What colour was my '84 Super Edition Strat when it was born?

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mydogiszen

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Hi Folks

I have been working on my black super edition strat. It has an L serial no. When I had the scratch plate off to put the original U pickups back in, I saw that under the black it is Candy Apple Red.

This one has the all black neck, which I suspect was first manufactured to be a standard maple r/w neck.

Does anyone know what colour this was when it left the factory?

Cheers

Steve
 
I think this guitar had a CAR body and black neck and headstock when it left the factory.Gabe.
 
I thought as much - not sure whether it's worth the time and effort to refinish it in CAR.

I've noticed that the original brightwork was gold - but now a nickel colour. The bridge is chrome, so I guess that's not original either.

I'd really like to bring it back to original, but as an ST40, not sure whether worth it. What's the view?

Cheers

Steve
 
Are you sure it`s a 40? The fact that it has U pickups denotes a higher spec.Photos would be good! :) Gabe.
 
CAR is not an easy finish to do. As a result, there is even a "CAR Survivor Club" on one of the guitar refinishing forums.
 
rayspang said:
CAR is not an easy finish to do. As a result, there is even a "CAR Survivor Club" on one of the guitar refinishing forums.

Mmm. My last guitar finish (and first) finish I used was French Polish. As a result am can now do French Polishing.

I googled the CAR Survivor Club, which lead me to Reranch.com, and started to get the feeling that CAR might be another large learning curve.

I guess the worst that could happen is that I have a go at CAR and end up going back to black :wink:
 
Sometimes you can access the original finish underneath the new one by carefully and I mean carefully rubbing the body(not your`s ,the guitar`s !)
with TCut.Gabe.
 
bluejeannot said:
Sometimes you can access the original finish underneath the new one by carefully and I mean carefully rubbing the body(not your`s ,the guitar`s !)
with TCut.Gabe.

Thanks, Gabe - great idea!

I think I'll try this first. Would you go straight for the T-Cut or, should I remove the first layers with fine grit wet and dry or wire wool?

Cheers

Steve
 
Without seeing the guitar it`s hard to tell.Start with the T cut and see how you get on.Good luck,Gabe. :)
 
Some photos at last!

http://s1186.photobucket.com/albums/z362/mydogiszen/Tokai%20Super%20Edition%20Stratocaster/

I was interested by the question whether this is a ST40. I got that, not from any information on the guitar, but from looking at Spec Editions on the Web.

I was interested to see the Spec Edition Telecaster in the Early 80's catalogue on the forum, that is is a TTS200 - so I guess they made them of varying qualities and specs.

It does look like it has been repainted but it is a pretty good job. I still can't help wondering if it was done in the factory - though I can't think why they would ever cover the CAR finish before sale.

All the best.

Steve
 
I`m beginning to think you are right about the paint job being done in the factory and the u pickups and klusons makes me think it`s a higher spec than a 40.Gabe.i`ll bet she sounds pretty good.Gabe.
 

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