re-refinishing a refinished top Traditonal

joe_cpwe · Jul 19, 2025

In the NGD post a few months back I talked about getting this 2019 Traditional (originally tobacco sunburst) with top stripped to natural finish. Color was not bad, but the clear coat was pitted and not great. I bought with the intention to refinish the top myself. My only experience was re-spraying the top of a white LP Studio a few years ago.
NGD thread https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/ngd-2019-traditional-w-refin-top.492258/

Now that I've mostly made it through the ringer of figuring out to 1) spray a sunburst 2) scrape binding I'll post some pictures and experience.

If it weren't for the finish pitting, I'd have left it because it didn't look bad, color wise. I'm sure the pitting was a real turn-off at the store and I did pay a good price for it.

How I bought it:

And here's where we are today (mid July). Final coats of clear are on, now I'm in the waiting period before wet sand & polish.

joe_cpwe · Jul 19, 2025

After deciding to try to restore it to a tobacco burst like the baby picture I bought Tobacco brown toner and conical spray tips from Oxford Guitar Supply. I already had some Mohawk clear (Tone finish gloss M102-0420) and a Mohawk classic yellow toner (M100-1488)

Here's bench picture from Gibson factory in Nashville

joe_cpwe · Jul 19, 2025

I wound up not doing tobacco burst after two failed attempts at scraping the binding. TWICE, my razor got too far into the finish so I went lighter, going for a tone that I could still see the binding through.

Rounds of re-finish attempts
#1 sanded off the clear coat I bought it with. Sprayed 6-7 coats of yellow (M100-1488) and 2 coats of Mohawk amber (M100-0007). It summer, I left it in the garage overnight and the finish cracked. So I decided to 'practice' a burst as long as I'd have to remove it anyway.

practice burst

#2 tried another burst, got some spray-can splotchy dots from the tobacco brown I bought from Oxford. Tried to 'repair those areas which was futile and led to me having way too many coats of toner. Also, bought a can of Mohawk guitar brown (M113-1201) which is super dark.

tob burst #2

trying to fix it ...ugh

getting the color and burst ok,,, screwing up the binding scrape

#3 going with a lighter burst. This time while spraying near the near the neck pocket I sprayed too much and it ran. I attempted to fix the run by sanding it back, re-spraying, yada yada...it go.too dark and started looking like crap. Time for the orbital sander...again.
Although. I did scrape some binding and found it much easier when I could see it through the yellow.

joe_cpwe · Jul 19, 2025

#4 time sanding the finish off. Going with lighter color, swearing that I'm only goin to do Yellow and be done with it....but I couldn't do that. After letting it rest a day I hit it with a coat of Amber and did the burst edges using Mohawk, medium brown walnut (M100-0207)

This is after toner and initial clear.

Although I can see a couple very minor imperfections in the scrape and the spay job, it was still better than I expected to do.

Here it is after 3 days consecutive days of spraying clear. Mohawk M102-0420, Tone finish gloss

Brewster2025 · Jul 19, 2025

I think you've done a a great job; it looks vintage to me, not like a brand new guitar, and I much prefer it over the tobacco burst, which is so harsh to my eyes.

Here's what I've used successfully for scraping bindings; it's a piece of hard plastic tubing with a slot cut to hold a broken-off piece of one of those cheap Harbor Freight retracting box knife blades. You can adjust the tension on the blade with the top tape wrap, and the angle & depth with the bottom wrap:

Freddy G · Jul 19, 2025

joe_cpwe said:
#4 time sanding the finish off. Going with lighter color, swearing that I'm only goin to do Yellow and be done with it....but I couldn't do that. After letting it rest a day I hit it with a coat of Amber and did the burst edges using Mohawk, medium brown walnut (M100-0207)

This is after toner and initial clear.

View attachment 877315

Although I can see a couple very minor imperfections in the scrape and the spay job, it was still better than I expected to do.

Here it is after 3 days consecutive days of spraying clear. Mohawk M102-0420, Tone finish gloss

View attachment 877317

Nice! I admire your perseverance. #4 is a winner. Beautiful, subtle burst.

joe_cpwe · Jul 19, 2025

Brewster2025 said:
I think you've done a a great job; it looks vintage to me, not like a brand new guitar, and I much prefer it over the tobacco burst, which is so harsh to my eyes.

