jmstone Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 I've got a really nice Ibanez Blazer I picked up recently on ebay. It's in pretty good nick - lovely tone and weight. At some point, someone seems to have thought it was a good idea to spray paint the bridge in gold metalic paint, and the pickguard in silver! It looks OK and is not a major issue - has been done reasonably well, but I would prefer the look of tarnished brass personally. Any thoughts on whether it's worth removing this - and if so, how? Or should I just put up with it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 The bridge should be easy enough - it will presumably be either cellulose spray or enamel. In both cases there will be stripper/solvent available and it should just need a soak and wipe off. The pickguard will be a little trickier - if it is cellulose spray, the solvent will tend also to soften the plastic of the pickguard. If it was me, I would put a little solvent onto a rag, rub a small patch until the paint comes off and then immediately wipe dry. Move to a diffent area each time rather than progressively expanding from one spot - it will mean that the solvent doesn't sit in one area for too long. Be prepared that the reason the guy has sprayed it might be because there is something even worse underneath... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Gently flex the p/g to see if the paint will crack and flake off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmstone Posted November 14, 2011 Author Share Posted November 14, 2011 Any tips on identifying whether it's cellulose or enamel, and what solvents I should use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyjr1515 Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Cellulose thinners from Halfords (in the car paint spray section) and enamel thinners from a shop that sells plastic aircraft model kits (Humbrol enamel paints). I'm sure there are wiser folk on the site than me but I would get the smallest bottle of one and, if no good, get the smallest bottle of the other. If neither shifted it, I would then probably shout at something or someone...most probably the p**t that suggested it on Basschat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Strippers of Sudbury (http://www.stripperspaintremovers.com/) specialise in all sorts of substances and methods for removing all sorts of paints/coverings from all sorts of base materials. They have a useful 'I Want To Remove . . . ' page. They also offer telephone advice for those particularly difficult, er, stripping jobs (though most guitar projects should be pretty simple really). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tengu Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 Try a little brake fluid. This is used quite a lot for removing paint from lead miniatures and will strip most things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmstone Posted November 24, 2013 Author Share Posted November 24, 2013 (edited) Ha! Well sorry for resurrecting a 2 year old thread.. but I just got round to doing this. In the end I used "Fairy Power Spray" which I read allegedly removes paint from plastic, which you can then just brush off with a toothbrush!! Well, needless to say, it was a lot less simple than that - took around a day to get the paint fully off both pickguard and bridge, with quite a bit of scrubbing.. plus some acetone to get the last few bits off the pickguard, but they both look so much better. Particularly the bridge.. I really can't understand how anyone would spray-paint a brass bridge in gold!!! Still, if anyone is contemplating getting paint off plastic, I think this Fairy Power Spray stuff is not too bad! Edited November 24, 2013 by jmstone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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