to melt the paint simply separate it from the wood with the heat and hopefully in big chunks.

[@yhzh2002]

humbucker + tele neck definitely sounds like an interesting mix. I think doing a mini-humbucker in the neck would also be really cool.

[@Giant_Guitars]

You're right for sure that would be cool!

[@Tonetwisters]

Graffiti Yellow is a fabulous color! In the '90s, they were made from several layers stacked up. The 2000 American Series was the first in at least a decade, to not be made from multi layers ...

[@Giant_Guitars]

Like a plywood body? I've an old MIJ plywood Squier body somewhere

[@mrfacephone]

Went to the pawn shop years back and bought a Dean LP style for $40. Took it home, stripped it just like this then dyed the wood a blackberry burst color, took it back to the same pawn shop and sold it back to them for $80.

[@1980JPA]

7 piece body on a $2000 guitar while my $100 '93 Peavey Raptor (international series) is a 1 piece body with a perfect burst finish to this day. Still would like to own a Strat one day. The Peavey is my "strat" in my "the big 3 styles" collection and I've been pleasantly surprised that my cheapest guitar has become the one I reach for first for some reason. I've compared it to my friend's MIM strat and the quality is perfectly on par in comparison, except I've got a real rosewood fretboard.

[@mikemccourt6225]

I think you’re on point with the 7-piece having a hand in the paint cracking. Fender is kind of notorious for not drying their lumber properly. For the Silver Sky: you could do a double P90

[@Giant_Guitars]

It's such a shame but we'll make it better now! And thanks bud!

[@specialkonacid6574]

You can actually tell from the end grain how a piece of wood will move. Quarter sawn wood is the most stable . Wood from the same board should be used or at least boards with similar grain structure. When I glue up a table top I flip grain orientation 180 degrees for every second board to add stability to the top. 🍻

[@homeboyjon4885]

I second double P90’s!

[@chrisbec3313]

Quarter-sawn wood is straight and very stable, better than just a slab. In that mix of wood there are very little to no voids/defects and just solid stable wood with an organized grain structure so good for stability and I'm sure it sounded great.

[@cancelbubble6535]

Good video, looked like a bit of a chore, but not as bad as I thought it would be. I wouldn't think the number of pieces on the body would matter in regards to contracting/expanding/causing the cracks. It's all kiln dried wood so the moisture content is very very low. Fender used 7 pieces on this for economics - they're in the business of extracting as much profit as possible. Most solid color guitars are multi-multi pieces, that's why they're solid colors (so you can't see how many pieces it is). It's the transparent finishes that get the 2 piece bodies. And remember, you're not paying $2k for the body, you're paying $2k for the headstock :)

[@Giant_Guitars]

Haha your last line on that comment is true, I bought one of these necks for $400 dollars last year which I made into a pink delonge but only 2 piece body so it's totally not authentic 🤣🫢

[@lesblack413]

Multi piece bodies and necks are generally more stable as they are laminated. One and two piece bodies are prone to cracking and splitting due to the higher stress levels inherent. This is why solid table tops are never screwed rigidly down to the fame. The need to contract and expand with the different weather and humidity.

[@leeshelton1230]

I would go humbucker and tele although I’m starting to wonder if a P90 would work at the neck?

[@Giant_Guitars]

Both are great, at least with the single Tele in the neck if you don't like it or fancy a change you can keep the same pickguard and convert it to P90 later

[@owenmayes2128]

Multi-piece bodies are fairly common and don't usually suffer from paint cracking like that, I think its more likely to be an issue with the paint-curing process. Polyurethane paint is especially prone to shrinking if the temperature of the curing process isn't carefully controlled.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Fair enough, I actually just bought a 2003 MIM Fender recently with the same large cracks so maybe a factory issue around that time too

[@tomasbalke9318]

The more pieces of wood, the better the sustain, the Chinese make guitars from sawdust, this is an endless sustain, the Americans should strive for this

[@Giant_Guitars]

@@tomasbalke9318 I've never heard this before, what's the logic behind it?

