Strat body refinishing over poly?

I have an old rear-routed, single humbucker Strat body copy (I think it's a Chandler) finished in plain gloss white. Don't ask why but I've had a hankering for a green guitar and plan on trying to do a home refinish. I've read up on some other threads and think that I can pull it off...the secret is in the prep work and the "dreaded wet sand." However, instead of taking the exisiting finish down to bare wood, couldn't I just sand through the clear coat and rough up the white to give it some tooth? Seems to me that the white would also serve as a great primer coat to shoot the green over. Thanks for listening!

Those poly finishes are THICK. If you sand it down a little to get something for it to stick to, a) you'll be sanding forever because they're bombproof, and b) you'll end up with an even thicker finish that before.

I would just use a heat gun or a hair dryer to get the finish to bubble up and peel/scrape off. You'll have a clean slate to work with and you'll end up with a guitar that sounds better and looks better in the end.

Got a heat gun. I'll give it a shot, rainy season is coming!

You better hurry then! There's only one thing worse than refinishing a guitar indoors with no ventilation, and that's doing it outside in the rain!

You can also use AirCraft Remover by KleenStrip. It should make the poly bubble off after about an hour of soaking. They sell it at any autoparts store.

Do you guys know who else sells nitro paint for guitars, besides (or cheaper) than ReRanch? I think I'm going to refinish my strat in vintage white. The vintage white on it now looks kind of yellow?