Refinishing question..

Bob Carlucci · Post by **Bob Carlucci** » 16 Dec 2007 6:17 pm

Not about a steel, but certainly this is the best place to find out what I need to know!... I want to take the thick heavy "plasticky" finish off a Jay Turser chinese 335 knock off I own.. I put top of the line PRS McCarty pickups in this guitar and it has a nice sweet chimey sound with plenty of fat bluesy crunch when pushed a bit.. I feel the guitar would really come alive in my hands and be much more responsive and resonant with the thick red finish off.. IMHO, it is strangling the wood body resonance..
I wonder how I can strip all the finish off down to natural without destroying the binding,,, The binding will surely get messed up during the process I'm certain.. anyone know a good way to minimize the damage or clean it up nicely after the finish is off??... bob

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 16 Dec 2007 6:55 pm

I don't have an answer for you, but I wonder what the wood, under that thick finish, looks like. I hope it's pretty enough to put a natural finish on. Of course, if you're just wanting to improve the tone and don't care what it looks like, that's another matter!

William Fraser · Post by **William Fraser** » 17 Dec 2007 4:52 am

Hey Bob,when I need to remove the finish,I scrape it off,this is tedious & doesn't work too well with set necks, but you won't melt the binding,or glues,I only refin when there is not a good original finish involved,& generally painted guitars of recent vintage have thicker finishes & the wood underneath is not always pretty.Bill

Rick Johnson · Post by **Rick Johnson** » 17 Dec 2007 5:29 am

Bob
I've striped a couple of guitars with
binding on them. I used a gel striper
called Stripeze. It worked good. I think
two coats will get it off with no sanding
required. Stay away from the binding until
the last coat. Start on the back side and
experiment with the stripper on the binding. Brush
on a small area and wait about 30 seconds
and wipe it off, check to see if it
softened the binding any. If it did soften
the binding but didn't remove the finish
then quit. If it never softened the binding
and didn't remove the finish, try one minute
and check the binding. Keep increasing the
set time with the stripper and watch
the binding. You probably will have
to scrap the finish off the binding.
Use a flat cabinet scraper.
Try and stay away from sanding.
The two guitars I did had a lacquer sealer
on them. Once you sand through the sealer
you are comitted.
One guitar I striped with binding came pretty
clean, the other one I had to scrap
the finish off the binding.
To clean up the residue left behind
of the stripper I used Naptha.
Use rubber gloves and lots of paper towels
and use in a well ventilated area.

Good Luck

Rick

www.rickjohnsoncabs.com

Brian Herder · Post by **Brian Herder** » 17 Dec 2007 6:21 am

Rick, does that stripper work on poly finishes? I don't remember which I've used, but I have tried several and never had much luck with strippers and poly finishes. I've gotten the finish off of two polyuurethane "coated" instruments. One was a Japanese Stratocaster about ten years ago. I used a couple of different strippers on that one, and they weren't all that effective. Pretty much, you could put it on for a while and still be able to buff the finish right back to new looking. I can't even remember how I got it off that one, but I know it involved sandpaper and cabinet scrapers. The next was a Kentucky 675 mandolin. I actually used a 1" chisel and duct tape for this one. The finish would pop of in sheets... get the chisel under the finish and it would explode off the thing! (Wear goggles) I used duct tape too.. after some loosening of the edges, I could put duct tape on, and pull large pieces of finish off. The binding had to be done with a cabinet scraper. Interestingly, the "inlay" on the headstock was glued to the face, then the finish was just "pooled" around it giving the appearance of inlay and making the headstock and binding seem thicker. Anyway, I would really consider if you want to get into the job. It's a nightmare and nothing like refinishing a lacquer instrument. Once you figure in the cost of the PRS PUs, the guitar and your TIME, you've paid for a real 335. Of course, this is all besides the point if the Stripeze Rick mentioned will work on polyurethane.

Stephen Gambrell · Post by **Stephen Gambrell** » 17 Dec 2007 6:57 am

NOTHING works on polyurethane, except elbow grease, and maybe a side grinder. I traded a friend a Tele several years ago, and he scraped the finish off with a screwdriver. Durable, at least...

Rick Johnson · Post by **Rick Johnson** » 17 Dec 2007 10:11 am

Brian
Both the guitars were lacquered. One
was a '60's EB-2 Bass and the other
was a newer Jap Strat. I'm sure this
guitar had a nitrocellouse lacquer
on it. The Strat had some kinda clear
water white lacquer on it.

I have stripped my share of furniture
pieces in the past and never had an issue with
poly finishes. Is there a new breed of
poly that can't be stripped?

Rick

www.rickjohnsoncabs.com

Mark Ardito · Post by **Mark Ardito** » 17 Dec 2007 11:43 am

I've stripped a lot of pieces of furniture that were Polyurethane. There was nothing hard about the poly finish and removing it. I'm curious, what did you use?

Cheers!
Mark A.

Bill Hatcher · Post by **Bill Hatcher** » 17 Dec 2007 12:02 pm

The wood that is used in these Turser guitars is not going to sound that much better with the poly finish stripped off. I would not even waste my time doing it. The thick finish may be the reason it sounds like it does now.

Brian Herder · Post by **Brian Herder** » 17 Dec 2007 1:46 pm

I'm not sure what strippers I had. One was an orange colored citrus gel stripper, and the others were the usual clear gels that you brush on and leave for about thirty minutes. I've yet to see a paint stripper that will remove the polyurethane that is used on instruments. I'd love to know of one.

Bob Carlucci · Post by **Bob Carlucci** » 17 Dec 2007 3:23 pm

I tend to disagree Bill.. Gibson and all the other semis made over the last 4 decades are all plywood, not some magically resonant ""tone wood"... Most are not that great sounding unplugged.

I have played enough guitars over the years to have seen what a heavy finish can do to resonance... Pickguards too.. Even a solidbody comes alive when the plastic is taken off.. The thin nitrocell finishes of yesteryear are certainly a factor in the resonance of vintage guitars... I am firmly convinced thick finishes kill the resonance of hollow, semi hollow and acoustic guitars.. bob

Alan Brookes · Post by **Alan Brookes** » 17 Dec 2007 9:13 pm

It's an irony known to luthiers that acoustic instruments often sound dramatically better with no finishing at all. It's known as playing "in the white." Indeed, lute tops are traditionally not finished, though some have egg white rubbed in.
Unfortunately, an acoustic guitar with no finish would get dirty very quickly, absorb impurities from the atmosphere, such as sulphur or cigarette smoke, and wouldn't look very professional.

I suspect the same thing of solid electric instruments.

By the way, it's generally not known that the finish on bowed instruments is INTENDED to muffle the sound.