[@victor.mellado]

@@Giant_Guitars don't buy that bs, wood makes virtually no difference in solid body guitars. Just record yourself and listen to it afterwards, don't let the feeling of the guitar against your body fool you, or its unplgged sound.

[@panzerlieb]

@@victor.mellado well yes and no. The key piece of wood is really only between the bridge attachment and the neck attachment. The entire rest of the body really doesn’t matter that terribly much apart from comfort and playability. There was a guy on KZbin that started hacking chunks off a strat body to see if the sound would change. It didn’t change until he started cutting into the area I previously mentioned. Then the sound got really thin and sustained was severely limited. From that experiment you can surmise that as long as you maintain the integrity of that central block of wood, the wings could be made of anything and the sound would not be appreciatively effected.

[@adamcogan211]

Your vids are always so chill and relaxing to watch!

[@Giant_Guitars]

Thanks Adam, that's made my day 😀

[@PastelComGini]

I guess if my $200 Tagima has less pieces. But anyway, I don't think that it would make a difference in tone, and I believe that your cracks are caused more by the type of paint than the body joints.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Probably lol, my Harley Benton £79 Tele kit has less pieces

[@nj1255]

Have used this method on several guitars (heat-gun+scraper) and it has worked more or less perfectly. About 3 years ago I tried it on a cheap Harley Benton TE-52 telecaster, and it was complete misery. I have never in my life seen a guitar finish being so thoroughly bonded to the body. Didn't matter how much heat I used on the finish, it just wouldn't come of. The finish was melting and turning into char without letting go of the body. In the end there was no difference in heating up the finish before scraping and not heating it up before scraping. Next time I'm asked to do a Harley Benton I'll just leave it in a bath of thinner for a week.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Aw man that sounds horrendous with the Harley Benton! Thanks though I'll keep that in mind if I ever get one haha

[@MaayanMorMusic]

I love your approach to the work and the video making. And for the PRS I would love to see you make it with a humbucker-single configuration! Keep up

[@Giant_Guitars]

Appreciate you, comments like this really help keep the motivation to do more 🙏 thanks. And I'll note your vote for the free PRS!

[@MrJackrockerman]

Humbucker (bridge) and single coil (neck) is the best combo for PRS.. Subscribed

[@Giant_Guitars]

Thank you and thank you 😊🙏

[@fluffytoaster427]

Tried doing this as an absolute amateur, and it definitely shows on the body I used😅Glad to see a better execution of it for the world to see *Definitely* a solo humbucker for the SS mod

[@Giant_Guitars]

My first one was the worst thing you'll ever see 😂🤣 I hope this helped and you keep trying ☺️

[@dlux703]

The 7 piece with maple veneer is common these days in Fender products, in fact I have a 90's Squire Fat-Strat that I stripped that has the same construction and veneers. I sanded off the veneers on mine and actually got some nice semi-matched basswood underneath that I shot a transluscent color over. Then I burnished the paint to make it even more transluscent and paste waxed and buffed the finish. What I like about the burnished and waxed paint is that it has the actual feel of wood even though it is painted. It feels and looks more natural to me. This can produce loads of character in the guitar because each one is eunique.

[@Marco-HidalgoMusicRecords]

SO WE PASSED THE 2500 SUSCRIBERS!!! ✌🏻😜

[@Giant_Guitars]

And some!! Thanks 🙏 guitar comp will be launched in the next video!

[@themiz1os818]

@@Giant_Guitars bro you just hit 3.2k! That’s impressive!

[@Giant_Guitars]

@@themiz1os818 it's insanity!! I can't keep up lol

[@TimTrOn3000]

Cheers, mate

[@metalliholic]

Congrats!

[@NuclearDeathWalk]

I never thought of a heat gun. I had a mid 80s "metal" strat I needed to refinish. I ended up taking a plumbers torch to it to melt off the finish. Had a 3 piece body of Ash... looked cool.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Whatever works mate! That sounds great, I find ash grain lends itself to being more subtle in multi pieces, just my own opinion.

