Baja surgery

[juansolo]

Going well so far...

http://juansolo.demon.co.uk/stompage/bajage.html

[GermanCdn]

That's some gorgeous grainwork, begging for a transparent finish.  Nice work on the stripping.

[pedalman]

might i recomend Minwax Whipe-On Polly or Antique Oil Finish
this stuff works great, and avilable in satin or gloss. has a vintage hand rubbed look
http://www.minwax.com/wood-products/interior-clear-protective-finishes/minwax-wipeon-poly

[juansolo]

I'm following the advice of the guy who did the Stratele for me. He's a bit of an oil finish specialist. So I've lots of sanding ahead of me. Followed by tru-oil and wax. If it comes out anywhere close to the finish I have on the Stratele, I'll be a very happy chappy.

Here he is wet sanding the oil into mine:

[juansolo]

Righty, first a reminder, this was pre-damage



...and this is now with an oil and wax refinish (I've tried to take the same picture. This one is clickable for enlargement). The result of £35 in materials and approx 10 hours solid work over the space of about a week. To say I'm pleased with how it's turned out would be the understatement of the century.



So then, it looks way better than it did from the factory, it's slightly lighter at 7lbs dead now and it seems more resonant. Before I'd finished this I'd never have attempted this on a non-damaged Baja. Now I think I genuinely would. It's dramatically better than it was in many ways and the process was actually enjoyable. If the grain though the plastic looks good, I think it's worth the risk.

[monkeyssj1]

wow that guitar looks awesome now. great job

[jubal81]

Wowza. Nice work. I need to get up the courage to do it to my Jaguar that's been in pieces for months. 

Really, really impressive.

[Hangingmonkey]

Damn, thats a great improvement. Im tempted to do the same to my strat.

[raulduke]

I say daaaam

That looks sweet dude!

Don't want to buy another baja to experiment with do you (still not sold mine) ?

[juansolo]

Love 'em, but I only need the one

[DutchMF]

Nice Juan, very nice! Sometimes you just have to take the plunge and see how it works out, and this has worked out great! Thanks for sharing, I can see a whole lot of guitars getting stripped across the world right now... 

Paul

[LaceSensor]

If you ever sell holla at me

[juansolo]

If you ever sell holla at me

It's my cheapest guitar by far, I think I paid £280 for it from a lad on BKP who got in in p-ex and just wanted shot of it, But it and the WezV Stratele would be the last to go. They're both my go-to guitars and I have more invested in them. The Baja with the customisation. The Stratele in that it was my idea realised by Wez.

It's actually why I'm selling a couple of the others. One is a one of a kind Feline Lion custom. I dread to think what that cost new (at least £2500 looking at the spec and Jon's price list), I've got that up at what I paid for it. I love it, but I'm always paranoid about marking it as it's utterly flawless. I stuck some massive dings in a gorgeous ESP Eclipse once and was mortified. After the Baja incident I'm even more paranoid about the Lion...

The Stratosonic, even though I've listed it, I'll probably keep it. That'd go no probs on ebay at that price, which is probably why I haven't listed it there... But Wez is currently making me something that's somewhere between a superstrat and an SG that'll possibly cover the same territory (also mahogany bodied and wraparound bridge, but with 'buckers). So it might become a little redundant... We shall see on that one.

I do keep trying to cut down the numbers too...

[juansolo]

The other option is buying Raulduke's and performing the conversion

I sold the original pups and wiring for £100.

The routing I had done, but I reckon I could do that now. Cutting a new guard might be an issue (you can't get a 50's style single ply guard with humbucker hole. Then again you could do it Keith Richard's stylie with a pup ring and hacking up the original. The replacement pups weren't cheap but they're utterly stonking (BKP Black Guard Flat50 and an unpotted Mule).

The body stripping and finishing wasn't as hard as I'd expected it to be. It just takes patience and time. I'm sure we could help out with the stripping.

[juansolo]

I say daaaam

That looks sweet dude!

Don't want to buy another baja to experiment with do you (still not sold mine) ?

How much are you wanting for it out of curiosity...