If you were ever wondering what the inside of a guitar looks like after a cat has peed on it and the owner of the guitar didn't promptly clean it up, here it is...

Backstory: I was at the antique mall yesterday when I ran across a nice looking 2005 Squier Standard Strat in walnut satin for a very low price, even lower since the 'house' fee usually gets waved for dealer-to-dealer transactions. The seller did say it had "electronics problems". I also noticed a lot of the hardware was rusted, not uncommon with garage sale finds of neglected and abused guitars. I didn't really notice the smell until later, perhaps it had been Febreezed good before it went on sale.

When I pulled off the pickguard, which involved drilling out 2 screws where tops had rusted off, the smell hit me and I noticed the extensive electronics damage. I also noticed that the bridge was probably ruined too because of rust. Fortunately, I have the parts to fix it up except for a new trem assembly that I ordered off eBay. 

Morale of the story: When buying guitars at storage unit sales, estate sales/auctions, antique malls and such it's always buyer beware. Often the sellers aren't guitar players at all or, at best, casual guitarists and may not know about problems or realize the extent of them. They want to move merchandise since flipping it quickly is the name of the game.

Here's a shot of the guitar before I started working on it...

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I like Strats, but mine have Humbuckers in them except for the Dulcitar. Want a Strat with 3 P90's(middle RWRP) and a 5-way switch..yeehaw.

I had a dog that chewed on a couple albums and a cat that peed on a lot of my albums,was not a happy camper.

It's the ammonia in the pee that does the damage. Nasty little critters can do a lot of damage. 

And a good setup is very important, you can't get that Strat sweet tone without finding the right pickup height. It's amazing how many players will grab a guitar and not like the sound without a proper setup, then declare that that particular model guitar isn't any good. Then they'll pickup a different one that has a good setup, say wow, nothing is better than this model guitar. You gotta sit with them and tinker with them for a good while to really learn what they're about.

Yep. Excellent resources for doing proper setup are:

1) Dan Erlewine's The Guitar Player Repair Guide, 3rd Edition
2) on YouTube: How To Setup Your Fender Stratocaster - with Kip Bradford

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