84 Tokai - Refinish conundrum

Deadman

After deciding that I don't ever want to part with my 84 Goldstar Sound, I've decided that the 3 colour battered sunburst body isn't to my liking as much as maybe a nice surf green or a yellowy olympic white (with a tort guard).

So, what to do.

1. Refinish the body (I'm dying to see the grain that lurks underneath in any case, Tokai 3 colour bursts are thick on the ST40's).

2. Get another body and just refinish to my liking.

It's not exactly a 62 Fender so I can't see it devaluing that much if I do refinish it in a thin nitro. I love messing around and I'm tempted to start today. What would you do?

John_P

If it was mine I'd get another body...   but I'm biased as my first guitar was an 84 tokai goldstar (stolen from a rehearsal room) and I have a soft spot for them.

Problem with a refinish is that you can undo it, let say a pickup change so if you change your mind in a years time your stuck with it and there are plenty of nice cheap bodies floating around...

ICBM

I would refinish it. It's a Tokai, not a pre-CBS Fender.

You'll probably find the wood isn't all that great underneath - that's why the existing finish is fairly opaque - and quite soft, so nitro might not be ideal. Personally I'd go with getting it done professionally in polyester, just like it would have been if it had left the factory like that.

You can take a fair amount of the cost out of that if you dismantle the guitar and strip the old finish yourself though.

If you get a new body it won't be "your old Tokai".

JookyChap

Yeah, I'd go for a new body as well, especially if you are going to spray it yourself anyway.

You can get one for £40ish from GuitarBuild on ebay, and you can always go back that way if you change your mind down the line.

Actually, I'd strip it, cover it with copper and throw acid at it, but I realise that may not be for everybody.

Deadman

Ah, everything that's going on in my head is being repeated here gents. Differing views. Thank you.

But

ICBM said:

If you get a new body it won't be "your old Tokai".

This is the thing for me. How true is that statement? Now I'm thinking strip and refinish but keep the original stamps inside the body cavities with a bit of the SB finish showing for posterity. I'll be refinishing myself by the way as I've done a bit of spraying in the past. Poly you say? No problem.

Deadman

It's just occurred to me that I've been through this before. My last sunburst refin was a 95 mex strat. It went from this:

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/mightylav/DSCN0684.jpg

To this:

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/mightylav/DSCN0788.jpg

To this:

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/mightylav/6c6ad355.jpg


I'll be steering well clear of candy tangerine this time.

John_P

Deadman said:

I'll be steering well clear of candy tangerine this time.

but that does look fantastic - I'd love one in that colour!

Deadman

John_P said:

Deadman said:

I'll be steering well clear of candy tangerine this time.

but that does look fantastic - I'd love one in that colour!

Yeah I liked it. I was obviously copying Fender but it was actually Ford electric orange, as used on the very garish Focus ST.

It was pearlescent and looked even better close up:

 http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f270/mightylav/DSCN0844.jpg

Cream and tort this time though I reckon.

I'm gonna start as soon as poss and will keep it in this thread for anyone who likes to watch the process.

ICBM

I love that Candy Tangerine!

If you can do it yourself to that standard, don't hesitate. That's better than some professional refinishes I've seen.

I'd agree with leaving the body stamps and a bit of the old finish intact in the cavities too.

usedtobe

I'd refinish! Nice job on the orange one. Got a pic of the guitar in question, by any chance?

JookyChap

Yeah, different ballgame if you can do it that well - go ferrit, thread bookmarked

Deadman

Cheers all.

@ICBM that's before it was flatted off and buffed. It was 2 pack acrylic on that occasion and came up well.

I'll get some pics up soon. I've got a free afternoon and I'm taking the guitar into work to strip it.

I haven't done a guitar refinish in ages so I'm looking forward to it.

Deadman

Well, I started at 3pm. Finished primer/guide coat stage at 5.30pm. 

The finish came off really easily with a heat gun and scraper. The finish was polyurethane as suspected but nowhere near as thick or hard as the Fender I stripped last time. I used paint stripper around the horns and edges so as not to damage the wood. I have to say the wood is extremely soft and light and there is almost zero grain. The quality is no different from a Mexican Fender. It'll do it good to be refinished in a good solid coat of modern poly and I'm glad I'm taking the plunge now as it feels like I'm giving it a worthy upgrade.

Once the poly was stripped I flatted off with a bit of 400 grade, added a couple of light coats of polyurethane primer and lastly a guide coat of matt black to assist with filling and flatting back. There are numerous bumps, gouges and scratches that need to be attended to next (when that's gonna happen is anyone's guess as I'm pretty maxed out next week!). Anyhow, here's the pics for now:

Deadman

Apologies for the multiple posts but it's the only way I can get the pics to upload:

Deadman

Deadman

Deadman

Deadman

Deadman

JookyChap

Man, you work quick..

What is interesting is that you are in a great position to answer one of those eternal 'lawsuit' questions that pop up again and again, splitting forums into factions and generally causing arguments and flamey wars.

So, to put the record straight once and forever more - do you think the pile of poly you scraped from the Tokai is as good as  the pile of poly you took off the Fender?

usedtobe

No offense, but that burst looked pretty nasty to me..