Stripping paint

[spauldingrules]

I have a 1996 MIM tele I want to strip and repaint.  How would one strip the paint?  Or can I paint over it?

 

[groovydude]

If you're going to do a solid color, I wouldn't bother stripping the old finish.  If it was my guitar, I'd simply repair any dings, rough up & level the finish with 320 grit sandpaper, and start painting.  Leaving the old finish in place will eliminate the need to do grain filling and sealing to give a level surface.

Someone correct me if they know better, but I believe Fender uses polyester on their Mexican products, so you won't have any compatibility issues with either nitro or poly finishes.

 

[instagator]

Hey Spaulding..Here's a Mex jazz bass I stripped using a heat gun.There's a thread or two about heat gun stripping over at the ReRanch forum.Here's a couple of pics.Pretty easy really....Cheers

You can see where I got a little hot at the start...after that it was smooth sailing.

The whole thing took about 40 min.Make sure that you use goggles and a metal scraper...Sure beats chemicals

 

[spauldingrules]

Wow!  What kind of heat gun does one need?  I'm assuming a blow drier ain't enough.

 

[-CB-]

1 - jack dancin Allah!  NOW THATS A RELIC finish~~

2 - whats with those pick guard holes man?

 

[instagator]

Wow!  What kind of heat gun does one need?  I'm assuming a blow drier ain't enough.

Hey Spaulding..The heat gun that I have is a 1440- watt unit with two speeds.Home Depot or any hardware store should carry them.They are not that expensive.Harbor freight..if you want to go online.

As far as the pickguard holes....well lets just say that all PG's are not made the same.Those holes were filled before the re paint.

Cheers

 

[nathan a]

Wow! I'm never using paint stripper on a nasty body ever again.

 

[-CB-]

Works on poly and epoxy.  Chems work better on lacquer I've heard... never tried heat on lacquer (fears of up in smoke!).

 

[rahimiiii]

Lacquer is easy, lacquer thinner or acetone works... at least those aren't as bad as say methylene chloride...

Waterbased paint is a pain, doesn't sand too well (unlike Poly) and doesn't strip too well with lacquer thinner either...

 

[instagator]

Hey Spaulding...here's what that stripped Mexican body  looks like after the finishing.The color is ReRanch Crown Royal Purple.Hope you like it.

Next month I'll be posting an all Warmoth PJ in Burgundy Mist Metalic,it's in the curing stage right now.


Cheers to all  ccasion14:

 

[guitlouie]

I'm guessing you didn't empty that bottle while you were doing that finish!  Nice.

 

[bpmorton777]

hey

great paint job dude! :rock-on:

What is that we are looking at on the stripped pics, Veneer? What kind of wood are they using on that body?

Brian

 

[instagator]

Hey Brian...Yep that was vereer on the front and back,I have no ided what the core wood is...sounds great though.

That Crown was emptied by a qualified whisky stunt man,It was needed to make sure that all of the colors matched...no worries :cool01:

Cheers

 

[rahimiiii]

You can either use a random orbital sander on the top and back and hand on the sides (drum sander on a drill press works too) or heat gun. You can also scuff the existing finish assuming it's not badly damaged and paint right over that but if you want the tonal benefit of nitro then you have to strip.