[@quru1]

Man, it'd be cool to see that PRS with a single+humbucker setup! Excellent video, thanks for sharing!

[@Giant_Guitars]

Thank you too bud

[@jagr9228]

Try a wipe on oli finish ! I did a tele with Watco Clear Danish oil finish and I love it. After many applications it looks and feels like real wood but rejects moisture .

[@creepingdeeth]

100% the cracks are caused by the multi-piece body. Fender just trying to be as cheap as possible, no real concern about longevity and that's a shame. Good video and look forward to seeing the spraying too Humbucker and single would be my preference for the silver sky btw! Oh and shout out from Tyrone!

[@Giant_Guitars]

Figured that! Made sense in my head haha and I appreciate it Mark 🙏 nice to see some local people on here 😀 even if I'm a fair bit away from you! I agree with you about the HS, I've done the single humbucker thing already on one of these and I don't think anyone has went HS yet!

[@rexdarvog]

I once purchased a Squire Bullet strat to chop cut rebuild and learn a bit of luthiery, but I found that stripping off the paint was the hardest thing to do. I had an easy time with the polyurethane but the primer underneath wouldn't budge. Sanded with 400 grit and down to 150 grit, even used liquid strippers like marine paint remover and it still wouldn't budge. I didn't know it at the time but the primer layer was epoxy, only 60 grit sandpaper would strip it and I doubt that your method would have worked. After that I stained it a red mahogany color and then lost interest when I couldn't figure out the wiring, at least I learned that I need better tools to work with if I wanted to build guitars. Also, the Bullet was shipped from China to the US West Coast and then transported east for me to fiddle around with it. I noticed that during the shipping time between climates the likely seven-piece body cracked and warped at the thinnest part, I could see right through the middle pickup cavity all because UPS left it out in 23-degree weather. I've also noticed that my other Squire strat, the classic Squire by Affinity, has paint fractures at the neck heel but so do my Epiphones. I believe you are correct in saying that a 7-piece Fender does indeed cause paint fractures, although it doesn't just end there.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Oh yeah this method doesn't tackle an underseal like that especially if it was epoxy. I'd have just sanded it smooth and repainted it rather than trying to take it back to bare wood. No good obviously if you want to stain the wood. Sounds like you learnt a lot in the process though which is why we do these things I suppose. I hope you learnt the wiring etc and weren't put off by the experience, you should see some of my first projects lol 😂 Thanks for commenting bud, I like hearing about things like this, sucks it was warped in the end though!

[@rexdarvog]

@@Giant_Guitars Yeah, it was a fulfilling experience and I wasn't completely discouraged by the first attempt. It just required more workspace and a larger arsenal of tools than what I had back then, not to mention that it also needed more funds. The whole reason for doing it though was because I wanted to start a luthiery company building my own guitars, amps, and even my own pickups. Also, the Bullet didn't warp too much, it just split apart at the seams between the tremolo and middle pickup cavity because it's only about 2mm thick right there. It played fine for the most part until I destroyed it.

[@dp9550]

If you count the two veneers its a 9 piece 😆

[@Giant_Guitars]

Haha you're right 🤣

[@junglemast3r]

I was using this technique to repaint a Jazzmaster and it chipped the guitar multiple times even using a dull paint scraper. also using the heat gun caused bubbles under the wood veneer that popped into splinters. If I could have redone it I would have just sanded especially because if you are repainting you can actually save time sealing the guitar and making sure the wood grain is sealed, just use finer grits around the edges or hand sand to reduce the risk of reshaping the body. Also making sure the wood is sealed and an even surface is 100% necessary especially if you are spending good money on high-quality paint. If you are doing a DIY paint job I recommend watching the stew mac tutorial, they have tons of great advice.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Aw sorry to hear you chipped out your Jazzmaster with this method, it's why I use a plastic scraper, very hard to do with that! And yeah gotta watch you don't heat it too much too. I totally get your logic in sanding it down and suppose it comes down to personal preference, I prefer this method and then doing that extra work to seal it again. Both ways will work just fine 🙂 thanks bud 🙏

[@rocanrola]

My father has a 2006 Fender Stratocaster MIM sunburst with maple neck and have a veener. I discovered it by removing the jack. The body seems to be in one piece but against the light you can clearly see 3 parts but I'm sure it has 5 or 7. Even so, it is very resonant although a bit heavy.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Seems to be an early MIM thing, not sure if the new ones are still so many pieces. I might have to experiment!

