Out of me, Ed ...: Ziggy may have played guitar, but has he ever stripped one?

In the office, headphones on (Bit of Bowie if you're interested, hence the blog title) to drown out the incessant conversation going on between the middle-aged woman and approaching retirement feller about 'Dancing on Ice' - I don't care if you think it's a fix (I think "Ch-ch-changes" needs to be turned up ..)

Anyway, the guitar is coming along quite nicely. I got from eBay two new pots and knobs to replace the one broken pot and missing knobs on my guitar. I went at the guitar with a soldering iron on Saturday evening, and not only managed to remove the old pot without setting the guitar on fire, but also fitted the new pot and successfully soldered all the wires back in the correct places (Yes, I did burn my finger, but that's to be expected) - I basked in the warm glow of a job well done, whilst sucking the burn on my finger.

I also fixed the loose bridge pickup (That's the one at the back of the guitar Andy), and then removed the front one so I could sand properly.

Out came the alun keys, and the neck was removed to make sanding easier. I found my electric sander which does a very good job of removing the old paintwork. The wood underneath does look very nice and I'm toying with keeping the guitar as a 'natural' finish. I have decided to leave the sides and back alone, the black brings out the natural wood quite nicely.

I removed the bridge (That's the bit at the back of the guitar Andy) and the volume and control pots, along with the pickup selector last night (Dropped them all into the cavity on the back of the guitar for safe keeping) to make sanding easier. I've made some headway, but my electric sander goes through sandpaper like anything and I've run out of 60 grade paper so need to get more today. Hopefully tonight the sanding will be done, and then I can look into the varnishing, maybe with a black wash, I'm still deciding - apparently I need something to clean the wood down and remove the excess dust and fingerprints from the body, otherwise they'll show up on the woodwork.

Like the two chrome knobs? Them and the pots cost me less than a tenner on eBay, which is a bargain (Whether Mia sees it at that remains to be seen!). Looking at the bridge (Next to the knobs Andy) I've noticed there's a fair bit of brass under the black, so may hit it with the sander and see what happens - I'll finish the body first though as sandpaper is a rare commodity where my sander is concerned.