If lacquer is what you have there now, I would definitely go with your option #1 - acetone & lacquer thinner. Take it easy, one little area at a time and you'll be fine. I would avoid using sandpaper on a vintage instrument because you will end up needing to sand into the wood in some areas while others will still have the sealer on. Then you might end up with an uneven / wavy surface that will be unnoticeable until you run your last hand of fine polishing and then it you'll see the wavy part and it will drive you crazy, if you're like me.øøøøøøø wrote:Considering sending my old strat to Danocaster for a refin.
Neck and body have been refinned already, repro decal.
I wonder whether pencil markings might be somewhere under there on the body, and on the neck I KNOW they're on the butt end. I want to save that.
To tell the truth, I'm a little scared to go stripping a guitar. I want to avoid doing harm most of all. Dan doesn't have time to strip guitars right now. I'm not sure I want to undertake this right now; I might have to build up some courage.
I'm seeking the advice of restorers here... I can see a few possible ways forward.
1) use acetone or lacquer thinner and very slowly, painstakingly remove the existing lacquer
2) use a gentle stripper like Citristrip and just try to avoid the areas I want to protect
3) something else, add your own.
Any thoughts?
Pretend you're a paleontologist unearthing a super important fossil, take it easy, use small pieces of cloth or even q-tips in certain areas. If T-Rex skeletons can be unearthed with dental picks and small painting brushes, you should be fine to do this is small sections over a couple of days.