Started playing this again recently - having a bit of fun with the meaty Invader pickup in the bridge. Never liked the paint though. Somebody previous to me had hand-painted (badly) the tail edge and some chips on the horns, so I sanded them back in anticipation of getting them repainted.
I never did in the end. Seriously contemplating stripping it with a heat gun now, and painting the body black. Was wondering how difficult / easy that might be ... and also wondering what I should do with the blue/black paint and logo on the face of the headstock ?
I've no worries about disassembling the guitar, or actually stripping the paint btw - it's primarily worries about trying to get a decent finish at home without pro gear. and also the question of the aesthetics and logo on the headstock.
Any and all ideas or input gladly received
Comments
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
A skilled finisher should be able to make a decent job of tidying up the points and the edges where you have sanded.
Taking off all of the black, leaving just the blue is probably the best approach. The new application of black will determine where the crossfade will be. Further in might look better than the original.
The restoration will not be entirely invisible but, from a distance, nobody would see it.
Whilst the blue-to-black burst is not the prettiest finish known to humankind, it is instantly recognisable to gentlemen of a certain age, evoking their teens or early Twenties.
One argument in favour of ICBM's suggestion for a full body respray is that it creates an opportunity to change (or eliminate) the vibrato. (My choice would be a floating two-post system and locking machineheads.)
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Next, you need to imagine whether the "spread" sections are glued together parallel to the string path or on a diagonal across the ZZ outline.
As an intellectual exercise/puzzle, sketch the ZZ outline on a piece of paper. Work out how many pieces are required to create a body blank that is not hugely wasteful of lumber. (Hint: Some pieces will be longer than others. On the other hand, longer pieces of presentable wood are more difficult/costly to obtain. They are unlikely to appear on a low to mid-price instrument.)
And as Funkfingers points out - the stripped piece on the tail on mine shows you there's a number of different pieces of timber involved.
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Having the black burst edges resprayed retains the guitar's USP - its finish.
The leftfield alternative is to borrow the Ibanez Midnight Sky idea.
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