DIY page 7  

Here is the Squire body after the sunburst finish has been chipped off. The primer coat was removed with sand paper and a paint stripping gel. The gel helped remove the primer easier. But a considerable amount of sanding and scraping was needed. I then applied an "Ebony" colored stain. The stain did not soak in evenly, There were some very dark spots and some very light spots. So I sanded the wood down again. I tried to even out the dark and light areas. I then used a Pre-Stain conditioning liquid. Then I applied a coat of a Red Mahogany Stain. I lightly sanded the wood again after the stain dried. All stain was MINWAX brand, which is available at most hardware stores.

After allowing the body to dry a minimum of 8 hours I'll apply a thin Satin Poly clear coat to seal the stain.

Details and actual footage of all processes will be available in the upcoming DVD.

I couldn't wait to put the guitar together. I sanded some of the stain again to get more of a flat unglossy look to the stain. Then I took a chizel and scraped some of the wood and stain near the neck pickup.

After I installed the pickguard and wired it up, I strung it up with .10 gauge strings. I quickly intonated and adjusted the saddle height for proper action. For those that don't know how to intonate, please refer to ProjectGuitar.com. or search Google for instructions.

The last thing I did was put the CUSTOM sticker on the body. I licked my thumb and rubbed the corner that folds up. This helps neutralize the adhesive on that corner so it won't stick.

When I plugged it in, I noticed the pickups were very quiet! The Alnico II Pro pickups by Seymour Duncan sound awesome. The fat neck really adds beef to the tone. I was amazed at how close I could dial in Stevie's tone by just having a really cheap guitar with a fat neck and good pickups. I've struggled to get his tone on all my other Strats, including my '57 re-issue.

I'm not showing the back of the guitar, because I haven't done anything to the back on this one. I'm waiting to see how the stain drys and whether or not I'm going to apply the clear satin finish.

Update: 3/5/05 - I have not applied the clear satin to the stained wood and will probably leave it raw. The stain has not shown signs of coming off once it has completely dried.

SRV Stevie Ray Vaughan strat guitar no1 #1

One final touch to complete the front of the guitar is to age the headstock.

1. First I used a very light steel wool to create a dull finish to the gloss clear coat.

2. Then I used a little sand paper to scuff up the edges.

3. I then sanded the area where the cigarette burns will be. I didn't sand all the way down to the raw wood, but just enough to turn the clear coat white.

4. Then I took my trusty BBQ lighter and burned the area shown.

5. I also used the BBQ lighter to create dark spots and streaks all along the face of the headstock (not shown in photo). This is done by setting the lighter to a large flame and slowly guiding it up and down the headstock.

6. To keep the burned finish from rubbing off and getting on clothes etc... I lightly sprayed it with a clear gloss finish. I held the can at least 12 inches away from the headstock and sprayed it lightly.