[@heathparish7857]

Thanks so much for this video! I'm left handed and the guitar I want (Jackson Dinky in Natural Oil Finish) doesn't exist in lefty, so I'm making it out of a black left handed dinky I'm pulling the paint off of. This video made it seem much less daunting. I just hope mine comes off this cleanly...

[@Giant_Guitars]

Fingers crossed yours comes off easy bud thank you for the kind words and best of luck

[@jerryjaystone9444]

Some thoughts from someone 39 years in the fine woodworking industry. Doors that must endure the elements are built with stave course. Those are overlaid with veneer. Constructed this way is called engineered and is supposed to last longer. However where you saw your paint crack there was no veneer over it. So that joint did move. It's a possibility that the seven pieces were not adequately dry to construct the guitar with. Technically there's nothing wrong with doing this for a guitar. If your wood is dry enough. Maybe even better in a telecaster situation. Without any reliefs.😊

[@Giant_Guitars]

Thanks Jerryjay, love this insight 🙏

[@jerryjaystone9444]

Lol, typo up there!! "STAVE CORE"

[@prigs750]

I did this several years ago on a Tele body i bought off Ebay. When i hit it with the heat gun, the paint would pop off the body. Hardly any scraping. Under the paint was a gray primer, and it was hard to remove. Heat didn't affect it nor did stripper. Had to sand it off. The body was a finger jointed mess. It was about 30 pieces of unknown wood, 3 to 4 inches long, finger jointed together length wise, then glued together. It was so much work I started making my own bodies

[@Giant_Guitars]

Wow that's an absolute nightmare of a job 😯 sometimes it's definitely not worth the effort but for a signature model or something you want to keep original parts then needs must. I'm lucky this was so easy for me 😁

[@musicfromakido]

I have a Mexican Fender Cyclone from around 2006. I don’t know if this is normal, but it’s like the lacquer never really clanged onto the wood. It’s still on there, but if I want to remove it, I could just peel it off like an eggshell.

[@matthewridgeway9250]

Hammer finish could be cool. I painted my kit Les Paul a Hammer Finish blue. Looks awesome.

[@riffdex]

My fender Strat poly cracked and started peeling off a couple years ago, I went ahead and speeded up the process and got it completely bare about a year ago. It revealed a really pretty wood grain pattern and I wanted to stain it a darker color but still leave the grain visible. Could you tell me the best process to stain it?

[@Giant_Guitars]

Sure! Depends how you want to dye it, do you want a colour dye or just a darker wood? I would highly recommend watching some BigDGuitars videos for dying, I pretty much learnt everything from him before I started trying it myself!

[@riffdex]

@@Giant_Guitars I was thinking like a dark wood color, but I didn’t know if I needed to sand it first (probably) and how to apply the stain so it don’t look like crap

[@Giant_Guitars]

@@riffdex it depends whether or not there is any sealer left on the body or if it's back to the raw wood. You could test a small portion to see, this can always be sanded off if it goes wrong or before staining the full body. If it is already back to the wood and the body is nice and smooth with no scratches you don't need to sand it. An oil based stain will probably go on easier but I find they can be harder to get consistent colour with. A water based is my preference but will usually take a few coats with sanding in between as water raises the grain!

[@Machine1955]

I’ve tried multiple pickup combos and configurations in a Strat body. Tele singles, rail humbucker bridge, Tele neck Nashville set up., faux WideRange bridge, Tele neck, Dimarzio Tone Zone S bridge, Injector middle, Protrac neck, Faux WideRange bridge , Injector middle, Duncan ‘59 neck, to name a few. In the end, no question: HH configuration, Lollar Imperial Humbuckers. IMHO

[@Giant_Guitars]

Very nice, I do like a HH setup in fairness too!

