Paisley... It begins!

[Nickosaurus]

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?









and here's something more interesting.



To be continued...

[wokkaboy]

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

[ponch]

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.

[pablopepper]

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.

[Nickosaurus]

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...

[zeromick]

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

best... guitar pun.... ever!

[Nickosaurus]

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

[lunaticthighs]

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.

[wokkaboy]

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

[Nickosaurus]

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.