Stripping guitar Paint

[nialldoran]

Hey guys, i thought id post this here as it didn't really fit with backline

So essentially i am wanting to strip the paint from my guitar body, (ibanez SZ320) i've stripped one or two bodies before using heat guns and its always turned out okay but i'm by no means a luthier,

the question i have is, would i damage my guitar neck doing this as this would be the first guitar i would have stripped where the neck is set and i can't remove it for the stripping, is the heat likely to have a negative effect on my neck and truss rod? i'm planning on chemically stripping the neck afterwards as i'm not going to apply the heat gun directly to the neck, but i'm worried that when i'm stripping the cut outs etc it could damage the neck.

i like the guitar and don't want to ruin it, but would love to bring it down to bare wood and color it myself from there, anyone have any experience stripping set neck guitars with heat?

 

[hsinn3r]

I think that it's possible to disolve the wood glue, so you may have to be extra careful on where the neck meets the body.
I'm on the same boat, only I don't have a heat gun. I sand the finish dwn when I need some kind of anti-stress

 

[nialldoran]

yeah i just don't want it to take me six months to get it finished by hand, it'd be done in one sitting preferably. I suppose i could do the rest of the body with heat and leave everything around the neck to hand sanding, it could take a while though, as you said the risk of ruining binding glue between body and neck or the glue between neck and fretboard,

 

[Notuern]

Personally i would wet sand it first and then use chem to strip it.. it shouldn't take too long.
I usually have a few beers and watch a movie while i do stuff like that anyways, so i'm not bothered by it taking time.

 

[nialldoran]

I was thinking that might be what people recommend, the guitar isnt the most precious thing to me in the world but i'd rather not wreck it by going for the quick way with heat, time to get out some sandpaper and my cabinet scraper then ...

 

[bryan_kilco]

I have an Ibanez S-470 that needs new hardware and pickups/wiring and I've been dying to strip it down as well. Just sort of need it for a backup right now.

 

[Terminus]

Ibanez slathers that clear coat on thick so be prepared for a long haul. A circular sander would help at least get it down to the paint underneath but since it's an S you might want to stick with hand sanding since it's so rounded. Been thinking about doing this to my S too but I'm not so sure if it's a good slab of wood despite being mahogany. They usually paint em for a reason and leave the really good looking stuff for the natural finishes. I recently stripped my bass and stained it ebony, it looked surprisingly good.

Went for a rustic look. Still needs new pickups. I had a friend cut the contours out a bit more on the sides too.

 

[nialldoran]

yeah i mean i think that looks pretty damn good is that an ibanez too? i think if the wood doesn't look good i'd rather have a purposely worn and shit looking guitar haha, just hate the way it looks at the moment, but love the guitar,

brian that sounds cool, if you get any pics while doing it i'd love to see them, no doubt i'll be documenting this when i do get to it

 

[Terminus]

Yeah it's just a cheapie Soundgear I got off craigslist for maybe a hundy I love frankensteining guitars out, hence the need for new pickups. Those are shit ibby stock ones.

 

[nialldoran]

it looks totally great man, really nice job, i'm just a complete sucker for natural finish at the moment, im finding nothing as pretty to me at the moment as a natural finish,

I'm starting to get really interested in Frankensteining and modding basic body work, i bought a £70 Hondo pro II bass today from '81 that i really like and there are a few nicks in the paint and neck, so that could be another project for me to get working on, i think it could be a kick ass bass to play and practice on at home if i give it some love,