Guitar finish help

Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2003 4:19 pm

I won a B.C. Mockingbird neck-through bass on e-bay that the owner had painted over the original clearcoat finish.

Is there any product or method out there to easily remove the cheesy paint job, without harming the original clearcoat.

I was thinking of lightly wet sanding most of it off, then using compound to get the rest. Last, I would use scratch remover compound and wax on the clearcoat to bring back the original look.

I would love it if there was some other method to do this.

Any other suggestions ?

Here is the link to the auction. If you look at the pics, it looks like the paint is coming off already.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2366899620&category=4713

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 403 Location: Cincinnati, OH

Two thigns that would help answer this question immensely would be;
1-What was the origonal finish amde of, and
2-what is the "new" finish made of?

Wouldnt; do much good to strip both of would it, so we'd need a chemical to strtip one and not the other... can you find out from the seller/know/find out?

Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2003 8:04 pm

I'm sure he don't know what the original clearcoat was, but I will ask him if he knows what he covered it with.

Joined: 30 Nov 2003 Posts: 4406 Location: Hostile Territory

My guess is the original finish is poly - industry standard for years now. Try some "Citristrip" it's orange and a fairly gentle citrus based stripper - it should take that first layer off and be less harmfull to the original. It should be available at any decent hardware store, or lumber yard. Here's a link to the product home page: http://www.citristrip.com/

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 5324

250 bucks?!?!?!

whatta deal.. even with the "Hee-Haw" Buck Owens paint job..

sweet..

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 2742 Location: Denver

I second the Citristrip nod...the stuff has never done me wrong.

Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2003 1:20 am

+1 to Throb! That's a score even for an NJ! Congrats!

Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2003 9:23 am

ponch wrote:

+1 to Throb! That's a score even for an NJ! Congrats!

That's why I jumped on it. Even though it is an N.J., to get a neck through BC Rich for $250, I couldn't pass on it Cool

Hopefully that crappy paint job will come off easily (it is already starting to blister up (look at pics) where your arm lays across the body.

I think I will try that citristrip, I am pretty sure I have seen it.

How long should I leave it on ? Should I try multiple applications for short periods of time (to minimize exposure of the poly clearcoat), or just one application and leave it sit for a while.

Either way, I will try it on hte back side first to test.

Thanks for your help everyone.

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 7639 Location: Florida

i have a Bich that was painted as well - havent gotten around to getting it taken care of though.

Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2003 1:07 pm

transblueZ wrote:

i have a Bich that was painted as well - havent gotten around to getting it taken care of though.

Is it the red one in your sig ?

What color was it originally ?

Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2003 7:35 pm

Just to update.................

Thanks to all who recommended the citristrip.

Got the bass from UPS today, and immediately went out and found some citristrip.

Instead of the recommended 30 minute time, I leave it on for 10-15 minutes. Seems to be working great. Taking off the spray paint and primer no problem, and the original clearcoat seems to be fine

Bass appears to be maple neck with walnut body wings.

Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2003 9:56 pm

YUMMY

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 7639 Location: Florida

Instigator wrote:

transblueZ wrote:

i have a Bich that was painted as well - havent gotten around to getting it taken care of though.

Is it the red one in your sig ?

What color was it originally ?

yeah, that's the one - per the folks at bc rich it was orginally a clear finished maple top

Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2003 8:58 am

Hey TansblueZ,

I'll let you know how mine turns out.

Like I said, I have only done about half of the back (doing about 4 - 5 square inches at a time), but the citristrip seems to do the trick.

I put some on, and after 10 or so minutes, I test it with a scraper. I don't trust leaving it on too long because I don't want it to start eating the original clearcoat.

Just took all the hardware and pups off the front, and will do some today.

I'll post some pics later to show the before, and the after.