[@Mr.Monster1313]

Stripped a guitar once..i used paint stripper.newspaper below.put stripper on..let sit..soak in..then light scrap off..easy.then wash and clean body off..wear gloves..light sand of body..then i brush varnished it..looked great..felt great.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Wow 😮 I thought it would be a very messy way but nice one I'll have to try it!

[@jaymax3201]

My American Performer Telecaster honey burst 2021 has a 4 piece body. Of course, I bought it with that in mind, because it was well connected and the wood grain was beautiful. And it goes without saying that the sound is the best for me.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Yeah I mean on reflection maybe I shouldn't have expected more from them (or less if we're talking about numbers of body pieces) lol

[@deanmccaskill5495]

Good job. I’m going at a Tele in the same way shortly. Wish me luck. I even ordered a plastic scraper on your advice

[@Giant_Guitars]

Good luck bud 🤞 I hope the plastic scraper does the job for you

[@arnaud3825]

I did the same thing on an Harley Benton STRAT. They glued paper on the wood in addition to a seven pieces body!! But this is a HB, not a Fender! For the PRS, P90 and tele single coil! Never tested it but could be fun!

[@Giant_Guitars]

Haha brilliant but yeah like you say they are budget guitars! And thanks bud!

[@ObiWanAugus]

I think it all depends on prior notice. I agree ecologically that wood should be used to the maximum; therefore, making a 7-piece body seems correct in that sense. But as long as they notify you beforehand. For Fender prices, it's a shame that they charge you their high prices for a 7-piece guitar, without letting you know in advance of that feature. In my country; Argentina, there are very good luthiers... with works of exceptional quality. And the public is always comparing their prices, with those of the first brands; to determine whether or not it is justified to order an instrument from them. I hope this video is seen by many people; to balance the prejudice that is held about some brands. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[@Giant_Guitars]

No thank you bud, and I appreciate your comment 🙏

[@afmcmurray27]

I would guess that Fender doesn't allow enough time for the wood to dry and the natural process of drying created the cracked paint.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Sounds right haha

[@martinclayton7260]

The best sound from a strat is the neck pickup, so that PRS should have a strat neck pickup.

[@Giant_Guitars]

😯😧😮 haha, no problems bud I'll add it to the vote

[@fondoman3884]

.. a humbucker at the bridge and a single pick-up at the neck would be very nice .. one for vol, one for tone ppts .. a three way pick-up switch .. looking forward to see your next vid!

[@Giant_Guitars]

Thanks bud 😊 I am waiting on the pickguard coming, hopefully arrive this week!

[@TheComedyGuitarGuy]

HS is my personal favourite pup config. Single volume. Nothing fancy.

[@Giant_Guitars]

I like this setup too in fairness

[@IronLordFitness]

15 years ago, I was at my local music shop. The owner called a luthier he was working with to talk to a client who wanted to refinish three CS Stratocaster. One was a Lake Placid blue, I don't remember the other two. After that, I talked to the luthier for an hour and a half and since I was really passionate about guitar and curious about his work he invited me to his atelier. I went there and he showed me the process for stripping the paint away and so on. The Lake Placid blue Custom Shop Strat (which was around 4000€ at this time) was in 5 pieces. One was in three pieces and the third one in two. I was blown away and he told me : "oh you think it's a rare thing? You should come here more often then". Nobody believes me about that but hell, I've seen a bunch of this the years after that. Since then there's no way I put my money in Fender guitars. I'm happy with my Warmoth or Musikraft ones.

[@j6nighttrain]

Just about to try a heat gun to remove the poly finish on my squier strat se. Starting tomorrow. Wish me luck. I’m thinking surf green for the refinish. Gonna do an aerosol nitro finish.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Good luck bud, you'll do great!! Let me know how it goes, I'll have a video of aerosol nitro finish for mine in the next few weeks

[@amphlett7]

I have a 2006 MIM jazz bass which had the same finish issues. Stripped it and refinished pink, then had my then-girlfriend do some cool graphics on it!

