Restoring the saddest '58 strat in existence.

[Denyle_Guitars]

I could use some advice on removing unknown layers of unknown kinds of paint, delicately to see what's underneath. Can it be done? If so, where do I start.

[astainback]

Do you have any pictures of it in it's sad state???

[Denyle_Guitars]

I plan on taking many pictures throughout the restoration. I'll start tonight. Currently, all the plastic and some metal is long gone. The neck has a nasty break and was spray-bombed to match the body. Both neck & body dates are painted over, so there is some uncertainly about the year. However, I was told it's a 1958 and the case suggests it is as well.

[OlAndrew]

Anything except poly and 2-part catalytic automotive finishes (not likely, it's expensive to have done and requires a lot of equipment to do it yourself) should come off pretty easy with solvents.

There's two basic types, laquers and laquer thiners, which are alcohol based, and the enamels and regular paint thinners which are more petroleum based. (forgot latex based stuff, you never know what someone might do...house paint - why not? There's stuff at paint stores for attacking latex. But rattle-can and readily available guitar finishes are usually laquer, less frequently, enamel) Acetone will attack finishes just great, but evaporates quickly. A mix of about 1/4 acetone, 1/4 MEK and the rest laquer thinner works just great.

Get some of each type of thinner, pour a little puddle on the finish, let it sit a bit, and scrub with medium steel wool. One or the other should take that stuff right off. If it gets stubborn ,go to an auto parts store and get some B12 Chemtool and/or brake parts cleaner. Same drill.

All of the above have a fire/vapor explosion hazard, and you don't want to be breathing the fumes. Good outdoor project for a sunny after noon.

[David Collins]

Unless you're stripping down to the wood, solvents of any type will have no use. Any solvent that would dissolve any other paint or lacquer, will also dissolve the nitro. If you plan to strip the top layers and leave the original finish it's an uphill battle, and I've seen very, very, very few examples of this being pulled off successfully. Your only real hope is that the upper coats were not a lacquer and did not bond well with the original finish. Even if it were an acrylic lacquer, they use similar enough solvents that it still would have melted in to the top layers of the nitro underneath.

Even if the layers are not fully bonded, it still comes down to very delicate chisel, scraper, and sandpaper work. One tiny, tiny spot at a time. Getting the overspray out of any crazing, chips, and wear spots can be near impossible at times. Then taking it all off without making any marks in the original finish that can't be rubbed out is a pretty lofty goal as well.

Each case is different, and there are occasional examples that can be saved. Unfortunately, many of these end up having to be resigned to a full refin.

[Denyle_Guitars]

Thanks for the tips. Yes, my first thought was wouldn't it be nice to see what's under this paint. I finally had a chance to examine it under some better light.
The neck: it appears there is only one coat of paint over the original and badly fading lacquer.

The body: Looks like at least two refins and it appears that the first involved some removal of the original finish, or it was just mostly gone anyway. There looks like a faint trace of sunburst under the spring claw but I need to remove it for a better look.

BTW, the neck is dated 3-59, the pots are 59 as well and the case lining still matches that year.

http://www.denyleguitars.com/1959_stratocaster/images/dscn1191

And yes, that's really dirty maple, not RW.

[Mike9]

That looks good by my comparison - My first thought is leave the fretboard alone unless you're doing a refet. I did a '54 Strat over a couple of years ago - #0840, or something like that - not a stich of finish left on it - a real brawler. The neck was a mess - naturally scalloped and had been partially refretted numerous times. I had to ease the frets out and try to get the neck as flat as possible then sand "islands" wide enough for new frets that were somewhat level. Then I glued in new large frets then leveled, crowned and dressed those. The rest of the body I left, but the pickups I was only able to save two and the trem needed an overhaul as well. The owner loves it now.

I did a '71 Strat that was in worse shape and it turned out nice as well - I had to rebuild the "F" tuners in that one - and the body had no finish left on it either.

ON some of these old fenders the pickups rattle when you shake them - to me that means the bobbin's have dried out and shrunk letting the windings loose around them - not good.

[Denyle_Guitars]

This one has no pickups, unfortunately. What's pictured is all that's left. The body is pretty straight but the neck has some major issues.

[Brett Faust]

What happened to the black dots on the FB?

[Denyle_Guitars]

What happened to the black dots on the FB?

I was wondering about that myself. Pearl dots on a 59 neck?

