can some people help me with my project for my telecaster

metalhead384 · Post by **metalhead384** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 10:56 pm

so i have a 72 thinline RI telecaster and it has a bunch of dings so i wanted to remove the 3 tone sunburst into a natural finsh any tips or anything.

Dannymec · Post by **Dannymec** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 11:50 pm

That's a little hard to do!
I would just get a new body

gaybear · Post by **gaybear** » Mon Sep 19, 2011 11:59 pm

It would make more sense to put this in the projects forum. You'll get good advice there

ultratwin · Post by **ultratwin** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 12:25 am

gaybear wrote:It would make more sense to put this in the projects forum. You'll get good advice there

Done'd!

I'm snickering a selfish grin right now because it's so cool how a mod can move an entire thread, 20m below the surface of a busy city street while riding a train to Seoul.

As for the re-fin, it would probably be less painful and more pleasant in the long run to enjoy dinging the thing up a bunch more while playing, instead of trying to scrape and sand a good week through a thick-n-gooey coat of polyurethane. Just sayin' it won't be either pretty or easy.

cur · Post by **cur** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 1:54 am

How about a couple of pictures. Some of the folks around here have good eyes for the aesthetics of making a banged up guitar look it's best. And there is a good base of knowledge for fixing and touch ups as well.

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 4:04 am

you're not going to be able to remove that poly while keeping the wood in wood enough shape to clear coat it.

your best bet is a new body. Sell the old one on ebay and for somewhere around the same price, you should be able to buy a natural one.

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 6:26 am

i would keep it sunburst.

rlm2112 · Post by **rlm2112** » Tue Sep 20, 2011 10:47 pm

need pics.

Thomas · Post by **Thomas** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 12:42 am

hotrodperlmutter wrote:i would keep it sunburst.

This.

Pacafeliz · Post by **Pacafeliz** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 3:36 am

ding it up more, then.

MattK · Post by **MattK** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 10:19 pm

portugalwillie wrote:you're not going to be able to remove that poly while keeping the wood in wood enough shape to clear coat it.

With respect, that's completely untrue - I recently removed the entire poly finish from my MIJ Telecaster using a heat gun, and sanded it back to natural. You need to be careful not to scorch or gouge the wood, but the flat Tele body is easier to work with than most. It took me maybe 3 evenings of patient slow work, but it's totally doable and the result can be very nice.

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 10:50 pm

i think what robbie's saying is that method won't work on sunburst. that's three seperate layers of three seperate colors. a heat gun is not going to remove it and have anything nice looking underneath when you're done.

MattK · Post by **MattK** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 11:23 pm

Not picking arguments, but I also did it to a sunburst jazz bass copy with similar results (for the legendary, lost, mythical "Mustang VI" project you know too well). It seems like the filler/sealer layer does the most bubbling up and takes everything off above it, including the layers of the sunburst. Almost exactly the same as taking off the yellow clearcoat on the Tele.

(The last one shows it before sanding, with toothpicks glued in the screw holes.)

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 11:35 pm

nice, i remember those pics! i guess it seems like it may work, then.

i remember trying to get a sunburst finish (and later attempting to recreate it) with a squier strat many moons ago, and was able to get it off, but the wood looked like horse shit when i was complete. i assumed it wasn't so either, but had forgotten about your endeavor.

MattK · Post by **MattK** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 11:42 pm

Of course if the wood was dyed yellow as the starting point for the burst, you'd be shit out of luck.
I still intend to finish the Mustang VI! An incredibly busy year but there is still hope.

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 11:43 pm

I STILL DON'T BELIEVE YOU!!!!

MattK · Post by **MattK** » Wed Sep 21, 2011 11:46 pm

If I just wish, really hard ...
(and since I did manage to 3/4 finish the five dollar Strat HH, just needs a pickguard and an oil finish)