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Removing Squier Bronco finish.

M

Meddle

Jul 27, 2009
2,520
87
Scotland
#1
Hello all.

My old black Squier affinity bronco has taken many knocks to the black finish over the years, so I intend to strip the finish back to bare wood and see where I go from there.

Anybody else tried stripping a Bronco? What is the best method of shifting the black finish?
 
#2
The best way I have found for stripping off that ugly plastic poly finish is with a heat gun.

Seriously I have done two bodies with that kinda of thick poly finish, one by sanding... it tooks hours and hours for days; the other by heat... it took LESS than one hour to strip the finish, just needed some light sanding to clean up rough edges. It did not burn the wood, I took it slow and just chipped the finish away with a putty knife.

I am NEVER going back to sanding bodies to remove finish again.
 
#4
I always use a small random orbital sander to take off instrument finish. Really maneuverable on almost all of the contours of a bass, doesn't put excess wear where you don't want it, and gets the job done in <15 minutes. I then clean up the last few places with a little hand sanding, or I'm sure you could finish up with delta's approach.


edit^
Honestly, sanding by hand will take so long that you should just go buy a heat fun or a random orbital sander. I cannot imagine trying to sand one by hand, you're just going to spend 5 hours getting a small spot done then decide to go buy the right tools anyway. Might as well just use them from the start.
 
#7
Meddle said:
I have a rotating wire brush head for a power drill, I could use that. I used it on a bench in the garden and it didn't damage the wood but it kicked all the finish off.
Click to expand...

If you don't have a heat gun, use a chem stripper. Go to a hardware store and find someone who knows something about finishes - Tell them you have a thick poly finish you want to remove. They should be able to suggest the right stripper for you.

However, if you are hoping to see a lovely piece of wood under that finish, you may be let down - - The wood they use on Broncos is usually inexpensive and not much to look at. You might want to just leave be and chock up the damage as "mojo".
 
#9
There was a very interesting video on youtube about a guy just peeling the paint off his pbass. It was very weird because the paint came off like plastic. It looked like he used a ice scrapper or a plane and just chipped the paint off and peeled it off.
 
#11
bl2112 said:
There was a very interesting video on youtube about a guy just peeling the paint off his pbass. It was very weird because the paint came off like plastic. It looked like he used a ice scrapper or a plane and just chipped the paint off and peeled it off.
Click to expand...

He was using a heat gun. Thats what happened when I stripped my MIM Fender Jazz. I actually got the heat gun idea from that video. Works great.
 
#12
I've sanded finishes off and heat-gunned them off. Heat gun is my preferred meathod, but it doesn't guarantee a smooth removal. Sometimes the finish comes right off, and sometimes it seems to have bonded with the wood and takes some real elbow grease to be removed.
 
#13
Just a friendly update. The Bronco finish is shifting with paint stripper though it is a slow process.

The bronco finish seams to have a clear coat over the black, which is the hardest to shift. Scoring the finish down to the wood makes it easier for the stripper to get under the top coat. Under the black is some crystaline clear coat (I guess unsanded) which is difficult to remove and may need to be sanded.
 

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