I might sell the Paul. It's got sentimental value, but it's also been ripped apart for a while. Probably going to take one last stab at refinning.
I used that Citrus Strip stuff and let it sit for a couple days while periodically going in and scraping off the goo and reapply stripper. That worked pretty well. Afterwards, I think I used mineral spirits or something to clean up the wood and did a little sanding.
I first stained it with Transfast water-soluble dye, which worked well (that's how I did the snare). But I was shooting too much dye through a cheap airbrush and got black dye all over the thing (I was shooting a burst). So I used laundry bleach and did it again. And it looked pretty sweet. I put a couple coats of Minwax sanding sealer on the guitar, and when I was level sanding went through the finish.
Decided I wanted to do a solid finish, so I tried using some cheap primer which got all crappy, so I stripped it again and used Kilz. That stuff wouldn't build high enough to level out, and after I shot some enamel-based rattle can stuff, it looked all lumpy. So I stripped it again, sanded, bleached, etc.
At this point in time, the wood was starting to absorb so much of the oil that the pores barely took dye, so I decided to put about 3 coats of black Transfast dye. It looked pretty cool, but I didn't want to do sanding sealer and ruin it again. I live in Minnesota, and it was about this time last year where it was getting too cold to finish outside. I decided to try some low-odor non-toxic Minwax Polycrylic water-based polyurethane. That stuff is horrible...it would get milky colored and gum up when trying to sand.
That's where I'm at now. I've got the Tonepros bridge and tailpiece, Schaller locking tuners, Earvana nut on a $200 fret job, custom hybrid Seymour Duncans, all new gold hardware, all new
wiring kit, copper and a body that needs to be stripped again
My "last stab" at the guitar will either be this winter or next spring. Going to get the citrus strip again, bring the guitar to bare wood, mineral spirits and light sanding. Then I'll shoot spray on sanding sealer and level sand that (won't matter if I sand through). I'll shoot either Reranch Heritage Cherry Red if it's available or translucent blue. Might do a subtle black fade around the edge of the guitar, might not. Then I'll shoot several coats of Deft high gloss lacquer (like I used on the snare, really easy to work with). Finish up with the usual wetsanding, polishing, and buffing. Hopefully I can get it back to beautiful condition, and if not, I'll sell the parts on eBay and be happy to have some cash.
Morals of the story:
- Don't use cheap equipment and use the right equipment. Don't shoot a fade with an airbush; use a detail HVLP sprayer.
- Don't mix poly's, enamels, and lacquer.
- Don't use water-based poly.
- Set aside more time than you need on a project so you don't get frustrated when things go wrong.
