Vade Posted November 7, 2006 Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 Not that this is a problem or anything since I've already stripped past a lot of it to get to the bare wood beneath, but it was a surprise to me to find that there was a thick layer of . . . er, "something" beneath the black paint. When it bakes a little under a heatgun it seems to take on the color and consistency of amber. This is, i'm sure, something really common that I was just unaware of, like a smoothing basecoat that precedes the final painting but it was a LOT thicker than I would have guessed somthing like that would be. So what exactly is this? What's it made of? Should I be putting a similarly ludicrous-thick series of coats of this when I get to the refinish stage? ~~Vade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted November 7, 2006 Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 Well, this rightly goes in the finish section, and if you'd done some reading there you might have decided to do things a bit differently. I'm guessing that that layer is the sealer coat. If you had left it, you would have had a nice flat surface to do your refinish on. Since they're usually clear, you can even get a decent enough natural wood like finish. I find it nice to leave the sealer alone because it's a real bitch to remove. When I've stripped factory built guitars (well I've only done it twice, so I'm not the expert), I stick to sandpaper to get off the plastic wrap they use and stop at the sealer coat. In the end, sanding is easier then chemical/heat removal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted November 7, 2006 Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 Do you know any history behind the guitar? Is the stuff under the paint in well-defined separate layers? I would almost think it is polyurethane clear, awful thick stuff to be just a sealer coat and the fact that the paint came off without leaving any residue suggests something inert under there...like good 'ol poly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vade Posted November 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 Ahhhh... crap. I've been focusing so much on this area I forgot there even was a section devoted to finishing and inlay. (my bookmark takes me straight into solid body/bass chat) I can delete or move this thread if you think it best. sorry. There are two problems with me stopping short of that layer, though. One is that this mod is going to involve a recarve, so I'll be loosing a LOT of that stuff anyway and the Other is that the very first bubble that came up while swirling the heatgun around was underneath that sealer or poly coat. The instant my paint scraper touched it, I had the hole you see above (though there was a larger expanse of black paint surrounding it at first.) ----------- All I know of the "history" is that it's a 2001 Ibanez RG 270-DX. Aside from that, ya got me. I know the previous owner isn't a modder so up until today, the whole thing has been stock. The layer doesn't seem to be a series of thinner coats. When it comes up, it does so either by scraping it all away or cracking up in one. Usually the former. *sigh* Mick Guard is definitely right that this stuff is a royal pain to take off. Making me fight for every inch, that's for sure. Oh well. Anything worth doing is worth a lot of time and effort! ~~Vade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desopolis Posted November 7, 2006 Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 my strat also has a layer of somthing between the wood and paint layers. mines almost a dark tan in color, I saw it after "someone" took a quarter sized chip out of the bottom. I want to drop fill it with somthing, but I might just dab CA in there so it doesnt split. anyway, mines probobly(if not moreso) as thick as yours... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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