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Cat Urine Strat

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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Permalink Reply by Michael Fred Johnson on May 30, 2016 at 3:52am

Oddly enough I'd never wondered what the result of a cat peeing on a guitar may be.

You'll need to retrain your parrot,instead of saying "pieces of eight" he'll now have warn you of stray cats

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Permalink Reply by Frank Carr on May 30, 2016 at 7:45am

In addition to the macaw we have 3 cats, 2 dogs and a rabbit. We've always had quite a zoo and I've known about the feline tendency to view guitar cases as both lounging areas and impromptu litter boxes for some time.

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Permalink Reply by the anonymous pick on May 30, 2016 at 5:41am

;-o

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on May 30, 2016 at 6:49am

Previous owner finds cat walking on his git, says something snarky like "I wonder how it would sound with catgut strings..."

Cat flicks his tail twice, runs outside, doesn't come back for three days. Owner starts calling around, puts up Lost Kitty posters everywhere.

Cat returns, but keeps a wary distance, as owner tries to apologize. Cat licks his own balls, and just looks at owner, then goes to sleep. Owner goes to bed, shaking his head over cat's behavior. Next afternoon, owner has to get ready for gig, loads truck in the hot June sun.

Owner goes onstage, first number is Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Texas Flood." Cranks the volume knob for a solo, guitar shorts out dramatically, while evil smell fills the bar. Owner lies prostrate on the floor,shaking uncontrollably.

Friends take owner to emergency room; after several hours observation, he is sent home. 3 AM, owner is in bed when cat snuggles up under his chin. Owner mumbles sleepily, "Good kitty. You always loved me."

Cat purrs. Then stretches, kneads owner's stomach through the comforter, and tiptoes downstairs to sleep in owner's open back tube amp.

In the morning, owner scrapes nasty night flavor off his tongue on the rim of his chipped AC/DC coffee mug. He glances blearily over at the amp leaning against the wall, then tries to focus on what his unbelieving eyes find scratched in the basket weave speaker cover:

"U. R. A." Next to a ragged circular hole.

Cat licks his balls, coughs up a hair ball, then lays prone in the bar of sunlight that crosses the living room. His tail twitches sporadically. He purrs.

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Permalink Reply by Fomhorach on May 30, 2016 at 6:54am

It's a strat. They deserve it.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on May 30, 2016 at 6:57am

Oh dear. And on a CBG website, too.

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Permalink Reply by Fomhorach on May 30, 2016 at 7:13am

I have played very very fine strat copies that cost less than £40. I couldn't tell the difference. That tells me that strats are just well set up £40 guitars with a name on them. - that's just a matter of opinion, but so is my assumption on a strat bridge pin setup.. So messy. Strats make great presents for 40 year old air guitar players to worship in the corner. Even Hendrix knew they should be burned.

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Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on May 30, 2016 at 9:24am

And you are entitled to your opinion. I personally prefer them for their tone, even though I dearly love the LP-thru-Marshall tone, too. But LPs are just too danged heavy (I know I know, sustaaaaiiiiinnnnn) and make my shoulders ache.

Now, do I think it's riddikulus that an American Standard costs over $1700? Yep. And can I buy a $100 Squier, add really good pups, and get almost the same thing tone-wise? Yep. Look, I play a mid-90's MIJ Fotoflame Cherry burst Strat. It has real, not fake, "Road Wear." I have modded it some. Thing is, just as much tonal DNA is in the fingers, and the amp speaker. I sound like me no matter what git I play.

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Permalink Reply by Frank Carr on May 30, 2016 at 11:34am

The pickups were one of the attractive things about this guitar. They're Alnico with 6 round magnets, not the typical cheap Chinese ceramic bar magnet with pot metal slugs.

At any rate, I'll have a nice test platform for pickups and electronics experiments now.