78rd Posted August 19, 2006 Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 Never attempet to re-finish before but willing to learn. I just bought a project guitar to give it a go. It's an Explorer type Jackson style with a set in neck. I want to strip it and re-finish it. Whats the best way,Chemical,heat gun,or sanding? How do you do around the finger board and what happens to the fret locator dots on the top of the neck? Are then removed with the stripper and the replaced? I'm a real novice and this is again my first attempt, any help would br greatly appreciated....I will post pix of my progress if anyone wants to see them, Thanx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted August 19, 2006 Report Share Posted August 19, 2006 There shouldnt be any finish on the fretboard to remove, so the dots shouldnt be a problem, unless it has a maple fretboard. They are fairly easy to replace if you need to but you probably wont. The best way to get them out is drill a hole through the middle of them rather than drill a hole the same size as them. Then they either fall straight out or are easy to pull If the finish comes off with chemical stripper then use that, if not i sand. I dont like using the heat gun for stripping. Why do you want to strip it completely anyway? If its just a refinish then you dont need to remove all the old finish, just sand it with about 300 grit paper to remove any shine and spray straight onto the old finish. Just check the new finish inside a pickup cavity or something to make sure it wont react with the old finish but i think it will be ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dino Posted August 22, 2006 Report Share Posted August 22, 2006 There shouldnt be any finish on the fretboard to remove, so the dots shouldnt be a problem, unless it has a maple fretboard. They are fairly easy to replace if you need to but you probably wont. The best way to get them out is drill a hole through the middle of them rather than drill a hole the same size as them. Then they either fall straight out or are easy to pull If the finish comes off with chemical stripper then use that, if not i sand. I dont like using the heat gun for stripping. Why do you want to strip it completely anyway? If its just a refinish then you dont need to remove all the old finish, just sand it with about 300 grit paper to remove any shine and spray straight onto the old finish. Just check the new finish inside a pickup cavity or something to make sure it wont react with the old finish but i think it will be ok. No need to drill out any position markers, and for the love of god ... DO NOT USE CHEMICAL STRIPPER! If your guitar has any sort of binding, chemical stripper will melt it right off! If it doesn't have binding, it'll still melt your position markers. Use sandpaper to strip the finish ... Then tape off the fretboard, including the edge (or binding) which hold the position markers. Once you paint the neck, remove the tape on the edges of the fretboard (or binding), leaving the tape only on the face of the fretboard. Then proceed to clearcoat the neck and the edges of the fretboard. Once you're done, simply wetsand and blend everything, then compound and buff. I'm thinking your goal is to refinish, not rebuild, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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