an earlier effort.

[rocket]

IMG_0448 (Small).JPG (16.6 KiB) Viewed 7090 times

One of my earlier efforts, one that i'm quite proud of but not quite as much as i was when i first completed it, plays well sounds great, has what one might say is that vintage jazz box sound, it has actually bought me some work.
Now that i'm a little more experienced in this caper i look at this instrument now and say,
from a distance you look great but up close !! eeesh that finish lets you down, i think i'll give you a refurb....
Now never having done a refinish on a nitro finished instrument before,, can i ask the forum, and in particular those of you who are more experienced in working on finished instruments what my options are?
The instrument is Blackwood and Sitka, the back and sides have no grain fill whatsoever, i was under the impression that rubbing back between coats would give me a flat surface, how wrong was i!, this git has pores the size of craters that need filling, i'm just wondering what my options are, any advice will be gratefully received ,

[graham mcdonald]

It is no fun. Your options are abrasion (ie sandpaper/scrapers), paint stripper or heat. Sanding/scraping it off is tedious, but it can be done. Paint stripper is quick if messy, but the decent sort of paint stripper with Methyl Ethyl Ketone is not a pleasant chemical (do it outside) and could well attack the plastic binding. Heat can work, but with the danger of damaging glue joints. I would use paint stripper, but keep it away from the plastic bits, then rinse it off really well and scrap/sand the rest. You are probably going to loose a few thou in thickness from the sanding, and remember you are effectively starting the whole sanding process again. The blackwood will need grain-filling. You choice of a water based filler from the paint shop or an epoxy fill and then staining/spraying again....

If anyone has better ideas I would love to hear them

cheers

[Kim]

Have never tied this but I wonder how it would go if you were to flat back the nitro a tad and then apply epoxy grain filler with a rubber squeegee? You would need to test first and the epoxy would need to be quite thin of course, but perhaps it would then allow you to get things level 'and' still clear so you can then blow on another couple of coats of lacquer and buff out..

Cheers

Kim

[Nick]

I've stripped back more than a few electrics when customers wanted a different colour or a burst applied after they decided they didn't like their white or black strat anymore. As Graham suggested, standard paint stripper can be used but it will have a go at plastic binding and can get awefully messy as well as smelly! My favoured approach is to sand it back. As Graham pointed out it can be tedious work (not so bad on a strat as you have flat faces & about 3mm of polyester finish that the random orbit makes short work of!) but well worth the effort in my opinion, especially on an archie where you have contours galore. Make sure you keep the nozzle of a vacuum cleaner near by as the dust from the old finish goes everywhere & up your nose & in your lungs is not one of the places you want it!
Once it's 'clean' then just proceed with the normal pore fill, finishing schedule.

[Kim]

Now never having done a refinish on a nitro finished instrument before,, can i ask the forum, and in particular those of you who are more experienced in working on finished instruments what my options are?

Probably wrong but I thought the question was more about salvaging the current finish e.g. filling the pores not previously filled by the original attempt? Rod likes the look from a distance... 'but'...Well I like the look also, it would be a shame to strip off that colour .

Cheers

Kim

[rocket]

Well yes Kim, my original thought was to preserve the look of the git but improve the finish, [if that is an option] is it risky to fill on top of nitro? even if it's been rubbed back, the pores, [which is where i really want the filler] will still have a gloss nitro surface.
Rod.

[charangohabsburg]

Me in your place would keep on looking at that guitar from a distance and enjoy. While playing I usually don't look at the guitar at all (unless at the fretboard). I really would not do anything unless I it should get sold. Why not build another for doing a smoother finish?
BTW, this is a wonderful sunburst, at least for my taste.

[Kim]

BTW, this is a wonderful sunburst, at least for my taste.

Me too....you can 'always' strip it and lose the nice burst even if you try epoxy and make a mess of it. Test a bit of CA also..If it does not milk, then you could try filling with that also and then flatting back. I would investigate epoxy first though, if you can get it on thin, maybe cut with metho, then cut back until you have a flat surface, a few top coats of nitro over the top 'should' burn in just nice. Leave for a few weeks and buff...Like I said Rod, I have not done this to 'know' but it is what I would be investigating 'before' you start the heavy grind.

Good luck with it mate.

Kim

[Nick]

Sorry Rod I miss read your original inquiry As Kim has said, if you want to have a go at a bit of epoxy filling over the nitro then it's worth a go and if it doesn't work then nothing lost (apart from a bit of your time). Personally if it was me it would all be coming off & I'd start again (I actually have my tobacco burst archie down for a re-do, I was never happy with the way my first foray into nitro went ) but that's just me being anal .