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Hey .. I'm considering getting the paint on my Squier guitar sanded down and then paint the guitar again .. some suggestions for how to make it easiest?

I'm not planning on spending a lot of money on my litte project, so if there is any cheap ways to do it, would be sweet!

Last summer I tried hand sanding the paint off my squier.

It was more work than I ever imagined.

Use a heat gun. Keep it moving so you don't burn the wood underneath. The poly finish should bubble up then you can gently scrape off with a putty knife. The only time I had a problem using a heat gun was on a metallic finish. The paint flaked off in tiny brittle pieces. Most of the time the paint will come off in large pieces.

I hand sanded a telecaster (p-rails) down to the wood and it was a nightmare, it lterally took months becase after so many hours I wouldn't even wantto see that thing ever again.
Finally finished it and spent $10 on rattle can primer and paint. It's not the BEST job but it looks nice and it is wearing tastefully.

No offense - but it's a squire and you wouldn't be tinkering with it if you were completely satisfied. So don't worry about it too much, it doesn't have to be perfect! As long as you've had fun when it's finished then cheers

It depends on what the finish is like now. If it's quite smooth without any big chips or whatever you could probably just sand it and spray it with a thin coat of the new colour.

Alternatively use a chemical stripper and completely remove the old finish, lightly sand then seal and prime and go from there.

I'll use a shuffle sander.. is that a good or bad idea?

it'll work on the top and back and parts of the sides, but you'll still have to probably sand the real curvy areas by hand(with a block or big dowel), which is a total pain in the ass. i asked a friend of mine, who's on the way to being an accomplished luthier via text message "Whats the most painless way to remove the finish from this tele?" he replied with "it's never painless."

edit: it's important to have a decent understanding of grit size too. you'll want to start coarse and work your way to fine.

Removing it chemically is fairly painless. It's the catual refinishing that's the problem. Getting the old stuff off, even poly, isn't that hard at all.

To be honest with you mate I'd just be content with James' practical suggestion - even if there are some chips they can be filled. Or chemically strip it - there are strippers available that do a lot of the work but it still ends up with sanding. I've not personally used a heat stripper but I've seen good results by others on the net for sure. I definatley WOULD avoid trying to sand the entire thickness of the finish off however. It is a mentally gruelling pain in the rectum just short of chinese water torture.

Also consider that if you strip it to the wood there's more to refinishing than just the paint. If you don't want a visible grain then that means grain filler, sanding sealer, primer and a bugger load of preparation and manual labour. If you want something rough and ready that simplifies things. Have a read the reranch 101s as they contain some advice on stripping poly along with refinishing details.

polly striptease tips and more

okay thanks for your help.! i'll try here in a few days.. if it goes completely wrong, it won't be that big a deal, since it's a squier :b

James wrote:Removing it chemically is fairly painless. It's the catual refinishing that's the problem. Getting the old stuff off, even poly, isn't that hard at all.

I've never had much luck with chemical removal of a poly finish. Probably user error, but I tried almost everything I could find at your typical home improvement type store and none of it worked as well as a power sander. There's probably some product out there that does the trick but I haven't used it.

James wrote:It depends on what the finish is like now. If it's quite smooth without any big chips or whatever you could probably just sand it and spray it with a thin coat of the new colour.

I second this. Just scuff the old finish with a coarse sand paper. Not enough to remove the original paint, but just enough to roughen up the surface so that the paint will have something to adhere to. Fill any holes or chips and just paint over the old finish.

Yar. I painted right over the CAR finish on a Jag, and it worked like a charm.

I would paint over it if it is smooth.


I had a hell of time removing the finish on my jazz bass. Then a friend of mine did it for free but it came back with a bunch of dings in the wood; made my prep work take 4 times as long as it should have. I'm actually still doing prep.

I have done this a few times and honestly if I were you I would do one of two things

1. Scuff the current finish on your guitar (to give the primer something to stick to) then prime and paint your guitar.
or
2. just buy a new unfinished body from GFS http://store.guitarfetish.com/unststbohshs.html $60 it's solid Ash so you may want to use BIN white primer (as it's thick enough to fill the grain with 3 coats) wet sand with 400 then your ready for paint. (unless you are going to do a burst then you will need a transparent grain filler) Some will say by going to a Ash body and finishing it off with nitro you will enhance the tone of the guitar (I agree it does, yet some argue no difference)

I paint and refinish guitars all the time, and let me tell ya by going with option 2 you will be much happier in the end. To know you did it and did it the right way actually makes the guitar more fun to play. It's not impossible to strip your poly body and paint it, but I guarantee you after you do it once, you will never try again, just from personal experience.

Anyways thats my 2 cents, good luck!

Oh and I forgot to mention, if you bought a new body from GFS take your old body, hit it a few times with random shit sand the arm area, put it on ebay as a relic, if you do a good enough job you will make enough to pay for the Ash body with a few bucks left over to pay for paint and sandpaper. Just make sure it's a good relic, big bucks there.

i'll think about it :b thanks again!

LorteMidget wrote:i'll think about it :b thanks again!

Set it on fire and claim it was a Hendrix for the really big $$$

Black Cat Bone wrote:

LorteMidget wrote:i'll think about it :b thanks again!

Set it on fire and claim it was a Hendrix for the really big $$$

oh yeah! you're right! brilliant idea