Removing MIM Fender Finish?

wixomwhat

wixomwhat

New member
Hey

Theres a used 98 MIM tele for sale at a good price at the local guitar store and i'd like to buy it today but It's purple.

I dont like purple but how hard is it to remove the original paint? or at least just remove anough to be able to paint it again?

Repainting wont be a problem.
 
Re: Removing MIM Fender Finish?

Sandpaper and Elbow grease.

Depending on what you´re spraying, you may be able to get away with just scuffing it... I usually prefer to strip the paint all the way and spray my own from the ground up ;)
 
Re: Removing MIM Fender Finish?

The thing about import guitars is that forien counrties do not have the environmental standards that exsist in Europe and the US. They shoot some pretty serious materials on those guitars because it's hard as heck and they are durable throughout manufacturing and shipping.

Most strippers won't budge a lot of those finishes and a heat gun is a pain in the butt. I find even sand paper is a MAJOR chore to get down to the wood.

Scuff it, prime it and paint over it.
 
Re: Removing MIM Fender Finish?

I refinished one recently and it is very labor intensive. The urethane they use is tough as nails. Good luck with what ever you decide tro do....Joe
 
Re: Removing MIM Fender Finish?

I refinished my James Burton Tele cause I didn't like the Candy Apple Red. Basically I just hit it hard with 200 grit sand paper. It didn't take all of the finish off but it thinned it out a lot. I then used the remaining finish as a base coat and shot nitro lacquer in spray cans from the Guitar ReRanch over it. One can of color, one can of clear and let it cure for just over week. After wet sanding and polishing, this is what I ended up with.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-12/908961/Tele3.jpg

If your painting a color coat over it I wouldn't worry about stripping. Just thin the Poly out as much as you can and then use it as a base coat.
 
Re: Removing MIM Fender Finish?

The finish is essentially a plastic coating on some of these guitars! The finish on my Ibanez (seen at left, used to be all black) was a pain to remove. It took an orbital sander with 80 grit about 2 days to remove. Horns were done with a drum sander. The finish that sanded off sanded more like plastic than it did paint. If you're going for a solid color finish then I agree with the previous suggestions of scuffing the finish, priming, and painting. I figure, if a finish is that tough to remove, it ought to make a decent base. It would also save you from having to prep the wood had you taken the finish off to wood.
 
Re: Removing MIM Fender Finish?

To be honest, I'd just live with it. I'd rather live with a purple paint job than go through all the trouble of taking it off.

Or, you can do what my bassist did. He found a MIM Jazz bass that he loved the tones from, but hated the blue finish. He then proceeded to take the pickguard off and cover the whole front face of the instrument with small, 1/2" yellow happy face stickers, and then replaced the pickguard.

When he told me he did this, I thought he was nuts, but it actually looked pretty cool. :burnout:
 
Re: Removing MIM Fender Finish?

Hey Guys,

Thanks for all the help here.

I went and bought the guitar and decided I'll just live witht the purplish- bluish finish that it has.

I think i'm gonna cover it with stickers though :)

I'll probably post some pics soon!
 
Re: Removing MIM Fender Finish?

i tried. pain in the ass. mine looks like crap now. oh well, its a beater anyway!
 
Re: Removing MIM Fender Finish?

i guess the poly on american strats is considerably thinner and more breathable since i bought my am dlx strat with a few chips on the butt end of the body (for a 100 dollar discount-floor model!) they go down to the wood, but the layer of polyurethane is quite thin. I could probably chip all the paint off with one of those lemon zest peeler things, but i wont do it...lol!
 
Re: Removing MIM Fender Finish?

is it that dark purpleish blue metallic? man that color rocks IMO...i'd just leave it.

-Mike
 
Re: Removing MIM Fender Finish?

good choice, i would just leave the finsdih as it is. Adding sticker is a nice touch if you really dont caref or the guitar all that much. or maybe give it a relic job by allwoing the guitar tio become your beater.
 
Re: Removing MIM Fender Finish?

strat_master said:
good choice, i would just leave the finsdih as it is. Adding sticker is a nice touch if you really dont caref or the guitar all that much. or maybe give it a relic job by allwoing the guitar tio become your beater.
Click to expand...


It's pretty beaten up. Lots of little dents and chips and stuff and a hole on the bottom cutway where someone tried to put a strap pin.

the neck is the sameway (its totally playable though)

I think all the little abuse marks just add to the guitar and i'm not the type who gets mad over dents and paint scrapes and stuff so i'm liking it.

Anyway the guitar plays nice and sounds nice. I just need to put some new strings on it and maybe put some better pickups in it.
 
Re: Removing MIM Fender Finish?

If I'm remembering correctly, that "purple" is really their version of "midnight blue". Does that help? I always thought it was a pretty cool color. That's my next Tele color, anyway. With a white pearloid pickguard.
 
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