Post heat-gun paint prep.

[TheOndrakGuy]

I currently have a project on the go (Cabronita Bass VI) and I'm all set to strip the body of what feels like inch-thick black poly.

I've prepped and painted bodies from raw wood before now, but never a strip and refinish. For those who are a little more experienced, will I have to reapply a coat of sanding sealer before my new colour?

[Horsefeather]

Step 1) Paint over inch thick poly

Done


I've gone the heat gun route and unless you specifically want to show off the wood underneath, my recommendation is that it isn't worth removing it just to paint another color over it. The wood scorches, the glue joints can separate, you can gouge the wood while removing the last bits if you're not careful. Just a lot of hassle and pitfalls to achieve a surface that then needs to be brought back to as smooth and level as the poly already is.

[jvin248]

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+1 Stripping poly is a PITA.
People don't take any advice and they do it once and then their advice to others is don't do it.

Scuff sand the existing finish with 320 then spray over top.

"Inch thick poly" is a popular description but usually by those who think Nitro will let the magical tone woods breathe and all that. A belly pressed against the guitar body does more dampening than any amount of finish.

Depending on the color you have, perfect if the guitar is black right now, is remove the finish from just the front surface then stain and wipe on or spray on poly clear coat.

Make sure your putty knife has safety corners and edges -- dull and polish them up so no gouging -- then practice with it on a scrap board.

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[TheOndrakGuy]

Cheers for the replies - and duly noted.

I was ideally trying to go for a Novo Guitars style finish with some medium wear (hence going down to wood) - less of a concern about tone and resonance (I subscribe to Jonny Greenwood's "it's electronics on a plank" philosophy) and more purely aesthetics. I think given what I'm used to, I like the idea of having a blank slate to work with - that and I'm worried about the light metallic green I've picked out covering well.

Also, this body weighs a ton and I'm sure it's mostly psychological, but I'm associating a lot of that with the finish and its perceived thickness.

[Futuron]

If you're certain about stripping it, then I'd go ahead and do whatever you'd do with raw wood.

However, if it's mainly concern about the new metallic colour working nicely over black (and not needing a lot of coats of expensive paint), then instead of stripping, I would
1) light scuff sand
2) plastic primer
3) undercoat of white and/or light green
4) light metallic green
5) clear etc

[andy_tchp]

Also, this body weighs a ton and I'm sure it's mostly psychological, but I'm associating a lot of that with the finish and its perceived thickness.

Yeah, nah. Even with all finish stripped off (and the, er... 'incidental' wood removal due to gouging the body with a scraper) it'll still weigh a tonne.

Buy (or commission) a new body and sell the old one on Reverb.

+1 Stripping poly is a PITA.
People don't take any advice and they do it once and then their advice to others is don't do it.

Absolutely this, so true.

[NICQ]

+1 Stripping poly is a PITA.
People don't take any advice and they do it once and then their advice to others is don't do it.

Scuff sand the existing finish with 320 then spray over top.

^^ this

I stripped a Squier Tele body and it was not worth it. Maybe the experience itself because now I'm cured and will never do that again. The wood under the poly was ugly of course - 5 pieces that didn't grain match at all.. looked like 3 different woods. I also produced some dents that had to be filled and looked bad, burnt some spots that had to be sanded a lot etc etc.. looking back it was a stupid idea. I read about it on forums and wanted to try it but I would not recommend it at all.

If you want to have a translucent stain finish you can do it but for a solid colour just scuff up the existing coat and paint over it. The finish weights nothing at all and if it's poly you can perfectly paint over it.