[@Giant_Guitars]

Sounds awesome bud

[@johnpick8336]

You can use Preval Sprayers and mix your own paint and you get moe choice of colors.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Thanks bud 🙏

[@SotR59]

I used this method on an OLP bass. The first half I messed up cooking the paint and making a gooey mess in the initial heated areas also burning the wood some but I got the hang of it and the last half looked nice and clean. Glad I tried a cheap instrument first.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Yeah I even melted a bit of paint doing this one as well, it's easy done! Glad yours worked out 😁

[@gregmize01]

Do a Seymour Duncan P-Rail in the bridge with a volume/tone/3-way toggle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@Giant_Guitars]

I love this config for sure 😁

[@georgyj111111]

That's absolutely outrageous!

[@Giant_Guitars]

Lol I know but should have expected it, on reflection

[@BlindingSun_]

Makes literally no difference

[@winston-bj7gu]

No need to add sanding sealer in this refin. the under coat is tough as nails and is the sealer coat for the original finish. Just sand smooth with 220 then 320 grit. You will have a smooth base then. After, just shoot your white sandable primer, color coat then clear. Let dry and gas out. Finally wet sand and polish.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Thank you bud 🙏

[@georgeprice4212]

With that PRS, go three single coil sized Humbucker pickups with individual on/off switches.

[@georgeprice4212]

Actually, the two piece body is more prone to body splitting than a multi piece body is. The last known and filmed guitar smash that Townshend did was a Shoreline Gold, two piece body, Fender Eric Clapton signature Stratocaster, which the body had started splitting.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Sounds amazing and insane

[@DrKevGuitar]

That silver sky needs a tele bridge pick up and mini humbucker neck pick up and a matt black pick guard. Re: 7 pieces causing cracking, no I don’t think so. Same species and well glued, and veneered? I think they’ll all move together. Big cracks like that are usually large rapid temperature changes and the whole body wood expands and contracts at a different speed to the poly finish.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Thanks for the info bud 🙏 I'm learning a lot from the comments section and great suggestion!

[@dunk3793]

I can't believe the body was made from 7 pieces! I would love it see a humbucker single coil combo, with volume and tone controls :)

[@Giant_Guitars]

Volume and tone! Noted. Thanks bud 🙏 appreciate it. And yeah not what I expected on a pretty big signature model guitar lol.

[@jimthethirdprobably]

For the PRS, I think it would look great with a P90 in the bridge and a Tele neck pickup.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Ohhh 😯 I like this idea

[@UrzaTron707]

I have a Highway One strat, body of 4 pieces.. Ngl it sounds amazing!!

[@AnimalJohn85]

I wish I'd used this method to get rid of the paint of a mates bass it's so much less hassle and safer on the contours. Damn you you clever fella ;)

[@Giant_Guitars]

Haha well thank you bud

[@MrFengen]

PRS Silversky. Triple mini humbucker and finished off in Plum Crazy Purple. Then it might need gold hardware. Another option is an Emerald green.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Sounds amazing dude but I'm not painting the guitar just pickguard and pickups 👌

[@smilevrsac7692]

It looks like it came from a Mexican Strat. They are notoriously made like IKEA furniture and in many cases from poplar. The reason the paint has cracked is that they did not cure wood properly before it was used in production. If you noticed before the sound was dull and characterless, that could be the reason. I think the paint and material cost, will be much higher than the street body price. I wouldn't pay more than $50 for that body, or anything Mexican with opaque paint. Classic Vibe Squires and some from Indonesia, have much better bodies.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Yes dude they were all mexican made ones 🤷 seems to be normal for them, I just didn't expect that

[@PhpGtr]

I have the same Fender. These are worth big bucks - or were, before you stripped it. The Fenders are thicker than the more common Squiers, which have a universal "swimming pool" route under the pickguard. Good luck with this! If you can pull off the Graffitti Yellow properly you can probably still keep the value up. Mine's in the case now so I stop playing it and letting it cook for a couple more years.

[@Old-Skull.]

