Members badpenguin Posted September 2, 2015 Members Share Posted September 2, 2015 Hey all, couple of weeks I scored that Ibanez RG, refinished in truck bed liner. I had hoped to do a long, informative post about how to refinish a monkey's refinish, complete with pics and tips. Well, the best laid plans of penguins oft go astray. My camera dies, followed by my cell phone, then the car needed work, and the guitar jobs came in droves. (Which is the subject of a NGD coming up soon!) So, let's give you all an basic recap of what needed doing. Ok, the RG I bought was covered in truck liner. After removing it from the neck, had decided to keep it like that, since I kinda dug the "stealth" look of it. But my skin allergies decided otherwise. Whenever I would play it, my skin broke out in an itchy rash. Not fun. So, off to the workshop it went. First thing I have to say to anyone wanting to refinish an Ibanez, or any guitar covered in epoxy as a primer. DO NOT GO INTO TO WOOD!! The epoxy is there as a primer. Most guitars from Ibanez, are made of basswood. A lovely sounding wood, with almost no grain pattern, and softer than pine. The epoxy is there to fill the pores so a finish can be applied, and to allow the guitar to have the occasional bang without denting it. If you cut into the wood, it will absorb the paint like sand on the beach, and look rough. Ok, that's settled, no touching wood. Now buy yourself some GOOD sandpaper. I am not talking about going to the dollar store. No, GOOD stuff, and don't be afraid to use it! You bought it, use it. Clogged sandpaper can damage the surface you are trying to sand smooth. And wear a dust mask, eye protection, gloves, and a long sleeve shirt. I suffer skin allergies, what would that crap do to my lungs or eyes? What will it do to yours? Now, since I had to remove all traces of the truck bed crap, I had to sand down to the epoxy. It can be clear, white, black, or in this case, a sickly olive color. If refinishing just for a color change, you might need to rough up the surface enough to prime and add color. 400 grit should be good enough for that. But in this case, started with 120, and worked up to the 400. (That truck stuff was tough!) Finally got it to smooth, after 5 days of sanding. The came the filling in the dings with bondo. Then sanding the bondo smooth. I then went ahead and used a white primer on it. Why primer, when I had the epoxy still on it? Well, bondo tends to dries a little porous. Even after sanding, I could see it, so 2 coats of primer went on. A quick side note here. If refinishing in a light color, use white primer. A dark color, use the black or grey. Makes sense, ehh? So taking a break from the body, sprayed the neck with two coats of clear. Simple...... except a mismarked can of clear, turned out to forrest green. Lovely, back to sanding the neck..... Then 2 coats, since I like a real thin coat of finish on a neck. First coat, a day of drying, 600 grit sanding, then a second coat, day of drying, 0000 steel wool. Ahhh, very happy. After the neck was done, started with the color on the body. Simple straight forward process here, After every other coat, some light sanding to smooth it out. 6 Coats later, and dry time, Did the same with the clear coat, a matte. 5 coats, then assembly. Overall, I am quite thrilled with the finish, despite the new pickguard not quite fitting. It's not perfect, but it beats itching like a flea infested dog! Hope you like it too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badpenguin Posted September 2, 2015 Author Members Share Posted September 2, 2015 and the final result.... Drum roll please...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 That was a sweet color choice - it works great on that Ibanez. Nicely done - it looks great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted September 2, 2015 Members Share Posted September 2, 2015 Sorry to hear about the skin reaction but that turned out really nice. Your hard work paid off. I don't normally associate it with guitars but yellow happens to be my favorite color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badpenguin Posted September 2, 2015 Author Members Share Posted September 2, 2015 Hey, thanks guys!Seriously, I normally hate yellow guitars, but the Ibanez Desert sun yellow, and the Gibson TV yellow are two of my fav shades of yellow. the skin allergies are something I grew up with, so it doesn't phase me anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knotty Posted September 2, 2015 Members Share Posted September 2, 2015 Nice, looks good.The sanding and refinishing seems to have have slightly softened the sharp edges of the RG. For the better in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members billybilly Posted September 3, 2015 Members Share Posted September 3, 2015 Right on Pengy, nice work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wankdeplank Posted September 3, 2015 Members Share Posted September 3, 2015 Definitely dig the look of the Old Yeller B.P. Also some very salient advice offered up regarding the epoxy primer, grats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ballhawk Posted September 3, 2015 Members Share Posted September 3, 2015 You're yeller pardner!! And cute too (at least your guitar is). Nice work. I agree about TV and honey yellow. About the only shades I like too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted September 3, 2015 Members Share Posted September 3, 2015 You sanded it by hand? Wow. You should know "Muddy Waters Invented Electricity" (and thank god for that) I'd have blisters in no time trying to sand a guitar that way. I've done it before back before I started collecting tools. I give you credit for doing it by hand. its slow work and not very easy to keep consistent. I usually use a couple of different sanders, a Big an Small mouse shaped Black and Decker gets a good 95% on most guitars I've refinished. I occasionally use a sanding disk on a hand drill too. Takes maybe 1/2 hour to strip a guitar down baby but smooth. Sanders aren't very expensive either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badpenguin Posted September 3, 2015 Author Members Share Posted September 3, 2015 No, WRG, they aren't, but my old teacher said it perfectly. "If it isn't done by hand, it isn't done in my shop!" I tend to live by that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gardo Posted September 4, 2015 Members Share Posted September 4, 2015 Hey all' date=' couple of weeks I scored that Ibanez RG, refinished in truck bed liner. I had hoped to do a long, informative post about how to refinish a monkey's refinish, complete with pics and tips. Well, the best laid plans of penguins oft go astray. My camera dies, followed by my cell phone, then the car needed work, and the guitar jobs came in droves. (Which is the subject of a NGD coming up soon!) So, let's give you all an basic recap of what needed doing.[/quote'] I know what you mean about everything happening at once. I haven't been checking in much lately due to my own chaos. That's an impressive job on the re-refininish. .Like finding a hidden tresure..Alot of work went into it but you know what you have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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