Top loader Squire for Bigsby?

[Bones]

I want to try a refinish and Bigsby mod on a Tele before i do a complete build from scratch. I want to go with a custom color with matching headstock rosewood board and a bigsby, would a squire be good platform for this? They have a couple inexpensive models with rosewood boards and they can be had pretty cheap on E-Bay.

[Combsie]

It depends on what you mean by refinish. Do you want to strip it down to the wood or just use the existing top coat as a primer? If you strip it, you have to watch out for the veneers. If you use a strong stripping agent you could warp the veneer (I should say melt the glue that holds the veneer down). I refinished a 90s MIM toploader in this fashion (completely stipping). It took a lot of work to get everything flat again, but in the end it turned out good. The MIM finishes are tough as nails...not sure about the Chinese Squires, though, I recently had a Chinese butterscotch squire for a while and recall the finish being vulnerable to nicks etc., so it might not require very much effort to remove the finish from one of these. Re-Ranch recommends just using an opque nitro finish directly over any poly finish, which is what is used on pretty much all mass production guitars today (poly). This would be pretty easy to do if weight is not a condsideration (the Chinse Squiers are not as thick as the MIA or MIM bodies, so a few more coats of paint probably would just bring it within "normal" tele weight specs. If you do strip a MIM or Chinese squire down to the would and refinish in nitro, the weight will be reduced dramatically...... I'm no rocket scientist, but I've got a little experience at doing this and I hope it helps you!

[Bones]

Thanks, yeah I'm just going to to sand it down so the new paint will stick don't want to go down to the wood.

[jwells393]

I really see no benefit in stripping a solid color guitar. I've painted several with just a little sanding and ding repair. Just sanding the poly finish saves a lot of time and effort............ possible grain filling, sanding, sanding sealer, and more sanding just to get to the point where you're ready to spray color.

I like the idea of putting a Bigsby on a top-loader Telecaster. It gives the impression it was intended to be there and not an afterthought.

Combsie:

If you do strip a MIM or Chinese squire down to the would and refinish in nitro, the weight will be reduced dramatically.....

Really?............ I find that a little hard to believe. I guess it depends on what you mean by "dramatically". I would guess 2 or 3 ounces at most.