OK, the weather has cooled down a bit and I've able to work for short periods in my garage without needing a fireproof suit.
I've done the mock build and figured out how the bridge goes on. Not having a Strat to copy off, it took me a while to figure out how the springs are attached, and in fact I was forced to go to the Fender website for enlightenment!
My idea of using colour inkjet printer refills as wood stain looks very promising. I tried it first on a spare cypress fence paling, haven't actually done it to the guitar yet. I first mopped on three coats of yellow (about 2ml in 20ml of water) with cotton balls, allowing it to dry between "coats". Then I did the outer edge with a similar mixture of cyan ink. This produces green when applied over the yellow, giving a sort of green and yellow "sunburst" effect.
I then used the same Feast Watson Fine Rubbing Oil and Gilly Stephenson Cabinet wax procedure I used for my Jazz Bass.
It comes up really well, giving a sort of Watered silk or "watercolour" effect. I tried to take a picture but as with the Jazz Bass it seems almost impossible to photograph it in a way that does it justice. I'll try it outside in natural daylight tomorrow.
One modification I'd like to make is to re-mount the output jack on the edge of the body like it is with Les Pauls and similar, and put a phony "valve preamp" in the Fender-type jack hole. (It's just a valve with an orange LED glued to the bottom to make it look like it's actually running :-)
The only problem is that ideally I'd need a clear plastic cover to replace the original metal. Does anybody know if such a thing is available?
Failing that I suppose I could make a cover out of some old-fashioned copper flyscreen I have, and pretend it's for "ventilation"
My other mad scheme is to cut the headstock into a "bat-wing" shape using a holesaw and a special jig I'm building. I figure I could carve it to look like a platypus flipper and stain it pinkish-black, using more inkjet ink.
I could call it:
The Plato-caster!
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