What do I need to think about if I want to strip a guitar back to it's natural wood?

WiresDreamDisasters

What do I need to think about if I want to strip a guitar back to it's natural wood?

I've got this Fame bass that I bought years and years ago. I hate the EMG pickups in it. I don't really like the colour of the bass anymore. It cost me £700+ which was a pretty stupid buy to be honest. It's not a brand name anyone cares about even though it's made in the Mayones factory.

So I thought maybe I could do something interesting with it. I do like the acoustic sound of the bass, it's quite snappy and almost Warwick-y feeling to play. So I'm thinking ... make a project out of it.











I think there might be some nice wood under all that junk on top! But how successful am I going to be if I start trying to sand it down and do something with it?

The other thing is, it is routed for EMG DC35 cavity pickups. Which is a bit crap. But I'll probably stick with that cavity size and just get some nice passive pickups to fit it.

munckee

If it's poly finish I think heat gun and scraper will do a better job.  There are some decent tutorials on youtube.  If it looks nice underneath a nice wax would look cool.

Jalapeno

munckee said:

If it's poly finish I think heat gun and scraper will do a better job.  There are some decent tutorials on youtube.  If it looks nice underneath a nice wax would look cool.

Yep, just practice with the heat gun first on something (bit of old furniture or what have you) so you don't burn the wood.

axisus

munckee said:

If it's poly finish I think heat gun and scraper will do a better job.  There are some decent tutorials on youtube.  If it looks nice underneath a nice wax would look cool.

Not always. I burned the finish off of 2 guitars with heat and scraper. They went amazingly well although the wood invariably gets burned in places and it's difficult to sand out. But ... a third guitar was a nightmare! The finish just wouldn't come off! Ended up as a right old mess (with finish still on!) Gave up on it in the end. Scrapwood.