Transforming a Squier Strat Into a Gold Top: "Goldcaster"

[Guitar Dude]

So I've got the Squier Affinity series Strat that I've had on Craigslist for $100 for a while now with no takers. So she's my next project - "Goldie" the Goldcaster. So far, I'm thinking gold body and gold headstock, with all black hardware and pickguard. Except maybe gold tone and volume knobs.

 

[Guitar Dude]

Originally, I was planning to gold leaf the body, but now I'm leaning heavily toward gold paint. Also, I decided to "ebonize" the fretboard. Here's a pic of a standard rosewood fretboard, and the one that I ebonized for Goldie.

 

[Guitar Dude]

Got a little more work done on "Goldie" the Goldcaster.


Sanded down the headstock to paint it gold

Taped off and ready to go

The body before and after removing everything, and sanded

I know she's only a Squier, but she's part of the Affinity series. I would expect crooked trem claw anchor screws from a Bullet, but not an Affinity. Oh well.

At least the electronics are halfway decent - I was pleasantly surprised to see Alpha pots

Primed and ready

First coat of gold - I love it!

 

[Guitar Dude]

So I went and screwed up. There was a bit of drippage from the third coat, so I sanded just the drip areas and repainted. Well, that didn't match the rest of the body, so I painted the body even more. I guess I overdid it, because now there was MAJOR drippage! So I wiped, hoping to repaint just those areas, and screwed it up even worse! Well crap. Now I'll just have to resand the entire body and give her a few more LIGHT coats and go from there.

 

[Guitar Dude]

Re-sanded and ready for round two of painting.

 

[Guitar Dude]

Well, she's not anywhere near perfect, but she's a lot better than she was yesterday.

 

[Guitar Dude]

Here's Goldie after 13 coats of Rustoleum 2X Gloss Clear Coat.
Gonna have to let her cure for a week or two before I can sand down the "orange peel" and buff her out.

 

[Guitar Dude]

Time to wet sand the Goldcaster. Using #600 grit. Just trying to even out the surface - you can see the "orange peel" in the 2nd pic. After a few more coats it's time to buff her out to a nice shine and she'll be ready to be put back together. I'll be using #1,000-#10,000 grits, then Meguiar's Mirror Glaze Ultra-Cut Compound to finish her up. Going with mostly black hardware and pickguard, with brass pickup covers and volume/tone knobs.

 

[Guitar Dude]

Goldie got her decal today

 

[Guitar Dude]

Sneak peek of Goldie. The bridge and tuners should be here tomorrow.

 

[Guitar Dude]

Locking tuners and bridge will be here tomorrow

 

[bridget_murphy837]

That build looks awesome.

 

[Guitar Dude]

That build looks awesome.

Thanks! I'll be trading out the pickups this weekend. The originals are ceramics, and I'll be switching them out for noiseless Alnico 5s.

 

[Guitar Dude]

Got her all foiled up and tested for continuity.

 

[Guitar Dude]

All done! I also switched out the Squier ceramic pickups for a set of Alnico 5 pickups.

 

[Guitar Dude]

Before/after pic