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So I own the above, a '91 Made in Mexico Strat. Been 'upgraded' with a Fender F neck plate, mint green pickguard, aged pickup covers and vol/tone knobs, CTS pots and some ToneRider pickups.

The neck is great, nice profile but I've never really liked the body as its covered in this plastic type paint that is really hard. Im looking for something thinly sprayed that if it chips would show the wood underneath. It currently has a ding in the bottom and the finish is so hard its barely cracked. So do I..

1.) attempt to flat the body of this finish and find someone who can either respray it olympic white or sunburst?
2.) buy a replacement strat body off ebay, keeping the original one and swop over the bits
3.) buy a warmoth type body and have someone finish it for me?

My issue with 1 is I dont know what the body is made of, Im assuming it isnt anything to write home about, plus Im not sure how many pieces it is which may show up if the finish is quite thin. Also judging from quite a few of the 'refinish' threads, they never really quite pan out like the person planned and I dont want to ruin the guitar.

With point 2 if its say a USA strat body, will my MiM neck fit straight on no problems? everything lining up etc? Something like this. Shipping unfortunately costs a packet.

Opinions?

Edit: if it is 2 or 3, I wouldnt mind a hard tail strat ?
    The paint on there is probably polyurethane, which is pretty much bullet proof. They also seem to apply it rather thick, in some cases I've seen it up to 4 mm thick. ???

    Even if the guitar has a few pieces of timber joined together to make up the core of the body, they generally 'cap' the face and back in a thin veneer, but that may not always be the case. The only way to see for sure is to strip it, sometimes you get lucky and it's a conventional 1 join-2 piece build.
      (2) and (3) have the added bonus that you can keep the new body and let the rest go. If you continue upgrading you can transfer the original bits back to the old body and eventually sell a complete guitar.

      Some of the companies who sell ready made bodies also offer finished bodies - sealed, sprayed, polished. But you should check if all the hardware is going to fit (not just the neck).

      Consider just blocking the trem rather than going hardtail. There are tone implications.

      In any event you are going to be removing all the hardware from the MiM body and bolting it onto a body that can not be presumed to be identical in dimensions, and you will probably not get everything back on as it originally was - so a setup will be required. And maybe you want to ask yourself if there's anything else you want to do so that you don't have to strip the thing down twice (though that may be part of the fun).

      If you go the (2) or (3) route then you lose less playing time.
        Stripping MIM standards is a bit of a crapshoot - you never know what you will find. Usually 5-8 laminates covered front and back with a veneer though. One thing is for sure though, refinishing will make it a lot lighter weight and darker sounding, as the fullerplast sealer is thick as all hell on them.

        I usually recommend the USA Custom Guitars bodies - a bit more expensive, but much assurance of a good sounding one than Warmoth and they have the ultra comfy '50s body contouring. Just ask Tommy not to rout the earth wire hole (they do it with the CNC router, which is ugly and makes screening with foil difficult), but drill it yourself. You can ask him to choose a piece for tone rather than looks (if you are going solid finish) - he selects the wood himself and is known as having one of the industry's best ears for wood.

        Aim for 4.0 lbs body weight - the perfect weight for an alder body. I'd also say pony up and get a one-piece body while you still can. No guarantee that it will be a better body than a two piece, but a better chance of being so, and the value is shooting up as they become harder and harder to find. They can finish for you too - adds a fair bit on to the price though.
          you could try this - http://johannesburg.gumtree.co.za/c-Sports-Leisure-musical-instruments-Fender-style-replacement-necks-and-bodies-W0QQAdIdZ357120991

          only downside tho is that it isnt Fender licensed like the places you order from online (Warmoth etc)

          at R550 it isnt a whole heap of cash and if you wanna sand that down you would probably spend around R250 in material and elbow grease anyway.

          by the way, where did you manage to source a mint guard and the aged pup covers etc for it? i might wanna get some..
            Danele wrote: by the way, where did you manage to source a mint guard and the aged pup covers etc for it? i might wanna get some..
            Ebay ?
              nick wrote: Ebay ?
              was afraid you'd say that.. ?
                Alan Ratcliffe wrote: Stripping MIM standards is a bit of a crapshoot - you never know what you will find. Usually 5-8 laminates covered front and back with a veneer though. One thing is for sure though, refinishing will make it a lot lighter weight and darker sounding, as the fullerplast sealer is thick as all hell on them.
                Im hoping the body swop makes it darker, more warmer sounding as Im pretty sure the diamond coat finish on it currently is adding to the glassy brightness which I dislike.

                http://www.usacustomguitars.com/bodyspecials.asp

                $160 for a 2 piece Alder weighing 4lbs, excl shipping which I imagine is going to cost 1/3 the price of the body ☹
                  Honestly, I was in a situation like this a while back.

                  It might be worth it to save up, and have a nice one piece body sprayed in real nitro in the U.S. I suppose at the end of the day it's still down to your discretion, but that way you'll get a really great quality instrument.

                  I was going to send you this exact link this morning, but decided once and for all that I don't like MJTs bursts. They're too wide and abrupt. If you're interested in a finished body, drop me a pm, I know a guy that gets bodies from USACG with a bit of discount and finishes them.
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