Refinishing guitar tips?

davis224
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davis224
Edited Date/Time 5/3/2020 4:30pm
Getting guitar fever but want to save money while still getting something new. I love my strat but rarely play it anymore, so I'm wanting to strip the polyurethane finish off (it's natural ash underneath) and use maybe a dark grain filler to really set the grain apart, and a blue stain with either a satin or oil finish. I've been watching videos and reading DIY articles, but was curious if anyone else has any first hand tips or knowledge.
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borg
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borg 4/17/2020 5:26pm
4/17/2020 5:26pm
Are you sure it's ash and not alder?
I have a blue one but it was on basswood and tinted lacquer. Not sure if that would help if you are doing an oil finish.
Will post a pic when I get a chance.
davis224
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davis224 4/17/2020 8:19pm
4/17/2020 8:19pm
borg wrote:
Are you sure it's ash and not alder? I have a blue one but it was on basswood and tinted lacquer. Not sure if that would...
Are you sure it's ash and not alder?
I have a blue one but it was on basswood and tinted lacquer. Not sure if that would help if you are doing an oil finish.
Will post a pic when I get a chance.
Yep, it's a "lite ash" model strat made in Korea. I've heard mixed reviews from other people, but I played every damn strat in that guitar center 13 years ago, and the only one I liked more was a '62 reissue. It needed some fretwork and set up but sounded amazing for what I wanted.
borg
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borg 4/18/2020 11:28am
4/18/2020 11:28am
Got the walnut Les Paul done. Pictures are not too good though.




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Foghorn
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Foghorn 4/18/2020 8:04pm
4/18/2020 8:04pm Edited Date/Time 4/18/2020 8:08pm
borg wrote:
Got the walnut Les Paul done. Pictures are not too good though. [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/04/18/421180/s1200_20200418_082516.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/04/18/421181/s1200_20200418_082528.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2020/04/18/421182/s1200_20200418_082549.jpg[/img]
Got the walnut Les Paul done. Pictures are not too good though.




Looks great Borg. Once I'm done with the acoustic I'm working on, I'll be tackling the walnut Les Paul you sent me. I have a few ideas and even have all the electronics not including pickups from quite few years ago when I rewired a friend's Les Paul knock-off and doubled the order in anticipation of doing a Les Paul or PRS style.
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borg 4/19/2020 7:07am
4/19/2020 7:07am
Foghorn wrote:
Looks great Borg. Once I'm done with the acoustic I'm working on, I'll be tackling the walnut Les Paul you sent me. I have a few...
Looks great Borg. Once I'm done with the acoustic I'm working on, I'll be tackling the walnut Les Paul you sent me. I have a few ideas and even have all the electronics not including pickups from quite few years ago when I rewired a friend's Les Paul knock-off and doubled the order in anticipation of doing a Les Paul or PRS style.
I've also been working on the flametop. I screwed it up because I used the wrong red paint. I thought it was lacquer and it wasn't so when I shot clear lacquer over it, it wrinkled. I wasn't all that happy with it so it wasn't that big a deal to sand it all off and start over. I just finished applying the amber dye and I like this tint way more. The first one was just bright yellow and it was too stark for me.
borg
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borg 4/19/2020 8:28am
4/19/2020 8:28am
What about the OP's question Foghorn? I have no experience with finishing oils.
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Foghorn 4/19/2020 12:21pm
4/19/2020 12:21pm
borg wrote:
What about the OP's question Foghorn? I have no experience with finishing oils.
I only use spray on dyes and nitro so haven't used oil before. I know a ton of guys use Tru-oil gunstock finish but not sure if that would work over a dye? I'll pull out my Erlewine finishing book later and see if he addresses it. He most likely does.
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Foghorn 4/19/2020 5:04pm
4/19/2020 5:04pm Edited Date/Time 4/19/2020 5:06pm
The Erlewine book goes into a lot of depth on the various finishes. An oil finish or gel finish would work fine. Alcohol based dyes are a lot easier to wipe on and fix lap marks than water based ones. That's why I spray regardless of which kind of dye I use. Just more consistent. The biggest issue with oil finishes such as tung oil is that they all have a more or less amber tint. This would make a blue stained guitar somewhat more green than blue. The wipe on gels (urethane) may be better. As we always say, test on scrap first!
davis224
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davis224 4/20/2020 3:24am
4/20/2020 3:24am Edited Date/Time 4/29/2020 12:14pm
Foghorn wrote:
The Erlewine book goes into a lot of depth on the various finishes. An oil finish or gel finish would work fine. Alcohol based dyes are...
The Erlewine book goes into a lot of depth on the various finishes. An oil finish or gel finish would work fine. Alcohol based dyes are a lot easier to wipe on and fix lap marks than water based ones. That's why I spray regardless of which kind of dye I use. Just more consistent. The biggest issue with oil finishes such as tung oil is that they all have a more or less amber tint. This would make a blue stained guitar somewhat more green than blue. The wipe on gels (urethane) may be better. As we always say, test on scrap first!
I've ordered all my supplies, and a couple ash boards to test on. I asked a local luthier what finish he recommended, and I'm going with the minwax wipe on poly satin finish. I ordered clear grain filler to dye as I choose, blue, "coral reef blue", and cherry red stains. Looking for mostly blue stain with hints of night sky (having my girlfriend paint the pickguard to match) I'll keep this updated as I make progress!
davis224
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davis224 4/25/2020 6:09pm
4/25/2020 6:09pm
Practicing with different color combos/bursts


