sanding off paint! help!

right, so I got my little guitar project goin on in the background, I'm not putting a lot of time or effort into it right now, I;m taking my sweet little time with it. I've been sanding off the paint, and I've finally gotten all of it off except the insides of the horns (strat-type body) I used a power sander for a majority, and spent an hour and a half hand sanding with a sponge sander trying to get the little places I couldn't get with the power sander... I spent a majority of the time getting a small 3-inch section on the outside of one of the horns, and I decided that hand sanding is very difficult and time consuming!!! is there any easier way to take the paint off the insides of the horns?

you may try using some paint stripper. But use it lightly while sanding.

ya theres a good tool for that in my school. its a round sanding unit that spins
its hard to explain..but if u can find one
ill post the name of it tomorrow

If you are interested I can send you the information on what issues Guitar Player Magazine had for refinishing and creating custom paint jobs for guitars.

It basically starts from the beginning of a store bought pre-finished GTR all the way to applying the laquer for the finish. You can check out there web site if you do not have a way to get the back issues. This was only just the last part of 2005 that it started.

I've been looking at an Epiphone Les Paul but there's 2 things I really don't care for -

1) I HATE finished necks. I much prefer the "unfinished" or satin finish style neck. Anyone have info or ideas on how to remove the factory finish and attain that style?

2) The fretboard and frets (mainly, or so it seems) makes sliding up and down and especially string bends difficult and sort of sticky/crusty/raspy feeling. How would one go about smoothing this out or otherwise cleaning things up in this area?

Any info greatly appreciated!! Thanks in advance. e-mail is [email]emailsack@gmail.com[/email] if you prefer. Thanks again!

To start with the original question of the thread and to allow this thread to not be jacked.....

6Strings... The idea that someone gave of using a stripper in combination with sanding is about the best thing you can do without goin out and buying new tools... In most shops there is a sander that has a band stretched a few feet... The band is a big wheel of sandpaper... When you press the piece of wood onto the band it forms around the piece... This is what most luthiers use to get into the horns. They can press that part of the guitar right onto the belt and the belt forms into the crevace. But tools like that can be expensive... So grab some stripper... some rubber gloves and some sandpaper and go at it.


Now to answer the hi-jackers questions. haha.

1) I hate gloss finish necks as well... I can deal with a little bit of lacquer... but I prefer a nice smooth neck. If you have ever seen a Zakk Wylde Gibson Les Paul... the back of the neck is stripped to bare wood and finished with a wood sealer... so it's bare Mahogany... His tech basically took a sander and paint stripped to the back of the neck... just like 6strings did to the body of his guitar... You take off the gloss finish... then seal the bare wood with some kind of sealer... I prefer a satin lacquer. You can get it in a cheap spray on kind... But I suggest getting a few extra cans so you can practice on some spare pieces of wood....

2) I have no idea what you're talking about here... The question is way too vague to clearly see what the problem is... It sounds that maybe you had a bad fret job or something... or bad fretwire... or bad fretboard... I can't really tell. But basically the only way to really clean the fretboard up is to remove the fretwire... smooth out the radius... smooth any extra lacquer or paint... then install new fretwire... If you can be more specific about where the stickyness comes from on the fretboard (ie... the edge of the frets, the fretboard itself, the top of the frets) Are the tops of the frets smooth or do they have grooves worn in them....?? Do the frets have tiny cuts in them?? Is it only on areas of the frets where there are wound strings?? These are some questions to ask yourself..

Thanks very much for your reply! Didn't mean to hijack the thread, but appreciate the info!!

6strings, use a drill and wrap it with sandpaper

Originally Posted by: narmnateThanks very much for your reply! Didn't mean to hijack the thread, but appreciate the info!!

it's ok dude, I was only kidding around.

so, aschleman, this tool you are talking about, is it one of these? because, if so, I think we have one in the attic somewhere; I could probably go dig it out if it that's what you mean.

dude, about that epi Les Paul...if you have those problems with a guitar (those are rather big problems I would say) why not just find a guitar you like from the start?

I wouldnt pay money for a guitar I wasnt happy with...but thats just me.