Paisley... It begins!

Hello ladies and djentlemen.

Let me tell you a story...

This is my first guitar. It's a Chinese no name stratocaster. I got this thing when I was 13 years old and it's gone through quite a few changes during its life (scalloped frets, countless pickup changes, countless colour/acc changes). As a result, it's pretty beat. Too many screw holes, too many chips and dings. I thought I'd restore her to something that I'd like to play again.

Here's all that remains - any advice on filling the holes/dents and stuff?

http://i.imgur.com/z6ExBI1.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/gjPLAwz.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/NHmJX69.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/g6meB6f.jpg?1

and here's something more interesting.

http://i.imgur.com/83DSHVn.jpg?1

To be continued...

cool project Nick. Body looks like a piece of swiss cheese that many holes in it ! I wouldn't worry about drill holes that are hidden under the pickguard and trem cover. How are you getting the paisley pattern on, will it be a sticker or fabric ?
Dents and dings probably best to sand off all the red paint and fill it with timbermate

I'd be tempted to get some auto body filler in those holes especially if it's under the fabric. Just make sure the paint underneath has been scuffed up so it holds well and doesn't drop out, but shouldn't be an issue as it's being glued over.

This sounds awesome. Great paisley you've got there. How thin is the fabric? If it goes transparent when it gets wet, the existing colour could show through.

It should be okay I think. It's quilting fabric so it's not too thin not too thick. I think it will hopefully be perfect (fingers crossed)

Worst job will be stripping and filling the body. Going to take a while since I don't have a heat torch or anything...

Quote:

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/<\\/p>[/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/]<\\/p>/Quote from Nickosaurus on October 21, 2014, 09:57
djentlemen.

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best... guitar pun.... ever! :D

Update: A heatgun has been ordered for surface prep. Decent price too.

I'd go with a hard finish filler like plastibond to fill all the holes and dents myself. That way it can be drilled and screwed in the same spots if needed.

good idea Looney, I'd say some of those pickguard holes need filling to get the screws to bite

Yeah I'll definitely be filling these holes up.

I was thinking about doing a coat of orange paint underneath so if the fabric lets the colour underneath bleed through when glued down it'll lighten up the print a bit and make it a bit more vibrant. What do you guys think? This'll be a spray can job so I'm a bit hesitant due to varied results I've seen.

yeah sounds like a good idea Nick, I suggest you try gluing onto the orange paint on a test piece to make sure the paisley glues ok on paint

nice look Nick.

Looks like paisley fabric is the next PBG big thing

Good point Wokks.

@Stan i'd been planning a paisley for a while but I just didn't know how to go about it :P will see how we go!

no worries Nick, since you are in the market for a neck now I suggest you buy a PBG neck are $50 and will be brand new and you can shape the headstock

Spewing bout the neck man. Will be watching this build though, doing a fabric 3/4 strat when we find out if we're having a boy/girl.

Holy sanding sealer, Batman!

About 1/3 through stripping and there is so much it's ridiculous

Hahaha I have a new found hate for that gear. Does it clog up your sandpaper. The fw ss does after 3 strokes, sooooooooooo Crap.

Yeah man! I used the heat gun to strip the majority of the lacquer but this sealer just won't budge. I think I'm going to have to sand through it by hand now *sigh*

Think of how massive your forearms will be.

So here's some progress from today.

The lacquer came off extremely easily - half the time I didn't even need to touch it. It just flaked off.

The bitch was the sanding sealer that was lurking beneath. This shit is seriously about 2-3mm thick and resistant to heat. After much scraping and heating with the gun I just had to man up and use some muscle to start stripping it.

The sealer:
http://i.imgur.com/lIwGxh8.jpg?1

Getting there...

http://i.imgur.com/KTxcz1F.jpg?1

Not much to go:

http://i.imgur.com/6HYMT4E.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/K0FZ8y8.jpg?1

I now understand why my luthier friend would rather build a new body than refinish. Yikes.

Any guesses as to what wood this is? I haven't seen something this dark in a cheapy Chinese manufacture before.

Right. All of the disgusting toxic filth is off now (hooray! No more respirator!)

Timbermate applied and ready to be sanded back:

http://i.imgur.com/V5P6h8I.jpg?1

http://i.imgur.com/4vuiK7K.jpg?1

templates made...

Time to get pretty in paisley.

YAY! Much excitement!

Ooo yes, quite interested to see this next step!

Big moves being made in the Paisley camp.

All is well so far. I will update on Sunday whether my experiment has worked!

Stay tuned.

we have to wait till Sunday Nick ?
any clues ?

watching this one...

me2

Nothing weong with spray cans when used properly.I would use body filler or bog for the bigger holes you need to drill into.and timbermate for the smaller stuff.sand it smooth then use primer surfacer.do one side at a time and let it sit for a while to get a good surface.if still showing marks then use spray putty and again keep sanding.When using cans heat them up in boiling water for a few minutes and do light coats or you will get runs!ut yeah take your time and it will all work.One side at a time!

with the clear,see if your auto shop can mix you a 2k clear in a can,because you want it to be as hard as possible.

Cheers for the advice Calais. I filled the bigger holes with poly so I can drill again. Sanded smooth up through grits then titebond + fabric on top.

Currently layering on decoupage in 30 min intervals (it's been pretty warm here) then i'll be starting on the top of the body.

Will keep the auto shops in mind for 2k cheers.

Uuupdate time.

Experiment: successful (so far).

Here's a few pics:

Razors to cut back the hardened fabric:
http://i.imgur.com/iv9IfFr.jpg?1

The finished product minus a quick sand of 600-800
http://i.imgur.com/Zp8vb9A.jpg?1

The ribbing around the outside is just a bit of glue that needs to be sanded down.

Next steps for this is to do the top, do a beading of super glue + sand flush to the sides.

Then it'll be time to spray a burst + clears!

Exciting stuff

Looks epic mate!

Beginning to look quite cool indeed. Paisley resembles fractal pictures to my mind.
This is a good thing. So is the way this jobbie is turning out.

starting to look the part now matey.. cool!

Looking amazing Nick!!!

cheers,
Gav.

nice one Nick, looking very paisley !

Cheers lads.

@Max it reminds me of kaleidoscopes. Love it!

QUESTION:

Any suggestions on burst colour? I was thinking pink/pinky red or some sort of greeny blue

so Nick you doing a burst over the paisley fabric ?
think with the colours of the paisley you would be best to stick to maybe a darker red/pink burst

This is a very interesting project, looking forward to seeing the finished guitar looks great so far!