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Looking To Strip The Paint On My Gibson


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yeah I like it how it is too

If you just want another colour, why not trade it in and just buy one in that colour?

If you want to practice why not try it on a cheaper guitar?

Just dont want to see that nice V ruined :D

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Guest PoonTangRat

When trying to strip my old Squier Strat I used a stripper called Nitro Mors. I did not know what finish was on the guitar as apparently it can vary between polyurethane and nitrocellulose i think so I gotthe strongest one and found it not very effective but it didnt do anything to the wood, as long as you follow the guidleines on the bottle it should be no problem stripping it.

Also.... STRIP IT I DISLIKE FLYING V'S!! :D:DB)

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Hmm interesting viewpoints,

Its a reissue... bought it during Desert Storm in Dubai. Was the only american made guitar in the store's street display case with flood lights on it etc... lol. I needed something to play while at sea so I picked it up for a thousand. Its just this luthier friend of mine showed me his natural wood V and thought it was nice. He told me to put a heatgun it otherwise the stripper may discolor it in some way. Anyways thanks for your responses.

Ken

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Whats under the paint may not necessarily be what you are looking for. Although the guitar might be made of the right wood, be it mahogany, korina or whatever, it could be pieced together in such a way that it won't look as good as your friend's natural wood V. Thats the reason why a lot of guitars are painted solid colors. And I don't think its worth the risk to find out whats underneath. But its your guitar and your business.

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Sorry, duplicate post.

Edited by Stolysmaster
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Also.... STRIP IT I DISLIKE FLYING V'S!! B):D:D

Hell, I don't like Vs either...ultimate poser guitar...the only guys I ever see playing those are 40 year old guys in spandex....

Let's see...

Jimi Hendrix, Albert King, Lonnie Mack, Andy Powell, Micheal Schenker...OVER 40, Yeah(except Jimi of course)...................

But SPANDEX??? I don't think so!!! :D

Sure, I love woodgrain instead of paint too, but I have to agree about cutting the value by refinishing. HOWEVER, I must have gotten lucky when I recently sold a 1992 Gibson Flying V '67 reissue that I refinished from black to heritage cherry. I got about $900 for it on EBAY; and, of course, I mentioned that it had been refinished. The guy loved it because he said it looked just like a factory finish. So, sometimes it might depend on the quality of the refinish, and if it still ends up a factory color.

Edited by Stolysmaster
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Let's see...

Jimi Hendrix, Albert King, Lonnie Mack, Andy Powell, Micheal Schenker...OVER 40, Yeah(except Jimi of course)...................

But SPANDEX??? I don't think so!!! :D

Never seen a photo of Jimi with a V, but, sure he could have pulled it off...matches all those scarves he liked to wear.

Anyway, I'm talking about guys in the bands around here (backwaters o' France) ...usually it's the front man in a cover band, got that long stringy dirty blond (going gray ready for a combover) hair thing, the spandex paints, the over-tight teeshirts...you know the type...the type who always says things to the crowd: "How you feeling tonight? I can't hear you. I said HOW YOU FEELING TONIGHT" ...

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Trade it in & get one that you like. I've not seen that finish on a "V" before so I'm sure that someone would love to have it.

As already mentioned, you can find all sorts of anomalies under a solid finish & I've heard some real horror stories about some Gibsons over the last few years. Also I'm not sure that the gold hardware would work with a natural finish (I hate gold anyway).

No one mentioned Lenny Kravitz...the only guy I can think of that looks really good with a V

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Also.... STRIP IT I DISLIKE FLYING V'S!! :D:DB)

Hell, I don't like Vs either...ultimate poser guitar...the only guys I ever see playing those are 40 year old guys in spandex...but still, if it was a knockoff, okay. But it's a Gibson. Just sell it and buy something you like better.

kingmack.jpg

Albert King, Lonnie Mack. Zero Spandex. :D

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Hell, I don't like Vs either...ultimate poser guitar...the only guys I ever see playing those are 40 year old guys in spandex...but still, if it was a knockoff, okay. But it's a Gibson. Just sell it and buy something you like better.

... Hey.... I play a V and they're great guitars, plus they look cool on stage. Am I a poser just because I play a V? :D

I say get a guitar in the color you want it. Don't strip it... But if you absolutely must, you'll need lacquer thinner as Gibson uses nitro lacquer on their instruments.

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I totally restored a Gibson Flying V about a year ago.

I'm not sure if your V has binding on the neck or not, but you should know that stripper will melt the binding and position markers right off the guitar.

If you MUST use stripper, tape up the binding and position markers on the neck as a precaution.

Use the stripper for the body only and good 'ol sandpaper on the neck.

Better safe than sorry IMO. :D

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I wouldn't strip it just because I think you're going to find a multi-piece body underneath the finish and it just won't look good with a natural finish. Gibson is famous for using solid finishes to hide pieced together bodies. Why do you think the Studios are always less expensive than the Standards? It's not just because of the lack of $2.50 worth of binding plastic.

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I wasn't joking, but I know my statement is debatable. I know it's more apparent on acoustic guitars that the older dried out, brittle finishes help those guitars sound better than when they were new. On an electric, well, could be the same somewhat, but depends on how the finish has been cared for. Perhaps it's been given a sponge bath in guitar polish once a week, then the finish is certainly not dried out. Also the thickness of the finish, and yeah, many factory guitars have a rather thick finish. But I was also thinking of someone with little or no experience with finishing probably putting a thicker finish that what the factory did. And there's the nitro vs. poly question as far as what sounds better ? Anyway, enough about that.

I can't stand to play a V while sitting, and I prefer to play guitar while sitting and not needing to use a strap.

A friend of mine once stripped a V and then found a huge area of filler on the side. Seems he lost a lot of respect for the guitar after that.

Lonnie Mack's V once spent a few moments in a dumpster, after the neck came loose (or maybe it completely broke off) on stage. He tossed it in the dumpster. Some fans got it, and took it in for repair. It was even refinished. Somehow Lonnie got it back.

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