Advice needed: 1962 Strat refinish project

[chrisV2]

First time here...I have questions about what the best approach would be for a 1962 Strat that I bought last year at a yard sale.

The bad:
- The guitar body had been stripped and coated with cheap hardwood floor poly.
- The back (NOT the fretboard) of the neck from the first fret area down to the heel had been similarly coated with floor shellac.

The good:
- Everything on the guitar, down to the last screw, is original. It even came in the original case and it has the ashtray cover as well. Everything is in very good "aged" shape. Pickups work fine, all the controls work, etc.

I spent several hours chemically stripping the floor finish off the body, and now have it down to virgin wood. It looks like it just came off the sanding line in Fullerton, 47 years ago. Even the little wood hairs coming off the worm route came out clean. The body checked out 100% against everything I could read about authenticating it -- the factory routings are correct, the body holes, etc. It is genuine.

I also stripped the back of the neck.

The pickguard was hidden under a coat of house latex paint (!) For weeks I thought it was a replacement guard and was about to throw it out. Good thing I didn't. I cleaned it with "Goo Gone", and I now have an absolutely beautiful mint-green pickguard. No scratches, no cracks.

However, the guard has shrunk since it was removed from the guitar. I can't get the screw holes to line up with the body any longer. I'd estimate about 1/8" variance at the longest distance.

So here are my questions:

1. Since this is obviously going to be a refinish job, do you think it is acceptable to plug the pickguard screw holes in the body and drill new holes for the now-shrunken pickguard to be reinstalled? Remember, it will be refinished according to the factory finish process (then lightly relic'd) -- so those filled holes will be buried under the new finish.

2. If you think that idea would destroy the value of the body, can you think of any other options? I couldn't...

I feel bad about that pickguard shrinking...but it needs to be dealt with or the guitar just parted out (which I'd rather not do).

Any suggestions, thoughts, answers to my questions would be very appreciated.

-Chris

[Spud1950]

At this point,it really isn't a concern since the body and the neck have already been seriously devalued due to the fact of the previous owner stripping and refinishing them. If it were mine, I would fill the holes,properly refinish it, reinstall the original guard, and enjoy playing it.Just have to ask,how much did you pay for it?

[chrisV2]

Ha, sure...I paid $1000 for it. They knew it was worth "something", so it wasn't one of those "I bought a vintage strat for $50" stories.

I didn't argue with them on the price because I could easily make back the $1000 if I sold off the case, pickups, tuners, knobs, etc.

Hopefully when it's refinished and put back together it's worth at least a bit more than I paid for it.

-Chris

[Spud1950]

Well, it will be worth quite a bit more then the $1000 you paid. I did a quick search and found a few refinished '62s for sale.$12,000-$13,000 seems to be the going asking price. This one is pretty typical of the asking prices. Definately worth it to you to have a really good,professional refinish done.



With the original finish, good to very good condition prices are around $20,000-$25,000. In excellent condition, $30,000-$35,0000.

[chrisV2]

wow..thanks for checking that out. I really didn't plan on selling it unless I was parting it out (which I wanted to avoid), but cool to know that if it's done right it will be worth hanging on to.

I'm still kicking myself about the pick guard shrinking, but I don't think there was much I could do about that. Maybe I should just be grateful that it didn't crack or split.

-Chris

[cheepaxes]

What about replacing the pickguard with something newer, redrilling the pickguard rather than the body (if holes don't line up) and saving the vintage pickguard to go with the guitar should you ever decide to sell it?

-Scott

[Michael L]

Chris, You mentioned that there was floor poly on the body. If that was polyurethane than you would have no other option than to strip it. You also mentioned that there was shellac on the neck. This is water under the bridge but if that were the case denatured alcohol would have removed it with no damage to any other type of finish under it. I'm curious if you were able to see any remnants of your original color on the body in the stripping process? If so and it were me I'd redo it in that same vintage color and reuse the old pickgaurd. You could fill the screw holes with the pointed end of wooden shish-ka-bob skewers available in grocery stores. Cut a bit longer than needed, dip in wood glue and tap in. When fully dry start new screw holes with light pressure from a sharp ice pick dead center bullseye of holes in pickgaurd. Let us know what you decide to do on the refin and how it comes out. I'm particularly interested because I have a 62' J Bass needing the same attention. Good luck.

[mrblanche]

Just in passing...I thought it was the Tele that had the ashtray, not the strat...

[Spud1950]

For a long time,Strats did indeed come with a bridge cover. Some vintage reissue models still do. It only fits the vintage style trems. It too is sometimes refered to as an ashtray, although it's much smaller and differently shaped then the Tele version.

[mrblanche]

[mohanr]

Whatever i am new to this i cant say anything bcoz i just brought a guitar of my friends yesterday..and i dont no anything about that ...i have also created a blog about
http://thevintageacousticguitar.blogspo ... ticon(':D')javascript:emoticon(':roll:')

[Spud1950]

Your link needs some repair work.