Newd Who Wants To Refinish A Guitar Please Some Help Here

[jackillac92]

ok basicly i hate the color and look of my guitar i dont have enough money to buy a new one but i have all the tools to make this guitar look alot better [ to me at least ]

http://www.guitardirect.ch/Pictures/EPI-SP2--VS-2.jpg Image hotlinked (not allowed) and too big (640x480 max) - you might want to refresh your memory about the picture rules.

so how do i dismantle sand the guitar down to its wood under the paint and still have it working?

im, not a guitar geneus

but i realy want to change my guitar it is a epiphone specail II please help me out!!

Edited August 27, 2006 by lovekraft

[Nitefly SA]

So, you want to sand it down to the bare wood and leave it that way?

[justinF]

You should never repaint or sand a guitar in the nude.

I am not sure natural would look too great. God only knows what is lurking under those dark edges.

[Nitefly SA]

Yeah, that's what I was going to say if his intention was to leave it natural, it's probably ply.

[prs man]

hi jackillac92

I go along with what justinF posted you don't know what is under the dark edges on that body. this might be a plywood body witch is nothing wrong I learned how to play years ago on a plywood guitar.

being onest with you learn to live with the look of the guitar.

to me it looks fine.

you should see what I had to play on in my early years it was junk the strings sat about a 1/4 off the fret board but I stayed with it because I wanted to play.

have you ever finished a guitar its not like painting your living room

if it was me and this was my guitar I would not do anything but play it until you save enough money to get a little better one.

[Lord-of-the-strings]

Welcome to the cult! Er... forum... Anyhow, I think it's better to learn yourself how to disassemble it. Just remember, righty tighty lefty loosey!

Edited August 26, 2006 by Lord-of-the-strings

[custom22]

You could strip it and repaint it, but dont expect too much from the wood underneath. If you want a solid color, you can shoot the color right over the existing finish. You can strip it and then do another burst or something.

Check out www.reranch.com If your in the US you can buy prodects from there. Otherwise, theres lots of good info there.

[jackillac92]

sry bout the pic but anayway i honestly now that under that ugly sunburst [ in my opinioon im wierd!?! ]

there is a awesome guitar not just bar wood i want to make it look like it was in a mosh pit droped of a building basicly trashed i get it down to its wood get some stains and marks and scuffs have my name crudely carved in it just basicly make it look realy trashy sort of like this ]img] [url=http://fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0150080800#[/fender.com

[matttheguy]

Ok, you can do that, but underneath that finish, there might not be nice wood like on that fender, there might be wood that your dad used to build a shed in the backyard, for instance. You could end up horribly dissapointed with it, as ply wood wont look like that fender.

But to make it look like that, do what you said. Drop it, stomp on it, drag it behind your car at low speeds. Relic that guitar up. Whatever you do, don't use sandpaper, that's not going to give you true relic looks. Beat the hell out of that guitar (take all the hardware off first, of course).

[Logical Frank]

It will all pretty much unscrew apart but you will have to desolder the pickups to get everything out. Really, though, if you want it to look like you've been playing it for forever, just play it for forever. That's half the fun.

[jackillac92]

i dont know nuthing bout guitar mechanics can someone give me a good idea of how to take the hardware out and put it back in with it still working?!?!?!?

[Logical Frank]

Every guitar is a little bit different but it's really simple to figure out. Basically, if it unscrews, unscrew it and it will all come apart. (Make sure to bag and label the parts so you can get it back together.) The one thing that's tricky is the electronics. In most guitars, you will need to detatch the pickups from the rest of the circuit to get it all out and then reattach them when you put it back together.

[Racer X]

Dude, it's an Epiphone. Play the hell out of it, beat the @#$% out if it. Why would you want to SIMULATE it. Friggin just DO it. If you hate the color so much, why did you buy it? I hate simulated relicing. Such a poser move, really. SRV didn't relic his Strat. He played it, unmercilessly. That's how it got like that. Do the real deal, dude.

[Nitefly SA]

Have you ever tried wearing down a poly finish? He could play that epi the rest of his life and not rub through the clear.

[radrobgray]

Dude, it's an Epiphone. Play the hell out of it, beat the @#$% out if it. Why would you want to SIMULATE it. Friggin just DO it. If you hate the color so much, why did you buy it? I hate simulated relicing. Such a poser move, really. SRV didn't relic his Strat. He played it, unmercilessly. That's how it got like that. Do the real deal, dude.

agreed.

