Blowtorch anyone ?

[pagan7]

I've recently aquired a used Ibanez RG1550 Prestige which along with a locking nut and floyd has a bolt on all maple neck and fingerboard and a basswood body with the pups and controls all mounted on the pickguard as per a Strat.
The problem is it also came with the previous owners hippy floral arwork all over the body (top. sides and back) and even part of the headstock and case.  Luckily this seems to have been done with water based paints and scr@pped off relatively easily, but the body colour underneath is a rather naff looking redish/purpely metallic gloss with some chipping down to wood around the edges which I want to remove.
I can see from the bare wood visable in the neck pocket that it has reasonably good grain patterning for basswood, so the plan is to strip off the laquer, treat the wood with a few coats of tung oil and beeswax polish and leave it natural.
The problem is that even using the strongest (green tin ) NitroMorse I can't get the laquer to lift or even bubble slightly, even after leaving the nitromorse on for over half an hour.
Cellulose thinners and Hammerite thinners (which is truely evil stuff) won't touch it eather which leaves me with the options of a hot air gun or a blowtorchboth of which I'm loath to use - not wanting to subject the body tonewood to rapid and intense spot heating and cooling.
Can anyone suggest another way or type of stripper that will work against Ibanezs' seemingly impenatrible laquer ?
Cheers

[FernandoDuarte]

Are you completely sure the finish is laquer??? It can be Poly urethane or other kind...

For PU finish a heatgun can make the finish release from the body, but don't get still with it or will burn the wood...

[Copperhead]

Aircraft paint remover. Works great, I use it on a number of things.

[FELINEGUITARS]

The Ibanez is polyester
It will take a heat gun to shift
Once applying the heat the paint will blister or crack /soften
You will need to get a chisel tip or a scr@per between the body and paint and it will come off
Extreme care needs to be taken with a chisel and also with the heat gun as has already been mentioned

Do it in a well ventilated place

[pagan7]

Thanks for the replies everyone.
By gently sandpapering a small spot on the back of the body I can see that the finish has 4 distinct layers - the top coat is a very hard clear layer - underneath that is the red/purple colour layer and under that is what I can only describe as looking like a very thin layer of highly polished chrome finish tin foil  :? and the base layer is a buff coloured biscuity material that looks like the filler primer used on cars.
I have a heat gun of the type used for heating heavy duty heat shrink tubing - as used on pro instrument cables and mixer looms etc, so hopefully that will do the trick.
I am intrigued by the aircraft paint remover you mentioned though Copperhead - where is it available from and what does it do to the surface of wood ?

[Copperhead]

It takes me usually 2-3 applications to get the paint off. Rinse with water between applications. It can darken the wood a little bit if you apply it directly to the bare wood, but I usually strip it down close and finish with sandpaper anyway. The paint and sealer will scr@pe off like goo. You will need rubber gloves and eye protection. While you should take care not to apply it directly to bare areas, it does not appear to penetrate the surface of the wood very far. Discoloration on the wood will sand right off.

"Klean Strip" is the company, the product is call "Aircraft Paint Remover"

PM sent.

[ToneMonkey]

You got a phobia about sandpaper and elbow grease?  :P

[Will]

Are you actually thinking of doing it with a torch? Like the Oxy Acet mix?

The paint will spit up in your face and I would think a light wood like that will be charred in about a minute

[ToneMonkey]

I presume he means hot air gun.  I once saw a guitar (on Project Guitar I think) which a bloke had put a lovely union jack paint job on................... then he held it up for a bit behind a small jet engine to get a big scortched burn mark going down the guitar.  Looked really good.

[pagan7]

Are you actually thinking of doing it with a torch? Like the Oxy Acet mix?

The paint will spit up in your face and I would think a light wood like that will be charred in about a minute

What I meant was the type of small blowtorch with an ignition button and replacable gas cannister as found in DIY shops for paint stripping and kitchenware shops for caramelising the tops of certain desserts  :P
I used one in the past to strip the body of a cheapo jap bass I found in a skip - the finish on that looked like it had been dipped in a vat of plastic and lifted off really easily and came of almost in one piece - like peeling off coloured cling film - but I wouldn't like to try it on something I'd paid actual money for.
What I'll be using as a last resort is a hot air gun - like a hair drier only much hotter and not something you'd use on your hair - unless you like the burnt stuble and crispy bubbled scalp look  :lol:

[Copperhead]

Hahahaha
I can actually ignite things with my heat gun!

[Ben_W]

You could just burn it. :)

Seriously though, my friend works with Nathan Sheppard, and they burnt (intentionally) his guitar, to give a pretty cool effect.

http://nsguitars.co.uk/gallery_item_nsg25_big7.html

I think that's his, or at least it's very similar to that. It also has his own custom BKPs called 'Knuckledusters', which are very nice. :)

I have now idea how, or how hard it would be to do that, or if it is even possible, but it does look awesome when done well. :)

[pagan7]

The burnt look does have its place - one of the Strats that Hendrix sprayed with lighter fluid and set alight, sold for a small fortune not so long ago.
I wonder how long it is before Fender release a "relic" version for 3 times the price of a standard Strat - that you could spray with lighter fluid and set alight yourself.   8)

[FELINEGUITARS]

What I'll be using as a last resort is a hot air gun - like a hair drier only much hotter and not something you'd use on your hair - unless you like the burnt stuble and crispy bubbled scalp look  :lol:

Good man
That shouldn't be the last resort
It is what will work the best in my experience
I have a cheapish black and decker one and it has been used many times to start peeling off a hard polyester finish
go carefully with it and DONT use it as a hairdryer

[pagan7]

I didn't use a heat gun in the end - I tried a small sample patch with it on the back of the body inside the the floyd spring cavity and it took a lot of heat and hefty scr@pping to shift even a small patch down to wood and the finish didn't so much bubble as reluctently flake a little - and leave a depression in the wood  :(
After trying various strippers such as aircraft paint stripper and another for stripping marine paints which I'm told are polyester based I was still getting nowhere, even after sanding the top layer to aid penetration.
Finally I took some really aggressive 50 grit glasspaper to it and tried a really thick layer of green tin nitromorse on it, which I left on for an hour and a half and - RESULT !!! some light scr@pping removed the top layers and some coarse wire wool dipped in fresh nitromorse removed the rest to reveal a really nicely grained and coloured body underneath - much better than I was expecting from basswood and complimenting the all maple neck - with the pickguard in position it almost looks like the grain on the body continues on and flows up the neck.
A very Fendery vibe for an Ibanez RG and reminds me a lot of a Strat I used to have with a natural alder body, all maple neck and black pickguard  :D