# Stripping guitar paint?



## Nickplaysguitar (Feb 8, 2008)

How should i go about stripping my guitar? I have an SA160, and I am most likely going to paint it a sparkle blue or have a blue stain. I'm skeptical of taking off the neck, would there be any problems with putting it back on? And the guy who is going to paint it suggests i use like furniture paint remover but I have never heard of anybody going that so I am not about to do it that way unless its easier and would work.

But yeah what materials will i need to get this guitar stripped down?

thanks


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## Lee (Feb 8, 2008)

There shouldn't be any issue with taking the neck off. Bolt on's are nice like that. Personally, I'd sand it down to get the paint off, but that's just me. I'd rather deal with dust than chemicals.


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## Nickplaysguitar (Feb 8, 2008)

yeah thats exactly what i thought, what kind of sand paper should i use and is an electric sander necessary?


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## Lee (Feb 8, 2008)

I'd start with something in the neighborhood of 60-80, but even 40 as long as you use the electric. If you're going to do it by hand, I would stick to around 80 or so, and trust me, you'll want an electric sander. My P-Bass has a TON of clear coat on it, and using the electric sander saved me. Once you get past the clear, I'd switch to around 120 or so, and once you get all the paint off, maybe clean it up with some 220.


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## Nickplaysguitar (Feb 8, 2008)

ok good i got an electric sander, hahah im going to test out my sanding skills on my old p.o.s. schecter revenger 7 before i even think about touching my ibanez 

thanks a lot bro


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## Lee (Feb 8, 2008)

Good luck. It's a good learning experience. You're going to get real friendly with your local hardware store. I know I did


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## Desecrated (Feb 8, 2008)

Blowtorch


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## Mattmc74 (Feb 8, 2008)

C4 or naplam


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## Sepultorture (Feb 8, 2008)

Mattmc74 said:


> C4 or naplam



and thats just to get the clear coat off


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## msherman (Feb 8, 2008)

Lots of Beer


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## El Caco (Feb 9, 2008)




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## itsallinmyh3ad (Feb 9, 2008)

Nickplaysguitar said:


> How should i go about stripping my guitar? I have an SA160, and I am most likely going to paint it a sparkle blue or have a blue stain. I'm skeptical of taking off the neck, would there be any problems with putting it back on? And the guy who is going to paint it suggests i use like furniture paint remover but I have never heard of anybody going that so I am not about to do it that way unless its easier and would work.
> 
> But yeah what materials will i need to get this guitar stripped down?
> 
> thanks



I've stripped guitars a couple of times. The last time, I used a paint remover that comes as spray paint. I just left it on the guitar for 10 mins, and then I push away the paint with a putty knife, and it was gone. I highly recommend that paint remover for getting the paint of. It's just way more easy.


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## Alcoholocaust (Mar 1, 2008)

im actually stripping the paint of an old s470 of mine.
its a nightmare so far haha, i used this one putty paint stripper , left it overnight and didnt do shit! i later found out it was water based so i went back to the hardware store and got an extra strength paint stripper.
so far the bits inside the pickup cavitys have come off great but the paint just does not want to come off the body.


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## JBroll (Mar 1, 2008)

Why did you remove the cavity shielding? Unless it wasn't properly done, you just wasted a good amount of time and energy both removing it then and putting it on when you get around to doing that later...

Jeff


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## Alcoholocaust (Mar 1, 2008)

what do you mean?
i'm talking about the pickup cavitys on the front of the guitar.


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## JBroll (Mar 1, 2008)

Was it actually painted or was it a shielding paint? Shielding paint can (and should) go anywhere electronics are...

Jeff


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## Alcoholocaust (Mar 2, 2008)

oh right.
it was just painted with a real thin layer.

anyway i'v e stripped all the paint off a but now i've come to that fucking thick clear coat over the mahogany.
i've tried sanding it but it just wont come off, any ideas on removing it?


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## daybean (Mar 2, 2008)

take everything off the guitar, get it naked, working around a gear-on guitar is not the way!
sand,sand and sand again.


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## 7stringTorment (Mar 30, 2008)

thanks guys i plan on putting some of that sanding know how to work..just deciding on a color right now


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## TMatt142 (Mar 30, 2008)

Use an electric sander to get through the clear coat and some of the paint. Once you start seeing actual color to your dust stop, sand with 600 grit till smooth. You don't have to go all the way down to wood unless your doing a natural finish.


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## jeffrey collins (Jul 31, 2011)

I remember the time I decided to refinish my RG770 and had to actually chip the paint away from the guitar. It was almost like someone had just dipped the thing in plastic. As it ended up being about 1/16 of an inch thick. That was a wild experience. But now I'm getting ready to refinish it again. Thankfully this time, no chipping away at the surface.

Going to try a nice swirl finish for this time. Will post pics when it is done.


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## orakle (Jul 31, 2011)

sand blast it... naah im joking obviously ;P

for my jackson dkmg(which had a mdrfkin huge coat of clear), i used some furniture paint remover really to roughly remove the clear/paint, cleaned that up, and finished it with 80 grit, if u dont like to feel the grain of the wood, just wetsand it with something quite fine


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## nostealbucket (Jul 31, 2011)

Fire.


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