Manchester Guitar Tech
Marty McCann’s Surf Green Stratocaster
Marty sent me some pictures of his Mexican Strat refinish that he’d done. Marty wrote:
“Thought I would share my before, during and after pix of my lefty strat. I must say the paint and advice was spot on – has a beautiful almost factory finish that I’m now reluctant to relic! Thanks again for the help and advice – couldn’t have done it without you.”
Marty bought just one can each of White Primer, Surf Green and Clear Gloss nitrocellulose lacquers, plus a tack cloth and some abrasive papers.
As you can see below, the transformation from Wine Red polyurethane to Surf Green nitrocellulose is perfect.
Surf Green Stratocaster old finish
Surf Green Stratocaster stripped
Surf Green Stratocaster primed
Surf Green Stratocaster finished
I’m looking for that surf green in polyurethane paint. Where did you buy your paint?
The paint is available here but nitrocellulose only https://manchesterguitartech.co.uk/product-category/colour/solid/
I stripped the original finish with a Heat gun and then sanded it down in the areas I couldn’t get off cleanly. Just be careful – easy to singe the wood and open up joins in the body.
Funnily enough this is exactly what I plan to do to my favourite cheap imitation P-Bass! Think I’ll use the tinted gloss nitro so the colour is more Bakelite-ish.
How did the finish get stripped? A heat gun and scraper? If so, roughly what temperature? Got an old strat I want to refinish
What was the original finish?
As it says in the text, it was a Mexican Stratocaster with a Wine Red polyurethane finish.
A fantastic job! From one of my least favourite Fender colours to one of my favourites.
As I said – the paint and advise made it easy, thoroughly recommend Stevens paints for a similar project