Shellcaster

[braaandooon]

If the body is korean, or chinese made it will be polyurethane, if japanese or mexican made will be polyester. Don't know alot about squiers, but theres this silver sparkle jagmaster thats been rotting away on my local craigslist for $150 for sometime now, think it could be a nice contrast to my flip flop sg, then I'll have the trendy auto paint theme on lock.

[skullservant]

Got a can of Citristrip and applied two coats of it. Was able to get the spray paint off, but that was about it. Was a freaking mess...



This is where I ended for the night. Dunno if it's worth the effort of continuing to strip this body, or just buy a new one.

[braaandooon]

Yah thats polyester, actually suprised it got that much off in a limited amount of time.

When I use citristrip I leave it on for a minimum of 12 hours, strip,use a stiff brush with hot water and repeat the process a few times.

You got a good start and wouldn't give up on that body yet. Polyester is a pain to remove, and I would typically use aircraft stripper on that finish, or the prior mentioned methylene chloride.

This method isnt the fastest, but will save you from a hefty sanding job.

Even after getting all that shit stripped off the body is gonna need a good week to dry before applying any paint.

[skullservant]

I did 1 coat for 15 minutes, and then another coat for about 5 hours. I found it really hard to scrape the inside cavities which also had paint on them

[Achtane]

The first and last time I used Citristrip was on a wooden table and all it seemed to do was make a sludgy fucking mess.
I kind of like the current messed up paint job on the guitar though...

i've been toying with the idea of respraying the SGV i got off Achtane in pink from head to toe... maybe one day.

doit

[skullservant]

Yeah, that's a good way to describe it- sludgy. I got most of the muck off, but there are still gobs of it here and there in places I couldn't easily reach with the scraper.

I kind of like the messed up paint job, a little bit. I've realized that the neck pocket and neck on the guitar are wider than a regular tele neck and neck pocket- does anyone know the variations in the dimensions?

re: pickguard- If I use this body chances are I will have to get a custom guard cut for it. Somewhere in the realm of a Tele deluxe type of guard, because a traditional one is way too small to cover the extensive routing

[braaandooon]

Yah thats kinda the nature of working with strippers is the sludgy mess, no way around it, as thats how they get the job done.

Most of these products are active for up to 24 hours so the longer you leave it on, the better, this process can also be aided by sealing the body in a trashbag and closing it up.

I try to use citristrip whenever possible, as its the medium that allows me to use my bathtub for a rinse. A scolding hot rinse and a stiff brush does lots of good in removing the mess between applications. So dont be afraid to get that body wet, that and brush well help remove solvent and disolved finish from body routes.

The other products I mentioned would be better suited for the job, but those products are very toxic. I work with aircraft stripper just about daily, and even in a well ventilated area, a respirator is definatly required.

I think your project will turn out as intended. Won't happen over night, but atleast won't require a shit ton of sanding.

I tend to take on alot of rifle refinishing projects, and have a basic routine I go by. Really doesnt involve a whole lot of my time. I apply my solvent in morning, let sit all day, before bed, I strip, and give a hot scrub, and then re apply. I repeat this process until I get grain.

When working with oil or polyurethane finishes, I usually repeat the process 3-5 times.

Polyester is a bear, when hunters bring me there newer remingtons, I usually scoff, as with even some of the best solvents, I typically have to repeat the process a minimum of 10 times.

[skullservant]

Well, I said fuck it because I was irritated at the body itself in general, took a dremel sander to it, rough sanded the rest of the spray paint off of it, then said fuck it again, took it outside, and sprayed it pink. It's drying, but I really don't have high hopes for this body in general. The routes on it are weird, it's cracking, etc. I might just start over with a new body.

[Hyphen Nation]

@UG, yeah. I could see picking it up and tossing some better PU's into it for sure. It's fucking gorgeous.

@Skully, I thought with these Poly finishes, you could just get them to pop off with some heat? Good luck on the project. If it doesn't work out, seems like there are more than enough tele bodies to go around.

[skullservant]

Probably could but I don't have a heat gun at the moment. I dunno honestly if this body would be worth any more work being done to it, though. We will see tomorrow. Like you said, there are plenty of bodies out there. I might cancel this project and start up on that Bass VI I wanted to do

[braaandooon]

Ahhh man, patience is key my friend, heres one of my polyester pain in the ass projects



Its a 77 ruger 10/22. Ruger quit using walnut and introduced birch due to lumber prices, their attempt to try to put one by customers was to apply a walnut varnish and and some odd clear finish I'm unsure of. The original owner ended up painting it black and a heavy coating of polyester, shit is pretty much bomb proof. Anyways I bought it as a rusty beater that didn't work for $25 bucks, took me almost a week to get that stock bare, dont even want to get into the total time of reviving this heap. Now its back in service heavily modified to handle some very nasty ammo, as its a coyote gun. It does its part, as I lend my services to all the local deer farms, saving all the baby deer of the world 1 by 1.

Although not a guitar, I nice piece of lumber is somthing I can appreciate, and cant believe ruger would even sprayed this awesome piece of birch in the first place.

If you ever get that bass vi project going and want a great finish I could be of some help, can also provide some pics of some of my other builds and other projects, hoping to start my own guitar build one of these days.

[skullservant]

I appreciate your help dude. That gun looks ace!

I think I would be more inclined to actually see this body through if I new that it was going to work out physically. It's just in weird shape as it is in addition to this finishing/refinishing business that I'd rather start new, I think. Whether its a new body for this neck, or me starting the Bass VI I feel like I could probably do a better job starting from scratch.

[braaandooon]

@UG, yeah. I could see picking it up and tossing some better PU's into it for sure. It's fucking gorgeous.

@Skully, I thought with these Poly finishes, you could just get them to pop off with some heat? Good luck on the project. If it doesn't work out, seems like there are more than enough tele bodies to go around.

Heat guns can work, but would require somthing hi temp that would run close to 2 bills.

The problem with squier is the junk laminate woods they use, when you get to popping off the polyster you'll usually pull up layers of laminate with it due to the high temps. This isnt a problem with fenders as they use solid stock to assemble there bodies.

[neonblack]

If you need a heat gun, you might be able to rent one from Home Depot or Lowe's. They have some tools for rent, that might be one of them.

[Achtane]

I got mine for $50 and it's worked just fine for removing poly
It takes a while to get used to the technique and it's still kind of a pain, but much less so than sanding IMO. It's something you almost need 3 hands to do. Or the tried-and-true "put something heavy on this end of the guitar and curse a lot as it still slides around". But much less labor-intensive in the end.