Recommendations - Fender Retailer who can also do high quality body refinishes

[expat701]

Hi. I've been wanting a Fender Deluxe Stratocaster in Olympic Pearl White... Unfortunately I am left handed and Fender in their wisdom have deemed that left handed players only need 3 color sunburst Deluxe/'62/'57 Reissue Strats. So they only offer 3 color burst as a finish option.

I've only seen one Oly White since I've been looking and it was selling used and sold before I could get to it.

Due to Fender's approach to left handedness I already have two 3 color burst Strats and one 3 color burst Am Tele for good measure.

My plan is to purchase a Deluxe Strat from a good, reputable dealer who can handle a high quality (factory like) refinish in Oly Pearl White before it's sent to me. I can later swap the pick guard and trem cover to tort at my leisure (or not as the case may be).

One other twist to this plan... I need a dealer that will shop internationally as I live in Brisbane Australia.

Any recommendations?

Regards Wayne

(P.S I could use a retailer in Australia but then the guitar will cost me around $2,000 before I look at a refinish. Plus most retailers here are incapable of delivering a decent setup nether mind a total refinish to factory standards).

[Doug 54]

I think Fuller Guitar is Houston, Texas does good refinishes, as I recall.

NOT from personal experience, but from reading about their shop.
Houston, TX folks can pipe in:

http://www.fullersguitar.com/

.

[Wally]

Surely there is someone down under who can do a quality finish for you. A good woodwoker will be able to do the finish you want. Taking thesguitar apart and putting it back together in a professional manner entails using someone who knows about working on gutiars. IMe that woudl not be a dealer....odd as that may sound. My analogy to folks is that you wouldn't take your transimssion problems to the showroom floor salesman, would you? Ime, it is not the dealers who will be doing this work but rather a 'luthier' who knows what is what.

[Jakedog]

A lot of dealer agreements prohibit the shipping of new product outside the US. Fender does it protect their overseas dealers. I just checked three of my favorite dealers, and they all said no. No shipping outside the US per dealer agreement.

I'm with Wally. You ought to be able to get a quality refin in somewhere closer to you than the US.

Point of interest- Dealer agreements have no jurisdiction over used guitars. So if you can find a clean used one in the US, you could potentially save a TON of money. If you have nobody closer to you who can do the refin, I have several recommendations for shops here in the states that do fine work.

[Wally]

This one isn't Oly White but rather is a see-thru-blonde 'Mary Kaye' type of finish.....mine done for me by me in nitro.....

IF I werein your position, I would prefer to choose my body for the wood and weight and have it finish tomy choosing.

[imsilly]

How much more would it cost just to get the custom shop, or another builder to make you one to your specs from scratch?

Seems like it might be a better an option with all the shipping and labor costs involved in modifying an American Deluxe Stratocaster (which isn't the cheapest guitar in the first place) the price might be similar.

Anyway, that is probably what I'd do.