Have you ever tried wearing down a poly finish? He could play that epi the rest of his life and not rub through the clear.

its not worth worrying about.

stop worrying about what it looks like and play it. Good playing will grab more attention than how your guitar looks. go practice.

[spazzyone]

Have you ever tried wearing down a poly finish? He could play that epi the rest of his life and not rub through the clear.

not in my old neighborhood. they would have that striped

as fast as you could clicky

http://www.dynamobuzz.com/index.php?p=880&c=1

or

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-1...us-cities_x.htm

HA! HA!

[jackillac92]

dude i know that if you play the hell out of it will look like that but i for right know i just wwant to sand it down to its wood under the paint layer so i can customize it ! nothing else scrach my idea for right know about making it look trashed i just want to get down under the paint so i can either paint it or trash it up will you people please help me just get under the paint?!?!?! NOTHING ELSE NO CUSTOMIZING RIGHT KNOW JUST GETING UNDER THE PAINT TO THE WOOD UNDERPAINT LAYER THATS IT !

[ihocky2]

This might come off as a bit arrogant, but if you want to sand it down to bare wood, then just sand it down. If it screws on, unscrew it and it will come off. The only hard part is making an accurate diagram of the wiring so you can unsolder and resolder it later and have it still work. Once the parts are off, get some heavy grit sand paper and go to town. An orbital sander will make things quicker, but all you need is sand paper and a sanding block. After a while you have bare wood. Beyond that, read through the paint and finishing tutorials on this site.

[Logical Frank]

Seriously. Just go for it. You're not really gonna know how to do it until you struggle w/ it a bit. After that, it will seem easy.

[custom22]

Your title is fairly misleading by the way.

What you need to do is put on your punk belt with metal studs, maybe a few studded bracelets, and just play the crap out of it. Bounce it off the wall, spin it on the floor, spill some stuff on it, clean it with bleach, spray it with lighter fluid then light it on fire, shoot it with a bb gun, practice darts on hit, use throwing knives, tow the body behind your car, all while not trying to damage the neck.

If you are trying to get a "vintage" or "reliced" look, you cant really do it with polyurethane finishes, so some sandpaper for the forearm contour may be in order.

[coolio49085]

Most of the knowledge about how a guitar is taken apart and put back together is learned when you just try and take it apart. I had no Idea what was in my first guitar when I got it.

Also, I'm almost positive that thats plywood seeing as how i used to have one almost exactly like it. So it will probably look like $#!& if you just sand it down to bare wood.

[Racer X]

Your title is fairly misleading by the way.

What you need to do is put on your punk belt with metal studs, maybe a few studded bracelets, and just play the crap out of it. Bounce it off the wall, spin it on the floor, spill some stuff on it, clean it with bleach, spray it with lighter fluid then light it on fire, shoot it with a bb gun, practice darts on hit, use throwing knives, tow the body behind your car, all while not trying to damage the neck.

If you are trying to get a "vintage" or "reliced" look, you cant really do it with polyurethane finishes, so some sandpaper for the forearm contour may be in order.

Thank you. That's exactly what I was trying to tell him. Be the real deal, not a poser.

[!WOOD!!]

I seem to get all kinds of guitars off of people that like to abuse their perfectly good guitars.I once got a poor little Squire that some little bugger had carved a pentagram on and the number 666 below the bridge.Then he decided that it would be a good idea to scrape a screwdriver around the pickguard.The origional colour was a beautiful burgandy but when I got it the poor little fella had been rollered with white oil base paint.It seems that some people buy guitars learn a few chords and think they are lead guitarist for Iron Maiden and carve up their guitars.I say go ahead and "relic" up your guitar and I will buy it off of you on Ebay in a couple of months.I know it is just an Epi special but it looks better now than if you go at it.I have a few beat to crap guitars and would trade you and save you all the trouble of working on your guitar.Ps it is undoubtably plywood

[Racer X]

LOL. You gotta love the badass, pimply satanists, doncha?! Hahahaha! The same kind that if you sneeze, they still say, "Bless you.". hehe!

[Hunter]

Just throw some keys at it and take some sandpaper to the area where your forearm rests.

Voila.