Flash (aka Dakota) Red anyone?

[dada]

Here is my latest refin. 20th anniversary Fat Squier. I bought this for $100 a couple of months ago. It was pretty ugly in the original metallic gun metal black. I did my usual job of lightly sanding, primed with BIN shellac primer and then painted with Reranch Dakota red. Well, that didn't cover worth a damn and also looked too dark for my taste, so off to Pep Boys for some Duplicolor Flash red. Broke the rules by re-priming with BIN shellac over the nitro. That's supposed to be a no-no. Then I re-painted with the Flash red and clear coated in Deft satin lacquer. Looks pretty damned close to Dakota red IMO. The neck was also lacquered with the same satin. The fretboard was dry as heck so I gave it a good cleaning with the last bit of Naptha I have (can't buy it in California anymore), and mineral oiled and polished the frets. The hardware was given the wet sand treatment with 600 grit to give it a brushed steel look. Left the original electronics in there. I am probably going to switch out the neck pickup to something a little brighter. The bridge pickup sounds great. Here are some before and afters.


By dada1952 at 2012-08-10


By dada1952 at 2012-08-10


By dada1952 at 2012-08-10


By dada1952 at 2012-08-10


By dada1952 at 2012-08-10

[mjbk24]

Wow, Nice work! Looks like you can polish a turd!

[el cheapo]

Before you get rid of your neck pickup, try the Fezz Parka mod. Cheap, quick, and it works!

Nice job on the guitar, by the way! Reminds me a little of my heavily modded Squier Standard.

[NastyMojo]

that looks alot better in red! :D

[EsquireOK]

Great hue of red! Fiesta is too tomato soupy for me, and Dakota is too dark. That one is juuust right.

[rebelwoclue]

Very nice job!

[trev333]

my '87 Strat is Dakota Red....

put on your red dress baby, 'cause we're going out tonight...

[dada]

Originally Posted by el cheapo

Before you get rid of your neck pickup, try the Fezz Parka mod. Cheap, quick, and it works!

Nice job on the guitar, by the way! Reminds me a little of my heavily modded Squier Standard.

Does the mod brighten the tone when the pots are totally open?

[Silverface]

last bit of Naptha I have (can't buy it in California anymore)

Buy Ronson lighter fluid in the yellow and blue squeeze bottles. It *is* naphtha.

And you can still fin naphtha at some industrial paint stores (not retail-type dealers) - I refill the squeeze bottles, as they're real handy for flushing gunk out of pedal steel changers and other mechanics without affecting the finish.

Also - I restored a '64 Mustang recently using Flash Red - there was some aged Dakota Red left in the pickup routs and a few other spots (it had ben badly refinished in black. Flash Red is a dead-on match to Dakota (meaning it can't be used for touch-up...diferent batches of the same color can't even be used for touch up...but it's essentially the same color.).

[JDRNoPro]

Pretty darn cool.........I like turning cheap guitars into nice projects!

And, thanks for the tip and experimentation with Flash Red - I've been thinking abut doing something "Dakotaish"

[juans82]

Here is my ex tele
It was handcrafted by argentinean luthier Diego Serra
Dakota red and built with local woods - cedar for body, guayacan for fretboard and guatambu for the neck

[Unkie Al]

Here's a Dakota Red, Mintguard, Maple Neck Thinline i did a few years ago...



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