Hey all,

Taking apart a Squier P-bass and I decided I want to practice stripping and then refinishing necks.

Whats the fastest way to take the finish off Squier without damaging the actual neck?

Or is this an elbox grease moment and I have to sand paper the whole thing?

lots of different ways to do this. I prefer not to utilize chemical strippers, so I -

* carefully remove the finish with a cabinet scraper until I begin to kiss the wood. since I'm utilizing a scraper, even if I kiss the wood there is just a .001" or so that is removed

* once most of the finish is removed I sand with 200 grit utilizing a sanding block for the flat areas and a cork block for the contoured areas

* when all of the finish is removed I then sand to 600 grit and begin to apply the TruOil finish


I know that others will have their preferred methods for this, and many of those will be significantly faster and with less elbow strain. glean from all of the advice you get directly (and indirectly by searching thru the many, many previous posts that have covered this very topic in great depth) and then develop your own preferred method

all the best,

R

I'm all about *not* using the chemicals, as I've seen them discolor the wood and I wouldn't want that.

My method is similar to Rodent's, except that I use 220 grit paper on it (cupped in my hand, following the neck profile... I can hear the screams that are potentially forthcoming), and then follow up with 320, 400, 600... if I'm applying a hard finish (poly or nitro) then I'll start spraying at this point, if I'm applying Tru-Oil, I go ahead with my micro-mesh sanding cloths from 1,500 - 12,000 then start wiping on the Tru-Oil...

I little more elbow grease than the scraper method, but for the life of me I can't seem to keep a keen edge on my scrapers lately. Maybe time to replace them? Or maybe time to get better at turning the edge... ;)

Why using chemicals is not recomended?

I have seen chemicals discolor the wood... because the wood in these necks is a fairly light maple, it can easily discolor, and I don't like to risk it. Just my personal preference...

Why using chemicals is not recomended?
You should not have to use chemicals with so many graduated grades of sand paper. Not much elbow grease at all. Maybe some boiled linseed oil on the maple?