Just one more.......(More Strat-o-tomfoolery) 7-4-23 Update

MichaelW

MichaelW

Well-known member
Ok, I'm not really sure if this is going to turn into a real project.

This is the original GFS body I used for my Red Strat build.
I replaced the body with an MJT nitro relic body.

So I had this extra one. I decided to try an experiment with stripping the poly finish off it.

Man, the finish is pretty heavy duty. The YouTube videos make it look so easy......heh. In order to heat up the finish to get it soft enough I'm scorching the wood in a few places. Hoping it will sand out.

But either way, IF this works out I'm going to paint it an opaque color in nitrocellulose.

We'll see......

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I did this to a cheap body recently and was fortunate enough to get a smooth peel and no scorches. BUT for some reason it had a thin veneer under the solid finish, and the heat from the gun melted the glue and it peeled up! :mad:

Now it's been sitting in my garage untouched for months.
 
sticky1138 said:
I did this to a cheap body recently and was fortunate enough to get a smooth peel and no scorches. BUT for some reason it had a thin veneer under the solid finish, and the heat from the gun melted the glue and it peeled up! :mad:

Now it's been sitting in my garage untouched for months.
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This was a cheap body, I don't think I'd try this with a Warmoth.... :ROFLMAO: .

Well I got the front and back done, now comes the fun part, doing the radii and cutaway.....my garage smells lovely right now......:rolleyes:
 
Harry Klippton said:
I've done this one and a half times. I should face it that I'm not going to finish the other half since it's been like 4 years. Looks like you did just fine
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I finished at a half too :ROFLMAO:

I stripped prs Tremonti se though just the back and sides. I used tru oil to refinish the now bare mahogany and then took the plastic look off the top for a blacktop look. I put some alnico iv toneriders in and It was actually really awesome. I stupidly traded it for something else a yes later and regretted it about 10 mins after the guy left my house.

Then I stripped a squier cv tele and stained it purple before spraying a clear coat. That one I still have.

My last attempt was another prs se to try and replicate the Tremonti but I got halfway through and just couldn't be bothered to keep going. It's way more work than its worth now IMO.

I'd still love that Tremonti back but the guy I traded with loves it too and won't give it up.
 
Well, I managed to get it stripped. I don't think it's supposed to look this scorched, but that poly finish would not budge without a lot of heat.

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After sanding to 220, there was a small void where one of the pieces was joined so I filled it with CA glue to stabilize it.

Next up I need to order some sanding sealer, and nitro.

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Black gloss is the most revealing finish…

I get the desire to have a nitro finish. Originally, nitrocellulose was a lumber byproduct. I’m not sure if anyone is still making that formulation; there are definitely many additives in the nitros I’ve sprayed, especially since the mid 90’s.

The best sounding acoustic guitar I’ve played, a Goodall Concert Jumbo, has a poly finish. Very very thin. The nitro finish on my recent Martin 00-18 looks to be 3 to 4 times thicker. So, from an acoustic view, poly is not a problem. To me, it’s one of visuals. A poly finish just doesn’t age in a pretty way. No patina of barely visible dress lines webbing through it. If applied correctly, it pretty much stays new looking, barring real mars.
 
Alan W said:
Black gloss is the most revealing finish…

I get the desire to have a nitro finish. Originally, nitrocellulose was a lumber byproduct. I’m not sure if anyone is still making that formulation; there are definitely many additives in the nitros I’ve sprayed, especially since the mid 90’s.

The best sounding acoustic guitar I’ve played, a Goodall Concert Jumbo, has a poly finish. Very very thin. The nitro finish on my recent Martin 00-18 looks to be 3 to 4 times thicker. So, from an acoustic view, poly is not a problem. To me, it’s one of visuals. A poly finish just doesn’t age in a pretty way. No patina of barely visible dress lines webbing through it. If applied correctly, it pretty much stays new looking, barring real mars.
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I've owned a number of Goodall's. Including old ones when he was using nitro. He moved to using a UV catalyzed finish like a lot of acoustic builders. That's how they can keep it thin. I'm not set up for anything like that. I'm barely set up for nitro hahah.
 
Ok, I'm committed. Just ordered some Gibson Black nitro, some vinyl sealer, white primer and a few cans of clear gloss.
It's been a minute since I finished a whole guitar (like over 30 years...hahaha).

Let's see how I can manage with rattle cans instead of the PreVal sprayers I used back in the day before rattle can finishes. I'll post updates here in this thread.
 
MichaelW said:
I've owned a number of Goodall's. Including old ones when he was using nitro. He moved to using a UV catalyzed finish like a lot of acoustic builders. That's how they can keep it thin. I'm not set up for anything like that. I'm barely set up for nitro hahah.
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I sprayed, sometimes several hours a day, for 40 or so years. I don’t think I could spray as thin a gloss coat as is on my Goodall. James, currently (in Fort Bragg, where’s he’s relocated) jobs the painting out. He and his son are doing everything else, and my sense is that he does not work from prepared wood sets; he pulls planks from his stick and re-slices and planes it all in-house.
 
Alan W said:
I sprayed, sometimes several hours a day, for 40 or so years. I don’t think I could spray as thin a gloss coat as is on my Goodall. James, currently (in Fort Bragg, where’s he’s relocated) jobs the painting out. He and his son are doing everything else, and my sense is that he does not work from prepared wood sets; he pulls planks from his stick and re-slices and planes it all in-house.
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A dirty little secret is that MOST small scale boutique acoustic builders farm out the finish, usually to the same guy. I can't remember his name now but he did phenomenal nitro finishes.

I had my custom Goodall built when they were all still in Hawaii and before his guitars got stupid expensive. (And they weren't cheap even then heh).

I spoke his his wife when I was ordering it and it was the very first Koa/Adironack guitar they had made. It was a CJ with a cutaway.
Like an idiot I sold it many years ago.

This is another Goodall CJ that I was an idiot and sold. Honduran rosewood and I think it was a German spruce top, absolutely lovely guitar.

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