[Denyle_Guitars]

The bad stuff:

http://www.denyleguitars.com/1959_stratocaster/images/dscn1193

http://www.denyleguitars.com/1959_stratocaster/images/dscn1192

But at least there are no chunks missing.

[Rosewood]

Stll a keeper though cause dey ain't making em no mo.

[Brett Faust]

Looks like someone wanted the look of a rosewood FB and dyed it.
Can you see the black side dots and a skunk stripe?

[kingsxman]

Very interesting. Keep the pics and posts coming.

[Denyle_Guitars]

Looks like someone wanted the look of a rosewood FB and dyed it.

I can't tell from all the grime but it's quite possible.


Can you see the black side dots and a skunk stripe?

Yes on both.

I haven't found any traces of the headstock logo yet and don't really expect to. With the breaks in neck, it'll be a complete refin in any case.

What I first thought was a burst, looks more like dakota red. What a shame it's now white.

[Bob V]

Any hints of the original color in the trem spring cavity?
Do you have an original-looking neck plate?
Looks like the low E tuner was rebuilt or replaced - not a split shaft anymore
If you've resigned yourself to a from-the-wood refinish, then you might try scraping or sanding layer by layer, perhaps in the trem cavity, in order to do a little archeology.

Sad but cool - gets the imagination going. Keep the pictures coming.

[Denyle_Guitars]

Unforunately, the neck plate is missing as well.

Yes, someone tried to fit a 3+3 tuner in place of the original. They're roughly the same age.

The story goes that the original owner bought a '63 strat after an incident in a Baltimore nightclub with a low ceiling. The headstock was repaired and obviously well played afterward.

[Denyle_Guitars]

Whoever painted it white apparently couldn't be bothered with the removal of the spring claw and just painted right over. I expect I'll get a good look at what's under the white once I remove the claw. I've set the body aside while I focus on the neck. I want to get the worst out of the way before I decide how to go about the rest of the restoration.

http://www.denyleguitars.com/1959_stratocaster/images/dscn1195

[Denyle_Guitars]

It appears the body was sanded down to 1 9/16". At least it's a featherweight. :puh

[Denyle_Guitars]

Surprise, surprise. Those pearl dots were some sort of pearl paint. Had me fooled. After I removed the white paint, I noticed some of my pearl dots had turned to black dots where the solvent had run down the fretboard.

[eBay]

http://www.denyleguitars.com/1959_stratocaster/images/dscn1191

And yes, that's really dirty maple, not RW.

Eeeewwwww!

[Structo]

I'll bet it was a sunburst.
Most strats were from that era.
When I looked at the picture of the spring cavity, it looked like sunburst to the left of the claw.

The only way I have seen a top coat removed without harming the factory finish was by wetsanding.
Very painstaking job, and no guarantees of success.

[Denyle_Guitars]

Yeah, my first thought was that it's originally a burst. If the body thickness and the neck are any indication, it's unlikely that the original finished survived but I'll proceed with caution all the same.

[buchla300]

I wouldn't worry. Just go for it!

http://www.crainium.net/jdjArchives/DIYFlameThrower.jpg

[Denyle_Guitars]

Eeeewwwww!

That's just a little bit of dormant vintage mojo.

[v-verb]

Hey - you're doing a great thing restoring it!
More pics please and thank you for helping preserve some Vintage American Craftsmanship!

[Denyle_Guitars]

Paint removed:

http://www.denyleguitars.com/1959_stratocaster/images/dscn1198

Fake pearl gone:

http://www.denyleguitars.com/1959_stratocaster/images/dscn1199

Leo's prototype Unicaster: I removed two 10 penny nails and voila, it was a Steinberger all along.

http://www.denyleguitars.com/1959_stratocaster/images/dscn1201

[Denyle_Guitars]

She sure ain't purdy but hopefully she'll be strong.
I used T-88 aircraft epoxy and covered all the exposed surfaces with mold release wax. I used 1" steel plates for clamping. Then I removed the squeeze out with a razor blade. The two steel pins will get replaced with hard maple.

http://www.denyleguitars.com/1959_stratocaster/images/dsc00379

[12guitdown]

Wow! What a fun post, well, at least for the viewers.:D

Appreciate the pics too. Keep those progress reports coming.:munch

[Chevelle]

Alright Thomas, this thread got me reading TGP for the first time in months.

Maybe this strat was another Isabel victim!

[Denyle_Guitars]

Maybe this strat was another Isabel victim!


