paint removal

[jjtsucka]

aight so after owning my dean for 4 years now it has accumulated more than its fair share of bumps and bruises. so want a fresh start. what i want to is remove the original paint sand down to the wood, i dont want to paint it black again and i want to keep a natural wood finish. so my question is whats this project going to entail, what do i need to take off the clear coat and the actual paint and any suggestion on stains or oils that i could use to keep the natural wood finish, and where can i go for these products?

 

[Franklin229]

For what it's worth, I'll offer my opinion as if it were my bass. If you are considering a natural finish, you might have to play it by ear as you remove the paint. Sometimes lower quality woods are used in factory painted basses. Also, any gouges, deep scratches etc or glue joints in the wood will effect the look of the bass when a natural finish is desired. So be prepared to change strategy if these things pop up after the paint is removed.
As far as paint removal is concerned, I would take everything off the body and go with a chemical process. It's a messy job that requires proper ventilation. Any commercial paint stripper, say from your Home Depot, etc would do. I would not sand the paint off because you might wind up sanding some of the character lines, radii down on the body. You might have to do the stripper a few times, then fine sand to get to a smooth finish. Be patient with the stripping process-read the directions and let the chemicals do thier thing. If you want to, you could see if there is a local paint stripper in your area who can dip the body-probably the best solution. Once the body is naked, you can evaluate the type of wood, grain and condition to determine whether the body is fit for a natural finish or not.

 

[jjtsucka]

thanks for the help

 

[Planet Boulder]

Depending upon the strength of the finish, you may ultimately have to resort to sanding.

I had to sand my old Tune down after trying a number of chemical strippers. NOTHING could cut through! Sanding is dicey, but it you're VERY careful, you can get the job done with minimal errors.

Also, check out the Luthier's Corner board for many threads on the subject.

 

[embellisher]

I wouldn't count on the wood underneath that finish to be very pretty. I sanded the finish off of a bass when I was 17, did a poor job of it and gouged the finish badly, and when I got all the finish off, I wished that I would have left it alone. The wood was very bland and almost totally free of woodgrain or figuring.

I am moving this to Setup, since it is repair/modification oriented.

 

[Rhythmalism]

I stripped down my ibanez, pretty much made out of 2x4's glued together.