Refinishing / Modding my Strat

wern101 · 2018-09-11T07:11:44+00:00

Morning guitar people! So as the title suggests, this is my first mod. I am scared to death. I realize all the more what a noob I am. I’ve been contemplating taking the old strat apart for quite some time now and on Sunday, quite impulsively, I did so. A bit of history – It’s an Adonis Stratocaster that I bought from a reputable music shop back in ’06. The neck is flamed maple but I have never known what wood the body is made of, what hardware is installed or if it really is any good or just a cheap piece of starter guitarist junk. I’ve had some good times and a few gigs with this guitar, but I got tired of the ‘black and white’ look and decided it’s time for an upgrade. Side note – the ‘Adonis’ brand is apparently made by Samick guitars. There is ZERO info on this guitar on the net. We had quite the chuckle on the Whatsapp group when Mr. Teddybear decided to ‘research’ the brand/wood. Needless to say, what he came up with was almost PG 18. (Insert Norio’s face palm here) The ‘gentlemen’ on the Whatsapp group had a good laugh at my expense. I digress. So, here it is in its original ‘glory’. Not much to look at… but that’s about to change. After removing the back cover I noticed that the bridge block cavity is the size of a canyon compared to the actual block, which probably leaves me with a lot of room for a new bridge. (Pick below) The neck seems nice and stable with new obvious issues accept for a small crack right where it is bolted onto the body. The first 3 frets are shot! I never knew frets could do that. Guidothepimp asked me some technical fret related question on the Whatsapp group and I couldn’t understand a word. I’ll tackle the frets when the body is done I think. One thing at a time. This mod could take months. The pickup cavity is nice and big which means I could most likely change the pickup configuration to pretty much anything. With a bit of heat the finish came off quite easily. I’m not done just yet, this is as far as I got. I got curious about the wood and did a quick bit of sanding to see what wood I am working with. Difficult to say now, but the educated guesses, from forumites, are Basswood or Agathis. Time will reveal. Well that’s it for now. I’ll update as I go along.

Tuckstir

wern101 well done bud. Im impressed with the end result, few niggles already discussed here..
I would still finish of the rear cover, the edges to me are snag points, and maybe something that bigger and less square would work to offset the squewness of the lines..
as to the Pups.. this talk got me thinking of my scratchplate I did with Imbali metal powders.. I really think it will work

wern101

Tuckstir Thanks Man. Its actually not at all how I pictured it. I kinda went with the direction I felt most comfortable with.

Tuckstir squewness of the lines

Y'all have OCD! ? Yes yes. I know.... lines have to be straight and all that... It actually looks way worse on the photo then it does in real life.

The cover will get a border, to prevent snags, in time. But I don't really want to make it bigger, maybe a different shape though.... interesting idea.

Tuckstir Imbali metal powders..

Ooooh. That does look interesting! Thanks for the link.

guidothepimmp

Dude.. that looks excellent! Well done bud.. nice work indeed

wern101

guidothepimmp Thanks so much man! ? I am so happy its finally done. Phew. Plugged it in last night - love dem 'buckers!

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