92 Tele Refinish: My First Attempt

Okay, that is a lie; I tried to paint my bass once. I learned a lot, so I guess it was successful but I never got a good finished project, so I'm hoping this will end up well.

I recently got a MIM std Tele from another forum member. The guitar had been relic'd and basically, I like (trying) to work on guitars as much as I like playing them . . .

So far I have bought a can of citristip because the finish was a homemade finish, so no tough plastic to get through. I also had an SX neck laying around, I figured I would refinish it for the practice. I'm going to use some kind of rub on oil for the neck but the wood on the body is too mismatched to do that. So, I'm asking for general advice that you wish you knew the first time . . .

Also, I would love to read threads that have completed builds, I tried searching but since 90% of the threads have specific questions and don't finish or only show the finished product I came up short.


http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab147/portugalwillie/Telecaster%20Repaint/IMG_4086.jpg
http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab147/portugalwillie/Telecaster%20Repaint/IMG_4099.jpg
http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab147/portugalwillie/Telecaster%20Repaint/IMG_4104.jpg
http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab147/portugalwillie/Telecaster%20Repaint/IMG_4092.jpg
http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab147/portugalwillie/Telecaster%20Repaint/IMG_4093.jpg
http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab147/portugalwillie/Telecaster%20Repaint/IMG_4089.jpg

Also, seeing the last picture again, it reminded me of another question. If you see, under the neck plate you can see the homemade finish has shined up super well, is that just from the constant pressure? Is that normal? I was really just curious, because if the whole guitar looked that good, I probably wouldn't be refinishing it . . .

Also, they say citristrip is a natural stripper . . .


don't wear your good jeans when using it. it will ruin them.

I have taken all of the paint of that stupid SX neck. The wood underneath isn't too bad. Two piece neck, but other than that, I can't see anything wrong with it. I reshaped the headstock with some small hand saws and lots of time sanding . . . I had never done any kind of wood work in my life, so I'm pretty happy with the results.

I don't think I'm going to paint the fretboard. The sanding sealer is still on it, so I'm thinking about just leaving it and clear coating the back of the neck and headstock. I'm also not sure if I should reshape the heel of the neck for a Fender or leave it, so I can put this neck on an SX at some point and not have to worry about the stupid headstock. I'm also thinking about adding a decal. I don't like the idea of putting a Fender decal on it but I'm also not too fond of a blank headstock. May be time to start researching custom decals!

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab147/portugalwillie/IMG_4115.jpg
http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab147/portugalwillie/IMG_4114.jpg
http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/ab147/portugalwillie/IMG_4113.jpg