stripping the sealer off my acoustic

[rcuda]

two days into the stripping process and about 98-99% of the finish has come off of the guitar, only leaving troublesome areas at the heel block, the face of the headstock and one splotch on the upper left face of the guitar. I'm sure that with a little finesse or just simply one more round of citrisstrip those areas would melt off. Unfortunately, I've run into one more obstacle: underneath the finish there is a thin layer of some type of sealer (which I believe to be the same nasty stuff that they coat the saga kits with. It smells the same, anyway). I am hesitant to use any more stripper to remove it as this is a cheap guitar and I'm afraid that chemicals or heat may attack the laminate and ruin the guitar. Using a little methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) and some steel wool I was able to make a bit of progress last night, but I'm not looking forward to hours of rubbing. Any thoughts?

[GuitarAttack Forum]

Dude -- Be careful with the MEK...that is some dangerous stuff.

I recommend scuffing the sealer and painting the guitar. If you are determined to strip the sealer, I recommend using a heat gun. Check the article from Dave on the Repair Page at Guitarattack.com.

Good luck,
John

[rcuda]

thanks for the advice. I would have just scuffed the sealer, but the citrisstrip had taken several splotches of it off in various areas, ruling out that possibility. But I did end up getting a heat gun and it worked beautifully. I was able to strip the whole guitar in a matter of hours, and now it's drying from the first couple rounds of stain. Underneath all that nasty finish, there's actually some decent wood! It's got mahogany back and sides, the top is spruce (laminate of course) and I'm guessing a maple neck (it looks like maple). I'm willing to bet that without that 1/16" thick seal coat, the guitar will "open up" a bit. I also stripped the bridge, polished with up to 2000 grit paper and oiled it which has taken it from looking like a cheap piece of immitation rosewood to looking like a piece of rosewood. I'll keep you all posted on my progress. I hope to have the first couple coats of clear on by today.

[GuitarAttack Forum]

Looking forward to seeing the finished product. Rock on!

John

[rcuda]

I finally got the guitar to a condition that I'm willing to accept as "done". It took several weeks longer than I'd anticipated, mainly due to my hectic schedule...
All in all, I'd say that my guitar is ugly. And I'm not willing to put the time/money/effort/frustration into restoring a cheapo Indonesian made guitar to show room quality. It was ugly to begin with, but now it's ugly in a "gives it character" kind of way. I learned a few valuable lessons from the project though: mainly that I would have been better off buying a new guitar with a piezo already installed (properly). I learned that you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear. The guitar was made of cheap wood with a very open grain, and there is NOTHING that can be done to correct that. I would have been better off painting it. I'd probably be a lot happier with the results. The new parts I've installed are vast improvements over stock. The guitar now plays better and has a lot more brightness and resonance than it did previously. I'll post pictures in a little while.

[GuitarAttack Forum]

Thanks for the update and sage advice.

Sometimes it is easier to buy a new body than to strip and paint an old one!

Keep us updated.

John