Yes the paint problem it's bc of the wood contracting and expanding , the crack was revealing enough to assess that changes in the volume of the wood caused it .

[@Giant_Guitars]

I still believe this too 🙏

[@geoffreyadams7619]

Looking to see if there are any videos on the rest of the process for this guitar

[@Giant_Guitars]

Not yet bud, I've delayed things while I build my workshop which should be done end of this month. This guitar will be one of the first I do after that!

[@peachmelba1000]

And maybe for the PRS a stacked humbucker at the bridge and one of those wide range style Tele humbuckers at the neck.

[@leftleglimp9110]

Will you be doing a video on spraying using the cans? I have a basswood Harley Benton kit guitar I purchased over lockdown but haven’t built up the nerve to paint yet. Just found the channel recently great to see an NI guitar channel.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Yes mate I plan to do just that! I also have a HB Tele kit to do so there will be a video on that at some point

[@leftleglimp9110]

@@Giant_Guitars Perfect hadn’t owned an electric guitar for 30 years and bought a tele kit for something to do when we went into lockdown. Now have an squire strat & an Epiphone LP in the house. It’s addictive 😂

[@Giant_Guitars]

@@leftleglimp9110 it sure is haha

[@CastlesMadeOf...]

How about a couple of filtertrons in the SE?

[@easyazpie9091]

Theres a reason why Strats are designed that specific way....especially the pick ups. That distinct twang sound is with 3 single coil pickups setup to play together. The headstock as well...notice how strat heads allow the strings to be inline straight to the tuning keys. Designed to stay in tune with the whammy. (the dreaded G string never stays in tune on other models .Strings are not inline with the tuning keys..they suffer from the string bend at the nut). Your guitar is a monster. Especially using John Mayers name lol.

[@Giant_Guitars]

A beautiful monster my friend

[@LucasdeFarias]

I'd Love the SilverSky with a humbucker and a lipstick on the neck. Also the knobs away from the bridge.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Mmmm I like it! And noted with the knobs

[@dp9550]

Excellent! I had a burgundy mist that cracked the same way , I peeled the whole thing with a 1mm pick took awhile for sure but normally with the poly I would have to use the heat gun and a scraper. Either the paint had seen a drastic temp change or there was a problem with the adherence with the base coat.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Oofff that's some patience you have to do that all with a pic 😯 nice one though

[@dp9550]

@@Giant_Guitars It came off quite easily actually.. just a little time consuming it definitely had paint bonding issues.

[@Sprenklefish]

I would like to try this but start with a coat or 4 of black then go pink over top and then try to get the sander on it to relic it and bring out both colors. After that I might even coat it with about 10 coats of poly.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Very interesting

[@sunnys5150]

I keep watching this vid over n over hoping i would get enough balls to do this to my old 87 Squier MIJ Strat. Maybe jus one day ill get enough balls to do this. I REALLY want to and have been thinking about it for a year.

[@Giant_Guitars]

Haha well good luck and when you do it let me know 😀

[@sunnys5150]

@Giant_Guitars lool will do my man... its got a lot of sentimental value to me so I don't wanna f it up

[@howardmaryon]

I am not a solid body guitar expert, but I think you are right about multiple pieces of wood causing paint cracks. The body is glued together and those glue lines are going to expand and contract differently from the wood. 7 pieces is just taking the mickey, how much money do Fender save by doing that? I tend to buy sunburst finish guitars, but the cheapest one is a 3 piece!

[@Giant_Guitars]

This is the exact logic I had in my head when I said that! Like you say I never expected it to be a 1 piece but more like a 3 piece, but sure!

[@rocket69218]

They would save A LOT of money, it's essentially made with off-cuts! But on the flip side, it also saves a lot of wood, which is a good thing. I don't remember these being expensive when they came out, especially for a signature guitar. I wouldn't be surprised if Tom wanted to keep the costs down for fans.... it's a punk rock guitar init? Maybe my memory is failing but I think they were only about £50 more than a mexican standard strat.

[@christoffertornquist3373]

had the exact same thing with an 94-95 american standard jazzbas