Years ago I wanted to put together an electric guitar kit so I went online to Carvin to see what they had. They had Stratocaster kits available so I ordered one. The kit comes with an unfinished guitar body, bolt-on neck, selector lever, volume and tone pots, knobs, bridge, pickup, tremolo, tuning machines, pickguard, etc.
The instructions were straightforward and all I needed to do was paint the body, put all components on the guitar, and set it up for use. And I did just that. I played the guitar for a while, proud of my accomplishment, but at some point, the guitar went into the case and hasn’t been out of the case in years.
Recently I pulled it out of the case, tuned it up, and began playing. My thoughts went right to “I know why it has set in the case all these years.” It wasn’t much to look at, it didn’t feel good in my hands, and the sound was not very good. It was okay, but that was about it.
About a month ago I was watching a series of YouTube videos by StewMac along with Driftwood Guitars and they took a StewMac strat kit and using aerosol paint, turned it into a very beautiful-looking guitar. I thought that is what I want to do to my old strat kit. So I am going to remove the old finish, and buy the same paint kit as they used in the video. I am going to attempt to replicate the body and neck work that was done. Can I make it look as good as they did? I’m not sure, but I won’t know unless I try. They do a great job of walking the viewer through the process, so the optimistic me says “heck yes, I can do it!” And just like they did, I am going to record the process of transforming the old ordinary guitar into a beautiful new-looking guitar.
While I am at it I will be purchasing new pickups from Seymour Duncan, a new Wilkinson tremolo system, and new tuning machines. I am also going to work on the neck and frets so it feels better in my hands. When I am all done it will not go back in the case, but in my guitar rack of frequently played guitars.
If all goes as planned I will be starting the project somewhere in mid to late November. If you want to keep up with the projects and repairs, subscribe to my YouTube Channel, like my Facebook Page, and follow me on Twitter and Instagram.
Thanks for stopping by. I am looking forward to sharing more projects from my little guitar shop with you. Take care.