How do you remove a factory polyurethane finish?

[jtr654]

You'ld probably be better off buying a White guitar and just sell this one.

[GattonFan]

Sarah - You can scuff the poly and shoot primer and then repaint - right over the poly, if you want to leave it on. The reason most remove the poly is that they want the "thin skin" of nitro, without all the thickness of poly. I (and many others) have shot over the poly coat successfully with lacquer. It makes a smooth base for painting, no grain filling, no sand and sealer - just scuff sand, prime, and paint.
Dennis

[Sarah93003]

Sarah - You can scuff the poly and shoot primer and then repaint - right over the poly, if you want to leave it on. The reason most remove the poly is that they want the "thin skin" of nitro, without all the thickness of poly. I (and many others) have shot over the poly coat successfully with lacquer. It makes a smooth base for painting, no grain filling, no sand and sealer - just scuff sand, prime, and paint.
Dennis

Thank you. I'm beginning to think that might be the best approach. I don't care what the thickness is really unless it somehow dulls the tone.

[GattonFan]

And, coming the full circle, that is why most prefer the poly removed - the thin skin allows the wood to resonate more freely. But if your tone is already satisfactory with the poly on, you're not going to add much by priming and repainting with lacquer.

Dennis

[oipunkguy]

I totally agree with dennis, you could do that as well. Sorry if I came across discouraging, i was just trying to relay things to look out for before you started. removing poly isn't an impossible task by any means, it's just a pain in the *** one

if this gretsch is a hollow or semi-hollow body, any finishing will effect the tone, even using thin nitro. it's not really noticable on a solid body, but I can really tell when I've worked on acoustics. here's a neat trick you can try that a local luthier showed me. after you get done finishing the guitar and buffing it out, sit the guitar on a stand, and put the loudest speaker you can find and place it right in front of the guitar. then blast music into the guitar for several hours (neighbor permitting ) when i first heard of this, my first reaction is probably what you are saying right now, "bull!" but i tried it, and it really does work. i find classical music works the best, but then again, i never tried playing my ventures CD's either

[Sarah93003]

That's pretty interesting. What does it do?

[JimPage]

olpunkguy wrote:
>>sit the guitar on a stand, and put the loudest speaker you can find
>>and place it right in front of the guitar . . .

Sarah93003 erote:
>>That's pretty interesting. What does it do? . . .

Aaron, I came up with a process several years ago that enlarges on that speaker-vibrating process. Sarah, the idea is to simulate years of playing by vibrating the guitar a lot in a short time.

So I found a hand-held back vibrator at Sears-- a Wahl unit that looks like a drill but with a rubber knob where the bit would be-- and used that to vibrate the guitar. I'd put a towel under the vibrator, so the finish would not be marred. I'd vibrate the guitar for half an hour on the top and half an hour on the back, paying particular attention to the bridge area (on an acoustic guitar)

There was a lot of discussion over on the RMMGA acoustic guitar forum on this little process and all seemed to agree that it really opened up a guitar in a positive way.

--Jim

[Sarah93003]

Wow! I never would have guessed that. Pretty cool!

[TimR]

I don't have a lot of experience refinishing guitars, although I have done a few. However, I used to have a business restoring old British sports cars, and I have painted a lot of cars. Sometimes cars are painted with finishes that are just too much work to strip. When I have used strippers, I have gone to marine supply places, as the really good strippers cannot be sold to the public (especially in Ca., due to epa voc requirements) But marine supply places can sell them. If a finish is relatively intact, however, without a lot of cracking and mottling, etc., oftentimes I would just sand it thoroughly to dull the gloss and spray a good heavy coat of high build primer sealer (an acrylic or nitro). automotive paint shops can tell you which is best. After it is thoroughly primed and all imperfections removed, just paint it whatever color you wish, with whatever paint you wish. I would probably never try a heat gun or stripper on a hollow body guitar, especially one with binding. Automotive paint stores also carry really narrow masking tape that could fit perfectly over the binding.

[Sarah93003]

Thanks everyone. Your knowledge, tips, and advice have been very educational and very helpful!