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A few years back I bought a vintage Ibanez AFJ 81 in red sunburst for a good price. After a few month the tailpiece broke which perhaps some of you remember. I replaced it with a standard metal tailpiece like on a Gibson es-330. This replacement left some marks on the finish since I had to drill some new holes. I also swapped the PU with a Bareknuckle Manhattan. I really like the guitar (it's comfortable to play and I like the sound), but I never cared for the red sunburst and therefore I was thinking about sanding down the finish and start with something new.
Today I took off the hardware and started the sanding-process. I think this will take some time but I am not in a hurry since at the meantime I am going to exercise my shellac skills.
BTW this project is for aesthetic reasons only I don't expect a tonal improvement.Last edited by hans halmackenreuter; 04-01-2017 at 05:11 PM.
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04-01-2017 02:41 PM
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Before-pic
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Ooo, I love me some tweaking and tuning. Keep us posted matey.
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04-01-2017, 04:49 PM #4joaopaz Guest
Subscribed!
Looking forward to see what you're going to do with it. I always felt that the the original color scheme didn't do justice to this guitar...
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I will document the progress
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Tough job you are planning !
Just finished a similar project with my son with a solid body bass.
Tough job, indeed !
But when you've finished, it's really rewarding.
So yes, keep us posted, and we wish you some hours of good hard work on this guitar.
You'll see that you'll love her even more after that !
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I guess the sanding-part will be tough when I reach the arched areas.
Originally Posted by 339 in june
What kind of finish did you choose for the bass?
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Tomorrow I'll send you more info
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Interesting. I tried refinishing a Mexican Tele once and that is some tough work. I am excited to see your progress - good luck!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
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Is it possible, or advisable to use the heat gun/scraper method to remove a poly finish from an an archtop ?
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Looks beautiful! Nice job! Originally Posted by 339 in june
Tomorrow I'll send you more info
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I guess it's possible but I don't think it's the best solution if you want to strip down a poly-finish on an archtop. Originally Posted by pubylakeg
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Now that I'm retired I've been considering refinishing a "wounded" black ES-335. I'm guessing the wood below the black will be pretty well stained from the black and a trans black finish would be interesting. Thx for the links to stewmac and the stripping vid. I may finally "get around to it"
PS, it's odd the way the back of the head on that Ibby doesn't have the lamination all the way up the head, I wonder what the heel of the neck is going to look like?
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Not on any guitar with binding you want to save. Originally Posted by pubylakeg
Either heat OR stripper will attack the binding and/or the glue used to install it.
That youtuber scraping away on the LP (cheap copy, I would hope) was hard to watch, holding the guitar down with his bare foot as the back scratches back & forth on a tile floor.
Poly is hard to strip, for sure.. and heat would be a good short cut if you can peel away without gouging the substrate, or melt anything else in the process.
John
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Here is what we have used Originally Posted by hans halmackenreuter
But once again, that was "easy" : no binding to care on this solid-body, for instance
Good luck !
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Just a point of reference regarding melting binding with a heat gun, if you use copper foil with a sticky back you will NOT melt anything.
I used it removing surface mounted 144+ pin gate arrays with delicate plastic ZIF connectors nearby and the foil absorbs, deflects and sinks the heat away so no damage happens. Try it, copper foil is a great tool.
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Thank you for sharing information. Is it true that spraying is kind of difficult? Originally Posted by 339 in june
Here is what we have used
But once again, that was "easy" : no binding to care on this solid-body, for instance
Good luck !Last edited by hans halmackenreuter; 04-03-2017 at 05:22 PM.
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Well it does look a little bit horrible at the moment but my arms were tired and I had to stop. Maybe I finish the back tomorrow. The poly-finish is really really thick.
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I'd have recommended against trying a refinish. Ibanez polys are really tough and thick, the wood beneath is very soft. The moment you reach wood sanding, you will very quickly dig out the wood beneath (like the way a cavity accelerates once it's through the enamel).
This is not poly you're talking about. I've seen more butcher jobs on Ibanez refinish attempts.
Too, the feel of a neck is going to change after such a heavily applied poly is removed. Just be ready for that change.
I've done it, it's very time and energy consuming. Scrapers, good sharp cabinet and curved scrapers will remove more uniformly than sanding.
There are no effective poly solvents for Ibanez finishes that I've found. Heat will melt everything in sight, and once the heat source is removed, the softened poly will set again very fast in all sorts of ugly gloms and mess all the time off gassing every manner of stinky fumes.
But that's just my experience. Oh, once you melt the binding, your work gets much more difficult. And sanding through the curve of the guitar's bouts and cutaways... well send me the incantations if you come up with the voodoo that can do that.
I'd love to hear success stories though.
David
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04-03-2017, 05:32 PM #21joaopaz GuestMan.......... be sure to do it outside and **ALWAYS** wear a mask. Originally Posted by hans halmackenreuter
Well it does look a little bit horrible at the moment but my arms were tired and I had to stop. Maybe I finish the back tomorrow. The poly-finish is really really thick.
I did that, by hand, to a Telecaster a few years ago and I'm sure I lost a couple of years of my life in that process.
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Oh yeah, if your guitar is laminated, be aware that once you cut through the top veneer, which is a LOT more fragile and thinner than the generous and tough poly, the revealed plywood is UGLY AS HELL. And the moment you break through, I'll bet I'll be able to hear the scream from here.
Just saying...
David
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04-03-2017, 06:26 PM #23joaopaz GuestGreat advice Originally Posted by TruthHertz
But I believe it's a solid spruce top!
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Good luck with your project. It is a lot of work. I have only re-finished nitrocellulose finished instruments. Poly is too difficult.
I'd not remove the finish with sandpaper.
A prior owner of this 1976 Les Paul Custom sanded away the finish. It ruined most of the binding. I sprayed a translucent finish that, I think, matched the original paint in the control cavity.
Last edited by icr; 04-03-2017 at 09:57 PM.
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Ha, spruce plywood, my friend. Originally Posted by joaopaz
Great advice But I believe it's a solid spruce top!
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