To refin or not?

[rsm]

So I got a cheap guitar; set neck, plays great, intonates great, feels great, well balanced, sounds great, nice inlays in the fretboard (ebony IIRC, but still looks like ebony), top of the body and head have 8-layer binding: white (also on the side top edge) - black - white - black - abalone - black - white - black - which looks great and is very well done. the body sides, back, back of neck, headstock are all gloss black. The neck also has white binding. All the black surface areas are nice too.

the problem: the finish on the top of the body under the poly clearcoat has glue spots, scratches, pretty bad in some places that very wide, are very noticeable, and doesn't remotely look like wear from playing but shoddy craftsmanship on the paint finish. this is only on the top surface of the body. the poly clear coat is nicely done. whatever happened to

I'm thinking about painting the top of the body snow white, but it's a lot of prep work to mask off the edge binding, etc. and I'm not a painter. I know I just need to sand the top enough to get a primer coat to cover and stick, then sand the primer down smooth before the snow white then clear gloss.

Would you just play it as-is, or refin the top? I keep going back and forth; and I'm ready to buy the paint...it's a great playing guitar, and it was very cheap, so I'm not looking for perfection but I'm ready to just paint the body top and be done with it so I can enjoy the guitar.

here's a pic of the body: all the white "clouds", lines, blotches and blobs you see are on the surface under the poly clear. The worst is around the pickup selector, and at the bottom of the body, that long wide white line going under the tone knob.

 

[MadAsAHatter]

Is the mirror finish a sticker or something under the clear or is it a piece of mirrored acrylic glued down? That would be a big key factor in what I would want to do.

 

[rsm]

Is the mirror finish a sticker or something under the clear or is it a piece of mirrored acrylic glued down? That would be a big key factor in what I would want to do.

can't tell under the poly; I was going to just rough up the clear coat, then prime, paint and clear it. taking the full poly clear off would be too much work

 

[MadAsAHatter]

can't tell under the poly; I was going to just rough up the clear coat, then prime, paint and clear it. taking the full poly clear off would be too much work

Personally I'd hit it with 80 grit and an orbital sander to take it down to bare wood. If it had a nice grain pattern probably dye it.

Though there's nothing wrong with a quick scuff sand to the top then primer and paint. I've refinished a couple of cheap guitars like that with good results. The biggest unknown is the type of clear that was used and if it'll react with the paint. Most of the time it's some type of polyurethane so odds are on your side that it'll be fine.

Scuff sand or taking it down to bare wood; either way I'd refinish it some way. I don't think I could live with those glue blobs.

 

[rsm]

I want to keep the binding; I have black PS models with the binding, so having a white iceman is my first choice to try

 

[DanTravis62]

So i'm gonna be real with you, this would be an INCREDIBLY time consuming project - that is, if you want to keep the binding

That poly is so difficult to get off it might as well be steel, and it's gonna be a PITA. I've attempted something similar before.

 

[rsm]

So i'm gonna be real with you, this would be an INCREDIBLY time consuming project - that is, if you want to keep the binding

That poly is so difficult to get off it might as well be steel, and it's gonna be a PITA. I've attempted something similar before.

I expected as much; I ordered the paint, gonna give it go and see how it goes. That poly is thick, so my plan is to use rough wet sanding to scuff it up enough to hold a primer coat or two.

 

[NowYou'rePlayingWithPower]

I wonder if the wood wasn't dry enough and that's what's causing the clouding or something else? I would worry about the undercoats lifting over time and ruining your hard work. Perhaps some etching primer for good measure?

 

[rsm]

I wonder if the wood wasn't dry enough and that's what's causing the clouding or something else? I would worry about the undercoats lifting over time and ruining your hard work. Perhaps some etching primer for good measure?

some of it looks like glue/adhesive; other areas looks like the mirror surface was scratched; no idea on the wide cloudy white line at the bottom.

Thinking about just getting some of the top surface of the poly clearcoat sanded down enough to hold the new paint layers (primer, paint, clearcoat) without being too thick

 

[NowYou'rePlayingWithPower]

some of it looks like glue/adhesive; other areas looks like the mirror surface was scratched; no idea on the wide cloudy white line at the bottom.

Thinking about just getting some of the top surface of the poly clearcoat sanded down enough to hold the new paint layers (primer, paint, clearcoat) without being too thick

Hmm, wasn't really thinking of it initially, but I wonder if it's the glue gassing off? It may be worth your time to break through the top layers in a few of the cloudy areas and let it sit a few weeks first. Personally, I would stress it would lift the new paint over time, but I also kind of like the weird "relic mirror" look. Either way, hope it works out for you.

 

[rsm]

protecting the body binding while removing the poly clear is my biggest concern.

I got a small heat gun to soften the poly clear to scrape it off; I'll have the binding covered in painters tape first, but still concerned the heat may also melt the binding topcoat under the tape?

unfortunately, real life has kept me off of music for awhile, hopefully everything will be in place in the next two weeks, and I can get back to this guitar, my MatrixBrute and Super Twin...

 

[Navigator]

Just posting to say that's a cool looking guitar as is! That mirror finish is pretty trippy and cool to me, so I'd probably keep it as is.

But either way, congrats on the score and I hope you enjoy it whatever color it ends up being.