how do I strip the polyester finish from body of my silhouette guitar

[guitardr56]

I have tried every kind of finish out there and nothing even touches the polyester base coat- is there a chemical that will take off the polyester base coat?
If not what wil take it off--I am an artist and do custom artwork on guitars and have this one to do and would really like to get down to bare wood-- if I cannot get to bare wood than I will just paint over the polyester base coat.
thanks for any tips.
you can email responses directly to me also. guitardr56 at hotmail dot com

 

[paranoid70]

I don't know bro.... but when you finish customizing the guitar please post some pics!

 

[fsmith]

Have you tried a heat gun? A local luthier said that's what he's had to do to get the base coat off when I asked about a refinish for one of mine...

 

[guitardr56]

I will try the heat gun. I think I have heard of that before but the guy said the polyester actually explodes off the guitar. yikes.

 

[luv]

yep, i've heard that it comes off like popcorn sometimes. put your long sleeves on and wear eye protection. good luck and post some pics of the process......we love that kind of stuff.

 

[Defender2000]

I've heard a heat gun works. I've also heard that aviation stripper works pretty good too. Whatever you figure out, please post some pictures of the process. I have a couple of project guitars that I would like to strip down.

 

[guitardr56]

tell me how to post pics on this site please-- I have one hanging in shop now---an old silhouette strip(but not the poly) and I have repainted it and applied the nitro and ready to be sanded out and assembled. My own take on a antique goldtop with my own tasty hand painted design on top.

 

[ScoobySteve]

I'd say call CS. The answers are there!

 

[fsmith]

If you don't already have a photobucket account, create one, it's free... Upload your pictures and then when you mouse over a picture you'll see 4 options for the picture. Click on "IMG code", that copies a link to your clipboard, create a new post or post in an existing post, copy the clipboard link to the post (CTRL-V), you'll have a link to the photobucket picture in the post that shows up as your picture when its read. Any other questions just ask...

I'd love to see the picture you're talking about... Oh and welcome to the forum.

fred

tell me how to post pics on this site please-- I have one hanging in shop now---an old silhouette strip(but not the poly) and I have repainted it and applied the nitro and ready to be sanded out and assembled. My own take on a antique goldtop with my own tasty hand painted design on top.

 

[guitardr56]

Hey Fred,
I am in Kansas City now but moved here about 5 years back from Oxford Maryland before that Ocean City Maryland. man I miss the water.
Here is a link I hope to one of the music mans I did.

FDP - Forum

 

[straycat113]

The heat gun will do it.

 

[dwells]

paint stripper haha

 

[meenahga]

Use a heat gun

I have sucessfully used a heat gun to remove the polyester finish from a Silhouette before. I used a putty knife. Just slowly heat the finish and remove the softened finish with the putty knife. Have some rome rags on hand as well. I recall heating 3"x3" sections at a time. You'll get the hang of it pretty quick. Just remember a heat gun is much hotter than a hair dryer. Wave it back and forth over an area from varying distances away from the body. I think it worked best with the gun tip at 4 or 5 inches away from the body of the guitar, but start it at a distance at first. It is not really a difficult process if you are at all handy. The finish softens up nicely and can be removed with the putty knife in pieces.

For a post of the original project clik here:
http://www.ernieball.com/forums/mus...music-man-silhouette-restoration-project.html

 

[fsmith]

Wow, nice job!

My mom & dad just moved to the shore about 2 years ago, they live about 18 miles from Ocean City right off of Rt. 50, nice place to live. Nothing like that in KC that's for sure.

Hey Fred,
I am in Kansas City now but moved here about 5 years back from Oxford Maryland before that Ocean City Maryland. man I miss the water.
Here is a link I hope to one of the music mans I did.

FDP - Forum

 

[Sweat]

FDP - Forum

OK now thats just plain ol cool, nice work

 

[guitfiddle]

Nice work indeed. Very cool looking Silo. Any pics of it all back together?

 

[guitardr56]

will be getting it back together in the next week or so--it actually looks different now-
you will have to wait and see the changes.
have another old ebmm silo coming in for a refin this week. will also change out the pickups and put in I believe some Fralin pickups-