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Heat gun/poly strip in progress..poly=GONE

Earwaxsculptor

Earwaxsculptor

Sep 11, 2005
520
77
The Garden State
#1
Ok, so I got my heat gun & tomorrow's project is to start stripping the poly finish off my Jazz, I have never done this before so any last minute pointers would be greatly appreciated!

There is a ding on the bottom where the paint is gone there is about 1/8" by 1" of wood showing, would this be a good place to start because I can wiggle the puddy knife under the paint easy there?

Thanks guys!
 
#2
Personally, I'd fear using a heat gun because any burning means HEAPS of sanding, and I'm lazy. When I stripped my MIM Jazz, I used Aircraft Remover made by Kleen Strip, I think. It was a long process because those damn poly finishes are just evil. I probably had to coat and re-coat the body with stripper about 7 times, let it sit, clean it off...blah-blah.

Good luck, man. I'd never do it again. I'll just save my pennies for a new body next time.
 
#3
Yes, there's a danger of burning, but a heat gun can be really great to use in stripping paint. I've seen it come off like magic. And no stripper fumes, although some smell from the paint. Not sure about poly in particular, though.
 
#5
Ok, so its on!

I started it & in about 1 hour I have 80% of the back off. It's really not that hard, just slow (but I bet faster than sanding). I only managed to nick the wood 2 or 3 times and they are very small nicks. The body has a lot of dents I have to fill & sand anyhow. (Turns out it's a 3 piece body the only thing I am nervous about is weakening the body joint glue with this heat, the body joint seams have opened just a smidgen but I would thing this is from heating the wood, not weakening the glue, right? Also, I have not scorched the bass once yet, so this is a good thing).

So, the body was Inca Silver and I am thinking of doing it in the Fender Copper color (from Reranch) because the neck I got has a orangish Koa laminate headstock, I think it will be nice looking.

Should I worry about removing the primer coat that is under the Inca Silver & go down to wood if all I intend to do is fill the dents/scratches and paint a solid color?

Thanks guys!
 
#7
some pics....
 

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#8
The heat gun's the thing to use on tough poly finishes. I've done it before. You're doing it right.

As far as the sealer coat goes, that stuff sometimes defies even the heat gun. It did on my Fender. I sanded it off because some came off with heat and some didn't. I started with 40 grit ceramic paper from belt sander rolls, used by hand. All the other sandpapers (aluminium oxide, etc.) wore out too quickly trying to sand the sealer. I'd remove all of it unless it's a very good coat of sealer remaining. You'll have to make that call.

Good luck with it.
 
#10
Ok, so all the poly is gone and so is most of the sealer, I used 80, then 120 to get all the remnants off after the heat gun. as you can see I scortched the body a little bit, but its getting primer and gonna be painted solid copper. The only bummer is I did flatten out some spots on the curved body edges getting the reminants off so I am gonna have to take my time and feather these spots out, no biggie, this is my first time doing something like this and so far I am happy.

Tomorrow I will do the ding filling & final leveling with 220 then 320. I am just afraid that my ding repairs will gome loose in the future.....we shall see.
 

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#14
She's all sanded and ready to go. The scorching was on the sealer :hyper: :hyper: :hyper:

A friend of mine is gonna do all the painting, he has been doing custom automotive painting and classic car restoration for 20 years so I have complete faith in him. I am leaning towards Fender metallic copper. He is gonna match the color and paint the bass with epoxy paint.
 

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#15
Been a while but bass is getting painted this week, saw the color (Fender Coppertone Metallic) and it looks GREAT. Got me a NOS 1996 22 fret Genuine fender Jazz neck (Brand new) a matte black pickguard, Audere preamp, and 4 sets of pickups to choose from...:hyper::hyper::hyper::hyper:

Stock 1990 Fender ones, 2001 Fender 75' RI's, Duncan Quarter Pounders, or MEC's..........ohhhh the choices, and I gots me the capacitor kit for the Audere so I can customize caps for the p/u's...............can we say tone exploration?????

I am so exited.
 
#16
Earwaxsculptor said:
Been a while but bass is getting painted this week, saw the color (Fender Coppertone Metallic) and it looks GREAT. Got me a NOS 1996 22 fret Genuine fender Jazz neck (Brand new) a matte black pickguard, Audere preamp, and 4 sets of pickups to choose from...:hyper::hyper::hyper::hyper:

Stock 1990 Fender ones, 2001 Fender 75' RI's, Duncan Quarter Pounders, or MEC's..........ohhhh the choices, and I gots me the capacitor kit for the Audere so I can customize caps for the p/u's...............can we say tone exploration?????

I am so exited.
Click to expand...

I bet it'll look gorgeous. You'll be glad you did all that work.
 

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