Talk me IN TO/OUT OF sanding back/refinishing my PRS

[Johansolo]

its a 1990 Plain Jane Black Alder body w./maple top CE24

its been my no.1 player, and its got a lot of battle scars

 

i have the urge to sand back the top...mainly because im curious if theres any figured maple underneath. if yeah, i would like to stain it, or leave it natural.

if not, ill get it painted over/or swirl.

 

contemplating sanding the back as well or just leaving it

 

 

anyone attempted something like this before and achieved good results/not ruined their guitar. what am i up against?

any hints/tips? im not opposed to put in the sanding work myself and paying a luthier to stain/paint/finish it.

 

this one is my go-to guitar and one of my favourites...she either deserves to be retired or have a makeover

 

talk me into/out of it...

[Elias Graves]

Generally, painted guitars are made from the ugly wood in the pile. Highly unlikely to find anything nice looking under there.

With binding on there, you're looking at some tricky work.

If you don't like the damage, the best bet is for repairs. A good paint guy can make it look new again.

 

EG

[Dogsinotpalc]

I wouldn't mess with it. The aesthetic is just not that important and a refin can have effect on tone (and I wouldn't gamble on a significant improvement). If it's a real problem, just send the guitar my way and I'll accept it for who it is and give it the kind of love an affection that it deserves.

[newbuilder]

I did the back of my SZ! I think it is a great idea!

[jrfan]

I did the back of my SZ! I think it is a great idea!

 

Yeah, that looks great but that wasn't an opaque finish to start with.

You could at least see the grain and what your end result would be.

I'm willing to bet the grain under that black on the PRS doesn't look near as good.

I would leave it alone.

[BoneNut]

Nice work!

 

OP... it's a very doable project and it's possible to get fantastic results but I wouldn't suggest it for a first timer or learning project. You could always just sand part of it to see what's underneath and if it isn't "pretty" wood, you could always do a deep black refinish. Heads up though, black is one of the most difficult colors to get that perfect piano like finish on. Every single, little, tiny, scratch will show up. You'll most definitely be needing micro mesh sandpaper so you can go through the entire range (2000 - 12,000 grit) to get it perfect.

 

Being a bolt on, the project will be easier and should only take you a couple of weeks but it depends on the weather a lot too and winter is definitely not the best time of the year for this type of thing.

 

Best of luck to you if you decide to go through with it.

[Johansolo]

wow that SZ turned out looking good. any tips/pointers? or just go for it starting with roughest grit and working down.

yeah the plan was to sand it back. if its stainable, get a local luthier to do it,

if not, id get him to repaint it (just the top anways)...and id prob pick another colour other than black.

 

im in australia, were in summer atm. hot hot hot.

[realtree71]

Go for it.... its not a high dollar collectors geetar so have some fun. EVH ruined some perfectly good guitars in his day.........oh wait..

[Prages]

 

Go for it.... its not a high dollar collectors geetar so have some fun. EVH ruined some perfectly good guitars in his day.........oh wait..

 

 

Not a high dollar collector guitar, but the pre-1995 PRS guitars ARE more sought after than post 1995 guitars.

 

I'd leave it if it were me, but it is a doable job. Just be careful with it.

 

BTW, to Elias, that's not real binding. It's the faux binding. It's just the unfinised edge of the maple cap. At least, I don't remember PRS ever putting real binding on their CEs.

[newbuilder]

wow that SZ turned out looking good. any tips/pointers? or just go for it starting with roughest grit and working down. yeah the plan was to sand it back. if its stainable, get a local luthier to do it, if not, id get him to repaint it (just the top anways)...and id prob pick another colour other than black. im in australia, were in summer atm. hot hot hot.

 

I used an orbital for the flat areas and smaller electric for other areas and a little drum attachment for my drill and some hand sanding...and...and...and...just take your time and know that you might make some mistakes along the way, but most likely not anything that can't be fixed. If you run in to anything you can PM me and there are some others on this site that would be glad to help too.

 

Post a build thread when you start and people will come up with things to watch for that you might not think of yourself. It can be a lot of fun and I think if you are doing pedal builds already you should be fine.

[Elias Graves]

No binding does make it a little easier to work with.

How much paint experience do you have? I wouldn't hesitate to do it if that's what I wanted, but your nice PRS is not the place to make your mistakes. And in painting, like playing guitar, technique is important.

If you want to do it yourself, I'd recommend practicing on some junk wood until you figure out how to do it. Watch some youtubes on painting and make sure you get paint that's compatable with what's on there unless you strip it to bare wood. I'm not sure what PRS uses, but I assume it's lacquer of some sort. Enamel over the top of that would not work well.

 

EG

[illinismitty]

If I were you, I would hire Marty Bell to do all the work. Considering the labor, materials, and your inexperience- it's not going to be all that much more to have it done right.

 

He will send you photos once it's sanded down, and you can make the call from there. His work will be factory finish quality.

