good ways to strip paint off a guitar?

[Say No To Vorderman]

just picked up an old Jedson short scale Tele Bass today. it's been very badly painted but the original off white colour shiny surface is alright under the paint. can any of you give me some tips on removing the paint without damaging the finish beneath it? will turps/spirit ruin the shine?

it's quite a nice bass actually...very pleasant feel to the neck and all original apart from the crappy paint job..spotted it today in junk shop and thought it was worth £20 and the girlfriend might like it with it being so small

see what i'm doing there....? trying to lure her into the guitar world

[jedistar]

? very light sanding? suggest expert opinion needed.

if it is from the 60s 70s not likely to have a very robust modern paint underneath

[Say No To Vorderman]

[Michael Ambrose]

I use a solvent called Bix... works REALLY well on crappy "refin" jobs.

Here's a few of my experiences:

... My first experience with it... I got a mexican Fender Strat body that I wanted to strip... back in my younger days, when I knew next to nothing haha... I asked my grandfather, who knew quite a bit about paints and had a good supply of various chemicals, and he gave me Bix. Knowlegeable about how painting as he was, Bix didn't do a thing to the finish.

... A few years later I decided to give Bix another try. I once got my hands on a Univox Hi-flyer "refinished" with a few coats of this horrid orange auto paint. Bix cleared the auto paint straight off without touching the original finish.

... Around the same time, I got my hands on an old Supro solid-body ciolin-shaped bass that someone had sprayed silver... and that someone had earlier sprayed red. Bix again... took some time and a little extra work with a razor blade (as the had the brilliant idea to spray the pickguard, too), but got it down to the original black finish.

So, I've got no clue what sort of top-coating is under your re-spray... but I'd say try a solvent on the back and see what comes of it.

[Say No To Vorderman]

[Michael Ambrose]

[Say No To Vorderman]

[Michael Ambrose]

Ah, I'm sorry, I'm a chowderbrain and didn't notice you were overseas!

I've no idea what it would be called over there... when I get into the shop tomorrow, I'll have a look at the chemical composition and see if I can't find something similar.

[Bassassin]

Is it a Halfords rattle can refin? Nowt for it but fine grade sandpaper & lots & lots of elbow grease, once it's stripped, more elbow grease plus T-Cut should bring back the original finish - but take it easy!

This was what I managed with an old Cimar P/J I picked up over Christmas:

http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=10819

I don't know what possesses people to paint over perfectly acceptable finishes - although having said that, my first bass had a nice sunburst (a Grant medium-scale jazz-ish thing - the finish was probably the only good thing about it!) and in the year I had it, before getting a more playable bass, I painted it first white, then black. Kids, eh?

Jon.

[Say No To Vorderman]

cheers..i'd not thought of looking in Halfords..even though i walk past a branch most days