Hard to say if it was ever underwater. I got the sense that it had been sitting untouched and in a state of disrepair for many years. You'll laugh when you see what's left of the case. How it survived this long without duck tape is a mystery.

[Rock Johnson]

I'm a Gibson guy, so I always hear about how bulletproof Strat headstocks are. This might be the first one I've ever seen broken like that.

[Denyle_Guitars]

I imagine Pete Townshend did in a few in a similar fashion. :cool:

[Chevelle]

Hard to say if it was ever underwater. I got the sense that it had been sitting untouched and in a state of disrepair for many years. You'll laugh when you see what's left of the case. How it survived this long without duck tape is a mystery.

I'll bet there's some luggage restorers out there that could pull it together or a million dollars or so. If not, maybe you could get some period duct tape. I'll bet there's some tape from the sixties down at the boat shop.

[kingsxman]

So is that a super dirty maple neck or a really poor rosewood neck?

[Denyle_Guitars]

So is that a super dirty maple neck or a really poor rosewood neck?

Dated 3-59, so it's super dirty maple.

[kingsxman]

Dated 3-59, so it's super dirty maple.
It almost looks like someone took shoe polish or stain to it. Do you think you'll be able to clean it up or are you leaving it like that?

[Terry McInturff]

Tom,

Feel free to give me a call, I'll be happy to confer with you if you would like.

[noctilux1]

I'm really enjoying this thread. About 20+ years ago I came across a '62 Gretsch 6120 that was spray painted black. Got it from a pawn shop in NC. I got it back to Gretsch orange but it would have been really helpful to have a source like this, I really had no idea what I was doing.

[Denyle_Guitars]

Do you think you'll be able to clean it up or are you leaving it like that?

Depends. My intention is to do as little as possible to preserve the guitar's history (both good and bad). I'm not trying to conceal anything. I really just want to play the thing. However, worst case scenario is that I'll need to refret the neck. In that case, the f/b should be leveled which will obviously expose clean wood.

[kingsxman]

Depends. My intention is to do as little as possible to preserve the guitar's history (both good and bad). I'm not trying to conceal anything. I really just want to play the thing. However, worst case scenario is that I'll need to refret the neck. In that case, the f/b should be leveled which will obviously expose clean wood.

Cool. Well, no matter what you do....its a great project and the end result will be a guitar with major mojo.

[esoteric pete]

tom, this is a cool thing you are doing! hopefully, this guitars voice will be heard once again!

i wonder what it'll sound like?

keep us posted!

[GregoryL]

Great thread Tom ... just wondering how things are coming along?

[daddyo]

Cool thread!

[Denyle_Guitars]

just wondering how things are coming along?

I gave up and gave it to a friend who is in the process of retrofitting his guitar hero guitar buttons into it. :NUTS










Kidding. I just haven't had time to work on it lately. I should get back to it this week though.

[Denyle_Guitars]

Would it be unusal to have a body dated 7-57 and a neck dated 3-59? [From the factory, I mean] They did change things up in 5-59, so I suppose if they had any bodies left over, they would try to use them up. The body date is pretty tough to make out but I'm 99% sure the last digit is 7.

[kingsxman]

Would it be unusal to have a body dated 7-57 and a neck dated 3-59? [From the factory, I mean] They did change things up in 5-59, so I suppose if they had any bodies left over, they would try to use them up. The body date is pretty tough to make out but I'm 99% sure the last digit is 7.

I think I'd post that in another thread. I know in the 70's that was the case.... not sure about the late 50's.

[Red Suede]

I've got a '59' neck and '60' body, so I wouldn't think this is uncommon.

[Kelly]

I've got a '59' neck and '60' body, so I wouldn't think this is uncommon.Probably pretty common. A lot of custom color Strats were originally sunburst, too. Fender just pulled them off of the line and sprayed them a different color when they got an order for one.

[73watermutt]

I am really enjoying this thread and can't wait for an update and to see the finished product.

[fender753]

So hows this project coming along? I'm really curious to see how its looking!

[DaveNJ]

Any news on this?

[Denyle_Guitars]

Not much. There's a layer of red primer that is proving to be difficult. I might be resigned to do an opaque finish.

[The Pup]

I've got a '59' neck and '60' body, so I wouldn't think this is uncommon.

Probably pretty common. A lot of custom color Strats were originally sunburst, too. Fender just pulled them off of the line and sprayed them a different color when they got an order for one.

I've got a '57 neck on '56 body...but it's a mutt.