Wood Filling

  My sons came over the first weekend I worked on the guitar.  During the intial sanding process the boys watched and had a hand in the block sanding. 

Yes we all wore masks and took proper safety precautions.

I spent about 6 hours on the intial sand which when I look back might have been excessive, but since I'm not sure what it should look like, I took my time.

The next day we applied the wood filler.  The wood filler is oil based so it will work better with the Nitrocellulose finish compared to water based fillers.  I got a good tip to use an old credit card to apply the filler.  The filler is scraped against the grain to basically fill any crevices, or big open wood grain.  This is an important step with woods such as Mahogany and Swamp Ash because of the density and open grains of the wood.  This guitar body is made of Alder. Woods such as Alder and Maple do not necesarrily need to be filled, however, it doesn't hurt, and it is good practice for me so I filled it.

First apllication went on easy,  let it dry of 20min or so and wiped the excess off with Mineral Spirits.  I let the body dry for a few hous and applied the second coat.  I then let the body dry overnight.

Next morning I sanded of the excess filler and put the body away for another weekend.

Fender Colors - The Automotive Industry

     This is a very difficult subject since there is not much information on the topic.  The major reason for this is Fender did not have a color chart until 1960.  Therefore guitars built before 1960 were standardly Black, White, or Sunburst.  However, for a 5% up-charge you could go to your local car dealership,  pick a color, and Fender would paint your guitar that color custom for you.  This is where we get Fenders color chart in 1960.
     Surf Green, Sonic Blue, Inca Silver etc...  All the colors we have grown to know for Strats actually came from cars.  The reason for this was the Auto industry was the only place you could find Nitrocelluse Paint still being used regularly.  Acrylic and more environment friendly paints and finishes were becoming  more popular, but the Auto industry still liked the ease of painting with Nitro, as well as it was easy to repair. So for instance if someone ever said they had a 1957 Shoreline Gold Metallic Strat, that would be impossible.  Shoreline Gold didn't become available until 1959 on the 1959 Pontiacs.  Therefore I have to choose a color for 56', 57', or the beginning of 58'.  Here is the chart showing color years.

Fender's Original Custom Colors

Color	Paint Type	Org. Dupont Number	Org. Ditzler/ PPG Number	Replacement Dupont#	Fender Years	Car Years	Car Make
Lake Placid Blue metallic	Lucite	2876-L	11711	882-91242L	60-73	58	Cadillac
Daphne Blue	Duco	2804	12742	246-91999	60-65	58	Cadillac
Shoreline Gold metallic	Lucite	2935-L	21722	882-92654L	60-65	59-60	Pontiac #WA2553
Olympic White	Lucite	2818-L	8144	886-92227L	60-80	58-62	Cadillac
Burgundy Mist metallic	Lucite	2936-L	50536	882-92697L	60-65	59	Oldsmobile
Inca Silver metallic	Lucite	2436-L	31425	882-56303L	60-65	57-59	Chevy Corvette #WA2608
Fiesta Red	Duco	2219-H	70618	246-59548H 93-59548Z	60-69	56	Ford Tbird #M0530
Dakota Red	Duco	2590-H	70757	246-90723H	60-69	58	Cadillac
Blue Ice metallic	Lucite	4692L	12164	181-97547	65-69	65-66	Ford #M1269
Firemist Silver metallic	Lucite	4576L	12883		65-71	64	Cadillac #WA3263
Firemist Gold metallic	Lucite	4579L	22422		65-71	64-65	Cadillac #WA3264
Charcoal Frost metallic	Lucite	4618L	32390	181-97334	65-69	65-66	Lincoln #M1744
Ocean Turquoise metallic	Lucite	4607L	12893	181-97323	65-71	65	Mercury #M1731
Teal Green metallic	Lucite	4297L	11921	882-83482L 181-17008	65-69	65-68	Lincoln #M1070
Black	Duco	1711	9000		60-84	all yrs	all makes
Sonic Blue	Duco	2295	11475	246-59593	60-72	56	Cadillac
Shell Pink	Duco	2371	21108	93-59842 246-59842	60-63	56	Desoto
Foam Green	Duco	2253	41940	246-59234	60-69	56	Buick
Surf Green	Duco	2461	42068	93-90147	60-65	57	Chevy
Sherwood Green metallic	Duco	2526-H	42038	202-90844H 181-15170	60-65	57	Mercury #M0760
Candy Apple Red	n/a	none	none	none	63-73	n/a	n/a

Paint.... I hate RED guitars...

