Project: Strat fixup

Any comments, on stuff like the spray painting of the pickguard, or the pickups or whatever go ahead,

Before painting the pickguard, sand it lightly and spray it with plastic primer. Krylon and Rustoleum both make it. There is also "paint for plastic" (it actually bonds to the plastic rather than just sitting on top, just like the primer), but if you use the plastic primer first you can then use any enamel paint on top.

Once you're done painting it, seal it with the top coat of your choice. When I did my camouflage pickguard, the final coat was matte poly. Worked well, and has held up better than I expected. Some slight glossing where I rest my pinky, but otherwise it seems durable.

Heard good things about those blowout GFS pups.

P.S. Regarding model paint - I went to a local hobby store, and the little cans of Testors spray paint were more than twice the price of the big cans of Krylon!

Just a though, flat paint tends to pick up a lot of dust and dirt, it will also show pick scrapes and scratches more than satin or gloss. Maybe 5 or 6 coats of a satin enamel with a couple of clear satin top coats would give you some durability. :)

Duff, good luck on the project. It'll be fun, and probably a little frustrating.

A few tips...

#1, I would invest in upgraded pots. Chances are the Samick pots are pretty junky. You can get three 250k pots for $10, and I' think it will be a wise investment.

#2, you are sanding and painting the pickguard? Really? What for? Is the current one really junky/beat up? Why not just pick up a $12 pickguard? Samick might be tough to match if it has a weird shape, but won't the paint just eventually flake off the guard?

#3, the GFS pickups are GREAT. You will like them.

Are you painting the body of the guitar as well?

#1. Do I really want 250K pots? I want output for electric blues. I thought 250K softened up the tone a bit. This is of course what I know. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

#2. I'm painting and sanding the pickguard because I'm cheap and don't want to spend 15 dollars. The guitar was stored really badly by the guitar shop I bought it. I was like 12, I went in their with a clarinet I hated, and 100 bucks. They went out back and said we want to get rid of these, and brought out 2 samick ls-11 strats. For new guitars they look like crap. They also hooked us up with everything you get in a package deal, and also we got pretty decent amps (Vintura Vintage 50's, which I got rid of mine to buy the behringer, which I must say, was no improvement. Where the bar code sticker was on the pickguard is white, where it wasnt is puke offwhite-yellow. Plus doing it myself could be fun. I might even stencil out some designs and paint it up all custom-like, or sign my name, you know. SRV's guitars looked horrible, but played just fine. So did Tom Morello's. Both are my heros. A little homemade pickup job really doesn't bother me.

Wow... That went on a while. I AM SO SORRY.

#3. Everyone likes the GFS. And 20 dollars, I can afford $20. I'm going to leave the body Black. Going for the "tux" look with black body and pickguard, with cream knobs and pickup covers.

Updates: Also, getting a trem arm. It has a trem I never took advantage of, because it didn't come with an arm. For 4 dollars, why not.

New Questions: Where can I find wiring diagrams for when I put everything together. I'm going to do one volume knob and two tones, a five way switch, three singles, the standard stuff.

And If I get new tone pots, do I need to get a new capacitor thing? What does that do by the way?

First off, I guess the proper name for what I called a capacitor is tone cap...

Now...

Well, I did a bit more looking on guitar fettish and found this.

http://yhst-50206111187217.stores.yahoo.net/costupelcoki.html

2 250K pots, one 500K pots, capacitors, 5 way switch, and a new input jack. I could do without the jack and the switch, and save the cash...

(can you tell I'm cheap?)

Does that kit incude wires? It doesn't really say.

My bill right now is looking to be around 40 dollars. Isn't that funny? The same cost as a prewired! The only thing is I want the overwound, so you have to do it yourself. Plus I need to learn this. Your probobly right about the samick pots.

And another question: How much of a difference do Sprague orange drop tone caps make over ceramic disk ones? If its worth the extra few dollars, I'll get those.

are those gfs pickups actually good then because they seem pretty darn good value for money if they are!

how do they compare to seymour duncans?

I need a few replacement pickups for my strat and some for my guitar project too.

also would they ship to the uk?

I'm going to order them this weekend. I'll let you know how they sound.

excellent, much better getting a review from someone real than a quote on the sellers website!

are those gfs pickups actually good then because they seem pretty darn good value for money if they are!

how do they compare to seymour duncans?

I need a few replacement pickups for my strat and some for my guitar project too.

also would they ship to the uk?

I put these into my '51 project a while back.. I really like them and YES I would be GFS P/U's again.

The Lipstick (Gold)

And the Cool Hummer

i've never tried anything with those lipstick pickups....would they fit/work well in a strat?

sanded the pickguard with 150 grit till it was the right texture for painting. Used a spray can of model paint. Color is called Black Pearl. Satisfied with the color but not totally happy the finish, going to sand down and spray a bit more. Going out tommorow and I'll pick up some sort of clear coat. Ordering my stuff from guitarfetish tonite.

i've never tried anything with those lipstick pickups....would they fit/work well in a strat?

Thats a good question, I don't know. If I were to put one into a strat I would mount one in the NECK Position only, it is a "Creamy" pick up and I think it was intended for a tele or Hollow body.

I don't see why they wouldn't fit a strat. If it were me though I wouldnt' put lipsticks in a strat...only cuz the strat is about that thin, single coil tone...but thats just me :)

sanded the pickguard with 150 grit till it was the right texture for painting. Used a spray can of model paint. Color is called Black Pearl. Satisfied with the color but not totally happy the finish, going to sand down and spray a bit more. Going out tommorow and I'll pick up some sort of clear coat. Ordering my stuff from guitarfetish tonite.
Right on Duff.. Its fun isn't it ??? :)

Wait till you get your pick ups.. then get them in and solder'd up.. and then you first plug it in and hear it.... ohhhh exciting stuff :)

Second coat was much better, now I'm 100% satisfied with the result.

Went out for dinner with the familly, going to have to order everything tommorow. At least somethings finished, and I have all the funds required for the 40 dollar bill from guitar fetish.

Hope everyone likes the paint. If not, don't use testor's black pearl spray, cause this is what its going to look like. Also, before I got this second coat I took half the first coat off with 150. Got rid of all the bubbles. Second Time I help the paint can up a foot higher, no more bubbles.