Here's what I've used successfully for scraping bindings; it's a piece of hard plastic tubing with a slot cut to hold a broken-off piece of one of those cheap Harbor Freight retracting box knife blades. You can adjust the tension on the blade with the top tape wrap, and the angle & depth with the bottom wrap:

View attachment 877343 View attachment 877345

Im glad you like it
I tried something like that tool, but gave up and went free hand. Being able to see through the finish was very helpful.
On this last round I started scraping within a couple hours, so it seemed softer too.

Jorbissian · Jul 19, 2025

joe_cpwe said:
Im glad you like it
I tried something like that tool, but gave up and went free hand. Being able to see through the finish was very helpful.
On this last round I started scraping within a couple hours, so it seemed softer too.

Great effort !
All the best !

LtDave32 · Jul 19, 2025

Brewster2025 said:
I think you've done a a great job; it looks vintage to me, not like a brand new guitar, and I much prefer it over the tobacco burst, which is so harsh to my eyes.

Here's what I've used successfully for scraping bindings; it's a piece of hard plastic tubing with a slot cut to hold a broken-off piece of one of those cheap Harbor Freight retracting box knife blades. You can adjust the tension on the blade with the top tape wrap, and the angle & depth with the bottom wrap:

View attachment 877343 View attachment 877345

I use a similar tool, a dowel with a thin slot, two set-screws. Push the blade through, semi-tighten, set the blade depth (.060, or to whatever the the thinnest part of the binding is), then fully tighten the screws.

Tip:

Ensure the blade is at a 90-degree angle to the dowel. Do not push down hard when scraping, for that pushes the blade off the 90-degree angle which both biases the binding with a back-slant and changes the cutting length of the blade. You want perfectly square binding edges. A back-angle is fugly, rounded off, and not "crisp". You want it crisp, square and clean. Pushing down hard also makes the tool skip off the job and put a slice on the binding side. Not good. A light touch while scraping (and probably multiple passes) gives best results.

For the areas near the neck where the tool can't go, use a Xacto knife and protect the top's paint with a piece of plastic like scrap pickguard material (or thin wood, whatever). Line it up to the paint-side edge of the binding and use it as a bumper or fence.

Don't go hog's balls on scraping. You don't want the binding to end up lower than the clear can make up for because you scraped too much. Just get the color off, that's it.

Shit happens, to every one of us. I've seen crappy, round binding scrapes on ordinary Gibsons.

Never on Gib acoustics at the Bozeman plant though. They are a cut above. Beautiful work. All women. They train those gals for 6-8 weeks before letting them scrape binding, and even then, they are heavily supervised. They use glass slides for microscopes to scrape binding. Cheap, square and sharp. Fk'n brilliant! gets dull, throw it away, grab a new one!

Bobalu · Jul 19, 2025

That amber colour is really nice.

Can I ask, the original pitting that you showed us - was that just a lacquer application issue or was the top itself pitted, and you had to sand it out? I've seen runs from too thin or over spraying, and grit/dust contamination, but not pitting like that. But I have no personal experience with refinishing a LP, just the odd piece of furniture with a can of Home Depot varnish.

Brewster2025 · Jul 19, 2025

LtDave32 said:
I use a similar tool, a dowel with a thin slot, two set-screws. Push the blade through, semi-tighten, set the blade depth (.060, or to whatever the the thinnest part of the binding is), then fully tighten the screws.

Tip:

Ensure the blade is at a 90-degree angle to the dowel. Do not push down hard when scraping, for that pushes the blade off the 90-degree angle which both biases the binding with a back-slant and changes the cutting length of the blade. You want perfectly square binding edges. A back-angle is fugly, rounded off, and not "crisp". You want it crisp, square and clean. Pushing down hard also makes the tool skip off the job and put a slice on the binding side. Not good. A light touch while scraping (and probably multiple passes) gives best results.

For the areas near the neck where the tool can't go, use a Xacto knife and protect the top's paint with a piece of plastic like scrap pickguard material (or thin wood, whatever). Line it up to the paint-side edge of the binding and use it as a bumper or fence.

Don't go hog's balls on scraping. You don't want the binding to end up lower than the clear can make up for because you scraped too much. Just get the color off, that's it.

Shit happens, to every one of us. I've seen crappy, round binding scrapes on ordinary Gibsons.

