Anyone Strip MIM Sunburst Body

BassMan99 · #1 02-01-2009, 12:48 PM

Tried search nothing on Sunburst. I have a 2001 MIM Jazz Sunburst. It has the three tone sunburst finish which is a thin veneer. I can tell that by how the pickguard holes are chipping. I am thinking I would like to strip the finish. Has anyone here done this? How difficult was it? Is the super hard sealer under the veneer? Lastly I think its adder but does anyone know what wood these were made of? BTW it has the standard pickup sizes with the bridge pup a bit longer than the neck.
Thanks!

62bass · #2 02-01-2009, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BassMan99

Tried search nothing on Sunburst. I have a 2001 MIM Jazz Sunburst. It has the three tone sunburst finish which is a thin veneer. I can tell that by how the pickguard holes are chipping. I am thinking I would like to strip the finish. Has anyone here done this? How difficult was it? Is the super hard sealer under the veneer? Lastly I think its adder but does anyone know what wood these were made of? BTW it has the standard pickup sizes with the bridge pup a bit longer than the neck.
Thanks!

If that's a wood veneer over the body wood, you'll have to be very careful trying to strip the finish off. The finish will be one of the stripper resistant polys and will have to be sanded off. A heat gun, which I'd normally use for that, could easily loosen the glue on the veneer and lift it off. The veneer is very thin and if you sand too hard in one spot you'll go right through it. That happened to someone on this forum a while back. It looks pretty ugly. I have no idea what's underneath the veneer.

I think it's more trouble than it's worth.

BassMan99 · #3 02-01-2009, 01:56 PM

It appears to be a very thin wood veneer. Its not paper for sure. Maybe a light weight replacement body. If someone want to recommend one. The neck is nice. I cant spend alot though.

Turnaround · #4 02-01-2009, 03:19 PM

I removed the finish from a MIM Jazz recently. It had a thin veneer over the multi-piece body. I think the veneer was used to give a better appearance under the 3-tone burst finish.

In any case, I removed the finish with a heat gun. Worked quite well once I got it hot enough. Use a putty knife to remove the finish after applying heat, but be sure to apply the heat to the putty knife as weel as the finish. Then everything peels off nice and tidy. The veneer was not affected at all by the heat.

If you end up scorching the wood, it's too darn hot! Back off.