My new Mustang project ... to strip or not to strip (!)

[Paolo_ray]

A few weeks back I brought a CIJ Mustang body to go with an old '73 Mustang neck I have.  The body is Yellow/white, and looks ... well .... just nice really.  I've just completed my first Mustang project (Sonic Blue - Tortoise shell guard  ), so for my second I want to go a step further and I've had the idea that I might strip the body down to wood and give it a coating of nitro, basically to get it looking more like a '70's Mustang rather than a Reissue.  The only problem is, I'm terrified that when I strip the body I'll end up with a really nasty grain pattern.  Are Japanese Fender bodies generally made from one piece of wood or more?  Also, will I need to reseal the wood?

[Orang Goreng]

basically to get it looking more like a '70's Mustang rather than a Reissue. 

70s Mustangs don't have a nitro finish though. The correct finish for those would be a thick coat of poly(-ester or -urethane, I keep forgetting which), which may look a lot like the coat on the CIJ body.

[Paolo_ray]

Sorry!  I was meant to say - clear coat - ... Is it possible to buy polyurethane in spray form?

[Orang Goreng]

Sure. I sprayed poly over some of my guitars (over badly damaged CBS poly, over MIJ poly, and over some weird bad refinish with whatever the hell kind of paint was used )...I just went to a local paint shop and had them fill a spray can for me. I'm sure you can also simply buy it ready-made from a paint/hardware store.

[Hellion]

You may just want to shoot clears over it, like OG said. Or if you decide to take everything off, just be prepared for more work. I started refins about two years ago and have done dozens. For good info on how do use nitro (in case you just like it) go to Reranch.com. Otherwise buy some acrylic lacquer at the hardware store. Their poly is not hard enough for guitars--it is made for furniture and it doesn't create a hard enough shell. For that you would want a catalyst hardener, which is the most toxic material you can imagine. Post pic of it and let people see what it looks like. It may to too HAWT to refin. I only do it if a guitar has been damaged or already painted over. I am working on a Mosrite right now where I will be doing a mix of clears and touch-up over top of someone's decoupage. It's tacky to the point of being pretty F cool.

[FireAarro]

Don't strip it!!! I am pretty sure the wood will not be pretty. I think all the new CIJ solid colour mustangs are made of basswood (their 70s model is ash). The Mustangs in the 70s were made of ash, which has a very nice grain. Basswood does not.

[Paolo_ray]

Don't strip it!!! I am pretty sure the wood will not be pretty. I think all the new CIJ solid colour mustangs are made of basswood (their 70s model is ash). The Mustangs in the 70s were made of ash, which has a very nice grain. Basswood does not.

Woah!  Thanks for the warning!  It hasn't been stripped yet - I've now decided I'm not going to.  Maybe I'll just look out for a real 70's body on eBay instead 

[ohm-men]

Well, there was a stripped CIJ Mustang guitar for sale at a local internet ad. THe body looked horrible. It was a 3-peice body and the "logs" did not even match, there were 3 different tints of wood, and the "body" wood parts were not even as well. It just looked like a cheap badly made guitar actually...