Removing poly for Nitro

Hello All,

I just picked up a standard low dollar tele last weekend and have been tweaking it for the rest. I found a Mexican tele with a ash body. Nothing to flip about but an alright instrument with a good set up I suppose. I loaded it with a set of the 51 Nocaster pickups and what a improvement.

Anyway I just love an instrument finished in Nitro and am wondering if anyone has ever refinished a poly into a nitro?

thanks,

Bruce

I had a '52 RI that I stripped the heavy nitro top and poly undercoat off for a thin nitro finish. Through a cranked amp I could tell no difference.

I just had this process completed on my Tele and at the same time it was done on a friends Strat.

The Strat is MUCH better (in a woody, vintage sense), and my Tele is slightly better (more bloom and warmth in a naturally tight body).

NEITHER guitar has a fundamentally different voice. Same basic voice with a smoother and more vintage vibe. Both feel much better to me. Both are much preferred by me.

I doubt that I would ever take on the task myself, but I really like the change.

Where would someone have this done? I am just not a big poly fan love a nitro finish though.

Bruce

refin guys hate to strip poly, but most will up-charge for the stripping
so its up to the end-user
strip it yourself and save (around) 80 bucks or let the "guy" do it
FWIW don't bother unless you like the weight of the body and have an idea that you like the sound to begin with.
The playing characteristics change slightly because the finish is (much lighter) lighter but the sound is essentially the same when amplified.
we're measuring the weight difference in grams not ounces, so the change is slight.
but if it makes you happy go for it.

Stripping poly isn't as difficult as some people seem to make out.

Yes, it's time consuming but it can be done with a hairdrier and a sharp craft knife blade - and a lot of care.

I did it to my MIM strat earlier this year and all you've got to be careful about is not to gouge the timber as you use the blade to remove the poly. If you do, you're just giving yourself more work later as you need to fill the gouges before priming it.

All up, I'd say that stripping the poly maybe took me the best part of a day but weigh that against the time you'll take to do all the painting, finishing, etc and that puts it in perspective.

And if you like the instrument and really want a nitro finish then the time is well spent cos you'll have the instrument you really want and not one that you're just 'making do with' until something better catches your attention - and inevitably that will be a nitro finished instrument -and they tend to be more expensive!!

Just my thoughts based on my own experience.

Unless the poly color is a problem for the new nitro finish (see-thru) there is absolutely no reason to take the poly off. That is just creating more work for you.
Scuff up the finish, primer and proceed.

taking off poly and replace it for nitro

check here---> http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/171049-building-holyman-2.html#post1959168


Again, read said articel...

Taking poly off has some benefits, but when you are just going to apply new lacquer those will diminish soon.
I've taken a stratbody down to bare wood once...to do it in oly white.
It sounded different, but taking the gloss poly and sealer off makes for a darker sounding guitar... something about the elements in poly that give wood some crispy treble!

remember... if it;s for mojo's sake...do it!

I disagree about leaving the poly on and simply going over the top with any other finish - particularly if you intend to do a nitro finish.

The whole mojo of nitro finishes is that they're supposed to be thinner and allow the guitar to resonate better, thereby enhancing the tone.

Now this may or may not be the case - and I'm sure there are as many opinions on this as there are people who'll read this thread.

But I've stripped both my old tele and strat now and gone right back to the bare wood and I have found a very noticeable improvement in the tone of both guitars since removing what were quite thick finishes and applying a relatively thin finish to the strat and simply staining and oiling the tele body.

Just my 2c..........

I went thru the poly / nitro change on one of my Strats. I sanded the poly off myself in the end................. not recommended, took ages, very messy. Tried chemical stripper on it, largely ineffective.

As for the end result, I'd have to say, no real noticeable difference, just changing the paint. Now, when I changed the pups for Custom Shop 54's.......

I think a lot of it comes down to; do you just have to have that same body?

You can get a new (or used) bare wood body for between say $100-200. How much is your time worth if it takes a day to strip it? If it took 20 minutes, we'd all be doing it. And yes, I know, some guys may be doing it in 20 minutes. But probably not most of us.