Stripping/sanding Advice Needed! Firebird!

[Tony Balls]

So, i'm stripping the finish off a project Firebird and i'm coming up on the most difficult part. As many of you are aware, Gibson Firebirds (the reverse kind) are of neck-through construction and have a slight thickness difference between the neck stock going through the body, and the wing pieces attached to it. It winds up leaving about a 1/8" step there. I've very crudely referenced the area in this pic:

Anyway.......the difficult part is going to be sanding this area out clean while still preserving the edge of the wood there. I've been sanding the rest of the guitar by hand (a *bit* of random orbital on the flat spots). Do you think there's any good way to sand the finish out of this area??

One thought i had was to use a nice, long, squared off sanding block as to not jump the edge and sand it down.

The other thought in my head was that maybe it would be a good idea to consider stripping that area with heat. I had been resistant to go the heat route for the entire guitar because i've been doing the work on my roof (BROOKLYN!) and didnt want hot paint flakes flying everywhere. But at this point there's so little to strip that i'm not as worried.

The finish i'm removing is that nasty poly candy-coating that they keep putting on new guitars nowadays, if it matters.

Any thoughts?? Thanks.

[marksound]

Just a thought, but how about a stepped sanding block? It wouldn't be hard to make one and you could use it on both wings.

[Tony Balls]

Good, thought, but the center portion is already sanded.

[duo2]

for one why do u still have the bridge and strings on there? Are u just leaving them on to keep tension on the neck? I would go the heat route after removing all hardware and i would protect the neck somehow.

[Tony Balls]

for one why do u still have the bridge and strings on there? Are u just leaving them on to keep tension on the neck? I would go the heat route after removing all hardware and i would protect the neck somehow.

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it's an old picture. everything is off of the guitar for stripping.

[Southpa]

A rigid sanding block (sandpaper cut flush to the bottom edge) should do fine for getting around the height difference. Just make sure everything is sanded evenly and keep checking your progress with a straight edge.