     Sooooo after a long time thinking about this, I can't paint this thing red.  I have to play it in public when it's done, I'm going for the technical aspect and sound of the instrument.  The color of the guitar will not affect the sound as long I use the same type paint and technique.  Everytime I see a red guitar I think poser or just "hey look at my guitar".  I know there are millions of nice red guitars out in the world, but they are just not for me.  So I need to find a proper color for this guitar.
   
    
  

Step 1 Research and Begin Finishing the Body

      As far as finishing goes I know it needs to be a Nitrocellulose Lacquer finish.  Sounds easy enough....  NOPE, the most popular manufacturer of these product is no longer in existence..  After reading dozens and dozens of  guitar message boards, blogs, you name it, no one has found an exact replacement of these products.  What I did find out was the company in question, Lawrence McFadden was bought by Seagrave Coatings.  So i'm thinking this is a slam dunk, Seagrave is in NJ, a few phone calls and I can get the product.  Well, after a few phone calls to the Seagrave Chemist, we were able to find the new part numbers for the old McFadden product.  The customer service lady Lisa sent me to the one distributor they have and I call them.
      I have dealt with quite a few bad receptionists in my job, but none has been such a pitbull as this.  This lady was the anti-salesperson.  She could not be bothered by questions and would not put  me in contact with a salesperson.  The distributor would not ship, they wont deliver to NJ, and the only possibility would be to take a day off from work and go to Brooklyn to order and pay for the 2 tiny cans I need.  Buying direct from Seagrave was out of the question cause I would need to buy 250 cans of each product.

So i'm going to change my strategy.  I've been researching different ways to finish the guitar, and I have decided to use something called the ReRanch method.  www.reranch.com  This guy Bill basically loads all the products you will need to do a finishing job in spray cans.  All the products are Nitrocellulose based which is what I want, and the instructions on the website are some of the best i have ever seen.  So the next step will be to order the finishing products.....  But with that comes probably the hardest decision...  What color do I paint this thing....

Warmoth Vintage 50s Body

Impatient....

     Even though this project has a lot of specific details I will not change, going about the project is a different subject.  Where will I buy all these parts, how am i going to finish the guitar, where do i get all the tools?? UGH..  This might be more frustrating then waiting for the stupid body to get here.  Allegedly the delivery from Warmoth will get here tomorrow.  Cant wait to finally see what the body even looks like.

I got home today and it was sitting at the door....
   
   

The Body

     There is nothing very exciting about Fender bodies, especially the painted ones.  Fender historically used Ash and Alder bodies in the 50s.  Ash is nice when you are staining a guitar, and many 50s stained or sunburst Teles and Strats are Ash.  Ash has a much nicer grain compared to Alder and looks great under a clearcoat.  Ash is also a brighter sounding wood compared to Alder.  I read somewhere Alder is the "tastes like chicken" of guitar woods.  Alder is very generic sounding and possibly the most common guitar wood.  I own an Ash bass, and I really like the feel and sound of Ash, however, since I'm painting, and it is also used on the 1983 57RI, I need to get an Alder body.
      There are only a few options in Alder bodies and basic guitar bodies in general.  One option is a lightweight body, the other is a single piece or 2 piece Alder Body and of coarse pickup, control and tremolo cutouts.  From the research I did, Fender did not care whether the body was 1 or multi pieced.  Furthermore, since most of these guitars were painted, no one cares about a seem.  I also read single piece bodies tend to warp more, but I really doubt that.  The option for a light weight body I think is just a comfort thing, lowering the gross weight of the instrument, however I did read somewhere lighter bodies sound better.  Therefore i went looking for a:

Body
Alder
2 piece
Lightweight
1950 Vintage Contour

Routing
6 Screw Vintage Tremolo
3 Single Coil Strat body.
Front Side Control

I found one in stock at Warmoth Custom guitar parts.  Finding one in stock cuts down on lead time, and also shaves off a few bucks.

