mim tele stripped and stained only? Photos?

[dusty tolex]

Hi,

I'm thinking of buying a used mim tele and stripping it down to the wood, then applying a stain only. I love the look of wood without that poly glassiness. Have many people done this? Have you noticed any tonal changes? I'd love to hear any stories and see any photos.

Thanks!
dt

 

[Cole]

dusty you may change your mind after you strip it down. Most MIM's are 6 or 8 piece body with veneered tops & backs. If you don't mind the "chopping block" look on the edges... stain away. I painted my MIM Fiesta Red after stripping mine. Great guitars those MIM's!

 

[mellecaster]

I've run into quite a few MIMs w/ 3 pc. Bodies and no Veneer (Solid colors)...but the grain matching is just about non existent ...I think you will be disappointed IMO

 

[GilmourD]

There's a user over on the harmony-central.com forums named atrox (he's also a user here) that stripped down an MIM Tele and added binding. It turned out fairly well.

 

[Del Pickup]

I stripped my MIJ tele of its fotoflame finish earlier this year (photo in my profile) and it really opened up the tone of the guitar - huge improvement.

It's a 4 piece body and while it may not have to appearance of a nicely grained ash body, I like it.

I used a light stain and then gave it 3 coats of Danish oil and it came up a treat.

 

[dusty tolex]

Thanks for the comments, guys. I'm intrigued by the possibility of opening up the tone by removing the poly. I don't think I'd mind the non-bookmatched appearance.

Why would there ever be a veneer if the body was painted a solid non-seethrough colour?

cheers
dt

 

[Jack Wells]

They often put a veneer on a multi-piece body and do a sunburst finish. Veneer is extremely thin. Very easy to sand through.

 

[lcp2]

i've removed the finish on 4 or 5 basses and 2 or 3 guitars. the first thing i noticed was a more woody sound, less sterile/bland( not dramatic but noticeble) the next thing i find is that the body either is multi pieced with no symmetry(bottom 1/3 or 1/4 is almost a different type of wood), or the grain pattern is non distinctive(alder come to mind). i did have two instances where there were one piece swamp ash bodies under scratched-up and faded white paint; a 70's/80's musicman stingray bass and a 70's/80's fender strat.

 

[Tim73]

Has anybody got photos they can host on this page? I've found loads of TDPRI threads saying the cheaper to mid range Fenders aren't always so pretty under the paintwork but I've never seen one.

 

[Del Pickup]

Check out the photo of my stripped tele in my profile - I still haven't succeeded in being able to insert a photo into a thread cos I'm stupid when it comes to computer stuff!!

The wood is not the prettiest in the world but it has a certain appeal to my eyes anyway - and several other people have made positive comments on it as well.

The main benefit of removing the finish was the enhanced tone from the guitar - it was like taking a blanket off it!

If you don't like it once you've stripped the finish you can always apply some other type of finish - whether it be paint or stain - to hide the body again.