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Thread: Vintage Modified '51

  1. #1
    Forum Member D'Mule's Avatar
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    Vintage Modified '51

    I'd been wanting a Seafoam Green Fender (Tele most likely) for many years, so I decided to paint one myself. Around the same time, I had stumbled upon a Squier Bullet Strat (in Shell Pink) that really nailed it in quality control and playability (imagine that) and I had put the effort into finishing the neck out in Nitrocellulose, and that guitar turned out great. Based on my success with the humble bullet, I had added Squier to my search strategies.

    This winter, I found a vintage sunburst 2014 Vintage Modified '51 complete guitar in a shop for less than a Classic Series MIM Fender Tele reissue body on ebay ($140 plus tax). The guitar itself was neither new nor used--it was refurbished--complete with scratched-out serial number and "used" impression in the back of the headstock. Refurbished was no big deal for me--I had been looking for used anyway. A couple of things made this guitar stand out. First, the guitar had a Pro-level set-up and fret level. Also, no fret sprout! All this work (serial number obliteration and fretwork) was accompanied by the original neck finish being sanded back, but again no worries as I was planning to strip the finish on the neck anyway. Second, the guitar was relatively light and balanced--I estimate about 7.5 lbs. Light weight in a Fender is important to me, as I remember my last Swamp Ash MIM Tele weighed more than 9 lbs and that's just not right for such a simple guitar. Finally, this Squier guitar played very well and sounded great--I really dug having a humbucker in the bridge. It just works for me. Finally, I had never painted a solid color before, so this low cost platform seemed like a great place to start.

    So, I decided this unique guitar would be my Guinea pig for solid color painting. Right from the start, I also plan to swap the bridge humbucker pickup and ring, both because I wanted some 'balls' in the back, and also I wanted a double white pup (instead of the black that came original). I chose a Seymour Duncan "Custom Custom" in the bridge, with Allparts flat white ring. Other than strap locks and the pickup swap the guitar is stock.

    The neck was stripped all over, and then sanded back to wood. This was a challenge to leave what was left of the stamps, and I lost just a bit of the 'Squier' type density on the front. After that, the neck has two passes of Stewart-MacDonald nitro, one pass of Tinted nitro, and then about 6 more passes of clear nitro. Much harder to finish with an even "tint" and the maple fretboard poses its own finishing and sanding challenges. As you can see, the paint job is nowhere near perfect (some runs by the heel and burn through on a few edges), but the neck generally looks cool and feels great. In my book it is a winner and takes a simple Squier neck into the realm of custom.

    The original body pain was sanded back but not stripped. I started with multiple passes of Reranch white primer, then moved to multiple (6) passes of Seafoam Green. Both the primer and the green went on very heavy leaving an orange peel feeling by the end. I proceed to cover with 3 passes of Reranch clear nitro, and then sanded back to level. Finally, I ended with another 3 passes of clear nitro. Generally, the body paint is in very good shape, with only some very modest sag in the cutaways and very rare bit of burn through from sanding near the neck pocket. Swirl remover by hand brought it up to a nice vintage gloss, not too high gloss.

    Souldering the electronics back in was a PITA, but in the it alls seems solid. In the end this guitar feels and sounds great. All in all, the neck and body a perfect configuration for me. I hope to play this for quite a while. Cheers.




    Last edited by D'Mule; 06-08-2014 at 04:10 PM.

  2. #2
    Forum Member D'Mule's Avatar
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    Re: Vintage Modified '51

    BTW, in my opinion this is now a professional level instrument, in case you were curious. The new Duncan Seymour humbucker delivers the goods as expected, and it is coil split so even more versatile. I don't think I can really comment on the original bridge pup, as I didn't play it for very long. I do like the stock neck single-coil a lot. Sweet to gritty with the turn of the volume knob.

    As far as the stock hardware is concerned, I am quite satisfied. The string-through bridge seems high quality and functions perfectly. The tuning pegs work flawlessly. I suppose won't be as durable as higher quality tuners, but for now I'm happy with them. My electronics also perform flawlessly but again don't appear as robust as they could be.

    All in all, a very well put together guitar. My add on costs were $90 in paint and finish supplies and $75 for new pup and ring. So just a bit north of $300 in total costs. And I got my green guitar!

  3. #3
    Forum Member chuckocaster's Avatar
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    Re: Vintage Modified '51

    Looks cool to me! I think low buck builds can be awesome, if you take your time and find the right piece to start with. Thanx for sharing!
    "don't worry, i'm a professional!"

  4. #4
    Forum Member D'Mule's Avatar
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    Re: Vintage Modified '51

    Hey, good to be back!

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