Warmoth is sending the body and I should receive it on the 14th.  During the wait I have had a lot to research on finishing the body.

What is a 1983 Fender 57 Strat Re Issue??

      There is quite the debate on good years of Stratocasters.  It seems very close to wine in my opinion.  There were good years and bad years, and the bad years were usually sustained by circumstances going on in the world around us.  This is the case of 1983 57 ReIssue Strat.

The Original 57'
      We first need to have a history lesson.  I have a feeling there will be quite a few of these lessons as the blog continues.  In 1957, Leo Fender still owned the Fender Company.  Fender seemed to be more meticulous about his designs and his sound rather than the appearance of his instruments.  The original 57 Strat was made of Alder.  Not because it was pretty, but it could easily be painted, and it was a hard wood.  There were no mention of custom colors in the 50s except that you could visit your local GM dealer, find a color, and Fender would paint it for a 5% up-charge. I will get back to paint probably in a few weeks and explain that one.  There was not even a "standardized" color chart for the Strat until 1960.  The 57 Strat was the first year Fender would introduce a strong V shaped neck.  The neck still had a 7.25 degree neck radius as it did from the original 54' Stratocaster, and a 1 5/8" nut width, but the V was a departure from the softer V style of 1956 and the baseball bat necks that preceded the V.  Eric Clapton is a huge V neck fan.    The 57' had a Tremolo system, 6 inline tuners, and 3 single coil pickups, and a 3 way toggle switch.  This is a very straight forward guitar.


The 83
     Now, you would think if it was a "re issue" it would be the same guitar.  Absolutely Not!!!  A lot has happened in the world of Fender since 1957.  Leo Fender sold Fender in 1965 to CBS.  This began the "dark" years for Fender.  CBS went cheap on all the guitar parts, poor labor, you name it, CBS wanted to make the instruments as cheaply as possible.  This of coarse backfired, and the instruments were garbage.
In the early 80s, CBS hired Dan Smith to fix the poor quality and poor sales issues.  Dan's plan was to re-introduce a few of Leo Fender's original guitars.  It was decided the 52' Telecaster, and the 57' and 62' Stratocaster would be the benchmarks for the re-issues.  Dan shut down the Fender Plant in Fullerton CA. and for almost 2 years, trained the staff at making quality guitars.  It is said that during the era of "82'-84''" the factory at Fullerton CA. created some of the greatest hand made re-issues of all time.

     OK, so if they were so good, why did they change the guitar???

  The body is basically the same, it has a 6 hole tremolo, 3 single coil Fender pickups, body contours are correct, and its made of Alder.    The neck on the other hand is a different story.  Most notably the strong V shape of the neck is missing. The V shape is replaced with a slimmer C shaped neck.  This was because it was the 80's, and Fender didn't want to lose the shredder population which wanted slim necks.  From my original research, it was said 99% of 50's era Strats had a 1 5/8's string nut width.  However, when I look up the specs for the 1983 neck its not 1 5/8".  How did I come to this conclusion???

THE CURRENT NECK ON THE BLACK STRAT IS FROM ONE OF THE 1983 REISSUES!!!


The spec on the "Black One" is here   If you look down at nut width, which should be identical to the 83', it says:
Width at Nut = 1.675"
1 5/8" = 1.625" which means the 1983 re-issue neck was wider than the original 57' and much thinner.

I have a feeling the neck will be the most difficult to figure out, so Im going to start with the body work.

