refinish, or new body?

sorry ... more questions!

ok, so I'm stuck with a Midnight Wine guitar, which was my favourite out of the options available, but not Arctic White or OIympic White, which is what I really wanted. Or a butterscotch blonde with black pickguard...

so I've been staying up way too late reading way too many forums, creating this idea in my head of refinishing the tele one day. Before you read on, keep this in mind: if I stuff up, I can't afford to replace my telecaster.

The MIM's are finished in Polyester, which I hear is quite painful to remove, and pretty much won't come off with chemicals. I read at Harmony Central that the best way to remove the Poly is to clamp the body to a bench, get a heat gun and a paint scraper, and start melting and scraping! Again, if I stuff up, there's no money to replace this one, and there probably won't be a wife to offer sympathy.

I have a friend who works in the paint industry who is keen to offer help, and he can get me nitrocellulose in any colour.

So ... strip the body and refin that way? This is cheaper, but more risky.

Or ... buy a blank left handed body from New Zealand for $150, finish that, get the holes drilled at the school where I work. Or there's a licensed Fender replacement body for $350. Then I could put the neck, pups and all the rest onto this body. This is the safer but more expensive option.

argh! what do I do!?!?

perhaps just live with a midnight wine guitar for a while, then when funds are nicer, buy the $350 body for a hobby.

p.s. sorry if it's annoying, me creating all these new threads. I'm really just nervous about spending what is a lot of money for me.

Matty, relax! This is a guitar forum. You're using it exactly as it was designed -- and we still have a low level of activity, so it's refreshing to have a new voice involved. I say, the more posts the better.

Matt,

If the wood is alder or cheap composite underneath the poly, it's probably not worth it...simply because all you are left with is the look of the finish. If its a nice swamp or figured Ash wood...then it will come out like a nice relic'd antique with the detail of the wood coming through. I'm sure you've been reading Cary's posts. I'm going to look around various Guitar Centers for a blemished or damaged Baja Ash Tele to do this to myself....The raw guitar itself will probably set me back $600.

I suggest you have someone like Dave Swisher (This Old Guitar - Vintage Relic Reproduction Shop) make you a relic'd guitar to your spec...I can vouch for his work. I'd recommend emailing him for a quote. With the Aussie dollar strong, I'm sure you can get a great vintage looking, feeling, & sounding instrument from him for just around $1500 AUD delivered.....which when you consider the time, effort, and parts to mod your own guitar....it will end up costing the same. Have him mail it to you as a "gift" so you don't have to pay duty on it on the Aussie side. I have a good trustworthy friend headed to Sydney in late June/July...Maybe he'd be willing to bring it to you....and it could save you on the shipping.

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trust me, if I had a spare $1500 in the bank, I'd do that without thinking twice! But alas, I is short on funds!

Plus I don't know if I'm a huge fan of relic'd guitars yet. I know it's a big trend, but I'd rather relic it myself, naturally and over time. I can see the appeal, cos they just look damn sexy (not as sexy as my wife in ... no, I won't go there), but I think I'd rather scuff, dent, scratch it myself as I play it over the years. I think if Abby (my daughter) grows up to be left handed like her daddy, then how cool would it be for her to inherit a dinged up old telecaster, relic'd from heavy use, rather than from me mucking around with a screwdriver and sandpaper and a set of keys. Just my thought, I respect everyone else's opinions.

the thinking behind this is twofold:
1) I want a white telecaster
2) I want it on the cheap ie: I would really enjoy doing it myself.

Matt, I think your best bet is to wait for the time being and just leave your Tele as is. From time to time I've thought about refinishing my MIM Tele, but if I did so it would be to simply change the color, not to relic it or change to a nitro finish. As adaptable said, the type/quality of the wood on an entry-level MIM tele is probably not worth the extra effort.

I think you wait until you have the funds to get a good basic tele that's the right starting point for a project of this type, as Cary has done. Until then, your current guitar is still fun to play, even if it doesn't have the look you really want.

As for the whole relic "movement," I prefer the Closet Classic Fenders, where the pickguard has greened and the hardware looks aged, but the finish isn't all beat up.

I own one real relic, which is my 66 Jaguar. I bought it on the cheap in the early 80s and most of the damage had already been done by the previous owner. I actually thought about refinishing it a few times, but now I'm glad I did not. However, if I had my choice it would not have the level of damage you can see in the close-up photo. The finish is very nicely weather-checked and the guitar has a great 60s surf vibe, but I could do without the gouges that go all the way to the wood. I'd love to know what the hell that guy was doing with this guitar -- I think he may have swung it into a few amps

Well, that's my two cents.

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yeah, that's probably the wisest and safest option.

my relic preference is not dings all over the poor thing, but just a bit of paint wearing away where my arm rests and where I get a bit over-enthusiastic with my strumming.

Dave could build you a guitar that looked "new"....but would age more like a desirable vintage one...with the exact hardware you'd want. There are some good builders in Australia as well. I seem to remember there being a guy up in Brissy that did good work, but his name escapes me. I'm not sure if the guys downunder order their parts from the US or source them locally.

On the other hand, you could order the lefty body from Warmoth (same price for left handed - Warmoth Direct - Tele® Replacement Bodies ) in swamp ash or other exotic wood and finish it in Nitro....the good news is that the value of the body should be fairly low for duty purposes (~$200 AUD) and all of your existing parts will fit. My guess is that a 5 lb package should be fairly inexpensive to send to Australia UPS ($50 tops). Its worth at least writing them to get a quote. My guess is that with some research and the free paint your mate is offering, you could make it with a nice new looking body without having to strip the paint off your old one for well within your budget.

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Or I also found an Aus site that sells tele templates drawn onto Queensland Maple: Guitar Parts from Australian Luthiers Supplies - Parts and materials for guitars, basses, mandolins and violins, replacement hardware including bridges and machine heads, wood for tops, backs & sides, necks and fingerboards, tuners, bridges and other - it'd be a bit more work, but not impossible.

The more I think about it, the more I think this might be a distant future thing, and maybe even more of a building-from-scratch project, so I'd end up with two teles, instead of one and a half.

That wood looks beautiful, and it would be very cool to say you had a guitar made from local resources...not sure how, but this would have some kind of effect on the sound of the guitar. I have an all-maple Gibson L-6S that is said to sound brighter than a Les Paul because the body is maple vs. mahogany with a maple cap.

How would maple sound vs. swamp ash or alder? Not sure, but it would be fun to find out.