Squier Strat

This one was pretty nasty to begin with - an old first guitar that had endured a lot of decoration, neglect, and grime sitting in a closet over many years.

I got this beaut from a guy named 'Wolfy' on Craigslist.

I think this is a Lake Placid blue.

There were some magic marker 'additions' to the logo-
Ballpoint pen had also been used to draw little 'bars' in various locations on the fretboard.

It was covered in sticker goo - nasty, nasty sticker goo.

Underneath that blue piece of tape was the name 'Wolfy Bauer', inscribed into the surface with a knife - and then decorated with red magic marker.

On the back - Rasta! Also a very deep inscription. There were a bunch of back and forth scratches on the horn too.

The pickguard was an ugly one-ply, the knobs were missing, and it was generally just filthy.

Fortunately, the neck was still straight and the frets were in good condition.

In fact, I was originally planning to put this neck on another Squier Strat body (black) that I had, which was in better condition, but the neck holes didn't quite line up. Different manufacturing country, I'd guess.

Anyway, after that setback, I decided to attempt to clean up the body as best I could.

I replaced the pickguard entirely with a nicer three ply white-black-white - unfortunately the screw holes didn't line up. I had to do a little surgery  on the base to make it fit properly around the bridge, and had to drill new holes for the pickguard.

I shielded the back of the pickguard and connected it with a foldover to the graphite paint in the cavity.

I got most of the ink off with naptha, but the ballpoint on the neck was really stubborn, and I had to use acetone. Ditto for some of the more ground in sticker gunk.

I upgraded some of the audio wiring, and added a switchcraft jack ( because they are just so satisfying )

I also added two more trem springs and decked it, and added a white backplate I had laying around.

I did a certain amount of sanding and buffing to get the worst of the scratches out - I got all of the name off the front, although there are a few spots where I burned a little too far through the clear. Overall though, it's miles better.

Tightened the tuners, oiled the fretboard, intonated, set everything up and now it plays nice and looks respectable!

There's still a little 'Rasta' on the back though  Forever embedded.  This one is going to a friend!