Refinishing the Top (sounding board)

[flamingo]

Does anyone know if it is possible to refinish the orginal lacquer top with French polished?

Which means the lacquer has to be removed, if this is even possible?

[jjoel84]

Ive heard of this being done a few times so it is certinly possible. but I've heard mixed results. Some say it make no difference others say It makes all the difference In the world.

[Faya]

i've been thinking doing it to one of my guitars. But still a little hesitant..........????

[Pepe Vergara]

I did it once in an old Yairi. I used the orange remover (a very lethal caustic substance I do not want to see anymore in my life) to remove the lacquer. It was tough. After that, I had to sand. The top lost about one mm of its thickness. I was planning on the top, but the orange thing dripped to the sides and Ihad to remove the sides. At the end, the whole thing was bare wood again. It was a learning experience. I would not do it to a good guitar. The benefit may not match the headaches (and cost). In fact, I would not recommend you to do it to your own guitar. Professional finishers may do a better job.

[flamingo]

Thanks for all the info. I am glad that at least it is possible, and no, I won't do it myself, I will find a professional person to do it.

[jeremy]

Be careful if you send your guitar to a "wood finisher". Best if you find a luthier who will do it. A "finisher" may not understand that there is a limited amount of wood on the top and may cause more damage than good.

It is not difficult to do it yourself. The main ingredient is time. Chemical strippers are difficult to control and sanding and scraping is slow and tedious, but it is the best solution. Bridge removal is another issue you must deal with. It is much easier to refinsih if you remove the bridge, but that sort of removes the task from being a home made effort. Whatever you do mask off the bridge so it does not get damaged in the process.

I have refinished many guitars and all have been greatly improved when french polish replaced the thick lacquers. I have never seen or heard of one being made worse. On the other hand I have seen many guitars made worse by using lacquer on the top. They may look Ok, but that is really irrelivant if the object of the thing is to make sound.
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[J. Francis]

Be careful if you send your guitar to a "wood finisher". Best if you find a luthier who will do it. A "finisher" may not understand that there is a limited amount of wood on the top and may cause more damage than good.

Maybe in Australia. Here in the US, professional finisher will know that very well. I remember another luthier in the forum telling us that many Spanish luthiers contract the finishing out.

[Chiptheshrink]

You may also want to try just buffing down (or getting a luthier to wet-sand and buff down) the thickness of the lacquer first, as a less drastic step. I have seen that greatly improve the sound of a heavily finished guitar, and it is much less "invasive" to the instrument.
Chip

[steven.schram@reuters.com]

To all,

I have used a material called "Peel Away) which is a non-toxic( so they say) coating stripper similar in consistency to a thick latex paint. You brush this stuff on to the item you want to strip and lay a piece of the supplied special paper over the layer. Wait from 8 to 24 hours, pull the paper off and the coating justs scrapes right off with a spackel knife. Once the guitar is stripped al it needs a light sanding. Look up this compound online and read about it. It has none of the really bad smells of gel strippers etc.

Steve

[Stefan*]

Peel away sounds pretty cool. Sure takes the time out of sandng.

I'd suggest getting a cheap used yamaha or something like that to practise on first. They have a nice thick laquer,so if you can do that one, others should be just as easy :)

That said, I don't think I'm trying it any time soon. I'd rather get a guitar already french polished.

[flamingo]

Hi Jeremy,

My guitar, the top is thick along with thick lacquer, which seems to make the top less viabrate at its potential. I will look for a local luthier whom has done this before to do the job.

[jeremy]

Hi Flamingo,
A luthier is really your best option here, regardless of the suggestion somewhere here that wood finishers in the US were somehow better qualified to do the job. There are many great luthiers in the US, just be selective before you approach one. By this I mean that is Luthier X prefers and recommends lacquer finishes for guitar tops, then he/she/it will not be the best choice.

If the top is thick it will greatly effect the guitar output and quality. Sadly most factory instruments err on the side of structural integrity.
Some of the other suggestions here are noteworthy, like thinning the varnish and re-polishing. The stripper with the paper overlay also sounds interesting. It all depends on how much you like to do it yourself.
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[jetiii]

Be careful of the " peel away" strippers. A local restorer of stuff (not instruments) used it on our church doors but said it doesn't seem to cure or dry out rapdily. The new finish didn't realy dry correctly and is now peeling.
I am thinking of redoing a french polish refinsh I did 30 years ago. it is easy to strip with alcohol. At that time I sprayed the shellac on a some hot dry days and then finished by had. I am wondering about using an air brush. Anybody ever try that with shellac? I did it as an experiment on a kids model car for a clear coat once and it seemed to work well.

[jeremy]

Using an air brush will work ok with shellac, it will just give you a different result. It will "look" different, it will be thicker and will take longer to dry properly and reach optimal hardness. This is because the alcohol does not evaporate as quickly from the finish as when it is applied by hand in much thinner coats. The sprayed finish will also tend to sit more on top of the wood, whereas a hand applied finish tends to blend more into the wood because of the pressure applied at application.
Apart from these points it will be fine.
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