Our Souls inc. Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 I have a friend who wants his ESP brought back to "factory" specs. It's an 80's ESP, so I want to try and do this proper. Right now, the original finish is still on the guitar, but it's under a re-paint. I have no idea what the re-paint is ( rattle can or legit paint) or what condition the original finish is in underneath it. Is it possible to remove only the black paint without removing the factory finish? Any tips or tricks? Thanks in advance- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 WezV just did a very similar job to an 80s Matsumoku-era Aria Pro II bass. The thread is HERE. Warning. Gratuitous use of Pollocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 30, 2012 Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 yeah..take your time and do a good job.I have seen your refinishes so I know you can do it,but just sand with 180 until you get through the new paint and stop when you reach the original paint(if thinners don't work on the black)..It is very doubtful that you'll keep from going through the original finish or that the original finish is even unblemished,but ESP did put a really thick clearcoat on top of the color coats,so it IS possible to not sand through the clearcoat that may still be under the black...if the guy who did the black did not remove it. If someone else had not already mucked it up I would be screaming foul...but you can't devalue it any more than it already is...as long as you take very special care around the binding and fretboard. Be careful...please...this is an opportunity for you to do something really great for a very high quality guitar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Our Souls inc. Posted December 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2012 If someone else had not already mucked it up I would be screaming foul...but you can't devalue it any more than it already is...as long as you take very special care around the binding and fretboard. Be careful...please...this is an opportunity for you to do something really great for a very high quality guitar If this wasn't a friend from gradeschool and it was still original - i wouldn't touch the thing. Finishes are not my forte'. "Careful" i will definitely be, as my goal is to un-do the customization that was done and get it as close to factory as I can. The black chipped away in one spot just by me touching it, so I'm hoping someone did it wrong and didn't scuff before spraying the black! That would be ideal. Here's some pics of it now. you can see some white under the black in the bridge rout ^^ ^^ and there you can see that the bridge rout retained its original shape,despite having the wrong trem in place for 2 decades........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agent_zed Posted January 21, 2013 Report Share Posted January 21, 2013 i don't know about guitar paints as such but on a car i would say to try a bit of cellulose thinners on a cloth. if it goes black then you are working with cellulose. Then i'd try on the white. again if it goes white you have celly. but hopefully the white is 2k which shouldn't come off with cellulose thinners. in which case you could just rub the black off with thinners which would hopefully cause less potential damage than sanding. anybody see a problem doing that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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