Great advice, These early Jap models are indeed very very collectible, how can you think about stripping it? if you dont like the colour take the advice and get another basswood strat, stick your Jap strat in its case, and push it under the bed for 20 years then stick it up for sale, these things are the 56′ strats of the future.

: : I have a Fender Japan Stratocaster 85-86 and was wodering what type of wood was used for the body as I would like to remove the candy apple red colour and finish it natural with nitro cellulous lacquer. : : Thanks………tR : : Basswood. What you are up against, removing the red paint is a 50/50 chance you may not be able to refin in clear. Reason – absorption of factory coat, especially blacks & reds into wood. Could be some red pigment soaked in. Though we acknowledge, bodies were "sealed" first. Sometimes it can be sanded out, sometimes not. Your friends from Strat School. Seen it many times and been there. I would not refin this guitar, though I suspect you are looking for resonance. You would need at least 18 coats of nitro, better with 20 – 22. It takes a few months to cure, and you cut the value of your axe in half. Fender, under President Dan Smith made these, or rather contracted them out to Nippon Gakki of Japan for those 2 years when there were no American Strats, due to construction of new plant at Corona. Then Mr. Smith, whom I count as a friend, was ticked off that the MIJ models were so excellent – he almost didn’t want to take them to the NAMM show and put the homegrowns to disgrace. Your era Strat is very collectible. Alternative would be to get yourself another body to work on. Still want basswood? Dig up another from an old Fernandes – they are the same, or bite the bullet for an ash. Look at new resonance – study Fender’s Highway 1 series, and read about acrylic finishes. Gretchen