Refinishing A MIJ Jazz.. to sand or not to sand...

the old fella is right, unless you are going for a transparent look, which I don't think you are since you are using car paint, there is no need to sand to bare wood, because you will just be removing the good priming and leveling job already done for you. Sand down a bit with 320, clean dust with lint free and mineral spirits, let dry and start painting

 

I think epoxy would work just fine, make sure to scuff and clean the dings before applying epoxy.

 

Resurrecting another thread!

Joeyl, thanks! Your's is the first post I found that answered my question directly! I am getting kinda bored with the natural finish on my Squier VM, and may be buying another for a project that definately will involve a refin.

I had considered a good sanding down to a fine grit and then re topcoat with a color and then some clear, then a good polishing.

Do you recommend any specific paint to go over poly? I have read here that Krylon is a good alternative to other paints. I need a metallic red and a good glossy black. Well, maybe the red....

 

poly used on modern instruments is tough and non-reactive like plastic, so as long as the surface is prepped right (sanded down until a reasonably fine grit, like 320-400) you can just use about anything. I don't know if you ever seen that site but it gives a quick rundown of everything and their forum is pretty good:

http://www.reranch.com/solids.htm

http://www.reranch.com/reranch/viewforum.php?f=1&sid=882ee1fc39a9b43bfccf3fb5382d4480