Members Seano Porno Posted March 18, 2010 Members Share Posted March 18, 2010 OK, this is my first attempt at doing anything like this so bear with me...some of this is going to sound so Noobish it'll hurt you! Right, the story goes: Last September time an old work collegue of mine was selling a 2004 USA Tele cheap. Cheap on account of it's condition. He'd managed to drop it onto tarmac and take a chunk out of the body in the place where you'd normally get a forearm contour on a strat etc. HE decided to try and take the gouge out by givint the guitar a slight contour in that spot...it didn't really work because the gash is quite deep but anyway. So he sanded it down in that spot..and kept going! He took all (bar under the bridge, pickgaurd and control plate) of the original black paint from the top and most of the sides..leaving the heel and a patch around the jack input and the entire back black. It looks like a total hack relic job, guess he just gave up? I actually quite like it to be honest. Anyway I'm not quite sure HOW he took the paint off but I'm guessing he peeled the colour layer off, as the guitar still has a thick clearcoat on it, albeit full of gouges and the like where a scraper or something' dug under the paint to lift it... Anyway..this clearcoat is a matt kinda finish to it, so my plan was to see if I could maybe sand it a bit smoother and buff it up to a gloss...I've no idea if that was possible but I bought some wet/dry paper of various grits with the intention of trying it out. So I strip the guitar and remove the neck and a big flake of paint and clearcoat came off from around the heel..and the more I picked at it the more came off in chunks.So I've now attacked it with a swiss army knife (all I had to hand really) and slowly but surely...I'm managing to flake off that clearcoat and leaving the bare wood. I've made little marks here and there while doing it, but a quick going over those spots with sandpaper has sorted that out. I've got a long way to go as it's quite a slow process but it's getting there. My plan is, to strip the body entirely now and give it a few coats of Tru Oil or similar and buff that to a gloss. Good idea or will that not work? I realise that a swiss army knife is probably not the best tool for the job here, but I'm reluctant to go at it with sandpaper when A) I'll probably go too far and mess up big style, and B) it just seems to be coming off in chunks and leaving the body underneath in relitivly unalterd state.... Should I get a scraper on it? if so what kind and how do I avoid putting deep chisle like gashes in the body, like those my mate left in that clearcoat layer? I'll be honest..I've got limited experience of this and my limited experience runs to ruining wood with scrapers! haha Also, how do I get the paint out of the cavities? or can't this be done? I was surprised to se NO attempt at shielding in there at all, dispite it having single coils Sheilding it properly so I can tour with it (and my Baja tele) was on the list of things to do anyway but... Anyway..I'll put some pics up later on! Any comments greatfully recieved! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elias Graves Posted March 18, 2010 Members Share Posted March 18, 2010 Must have pics. The swiss army knife probably isn't the best approach, but you work with what you have, right?Sand it by hand. You won't do too much damage. The oil finishes are nice and not that hard to do. Go for it! EG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Seano Porno Posted March 18, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 18, 2010 Well yeah, I didn't think I'd be doing it this way anyway, just when bits started to flake off I whipped out the blade and went with it.. I probably COULD do it all with the Swiss Army Knife yeah..but it'd take a while...Anyhow..pics of it as it started out:And having a rest after 4 hours of Br00tz in rehearsal: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elias Graves Posted March 18, 2010 Members Share Posted March 18, 2010 I like the look. Oil it up and go to town. EG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members hrcnsfan Posted March 18, 2010 Members Share Posted March 18, 2010 From your story I expected it to look worse. I like it a lot and wouldn't worry at all about the paint in the cavities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted March 18, 2010 Members Share Posted March 18, 2010 I'd probably just sand that black off the back and tru oil it. Use one of those handheld orbital sanders. Then just play the thing and consider refinishing it in the future some time. It doesn't look that bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Seano Porno Posted March 18, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 18, 2010 Ah it's not horrific by any stretch...I just fancy a bit of a glossy shine to it that's all. That clearcoat on the top and sides is matt.I was going to attempt to sand some of the marks down and buff that coat out, but the clear is coming off in chunks, so if I can "Peel" the guitar then I'm gonna be left with a nice raw wood to oil up to a shine....or that's the plan anyway! I'll get some pics of the "peeling" so far up later if I've got time.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Angry Tele Posted March 18, 2010 Members Share Posted March 18, 2010 I thought about going natural on mine. Heres a pic of just sanding sealer:But I went with blonde: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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