Finish stripping Gibson Nitro / Sparkling Burgundy Refinish 335

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skippy76skippy76 Frets: 615
edited August 2018 in Making & Modding
Evening all

I’m looking at a new project with my oldest lad to keep him busy/learning through the holidays.

It involves stripping and old ES335, I’ve watched numerous videos of the three main techniques, chemical stripper, heat, sanding.

any preferences out there? I don’t want to mess with the binding if possible.

The 335 will be coming out in either aged Sparkeling Burgundy or Oxblood.

cheers

TC
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Comments

  • poopotpoopot Frets: 9098
    Nitro will come off with good old fashioned nail varnish remover!...
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  • BridgehouseBridgehouse Frets: 24579
    poopot said:
    Nitro will come off with good old fashioned nail varnish remover!...
    Just like when time team used to play cards.... "ere, that's an ace tone"
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  • skippy76skippy76 Frets: 615
    Cheers guys, I’ve used nail polish remover for smaller jobs so it’s worth a look. 
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  • TeyeplayerTeyeplayer Frets: 3135
    Stripping an old es335? Can we get the pitchforks out yet? :)

    You’ve got me intrigued, why? 
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  • munckeemunckee Frets: 12255
    Is it possible to strip a poly semi hollow wthout muffing up the binding?
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  • CorvusCorvus Frets: 2924
    tFB Trader
    If buying acetone as nail varnish remover make sure it's pure - some has perfumed oils and things in. Acetone's cheap to buy a litre of pure. I might mask the binding just in case and try not to soak in (will eat the tape glue but still gives some protection / slow-down). It's a messy job but works quite fast, I soak kitchen towels and lay them on to soften it, then wipe off with another wet one. Masks, ventilation, gloves etc.
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  • SteveRobinsonSteveRobinson Frets: 6914
    edited July 2018 tFB Trader
    poopot said:
    Nitro will come off with good old fashioned nail varnish remover!...
    Just like when time team used to play cards.... "ere, that's an ace tone"
    Or "Your guitar sounds really good, that's an ace tone"

    Butanone (methyl ethyl ketone aka MEK) is also great for stripping nitro (better than acetone in my experience) but will also dissolve the plastic binding so be careful.
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  • skippy76skippy76 Frets: 615
    All good advice thanks, I might photo document the process for this one.

    old as in 10 years old with 2 layers of previous refinishes from the previous owner,so no pitch forks required :) 
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  • TeyeplayerTeyeplayer Frets: 3135
    skippy76 said:
    All good advice thanks, I might photo document the process for this one.

    old as in 10 years old with 2 layers of previous refinishes from the previous owner,so no pitch forks required :) 
    Sounds a worthy cause then buddy. Definitely document, we all love a modding thread!
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  • rexterrexter Frets: 369
    tFB Trader
    Yep... would love to see a good Sparkling Burgundy refinish!  =)
    Custom colours, vintage restorations, high end guitar finishing
    www.rexterguitars.co.uk
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  • SteveRobinsonSteveRobinson Frets: 6914
    tFB Trader
    munckee said:
    Is it possible to strip a poly semi hollow wthout muffing up the binding? 
    @munckee Lots of careful sanding, going up the grades. A mouse sander works well. Expect it to take hours, days even. You need to be very careful not to sand through the top ply of the laminate.
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  • munckeemunckee Frets: 12255
    munckee said:
    Is it possible to strip a poly semi hollow wthout muffing up the binding? 
    @munckee Lots of careful sanding, going up the grades. A mouse sander works well. Expect it to take hours, days even. You need to be very careful not to sand through the top ply of the laminate.
    Thanks @SteveRobinson  I think I should take that as a no before I end up with wrecked binding and a ruined top!
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  • skippy76skippy76 Frets: 615
    Afternoon all,

    The pure acetone is working well and not harming the bindings, unfortunately the top coat was done with a brush and something the the acetone won’t eat, so that’s some off with much scraping down to the nitro Pelham blue underneath.

    Pics to follow.
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  • skippy76skippy76 Frets: 615
    edited August 2018
    Afternoon all,

    Making some decent progress now after quite a few hours of stripping! 

    2 coats of sanding sealing
    2 coats of Manchester Guitar Techs finest Gold Top
    1 coat of MGT clear red

    Ready for binding scraping, clear coats and a final coat of tinted clear as I’m going for an aged finish.

    Progress pics here:

    https://imgur.com/gallery/sqLmSu3


    Inspiration:

    https://imgur.com/gallery/pyHD7s9




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  • paulnb57paulnb57 Frets: 3044
    Looking fantastic!
    Stranger from another planet welcome to our hole - Just strap on your guitar and we'll play some rock 'n' roll

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  • rexterrexter Frets: 369
    edited August 2018 tFB Trader
    Nice work! Glad you went for the sparkling route - not the easy route but will look fantastic. Shot a couple of candy finishes yesterday - one that's going to end up like you inspiration pic. That guitar is gorgeous. Really would love to find a basket case 335 that's already been abused/refinished to try something similar. Look forward to more updates

    Custom colours, vintage restorations, high end guitar finishing
    www.rexterguitars.co.uk
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  • ESchapESchap Frets: 1428
    Looks great!   Interested that you used a gold undercoat.  I've got a 1967 EB-2 in sparkling burgundy and it's silver under the red.
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  • skippy76skippy76 Frets: 615
    Cheers guys, 

    Thanks @ESchap  I ended up using the gold after doing a bit of research, I wouldn’t mind trying on with silver as well.


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  • skippy76skippy76 Frets: 615
    edited August 2018
    Another quick update,

    The stop tail needs ageing and the Wizz pup rings have been changed to black. Bridge is a placeholder until my converter posts arrive.

    This will be getting another coat of clear nitro and some vertical ES style weather checking

    I'm having a blonde moment with embedding the pics if someone could do the honours

    https://imgur.com/a/Fa7bWhb

    http://imgur.com/a/Fa7bWhb
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  • Jez6345789Jez6345789 Frets: 1756
    edited August 2018
    Looking good are you using an aged top coat before checking or just waiting for it  get yellower with age.
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