The only other modifications I can see in David Gilmour's guitar is
#1 He swapped out the original pickups for EMGs which is no big deal
#2 He shortened the tremolo arm by 4.25", which again is no big deal either, i'm sure i can find one.

With all that being said, Im going to start with purchasing a body.  Ill deal with the neck later.

What should i build???

So there are 3 guitars that I would like to build someday.

1.) 7 String ESP Type
2.) Telecaster
3.) Stratocaster

After doing some parts research, the 7 string will cost a pretty penny, and for my first go around, I don't want to invest big bucks into something that could come out crappy and unusable.  The Telecaster was a possibility, but it is a more complex instrument than the other two, this will probably be the second guitar I build if the first is successful.  The Stratocaster is simple, inexpensive to build, and a very versatile instrument.  Therefore it makes sense to start with a Strat, but then there is a bigger question,

Which Strat do I build??

The original Fender Stratocaster was built in 1954.  If you are interested in the entire history of the Strat you can find it here.  There have been so many different versions of the Strat produced since 1954, I couldn't even begin to write them all down without needing a few thousand tabs on this webpage.  So instead of trying to figure out all the different models, I decided to think about my favorite Strat players.  Jeff Beck, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eric Johnson, and Yngvie Malmsteen, are musicians I hold in high regard who all play Fender Strats.  However, there is one Strat player that I not only think is an amazing musician, but has one of the greatest guitar tones in music history.

Pink Floyd's David Gilmour

     So the task at hand is to recreate a David Gilmour Stratocaster.  OK, but he has 3 main Strats.  A black one, which has gone through 6 necks and so many mods its just rediculous since 1970.  You can see the timeline of the "Black One" here.  There is even a book written about the Black Strat .  To try and recreate the "Black One" would probably just be stupid, and which version of the Black One do I build?.  Not to mention Fender has a $4800 reissue of the Black Strat already on the market.  You can see it on Fender's Website.
      His other 2 main guitars are 1980s era Cream and Red 1957 re-issue Strats.  Niether guitar has gone through a million modification, although there are a few, and the parts for these instruments are still easy to obtain.  The Cream Strat is probably his #3 guitar.  The Red Strat is probably #1 or #2 behind the Black Strat.  So therefore the project becomes,

Recreate, as close as possible, David Gilmour's Red Stratocaster.

  

What was I thinking???

     For those of you who don't know me, I have been performing or playing some kind of instrument for most of my life.  It wasn't till I was in HS that I realized my true calling was in the technical side of the music business and not the performing side.  That being said, I still loved to play instruments.  I then went through a very dark time in my personal life where I was not "allowed" to play and I could tell some of my bad mood and crankiness, besides my environment, was due to the lack of playing music.
     Now that I am free from the negative energy and live very happily on the beach in Long Branch NJ, I decided it was time to start playing again.  I recently purchased a Line6 XT guitar processor which has been a great way to start expressing my playing, but I really wanted a new guitar.  I have owned a Les Paul Studio since 1990, and as much as I love it, It is time for something new.
     Now you are probably saying, "Hey stupid, just go out and buy a guitar?"  I 100% agree with that statement, but my problem is the guitars that I want are easily over $2000, more like $4500 in cost.  To spend that kind of money on an instrument to me is ridiculous, especially since I no longer play professionally.  Therefore I started doing some research on guitar parts and pieces, and realized i could build the $4500 guitar for under $1000.  I know that I can handle the electronics side of the instrument, the mechanical however is still up for debate.  If this works out well, It might be something I do the rest of my life, and maybe even for other people, who knows???

During this process there are a few rules I have made for myself.

#1  I'm not cutting wood.  I do not own a CNC machine and I personally could never cut wood from a block as well as a machine.

#2 If i get in a bind or something catastrophic happens I will seek help.  Even though it is my first shot at this and I do expect roadblocks, I would like a usable product at the end of the day.

Besides that all the work will be done by me.

Louie