 

http://www.martybellfinishing.com/

[jrfan]

 

If I were you, I would hire Marty Bell to do all the work. Considering the labor, materials, and your inexperience- it's not going to be all that much more to have it done right. He will send you photos once it's sanded down, and you can make the call from there. His work will be factory finish quality. http://www.martybellfinishing.com/

 

Shipping from Australia and back would really add to the refinish cost.

[canterbury]

If it were mine I would just remove the hardware, buff the factory finish out, and put it back together. Put a shine back on it and keep rockin'.

[Belva]

It was mentioned that there could be some value here. If it were a 99 buck guitar barn special I's say go for it. But what about the potential for future collector value? Wouldn't you crap your pants if, say, 20 years from now the value was double if you had left it alone?

[Jarick]

My thoughts:

 

- if you sand off the finish, there might be filler or primer that could screw up a stain/dye job, but a tinted lacquer might work

- if you royally screw it up, you could probably get away with having someone fix it for you (for a pretty good chunk of money)

- I'm guessing since this was your #1 for many years, you're not looking to ever sell it, don't worry about the value

- if you just want to get rid of scratches and keep the same color, you might be better off wetsanding it with some higher grit and spraying a coat of clear over and buffing it to a gloss

 

What I would do:

 

- sand off the top, and depending on the wood, either do some sanding sealer and shoot tinted lacquer or do some primer and shoot a nice solid color finish, then put either a thin coat of clear or satin depending on your tastes

- sand the neck and shoot a thin coat of satin for playability

- likely end up screwing it up badly and having someone fix it for me

 

Budget $100-200 for a DIY job. The rattle cans might only be $20-30 but you'll also probably need lots of sandpaper, gloves, possibly a mask, drop cloths, stripper, and a whole mess of other things. In that case, you might want to talk to a guy about a refinish cost which could end up being a bargain long-term.

[Belva]

Another viable option, and one that may be cheaper, is to get another body. One with nice grain. Do your stain or trans finish. Hang these parts on it. If this geetar does for some reason go up in value you can keep this body in a box and put it back together at a later date.

[jrfan]

Another viable option, and one that may be cheaper, is to get another body. One with nice grain. Do your stain or trans finish. Hang these parts on it. If this geetar does for some reason go up in value you can keep this body in a box and put it back together at a later date.

Never gave that a thought but a hell of an idea.

[Johansolo]

yeah...im undecided on this one. some very good advice posted, so many thanks!

 

i may take it to my luthier when its time for a setup and ask him what hte damage $$$wise is for him to do it all. hes refinished another guitar for me, with great results, but the waiting time was over 12months! (hes more into building than modifying)

[newbuilder]

 

yeah...im undecided on this one. some very good advice posted, so many thanks! i may take it to my luthier when its time for a setup and ask him what hte damage $$$wise is for him to do it all. hes refinished another guitar for me, with great results, but the waiting time was over 12months! (hes more into building than modifying)

 

 

Good luck with what ever route you take:thu:

[Belva]

Another advantage to finding a body and finishing it to your spec. If you have a good tech and a deep pocket you can take it to him for the finish. Once he has it ready you can drop off the guitar and have it back in a week or so. if you go that route I'd take some measurements to see what you have. First measure the scale by getting a tape measure and checking from nut to bridge piece on the bass side. This one may be the PRS 25" scale. then check across the heel of the neck. Standard strat is 2&3/16". If it's something else like 2&1/4" you may have a problem getting, say, as strat body.

[Prages]

Another advantage to finding a body and finishing it to your spec. If you have a good tech and a deep pocket you can take it to him for the finish. Once he has it ready you can drop off the guitar and have it back in a week or so. if you go that route I'd take some measurements to see what you have. First measure the scale by getting a tape measure and checking from nut to bridge piece on the bass side. This one may be the PRS 25" scale. then check across the heel of the neck. Standard strat is 2&3/16". If it's something else like 2&1/4" you may have a problem getting, say, as strat body.

 

There's absolutely no way a Strat body will work with a PRS neck, or a vice versa. The design of the neck joint is completely different.

 

PRS necks are a bolt-in design, where the heel actually extends into the pickup cavity.

 

 

[ExiledCrow]

I'm not a fan of relics, generally, but honestly earned battle-scars and dings are pure mojo in my book.

[ashtray]

You're in luck - that binding IS the top wood. If the binding has flames you may have a flame top. If it's plain wood binding then your top is plain. No guessing required.

 

Btw- a 90 CE in black w binding is on my want list. Would prob sell for 3-400 higher than a post 95 plain CE.

[axegrinder]

Considering its age I say leave it be. I'll go back and look again, but it would have to be really trashed already for you to NOT devalue it by sanding off the original finish. How many guitars was PRS producing in 1990? If you are that concerned with guitar cosmetics, then I'd suggest you take better care of it.