The Musical Instrument Thread

I bought a really beat up Squier strat on eBay this morning. $62 shipped. Black with rosewood fretboard.

I'm not expecting much. It's supposed to play. I figure if nothing else I have a really inexpensive platform to mod!

Any advice, Hectic? No, I am not going to make the Toledo Toothpick, Part II.
 
I was just practicing my ukulele and put a strap on it. I have to play "Teach Your Children Well" with some guys at Kiwanis tomorrow and was asked to play my uke.

HecticArt said:
Let's hear what you get when it shows up.
Be creative, the Roanoke Rowboat sounds good.
Click to expand...

How much black do I need to sand off before I paint it Seafoam Green and add a diamond sparkle pickguard? Really...
 
With a decent paint stripper, the nitrocellulose finish will come off pretty easily. You'll need a good wood filler to hide the grain before painting. I only used primer thinking a couple of coats and some sanding would do the trick. I shouldn't have rushed it. I put down a few coats of primer, and several coats of black before I painted the olive. I put a ton of clear over it all and can still see the grain a bit. Filler would have made it all so much better. Live and learn.
 
Oh, it's not nitro. This is not some high-dollar guitar. We're talking thick poly. I can remove it with a heat gun, but some folks have told me going down to the bare wood is not only a lot of work, but you might find unpleasantness like lots of bondo or wood filler, or laminated fronts and backs (not going vertically parallel, to the neck, but horizontal, joining the front and the back).

So, I'm thinking of heeding the advice of many who say to thoroughly scuff the poly, prime, rattle can paint and rattle can poly.
 
That should do it for you. I was hacking into the shape of mine, so I needed to go down to lumber. Again, I probably shouldn't have cut that much away, but what the hell, it was something to do, and I paid less for mine than yours.
 
If there are gouges, I may have to go down to bare wood and fill them. I know there are chips in the paint. It's supposed to arrive Friday, so we'll see. At any rate, if it's playable, I intend to play it for a while before tearing it apart.
 
What do you have to lose? For $62 bucks, if it plays decently, and you Fark up the finish, so what? You've got a beater that you can leave out of its case, leave at someone's house that you jam with so you don't have to carry it back and forth, and use it as a backup at gigs.
 
Oh, here are the ebay pics: Squier Affinity Stratocaster 717669234911 | eBay

I have a 6 mm (import size) trem bar coming tomorrow too.

I found some info on 2000 Chinese made Squier Affinities. They're alder, and the turn of the century models are faves for modders for a) having good wood and b) being the normal strat thickness (1.75").

I'll post actual pics tomorrow or Sat. Lots to do between now and Saturday afternoon.

 
Cool beans. it doesn't look like it's in too bad of shape.
I wonder If it smells like cigarettes? That's a lot of yellowing in the plastics for a 2000. The serial checks out for a Taiwan from 2000. If you do strip it and go for a pick guard, do yourself a favor and get a new 5 way, pots, and jack. If you've got it apart, you'll save yourself the aggravation of the static and noise that's all but guaranteed from old contacts. It isn't worth trying to clean them. The plating gets worn, and the noise keeps coming back.
 
The pickups are yellowed, which makes me wonder if they've been replaced. Yeah, I'll probably replace all the electronics when I replace the pickguard, if for no other reason than to learn how. I'm pretty good at setting up electrics and acoustics but I've never done any wiring.

But this is all conjecture. I have to see what I've got and go from there.

Edit: I see the knobs and 5-way switch hat are yellow too...we'll see.
 
The wiring isn't too rough. Take your time.
If you go with new wire, make sure it's shielded. I forgot what gauge I bought, but I think it was burglar alarm wire from Home Depot. The Shack didn't have shielded wire. No wonder they are folding.
 
WTF, Radio Shack?

I came home from lunch and the guitar was here. It's in surprisingly good shape. Good neck, tuners work, tight neck pocket, still some life left in the frets, low action, good relief, all pickups work properly in all five positions, no noise from the switch or the pots. The trem is decked but functional. I'll remove a spring tonight and attach the trem bar when it arrives from Amazon. The pickguard and backplate are cracked, but I may replace those down the road as I've said. And the dings are just paint-deep; nothing into the wood. No obvious trace of cigarette smoke. I think this was probably somebody's player until they decided to get a big-boy guitar. ;)

It sounds good. More rock and roll-ish than my tele. Nice progression from hot to cool as you move from the bridge to the neck pickup. I really have a lot of tones at my command.

And so it begins...pics later.
 
My Strat and amp is in a pawn shop up the road from here, but I'll get it out next week and start playing with it again. Been messing with the acoustic in the meantime. I would like to get the pickups upgraded on the strat to get better sound out of it.
 
I'm looking at DiMarzio Area 58 and 61 pickups for the upgrade. I was shooting for a humbucker but that sounds super complicated on the install (and expensive). The three pickups together would be in the ballpark of $200 plus the install which I was quoted at $40 from a local place that did the action on my acoustic.
 
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