Stripping poly guitar with binding

[The Dali]

So I may be stripping the finish off the top of a guitar that has binding... are there any chemicals I should stay away from? I don't want to hurt the binding, but I don't want to hurt my shoulders from sanding too much... any ideas?

[MetalManiac]

Stripping Polly is a lot of fun...Stripping Poly, however, is the biggest PITA on earth, and IMO, not worth it. But if you really are dead set on it, good luck and hope some guys here chirp in with thier knowledge.

[ItsaBass]

Scrape the finish off of the binding first, using a quality, purpose-made scraper. Then mask it off and apply the stripper. Or vice versa: mask the binding, strip the body, then take the tape off and scrape off the finish that is over the binding. But if you use the latter method, try not to get the stripper on the tape. It will gum it up.

You'll need a heavy duty ("marine") stripper to get the poly off. Something with methylene chloride. You MUST have ventilation to use that stuff! Do it outside. Without adequate ventilation, you can die, no joke. Breathing the stuff creates carbon monoxide in your bloodstream. Obviously that is bad for anyone, but since it can cause your heart to race, you should not use it at all if you have heart problems (murmurs, arrhythmia, etc.). When I use it, I go outside, and I breath through my buddy's SCUBA gear. All that said, it's a great way of removing poly! You just have to take precautions. If I didn't have the SCUBA tank, I'd at least use an electric fan to blow the stuff away, and some sort of breathing filter.

Don't let the stripper touch the binding, unless it is wood binding. Stripper will eat plastic, and quick.

[The Dali]

hmmm... well, I don't want to die, so maybe I'll just work on the back of the neck with a less powerful stripper... hmmm....

[Jessie's ghost]

Definitely listen to the guys who've had good results with chemical strippers and other "non-stupid" methods. If you try removing a thick poly finish by purely mechanical means, may God have mercy on your soul.

[ItsaBass]

You won't die if you take precautions...just don't sit there inhaling the stuff at length, and don't use the stuff anywhere where the fumes can build up. Those who die from it usually are using it indoors in a bathroom or some other confined area.

[ericmeyer4]

I used a heat gun on a MIM tele I had worked on. Worked pretty well, but it was a few hours worth of work. Don't know how well it would work with binding though.

[Jessie's ghost]

I used a heat gun on a MIM tele I had worked on. Worked pretty well, but it was a few hours worth of work. Don't know how well it would work with binding though.

I've heard that a proper heat gun can melt plastic bindings pretty quickly. A heat gun is, of course, much, much hotter than a handheld hair dryer. It's what you use to make heatshrink tubing shrink.

[Myaccount876]

I'm sanding the finish of my Epiphone Les Paui Standard at the moment. Two days into it using an orbit sander with 60 grit sandpaper, just got the top down to bare wood. It is hard and messy work, but the simplest and somewhat effective way.

I used a heat gun on a MIM tele I had worked on. Worked pretty well, but it was a few hours worth of work. Don't know how well it would work with binding though.

I've heard the heat gun trick only works on ash guitars though.

If you try removing a thick poly finish by purely mechanical means, may God have mercy on your soul.

Why thank you.

[Snoogles]

If you try removing a thick poly finish by purely mechanical means, may God have mercy on your soul.

i stripped the poly from 2 guitars using razor blades
the finish chipped and peeled right off without any problem what so ever

[The Dali]

Interesting... so there IS hope!

[Snoogles]

Interesting... so there IS hope!

both guitars started with a chip in the finish that went down to the wood. and i just started picking at it.

i suppose i should admit that i had 2 other guitars that didn't give up the poly coating quite as willingly

[jmh151]

On my Les Paul years ago (over 15 years) I used Zip Strip to remove the finish- it was the most powerful stripper on the market and I always used it on boats- you have to be careful since it woulld melt through everything.

I would apply it as close to the binding as possible, then remove anything on or near the binding by hand sanding

[ItsaBass]

On my Les Paul years ago (over 15 years) I used Zip Strip to remove the finish- it was the most powerful stripper on the market and I always used it on boats- you have to be careful since it woulld melt through everything.

I would apply it as close to the binding as possible, then remove anything on or near the binding by hand sanding

Was that a Gibson Les Paul? If so, it was not a poly finish.

[The Dali]

Guys, did some research and my optimal solution is probably straight-up sanding. I'm not sure how thick the maple top is, so I will have to investigate before I start the project.

Basically, I have a Korean-made Washburn Idol wi66v that looks great... in fact you would probably yell at me to even take the top finish off since it looks so nice (yellow-ish), but I don't like it. I tried to sell the guitar a few times but couldn't get near my asking price, so feels like a project to me!

Plus, this guitar has a finish crack on the back of the neck near the heel. I'm 100% sure it is just a finish crack and not structural... but I'm sure that scared off potential buyers. So... with that said ... I was planning on taking the majority of the finish off of the back of the neck and applying tung-oil... this would remove the finish crack (you CAN feel it) and also speed up the neck.

The idea is to repair the back of the neck, sand the top down to bare wood and re-stain with ruby red, emerald green, or ocean blue. Update pickups to double-cream, update pots and switches, and add some coil-splitting options. Realisticaly, I'm looking at about $130 in upgrades (I have the electronics and pots already). I only paid $210 for the guitar to begin with...

[The Dali]

This is what it looks like now:





This is what I'm shooting for:




or







or

[ericmeyer4]

Is it a real flame top, veneer, or photo flame? At any rate be careful sanding, if it is one of the later two you might end up going through it.


I like the 3rd picture you posted. That, or gunstock oil. It turns mahogany a nice shade of brown and maple gets a yellow tint to it.

[ItsaBass]

Sanding will work. It will just take a lot longer and it will make a bigger mess. And on a carved top, it will be harder to get a uniform removal without creating dips and such in the top wood. For the top, a sanding block with some "give" to it would be a good way to do it. I would suggest doing the bulk of the work via scraping if you want to use mechanical removal methods. It's cleaner, quicker, and it's easier to prevent dips. Then you can finish it up with sandpaper.

[The Dali]

Or like this:

[The Dali]

Of course, I could just keep the finish on the top and fix the neck...

Or, go with this look:





Here is a photo of my actual guitar: