Author Topic: Thinning a guitars finish? (Read 4417 times)

RGX · « **on:** September 30, 2006, 02:25:16 PM »

I have an Epi Les Paul with a LOT of modifications planned for it, but one thing's been really bothering me. The finish is so thick and tough it really spoils the look of the guitar, fine under un-natural light but under daylight it looks kinda....glazed, like a candy cane. It seems to be stupidly thick, so much so that I tested it last night by resting a lit cigarette against the finish. After several seconds the cigarette had gone out and the guitar was completely un-damaged.

What I want to ask is, is there any way to thin this coating out? Wet-sand it? I appreciate the fact that it's tough and therefore wont chip so easy etc, but I like my guitars kinda beat up and I think the thick finish looks incredibly tacky on an otherwise great looking les paul. It looks guady, whearas Gibson Les Pauls I have seen seem to have a much thinner, cooler looking finish. Is there some chemical I can use to thin it out? I really don't wanna pay to have the entire thing sanded and repainted.

As a side note, doesn't a thick finish damage a guitars resonance and therefore sound? It seems to me encasing the wood in some sort of thick coating is bound to lose some of the natural sustain.

Any help is appreciated.

Fubar · « **Reply #1 on:** September 30, 2006, 03:55:09 PM »

You put cigarrettes out on your guitar?! :o
There should be a guitar abuse team set up with social services to deal with people like you! :x

On a more serious note, I don't think there's any way to thin out a guitar's finish in the way that you describe, it would probably just turn out very dull. If you're really unhappy it may be worth just going for a re-fin.

_tom_ · « **Reply #2 on:** September 30, 2006, 04:08:02 PM »

Yeah my epiphones finish is like that, I dont like it either.

CaffeineJunkie · « **Reply #3 on:** September 30, 2006, 05:09:47 PM »

+1, although i found that if you scratch it with a metal pick it goes right through to the wood

Davey · « **Reply #4 on:** September 30, 2006, 05:23:59 PM »

there's no other way but sanding. chemicals will strip it of its finish in its entirety.

though a natural wood colored paul would look cool too imo. just slightly clear coat it to protect the wood, buff it up and you got a mean lookin axe.

as far as the thickness dulling the sound... kinda.. my charvel has a thick clear coat on it, but the sustain and tone are amazing, so it has more to do with what piece of wood is inside the finish, than the finish itself =)

downfader · « **Reply #5 on:** October 01, 2006, 06:49:50 PM »

There is another way - using a cars T-Cut solution and rubbing it in, and buffing off with sandpaper. You then need to wire wool it and then buff it (get an adapter and a proper buffer for a hand drill - it will save you days

)

Its not garanteed to work, and depending on how thick the poly is you may need to t-cut twice. :?

With my Squier strat (see HERE) I sanded for ages by hand to get it thinner. I'd seriously recommend an electric sander for this. :lol: But be careful and check often to make sure you dont sand unevenly or too deep.

CaffeineJunkie · « **Reply #6 on:** October 01, 2006, 07:27:36 PM »

wouldn't it be better to do it by hand if it's a carved top tho?? or is it just the sander i have???

downfader · « **Reply #7 on:** October 01, 2006, 08:00:38 PM »

The trouble with electric sanders is that they cant always get into the smaller curves, or the belt is too big to be managable. You could always stick a sanding cylinder on a drill press if you have one, or clamp the body tight if you're using a hand drill.

TBH with modern ply finishes on cheaper guitars you'll be sanding for ages anyway, as they love to whack on huge amounts of the stuff to cover for the fact that they dont sand the body down properly. :lol:

Deadstar · « **Reply #8 on:** October 05, 2006, 07:59:02 PM »

Sorry to steal the post here but I'm looking to do something similar to my epi black beauty but i was wanting more of a slightly matt finish on mine like an old vintage version (no wear tho just the smooth satin look ) 8) how would I go about that?

3th3r · « **Reply #9 on:** October 06, 2006, 01:41:02 AM »

Poly is pretty much bomb-proof. You gotta use a sander (belt, finish, etc) to get it off. You can also do it by hand but it's going to take alot of work and a long time, but you'll keep better control, and anyway the curves you still have to do by hand.

For a matte finish use steel wool. Try a couple of different grades for different results.

Deadstar · « **Reply #10 on:** October 06, 2006, 04:56:49 PM »

Cool, thanks for tips. Think I'll try the steel wool seems the easier option and should get me what I'm after. :D

CaffeineJunkie · « **Reply #11 on:** October 06, 2006, 08:57:02 PM »

just remember to mask off all the electronics, particularly the pickups

Searcher · « **Reply #12 on:** October 07, 2006, 07:48:37 AM »

Yeah, steel wool will stick to the pickups' magnets. Masking is a good idea. If any gets through you can try using sticky tape to pick it up.

downfader · « **Reply #13 on:** October 07, 2006, 11:05:34 AM »

Quote from: Searcher

Yeah, steel wool will stick to the pickups' magnets. Masking is a good idea. If any gets through you can try using sticky tape to pick it up.

I was going to say that simply removing the parts just leaving the finish is a lot easier.

Deadstar · « **Reply #14 on:** October 07, 2006, 09:34:29 PM »

Yeah I was just going to do what downfader said easier to do just do everything at the same time when I finally get round to ordering my new pups and hardware. Just got PM back from Tim - they only do the raised section for the Manhattan I was gutted. :(