Fender has been using some sort of poly under their lacquer since at least 1963 when they started using Fullerplast, so unless you have a REALLY old or completely stripped / refinished guitar, it's not 100% nitrocellulose anyway...portugalwillie wrote:This is what I wondered. Purist will tell you that it won't allow for the guitar to really "breath" or resonate. I'm just wondering if you can actually tell.Narco Martenot wrote:Has anyone noticed too much of a difference in tone by painting over an existing poly finish vs. stripping it?
Unless it's either already completely stripped or just in horrible shape, I'd degloss the poly finish with some 400 grit paper, prime that with B-I-N Shellac and then nitro color coat and clear coat over that. I have a 75 Music Master (now essentially a Duo Sonic) and some ReRanch on its way to me, and other than the fact that the guitar body was already stripped, that's exactly what I'm going to be doing...