how to strip poly?

Go to an auto parts store and buy the "aircraft" remover or some name like that. It will take a couple of applications to get it all off. Follow the directions on the can. An alternative is to sand it off with a heavy grit paper (60-80 at first and then 100-120) and a power sander (NOT a belt sander-- too aggressive), but you will leave some hideous scratches to fill when you finally get all the paint off. my $.02!!

 

If you want a wood finish (sunburst or stain etc) then strip and sand away.... If you just want a different color, you may be better of just roughing up the body and simply spraying over it. Some of those modern finishes are epoxy based and truly bullet-proof. I tried stripping one in a commercial stripping tank (at a furniture shop) and the guy was blown away. It came out like it was dipped in water.

 

another method is wagner heat gun, and metal scraper.

I did it in my days at Ibanez. goodbye five alarm red and hello natural oil finish

be sure to wear goggles and a mask. basic idea is lightly heat up an area of the poly and scrape as you go. try not to get too close and burn the body, you're just heating up the paint to soften it up. once you get the hang of it, the layers come off easily.

if you screw up and burn the wood, no problem. you can sand out your mistakes

 

That is what I was going to say but nobody would believe me.

You aren't going to hear any difference your wasting your time if thats is what you hope.

 

You all beat me to making the same post John. I doubt he'll gain anything by changing the finish to nitro either.

 

I'd try getting her good and drunk first

 

I've refinished and sprayed my share of guitars, both solid and hollow body, new builds and refinishes. Although I don't manufacture nor refinish instruments for a career: In my personal experience and IMHO, I've never heard the change in finish make a significant (if any) impact on the tone of a solid body Fender style guitat.

If you don't believe me ask John Suhr....lol

 

TO be honest, I have not personally sanded a guitar body yet. However, I always imagined that sanding something like a fender strat, Ibanez RG, and other common poly'ed guitars isn't a big deal.

THe majority of the guitar should sand fairly easily. In fact, a friend of mine sanded a Ibanez (Desert Yellow) to bare wood mainly with a detail sander. The majority of the body is close to flat and sands easily.However, I believe that with any guitars, contours and curves are always a hassle.

Sanding too hard on contours and curves will obviously trash them.So you'd have to be veyr careful in those areas and be prepared to do some hand sanding.

I'm going to sand down a beater Ibanez that I have this summer just for the hell of it and then refinish it.I anticipate that it will be easy to sand but certainly wont sound any better if and when I do it :AOK

 

My father recently stripped and refinished a strat of mine in nitro. He used a semi-paste spripping product by Savogran, I believe. When I asked him what he used he went on and on about how dangerous and toxic this stuff is. Apparently you should only use it outdoors in a large area with breathing gear and "chemical proof" (not rubber) gloves. Sounds scary, I dunno if I'd go that route, but thought the info might be of interest. He also pointed out that it may well not work on some poly finishes which are all but permanent.

And even though you don't care, I'm gonna say this anyway: the guitar sounds absolutely not one bit different with the nitro finish (looks nicer, though).

Good luck, please be safe whatever you do!

 

The term Poly is vague isn't it? Polyester resin or Polyurethane? Resin does not like to be stripped. I am not sure if aircraft stripper works on it, I know the Jasco gel stripper does not.

If you want to strip it try Jasco gel stripper available at the hardware store. If that doesn't touch it, get out the grinder!


Lacquer is a great finish if you know how to do it, have the right materials, and are in the right environment. Unfortunatly that weeds out 95% of the guys. If you don't meet the above criteria, I imagine you would get what John mentioned.