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Tips for stripping....


Grassie
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Not like that, ya filthy..::

Ā 

I have acquired my sonā€™s Squier Affinity jazz bass and have decided I would like to take it back to bare wood and refinish it with a clear coat, or possibly use an oil finish

So any tips for removing a modern poly finish? šŸ˜Š

Hoping to readĀ lots of positive stories about how easy it is, and virtually zero tales of woe, cursing and grown men quietly sobbing into their pillows at night...šŸ™ˆ

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A heat gun is definately the quickest way to strip a bass, but beware. It's very easy to either get the heat gun too close, or leave it one spot too long.

You will get a burnt patch if either of those things happen.Ā  If it's a light burn, you will be able to sand it back, but thats depending. Ā 

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11 hours ago, Reggaebass said:

I did mine with a heat gun it is definitely the way to go ,very clean Ā  .I stripped the whole body in about 2 hoursĀ 

EF7F4628-5C11-4B52-AAF5-847A8B788781.jpeg

D16A3613-4964-4213-9663-835DE191CB77.jpeg

Nice work! Did you finish and use the body eventually? šŸ˜Š

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17 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

Yeah I upgraded everything and had shell pink Ā cellulose spray mixed Ā 

542AA1F6-304D-4043-BCEF-94D163D1C057.jpeg

It actually started off as a bit of fun but when I stripped it it was a nice piece of solid alder and things went from there Iā€™ve got la Bella tapewounds fitted , very clean deep soundĀ 

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Yes - generally for stripping poly I use heatgun and decent decorators scraper:

fJuLr1il.jpg

You actually need quite a bit of heat but as said above, also need to avoid burning the wood (quite easy to do).Ā  Keeping the heat gun moving helps. Ā 

A sharp edged scraper allows you to get under the poly as it softens but you need to guard against digging in.

Basically, start at the back to start to get the feel for it, don't rush and don't be surprised if, under one removed layer, there is another one underneath (Ibanez's are particularly prone to this).

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21 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

It actually started off as a bit of fun but when I stripped it it was a nice piece of solid alder and things went from there Iā€™ve got la Bella tapewounds fitted , very clean deep soundĀ 

Wow that looks really good! Thanks for the tips guys. šŸ˜Š

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On 01/09/2018 at 22:09, Reggaebass said:

I did mine with a heat gun it is definitely the way to go ,very clean Ā  .I stripped the whole body in about 2 hoursĀ 

EF7F4628-5C11-4B52-AAF5-847A8B788781.jpeg

Ā 

Interesting that mine is front-routed from the neck pickup to the control cavity, and yours isnā€™t....

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1 hour ago, Grassie said:

Interesting that mine is front-routed from the neck pickup to the control cavity, and yours isnā€™t....

Yeah Iā€™ve noticed that some are and some arenā€™t ,Ā the difference being the front routed ones you would have to have a pickguard on Ā to cover the grooveĀ 

Ā 

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3 hours ago, Reggaebass said:

Yeah Iā€™ve noticed that some are and some arenā€™t ,Ā the difference being the front routed ones you would have to have a pickguard on Ā to cover the grooveĀ 

Ā 

If I go the clear coat refinish route, Iā€™m thinking of making a new pick guard and control plate from a similar hued wood. Would look nice I think. šŸ˜Š

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2 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

Glad this topic was started..

A friend of mine removed the paint from the neck of his Ibanez with a Stanley blade scraper, which I'm going to try next week. I'll let you know how it goes.

Yes - Stanley blade or single edged razor bladeĀ scrapers are a good way of dealing with both necks and fretboards...

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On 08/09/2018 at 19:33, Grassie said:

If I go the clear coat refinish route, Iā€™m thinking of making a new pick guard and control plate from a similar hued wood. Would look nice I think. šŸ˜Š

Excellent - we don't see enough of those.

I can get tired of tort or black or white.

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