White Les Paul Stripping?

nick_s

I'm toying with the idea of a refin on my white Les Paul Studio as I've grown bored of white and fancy a crack at stripping the white and refinishing in a darker colour.  I'm toying with the idea of a cherry back and coloured top of sorts (with faux scraped binding a la PRS).

My question is, has anyone ever successfully stripped a white Les Paul and had a nice clean back to refinish?  If so, any pictures to hand?

DLM

nick_s said:

My question is, has anyone ever successfully stripped a white Les Paul and had a nice clean back to refinish?  If so, any pictures to hand?

Mary Ford did. Here's a pic:

http://pe2.xn--e1akkdfpb6a.xn--p1ai/images1/mary-ford-10.jpg

RandallFlagg

DLM said:

nick_s said:

My question is, has anyone ever successfully stripped a white Les Paul and had a nice clean back to refinish?  If so, any pictures to hand?

Mary Ford did. Here's a pic:

http://pe2.xn--e1akkdfpb6a.xn--p1ai/images1/mary-ford-10.jpg

guess where her other hand is!

nick_s

With the look on his face, I can imagine  

Any hoo, I found a page with some pictures of someone who had attempted the same.  Good results:

paulnb57

Only issue is, you might not find a very attractive maple top under the paint, bit of a lottery....

nick_s

paulnb57 said:

Only issue is, you might not find a very attractive maple top under the paint, bit of a lottery....

Indeedy.  I'm toying with the idea of a gold top anyway, so that would hopefully negate that problem

Andyjr1515

I did this one recently, although it was an LPJ rather than a studio:

Here was the before:


...and here was the after:






The build thread is here.  Hope this helps  

WezV

nick_s said:

paulnb57 said:

Only issue is, you might not find a very attractive maple top under the paint, bit of a lottery....

Indeedy.  I'm toying with the idea of a gold top anyway, so that would hopefully negate that problem

In that case I would go for it.... see what's there and you can always still do the gold top option

Andyjr1515

Here's the back, by the way:


I stained the back, sides and neck, by the way - the timber was very light in colour under the original paint...

paulnb57

If you are happy to do a solid colour on the top then I say go for it!

Deadman

I've done it too:
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/78590/gibson-lp-refinish/p1

nick_s

Andyjr1515 said:

I did this one recently, although it was an LPJ rather than a studio:

Here was the before:


...and here was the after:






The build thread is here.  Hope this helps  

That sir is a fantastic thread, thanks for the heads up  I may have missed it, but what did you use to strip the white from the LPJ?

nick_s

Deadman said:

I've done it too:
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/78590/gibson-lp-refinish/p1

That my man is an incredible transformation!  I liked the white burst before, but what you've done is nothing short of fantastic with that burst!

Deadman

Thanks a lot. If you want to do yours and need any advice just give us a shout. 

nick_s

Deadman said:

Thanks a lot. If you want to do yours and need any advice just give us a shout. 

Legend, thank you

paulnb57

Something to consider, it will probably devalue the instrument for resale......

nick_s

paulnb57 said:

Something to consider, it will probably devalue the instrument for resale......

Not an issue as she's a keeper sound and playing wise  I did mull over the idea of selling/trading it for a colour I prefer, but then I run the risk of losing the playability that this guitar has.  My son also shows a keen interest in playing, so would be something he'd inherit in the long run.  It's only a Studio so isn't of great value anyway

Andyjr1515

nick_s said:

Andyjr1515 said:

I did this one recently, although it was an LPJ rather than a studio:

The build thread is here.  Hope this helps  

That sir is a fantastic thread, thanks for the heads up  I may have missed it, but what did you use to strip the white from the LPJ?

Just sandpaper.  Nitro is pretty easy to get off and there is minimal chance of damaging it.  Quite different story if you were tackling a thick poly finish - with some of those, trying to sand is the way to insanity

Andyjr1515

Deadman said:

I've done it too:
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/78590/gibson-lp-refinish/p1

I remember this one too. . Fabulous job - top drawer stuff.