Never on Gib acoustics at the Bozeman plant though. They are a cut above. Beautiful work. All women. They train those gals for 6-8 weeks before letting them scrape binding, and even then, they are heavily supervised. They use glass slides for microscopes to scrape binding. Cheap, square and sharp. Fk'n brilliant! gets dull, throw it away, grab a new one!

I hear you LTDave, and I agree about the angle. My photos show an angle on my tool, but that things been sitting in my drawer for several years since I refinished this Squier Classic Vibe 60s Tele in black; and, well, TAPE!

Screen Shot 2025-07-19 at 7.15.13 PM.png

Your method of using set screws is a much better idea for all adjustments, but hey, I'm a semi-rookie and here to learn from you big boys.

Brewster2025 · Jul 19, 2025

Bobalu said:
That amber colour is really nice.

Can I ask, the original pitting that you showed us - was that just a lacquer application issue or was the top itself pitted, and you had to sand it out? I've seen runs from too thin or over spraying, and grit/dust contamination, but not pitting like that. But I have no personal experience with refinishing a LP, just the odd piece of furniture with a can of Home Depot varnish.

That looks like fish eyes from silicone or wax contamination to me, but if he's sanded back to bare wood, his new finish is probably fine.

joe_cpwe · Jul 20, 2025

Bobalu said:
That amber colour is really nice.

Can I ask, the original pitting that you showed us - was that just a lacquer application issue or was the top itself pitted, and you had to sand it out? I've seen runs from too thin or over spraying, and grit/dust contamination, but not pitting like that. But I have no personal experience with refinishing a LP, just the odd piece of furniture with a can of Home Depot varnish.

The pitting was in the lacquer only, not the wood. I don't know what type of lacquer the other guy applied or how. It did sort of look like it's been brushed on, which is strange.
I was able to sand it off easy enough, didn't use any solvents, just sandpaper.

joe_cpwe · Jul 20, 2025

Brewster2025 said:
That looks like fish eyes from silicone or wax contamination to me, but if he's sanded back to bare wood, his new finish is probably fine.

Yep, I took it back to bare wood....all four times

LPTDMSV · Jul 20, 2025

joe_cpwe said:
I wound up not doing tobacco burst after two failed attempts at scraping the binding. TWICE, my razor got too far into the finish so I went lighter, going for a tone that I could still see the binding through.

Rounds of re-finish attempts
#1 sanded off the clear coat I bought it with. Sprayed 6-7 coats of yellow (M100-1488) and 2 coats of Mohawk amber (M100-0007). It summer, I left it in the garage overnight and the finish cracked. So I decided to 'practice' a burst as long as I'd have to remove it anyway.

practice burst

View attachment 877291

View attachment 877293

#2 tried another burst, got some spray-can splotchy dots from the tobacco brown I bought from Oxford. Tried to 'repair those areas which was futile and led to me having way too many coats of toner. Also, bought a can of Mohawk guitar brown (M113-1201) which is super dark.

tob burst #2

trying to fix it ...ugh

getting the color and burst ok,,, screwing up the binding scrape

#3 going with a lighter burst. This time while spraying near the near the neck pocket I sprayed too much and it ran. I attempted to fix the run by sanding it back, re-spraying, yada yada...it go.too dark and started looking like crap. Time for the orbital sander...again.
Although. I did scrape some binding and found it much easier when I could see it through the yellow.

I feel for you - I have made most of those mistakes, and probably will again!

Experience is king, though.

joe_cpwe · Jul 25, 2025

Just finished stringing it up.
Today was wet sand, polish, re-assemble day. Will get some good pictures tomorrow in the daylight.

joe_cpwe · Jul 26, 2025

Here's the money shots. No pitting in my finish

Lots of work and learned A LOT. #worthit

View attachment 879747

LPTDMSV · Jul 26, 2025

joe_cpwe said:
Here's the money shots. No pitting in my finish Lots of work and learned A LOT. #worthit

View attachment 879743 View attachment 879745
View attachment 879747

Excellent result, well done.

Puck Luck · Jul 26, 2025

Looks great!

re-refinishing a refinished top Traditonal

joe_cpwe

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joe_cpwe

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joe_cpwe

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joe_cpwe

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Brewster2025

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Freddy G

joe_cpwe

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Jorbissian

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LtDave32

Let Desert Star be your next guitar!

Bobalu

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Brewster2025

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joe_cpwe

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LPTDMSV

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LPTDMSV

Puck Luck

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