Does anybody know anything about stripping and refinishing guitars?

[Whoopysnorp]

I've got this Ibanez RG560 from the mid-'80s. It's a great guitar--Japanese made, with the Edge Pro tremolo (widely considered to be one of the best Floyd Rose variations ever made), the super-fast Wizard neck, and now that I've got all DiMarzio pickups in it, great tone. The only problem is that it is ugly as sin. It's this kind of dark red lipstick color that just screams '80s cheese. To make matters worse, there are several spots with the finish chipped off, and on some of them the previous owner tried to cover it up with toenail polish. I have this pipe dream of someday stripping the finish and redoing it in a more pleasant color. Has anybody ever gone about this, and how much is it going to cost me?

[DreamwaveMusic]

i did this once and had no idea how long it would take. But to do it cheaply, rent a heat gun, that will break up the lacquer, then you can peel it off in pieces. its not to expensive to rent a spray gun and get the right paint and lacquer to spray on. it took a couple weeks to get all that lacquer off

[smopo24]

a friend of mine took off this hideous pink finish from a guitar and he said it took him forever too, after that he purchased another guitar with a "guilded steel" kind of finish that he hated, but didn't want to take the finish because it was such a pain last time.

[Nubus]

My friend's Hagstrom appears to have been painted at least 4 colors. Is that normal? the bottome one is pink, the latest one is white, in between is grey and blue. It almost seems like something the factory would do for some reason.

[Whoopysnorp]

Well, you know the old saying: if something is worth doing, it's worth doing once.

Seriously though, what kind of places would be able to supply these things, and what is the proper kind of lacquer and whatnot to finish a guitar? This really is something I want to do, though I'm sure once I do I'll never want to do it again.

[Nubus]

I think lukedavo finished a guitar.

[lukedavo]

Indeed, but I went the easy route, natural finish. Just sanded the bad boy smooth and level, and used normal clear wood lacquer. The more coats you use the shinier it gets, I wanted mine dullish, so I did not buff and used only 4 coats.

[Drengur Grar]

Originally Posted by Nubus

My friend's Hagstrom appears to have been painted at least 4 colors. Is that normal? the bottome one is pink, the latest one is white, in between is grey and blue. It almost seems like something the factory would do for some reason.

I've never heard of any 4 color paint jobs on those old Haggy's. hmm...I have heard of people back in the day would just paint over finishes because it was such a pain to strip sand and repaint/finish....or on a lot of old 60's finishes..such as the 'sonic blue' and 'candy apple red' colors they would lay down a couple different coats underneath. Usually white. then the color. It gives those pastel-esque colors much more brilliance. BUT, i'm sure everyone already knew that