Can You Remove a Poly Finish

[motormouth]

This can be a tricky process
I would recommend using a hot air gun on a poly finish - especiallly on an Ibanez
Heat the finish till it just starts to want to blister and then use a palette knife - or a blunt chisel and pry beteween the finish and the wood- I also use a cabinet scr@per
If you are very lucky you can get he paint to de-laminate and come off in chunks/strips or ribbon like stripes
Go careful with the heatgun as you want to get the paint off without charring the wood or setting light to it
There needs to be a lot of care taken dso that the chisel or whatever doesnt cut into the wood as well.

You can then clean it all up with silicon carbide paper the light grey one
I would use grits 180/240/320/400
Go down thru wet and dry (used dry) 600/1200 and 0000 gauge wire wool
An oil finish is a good choice - we did this for Tim's explorer

However you may wish to use a coat of cllulose sanding sealer first - just wipe it on with a rag- to seal the wood grain

None of this task is dead simple - take care and take time
Step away from it if getting fed up with the process and come back in a better mood and do a bit more

Hope this helps

Jonathan

Nice! great info!Tone wise? would the guitar react differently,if you just put a nice oil finish on it>More organic,of "woody" in tone Color?

[Davey]

Like Jonathan, and as I've mentioned on another post, I'd be worried about sanding down. One sand through and you're b*ggered, you can never get it right without stripping entirely and starting again (DON'T ask how I know that.....!). As to the colour, it depends where the dye is, in the lacquer, partially or completely, or on the wood as to what the effect of sanding would be. Don't know about Ibanez, I've never refinished a translucent one, but Patrick Eggle for example has the dye throughout the lacquer and are therefore very difficult to repair finish damage, as you sand down a little, it changes colour and what was a good match is no longer.

Having said all that, properly stripping a guitar and respraying requires knowledge and equipment so it would probably be worth giving the sanding a try. Just take a great deal of care and be prepared to bite the bullet if it goes wrong.

yea. you're right.. i got very limited experience with this and even that is with just a clear coat =P sooo..  you could say i know jack shite about sanding color coats  :lol: