Strat finish removal

[Minning Around]

My 50th anniversary American Deluxe Strat fell off a chair and lost a big chip near the jack plate. It also has a big chip missing where the neck attaches to the body - on the end grain of the body. That one's on Fender. The finish was loose and I just pulled it off. Wow. Anyway, I want to remove all of the stock finish. I'm guessing it's polyurethane but I don't know for sure. It's damn thick though. That I do know.

 

Obviously, sanding would work but I don't have all week. Apparently there are chemical strippers that will work on poly.

Question is: Is this polyurethane?

 

Any other tips anyone cares to share?

[bieke]

dissasemble your strat and put a heat gun on the finish and scrape it off

that's what I did on my jazzmaster a couple of weeks ago and only took half an hour

careful not to keep the heat gun on the same spot too long or the finish will meltdown and leave burn stains on the wood

but think first, what do you want to do, color refinish or keep natural finish ?

After stripping the body, you need to sand the body (several steps 120, 240, 360, 600, 1200 grit sandpaper)

and wipe it clean with naphta

and your body is ready to refinish

start with a grain filler

and depending on the type of finish you desire, it will take several weeks to refinish that body

 

and lots of beers

I followed this tutorial

 

 

[bieke]

also Reranch has good tutorial and you can order all you need there

 

 

[bieke]

yeah sorry, first link does not work for some reason, copy paste address below

 

http://jpbturbo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Nitro-New-reader-spreads.pdf

 

 

 

[bieke]

aarrghhh link above works, but I can't edit posts

 

[Minning Around]

Thanks. But being a furniture builder, with the exception of wood bending, putting heat to wood is never a good idea. I'll use that as a last resort.

 

Anyone know if my factory finish is polyurethane?

[WRGKMC]

Poly finishes on a fender especially are a bastard. You have to use a heat gun to remove the finish. Paint remover wont do a thing for it.

 

The biggest problem you're going to have is taking it all the way down to the wood. Fender uses some kind of basecoat that sinks deep into the wood pores. If you attempt to remove all the base coat you can wind up with problems like the neck overhanging the neck pocket by a few millimeters. This is because Fender takes the thickness of the poly into account when they cut the body. The final finish is very thick and places like the neck pocket would be wider then the neck otherwise.

 

I had this issue when I removed the finish from a poly strat. I should have just left the darn thing alone and just patched the dings.

 

If you haven't refinished a guitar before, don't take the job lightly. Its a ball buster job and the chances of getting a good finish on the first attempt is close to zero. You really need to do 5~10 refinishes to start getting the hang of it and learn how to work with the chemicals. Stripping and prepping is the worst part. Getting the body baby assed smooth and then applying shellac is the second tough part. If those aren't done right and you rush the job, nothing will come up right. You don't hide flaws with paint you simply make them more noticeable.

 

After the paint is on you have to apply the clear coat which is tough too. Then you have to buff the finish with polishing compounds to get a factory gloss. I suggest if you're going all the way down to switch to Lacquer. You have to use a shellac base coat though and use Lacquer paint and Clear coat, preferably from the same manufacturer so you don't have problems with rejection, cracking peeling etc.

 

One item to keep in mind. If you start with one chemical stick with it. Do not start with lacquer and change you mind and go with a poly over it. It will not bond properly. Lacquer is a resin that takes years to fully cure so it has to breathe.

 

You have 4 basic types of finishes. Oil (petroleum or other), Lacquer/shellac and some varnishes (alcohol based) Poly (plastic) and Acrylics (usually water based)

 

Lacquer is unique. each new coat melts into the old to make one thick coat. This makes for seamless repairs when needed, especially in cases like the damage to your current guitar.

 

All the others go on in layers like an onion. The problem with these is you cant repair them without the repair showing. You can usually get close and not have it show unless you look closely, but never transparent.

 

Cost wise, expect to spend at least $100 in supplies to refinish, if you make no mistakes which is highly unlikely. Most beginners will refinish a body 2 or three times before they give up, stick it on EBay and try to get $10 for a botched refinish job.

 

My best advice is, either use the guitar as is, or sell it and take the money you would have spent on refinishing and just buy another in good shape. You'll be a whole lot happier having something with a factory finish. The only other option is to find an auto body guy who is willing to spray paint and clear coat it for you. Again, spray painting properly requires allot of skill. If you're thinking you can just buy a couple of rattle cans and knock it out in an afternoon you're going to fail. If you're going to do it for an education, go for it. Just realize that any resale value that instrument had even with the dings will be gone. The boneyard on EBay is where most wind up.

[onelife]

The finish on the American Deluxe series is polyurethane - even on the Anniversary models.

 

I had a luthier friend on the east coast who repaired the poly finish on an early 80's sunburst strat for me and the only way I could ever see where he did the work was by shining a black light on it.

 

I would suggest you get yours repaired by someone who knows how to do it rather than stripping the guitar.

 

 

That is a really nice looking guitar. If it were mine, I would think it worthwhile to pay a professional for the repair.

[Minning Around]

Love that burst. Mine's just amber. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. But I have experience with finishing. And I'm 55 so I've no interest in waiting until a 50th anniversary is worth significantly more. Even if I did wait it would never make me rich. It's not like this is a Stradivarius or anything.

 

Thanks for the great info, guys. I hope this is helpful for someone else too.

[onelife]

How do you like the pickups? Are they the SCNs?

 

Mine has SCNs and I was just reading that removing the S1 switch improves the sound of them considerably. I may try that just to check the difference but I like the sound of the guitar as it is now.

[Phil O'Keefe]

I've got SCN's in a Tele, and I really like them a lot. Good tone, but no noise.

 

Yes, that Strat is poly. Heat gun, or Aircraft Remover are the two most popular means of stripping a polyurethane finish.

 

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Rust-Oleum-Automotive-1-gal-Aircraft-Remover-2-Pack-255447/204643899

 

Since you're used to woodworking, a refinish job probably isn't going to be too difficult for you. I am completely without talent in that regard and managed to do three refinishes using ReRanch nitrocellulose lacquer (following the basic tutorials on their site) and had no problem getting finishes I am pretty darned proud of. It takes time (mainly for the nitro lacquer to harden) and effort (lots of wet sanding and polishing), but it's nothing too difficult.

[Minning Around]

Sorry, I've been away for a while.

SCN pickups were a disappointment for me. I switched to Kinman stacked coil humbuckers. They still sound substantially like a single coil and they are silent. IMO, sound is much superior to the SCN's.