Strat project... maple top fake sticker

[monterosso]

I am working on my 1993 MIJ strat, i got it as a present so i thought i will invest in it and change all the hardware pickups to make it better sounding. When i got it it had already some cracks on top and i thought i will strip it and repaint. Unfotunately it appearred it's fake! The quilted maple is just a sticker! What do i do now? Strip the hole thing of and paint the whole body?

Anyway guitar resonates quite good so maybe its wirth taking care of it ;]

What do you think???

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p305/monterosso/DSCN4377.jpg


http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p305/monterosso/DSCN4380.jpg

[Stys]

Fender called this their Foto - Flame series. I saw a brochure detailing this procedure back in the early 90's.

[monterosso]

so maybe its better to strip it off and put a new paint on it? right now the paint layer is really thick and i heard to much paint on top is not good. vintage guitars are painted with really thin layer right?

[monterosso]

so... repaint it?

[ConnemaraGuitar]

Since it doesn't appear you want to preserve the original "fake figured maple" look, I'd say go for the re-finish. Are you planning to do this yourself?

Generaly speaking, the finish should be only as thick as absolutely necessary, especially on an acoustic's soundboard. For a solid body electric, this is not as critical from a truly pragmatic standpoint; the effect of removing some of the finish will likely be minimal, especially considering your plan to replace the pickups, wiring, etc. And don't forget the shielding!

I don't know what sort of lacquer Fender was using at that time, but if it's nitro, lacquer thinner will do a good job removing it. If it's polyurethane, though, you'll need paint stripper and lots of patience. Maybe you could carefully remove that decal and save it like the label from a fine bottle of wine...just kidding!

If you're going with a solid color, you don't need to remove the finish to bare wood, because you're just going to have to re-apply filler and sealer to get a smooth base. You will need to apply a sealer coat (vinyl sealer or shellac) before the final coat to avoid adverse reactions between the old base coat and the new finish coat, and to promote adherence.

I'm partial to the book "Guitar Finishing Step-by-Step" which you can get from Stewart MacDonald, if you don't have that or another like it already.

It should be a fun project.

[monterosso]

Thanks for advice! I dont know if i am going to do this myself. The body has a very nice grain on the back and i like the color i guess its a transparent yellowish polyurethane laquer. The back is really nice condition and i guess a layer is thin. The top is disgrace! very thick layer thre and its broken all over it. It soesnt look nice. I hope i will match a color af a back with front.

Anyway i have to say that now i use kinman avn 58 in neck and two dimarzios virtual vintage 2.1 and 2.2. they sound amazing! I am still waiting for wilkinson vintage tremolo to arrive! It should get classic tone ;]

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p305/monterosso/DSCN4406.jpg

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p305/monterosso/DSCN4405.jpg

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p305/monterosso/DSCN4408.jpg

[guitarzan]

I had a couple of Foto-Flame strats back in the 90's. One of them I loved, the other one I sold to a buddy because I couldn't get into it. Back then, I thought the flame was real, anbd then once I found out the truth, I didn't really care. I loved the flame anyway! :)

Of course, if your sticker has been damaged, you might as well go ahead and refinish the whole thing. It'll be fun, right? :D

[ConnemaraGuitar]

Thanks for the pics of the back...yeah, it does look good!

It's kind of difficult (if not impossible) to re-finish only one side of a solid-body instrument...there's gonna be a seam. You can probably assume that the grain under the decal is the same as the back, so I'd suggest stripping the whole body (not the neck) and finish it with a tinted lacquer (like nitro) which will give the body the same look as the back is now.

The back may not even need to be completely stripped, just scuff sanded and covered with a final-finish-compatible sealer. The top would be sprayed to match the back and then several clear coats applied to the whole.

If you've never done this before I'd suggest you send it out. I'd be happy to help you if you want.

[dannopelli]

Good catch on the Fotot Flame Lofton!

http://www.xhefriguitars.com/page7.html

The 50 Years of Stratocaster book is a good resource on all things Strat too.

Like a lot of early 90's Fender guitars the sonic quality was hit or miss. If you have a good one, with a good weight, then it might be worth the redo.

[monterosso]

and what should be a proper weight for it?

[dannopelli]

This is a general rule. That means that there may be some heavy Strats that sound good too. In my experience they sound best between seven and eight pounds.