davis224
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davis224 4/29/2020 12:17pm
4/29/2020 12:17pm
Reading tons of different information that conflicts. Do I even need a grain filler? The original articles I read said grain filler, stain, then finish. Seen other builds where people just stain bare wood and finish, and read another where they recommended stain on bare wood, a thin layer of finish, then grain filler, then your final finishing coats.
Foghorn
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Foghorn 4/29/2020 8:20pm
4/29/2020 8:20pm Edited Date/Time 4/29/2020 8:21pm
davis224 wrote:
Reading tons of different information that conflicts. Do I even need a grain filler? The original articles I read said grain filler, stain, then finish. Seen...
Reading tons of different information that conflicts. Do I even need a grain filler? The original articles I read said grain filler, stain, then finish. Seen other builds where people just stain bare wood and finish, and read another where they recommended stain on bare wood, a thin layer of finish, then grain filler, then your final finishing coats.
Ash is a ring porous wood. If you want a smooth, glass like surface, a grain filler is needed. Timbermate or something similar should accept stain prior to finish. You can skip the pore filler but the grain and pores will be front and center. Depends on what look you're looking for. I grain fill with Z-poxy and spray nitro lacquer. Works for me. Woods like maple are close pored and don't require grain filling.
davis224
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davis224 4/30/2020 4:47am
4/30/2020 4:47am
I don't mind feeling a little grain personally, I want smooth, but not necessarily like glass. I guess I'll see how rough the body is after I strip the clear coat off. Maybe around 5 or so coats of the satin finish could be enough to slightly fill in any rough spots?
Foghorn
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Foghorn 4/30/2020 1:14pm
4/30/2020 1:14pm
davis224 wrote:
I don't mind feeling a little grain personally, I want smooth, but not necessarily like glass. I guess I'll see how rough the body is after...
I don't mind feeling a little grain personally, I want smooth, but not necessarily like glass. I guess I'll see how rough the body is after I strip the clear coat off. Maybe around 5 or so coats of the satin finish could be enough to slightly fill in any rough spots?
It will likely help some although you would need a pretty heavy film build up and even then, without a grain filler, ash grain will be very pronounced which some people prefer.
davis224
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davis224 5/1/2020 4:50am
5/1/2020 4:50am
Foghorn wrote:
It will likely help some although you would need a pretty heavy film build up and even then, without a grain filler, ash grain will be...
It will likely help some although you would need a pretty heavy film build up and even then, without a grain filler, ash grain will be very pronounced which some people prefer.
This is the type of finish I'm going for, but in the transparent layered blue colors. I'm guessing little to no grain fill is what I'm looking for?

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Foghorn
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Foghorn 5/3/2020 4:30pm
5/3/2020 4:30pm
Foghorn wrote:
It will likely help some although you would need a pretty heavy film build up and even then, without a grain filler, ash grain will be...
It will likely help some although you would need a pretty heavy film build up and even then, without a grain filler, ash grain will be very pronounced which some people prefer.
davis224 wrote:
This is the type of finish I'm going for, but in the transparent layered blue colors. I'm guessing little to no grain fill is what I'm...
This is the type of finish I'm going for, but in the transparent layered blue colors. I'm guessing little to no grain fill is what I'm looking for?

I would agree. That's pretty much full on open grain.
davis224
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davis224 12/27/2020 12:19pm
12/27/2020 12:19pm
So I let this fall by the wayside and just started back on it again, attempting to strip the current finish off as we speak, and I can't seem to get it to come off? All the instructional articles and videos I've read make it seem like it peels right off with a hair drier on the lowest setting, but I've got a heat gun full blast and it's not doing a damn thing. Tried getting it started with a paint scraper and I'm just digging right through into the wood. Why cant I get the finish to separate from the wood?

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