I hate my cherrysunburst!

[nextlespaulhero]

Hello,i own an Epi Lp STD and i hate so much the cherrysunburst on it,is there a way to sand it or something and apply polyurethane again also am considering only sand the top and paint on it a beautiful orange burst ,can any of you guys help me

 

[Barnaby]

Hello,i own an Epi Lp STD and i hate so much the cherrysunburst on it,is there a way to sand it or something and apply polyurethane again also am considering only sand the top and paint on it a beautiful orange burst ,can any of you guys help me

Potential for disaster is huge and the cost in time and equipment would be potentially prohibitive. My advice is simply to sell it and buy a guitar you like. You'll save money and stress in the long term. If you want the thrill of finishing one yourself, why not get a kit (precision, bulldog, etc...) and do that?

From what I understand, poly tops are really hard to refinish and there is probably a maple veneer underneath, which you could sand through easily and thereby ruin the whole thing, leaving you with the option of a solid colour top that (a) isn't what you want and (b) would probably have a visible join line between top and back where you reapplied the poly. I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole.

That being said, there are guys on here who could almost certainly do it and one of them might be willing to talk you through the process...

 

[dickjonesify]

Dead on, Barnaby!

It can be done but it'll have to be a labor of love! It will not be worth the time and money you'll put into it. I refinished an Epi only to find it was plywood. I can't tell you the time and energy I've got into that thing and it didn't pay off.
Sell it

 

[Escher]

Not an epi, but I did two Agiles (an Al3100 and a PRS copy). a couple of things to note...

1) Poly laughs at chemicals... Leave them on for a week and still get nowhere... You have got to sand the poly off.

2) Did you know it takes about 4 - 6 hours to sand just the top through the poly by hand?

3) Did you also know that there is about a 99% chance that you will sand right through the veneer in the process? Guess how I found out... Ohh well, just sand the veneer off as well...

4) Do you have a air compressor and a sprayer system? 'Cause stain bursts are a major PITA - and I have never been able to get one to work. YOu have to spray the burst to get a good result. Especially if you are doing it on a maple top, maple doesn't soak up stain well at all...


I agree with the others - you are looking at 3-4 hours a night of hard labor for about a week or two, just to get to the point where you wish you would have just sold it...

Now - that being said - both of my guitars turned out great because Agile's actually are mahogany underneath, so I went all natural and then did a tung oil finish...

I did one Schecter as well, same amount of effort - Meh results....

Sell it...

 

[Reverend D]

I agree, chemicals will get you no where, however a heat gun is how many folks get it off. Heat it up and it comes off in sheets. I would imagine you'd need to be careful on the face because you could burn or loosen the veneer I would think.

That said, what Barnaby said is pretty much what I believe too, in the long run you're going to be quite a few dollars in the hole trying to refinish. People think its cheap, but you can drop 100 bucks before you even turn around with sandpaper, thinners, dyes and finish. I thought it would be cheap and I did it with a Preval sprayer and I still had at least a hundred in before I got done (and its still not finished, I forgot to mention the polishing compounds, buffing equip etc.). Not to discourage you but those are just some of the things to think about. Good luck on whatever you do.

Regards,

Don