The title gives it away but I am finally getting round to start a project I've been thinking about for some time. About 15 years ago I bought my first guitar, (I had dreams of being the next James Hetfield) unfortunately as I was only about 14 I didn't have any money so the ESP Explorer I wanted was just gonna have to wait. It turned out that the only way I was gonna be able to get a guitar and set on my way to rock and roll stardom was to buy one out of my mums catalogue and pay monthly (very rock and roll!) so what I ended up with was a bright red Sunn Mustang which was a Fender Strat copy, but it was cool and I finally had a guitar and it wasn't long before me and my mates were thrashing it out in a band, well kind of but at that time none of us could actually play an just spent most of our time posing.
I eventually got myself some lessons and over the years gradually improved and saved up an bought myself a new guitar a black Gibson Explorer,still my favourite. I now have several guitars an although the dream of being the next Hetfield was never achieved I still enjoy playing.
Anyway the point of this blog is that I wanted to get a cheap guitar and try my hand at refurbishing it and I really wanted to do a Les Paul shape but so far have not found a suitable specimen for the price I wanted to pay. I still have my original Strat copy an over the years it has taken a bit of a battering and some cosmetic customizing so thought I would give it a spruce up and see what happens. I don't know how long it will take an whether I will even ever finish it but it seems a good idea and a bit of fun. I am gonna try and post pics and put down what I am doing as I do it. I have never done anything like this before so I will be learning as I go along.
I have made a small start on the project. I have not decided yet what look or finish I am going to go for but I have a few ideas. I am going to strip the body of all its original paint so I can see what the wood is like underneath. I imagine that it will be shocking due to the price I paid for it but you never know(yeah rite). If its decent I may consider staining it but will wait and see. What I have done so far is strip the guitar of all its parts and separate the neck ready for paint stripping which I have a feeling is going to be a pain to get off. Not a great deal done but better than nothing.
