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If you want to get it back to sounding as it was, there's probably no alternative to a professional refinish with a thin, hard polyester finish, which is what I think the original is.
I'd probably look into replacing the wife too.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
* A thousand apologies for this terrible pun.
Oh well ... every day is a school day. Down the hardware shop to get another 100 sheets of sandpaper.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Depends what your new coat is but as ^^ if it came out of a rattle can Nitromors may work, even though it's so poor compared to what it used to be. Also chances are the new clearcoat will wipe off with pure cellulose thinners or acetone. But with any of these ways it'd be easy to damage the finish on the sides. Masking doesn't totally help because pure solvent will eat the edge. Maybe masking up onto the top edge would help, then scrape & sand edge areas left over after doing the main area of the top.
Going over carefully with a cabinet scraper first would give any method a head start.
Bodyshop paint stripper takes off both 2k (typical guitar paint since the 70s, catalysed urethane in the US) and catalysed polyurethane, and eventually polyester; DIY strippers were emasculation by EU regs, but 'trade' or 'bodyshop' strippers do have the missing DCM (dichlormethane) and are easy to buy, just not on DIY shop shelves.
Putting tin foil over it helps a bit, slows the DCM evaporation down. Usually still takes 2-3 goes but gets there eventually.
I have stripped bodies & necks with it but honestly most of the time would rather sand.
If so, if it was me, I would use a sanding block and something like 320 grit sandpaper and sand down to a thin 'sealing' coat and stop short of sanding down further into the wood.
I think you will find that the Halfords out of a can spray varnish will sand off very easily. If you do it this way, replace the paper frequently to avoid lumps of varnish sticking to the paper and rubbing grooves into the top.
I would then treat that thin remainder as my priming coat. But first, I would string it up and try it. If the sound is back to what it was originally, then I would give it the thinnest of finish coats just to get the colour back and leave it at that.
For such a final finish, personally, if I was after gloss, I would use Ronseal Hardglaze thinned by about 20% white spirits and wipe it on with a soft microfibre cloth. I have never had reaction with other finishes with Ronseal (but I am specifically talking about Hardglaze - the original bog standard clear polyurethane varnish and NOT the myriad of later alternatives).
If the finish is Satin, then I would use Osmo Polyx 3032 Polyx Clear (small tin available from Wood Finishes Direct), again wiped on (unthinned, in the case of Osmo but the tin must be stirred before use). Ditto, I haven't suffered incompatibility issues personally with Osmo either.
In both cases, I would give it a single thin wiped coat, let it dry, see what it looks like and, at the most, give it a second coat.
If, on the other hand, the sound is still muted, then it isn't the thickness of the finish that is causing the problem.
Did you try new strings, by the way? Before doing ANY of the suggestions, it's worth a try. Someone Brian Maying with a metal pick strumming like a whirling dervish could easily knacker a set of strings in a single sitting...
I'm really very grateful for all the advice, I'll do what you suggest
If it had a thick finish on before it would probably sound better than ever once all the gloop had gone
@hywelg - I would hope that Paint Panther is better ... I can't think of anything less effective than Nitromors!