Stripping Squire finishes?

[Clockwork_Orange]

There's a squire body somebody has for sale that i'm very interested in--only thing is I'd def want to change the fnish. I guess I have a few questions about it. first--are all squire finishes the same? which finishes are easier to remove, and are there different method of removing different types of finishes?

thanks

 

[Metalman_666]

Re: Stripping Squire finishes?

I know this doesn't help but.... SQUIRES SUCK (IMO) and I think theonly thing they're good for is hitting stupid people with! .... I guess techincally I should buy a squire and beat the crap out of myself with it lol.

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Stripping Squire finishes?

Most Squier's from the Orient have the (bionic) polyurhrethane that is
almost impossiable to get off with paint stripper. ( i don't know about
the MiM squiers) If the paint is in good shape? (i.e. no dings or major
scratches?) I would just scuff it w/t 150 grit and than sand it smooth
w/t 220 grit. Save yourself a lot of grief getting that poly finish off.

 

[nepalnt21]

Re: Stripping Squire finishes?

i tried with sandpaper and my friend tired on his with an electric sander type deal. his was faster but crappy, mine took awhile and was hard but had better results. if you want to take that much time to refinish, its gonna be hard no matter what.

 

[GuitarGuy503]

Re: Stripping Squire finishes?

Honestly, I wouldn't touch a Squire body with a 10 foot pole if I was gonna do a refinishing project. At the very least I'd spend a little extra cash and get a MIM body. Anything Squire is garbage in my mind, thats just my opinion though. I'd say spend a little extra cash, get a MIM body, and work with something thats slightly better qualitywise. Goodluck with the project. :dance:

 

[Fresh_Start]

Re: Stripping Squire finishes?

Most Squier's from the Orient have the (bionic) polyurhrethane that is
almost impossiable to get off with paint stripper. ( i don't know about
the MiM squiers) If the paint is in good shape? (i.e. no dings or major
scratches?) I would just scuff it w/t 150 grit and than sand it smooth
w/t 220 grit. Save yourself a lot of grief getting that poly finish off.

+ 1 on all that. Just make sure you stick with a compatible polyurethane finish. Nitrocellulose lacquer generally won't work on top of poly.

That thick poly finish is probably the only thing holding the body together. You probably don't want to see what the "wood" underneath looks like IMHO.

However, my daughter's Squier Strat sounds surprisingly good with a set of StewMac's "Golden Age" single coils in it (price now $106 for all 3). If the neck weren't a pretzel with a skinny 1-5/8" nut, it really wouldn't be a bad guitar - especially for the cost.

Chip

 

[Clockwork_Orange]

Re: Stripping Squire finishes?

see, the problem with finish ontop of finish is i was going to relic it, and that would look silly. I'm probably just gona have to dish out the more money for a mim or mia

 

[pac112]

Re: Stripping Squire finishes?

get this baby and save urself all that work.

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?t=34324

 

[Breaking the law]

Re: Stripping Squire finishes?

I could SO verbally abuse you Squier mockers.. but that wouldn't be any fun. Each to their different stroking oranges. Anyways, I'd go with good old sandpaper..

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Stripping Squire finishes?

Last summer, I decided to strip the paint from my Epiphone Les Paul. I would assume it was a similar finish to a Squier. I did the whole thing by hand, using a fairly heavy grit sandpaper (maybe 60 or so, it's been awhile, and I'm not a sandpaper conniseur). Took probably a grand total of 12 hours or so, but that includes sanding the neck & headstock, and having to be careful with binding.

If you're gonna do a relic anyway, I had much quicker (but sloppier) results on an Ibanez GAX70 body with a blowtorch.

 

[Kommerzbassist]

Re: Stripping Squire finishes?

I'm sorry for this beeing off topic, but I think everything about the topic has been said... Now what i want to say is what you're talking about the quality of Squier bodys is just wrong...I know you aren't going to believe me anyway but I mean it's the same wood as the Fenders have... I have a sunburst one where you can see the wood though, and it looks good... i mean like you'd expect the alder body to look... the finish seems to be of good quality too (It shines beautifully and doesn't come of , what do you want more?), the sound is imo better than that of some Fenders (with that I mean the sound of the wood itself, unplugged)... the only two things that really suck about Squiers is that they have crap Pickups and Squier standing on them... buying a fender, you'll pay about half of the price for it beeing fender imo... that's my opinion... ah yes and did I say my neck looks just cooler than all the MIM Fender necks because of the Fretboard wood being darker + perloid dot inlays.. whew... that's it for me.

 

[Breaking the law]

Re: Stripping Squire finishes?

I gotta tell you, Kommerzbassist, I've played Squiers that suck. Horrible setups, overly long frets and so on.. and I own one that plays as smoothly as a strat. The difference between these Squiers is the country of origin. From what I've experienced, the Chinese Squiers are the best of the lot. And yes, I quite like Squiers.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Stripping Squire finishes?

Squier, like ALL brands, has good stuff & has sh*tty stuff. Fender is no different, but the consistency is better.

 

[Breaking the law]

Re: Stripping Squire finishes?

Agreed. Still, I find overall build quality to be best in china, when comparing asian factories.. and of course Japan is in it's own class. I've tried a Korean Hamer Vector, though.. at least I think it was Korean.. I'd like that a lot.. GASssss..

Anyways, I've seen people remove paint with hot air blowers..

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Stripping Squire finishes?

fastest way to strip a squier, but dangerous: Sandblast it

Second fastest way, second least dangerous: belt sander

Slowest way, least dangerous: 60-80 grit sandpaper

 

[Quencho092]

Re: Stripping Squire finishes?

I know you aren't going to believe me anyway but I mean it's the same wood as the Fenders have... I have a sunburst one where you can see the wood though, and it looks good... i mean like you'd expect the alder body to look... the finish seems to be of good quality too (It shines beautifully and doesn't come of

Squire and most MIM fenders have an alder veneer. If i remember correctly scott_F tried stripping the paint off and he found a cheap veneer of alder and a dark nasty looking soft wood. Who knows, maybe yours is good wood, but from what i've heard, they're crap inside of a polyurethane shell. :smoker:

 

[Breaking the law]

Re: Stripping Squire finishes?

Squire and most MIM fenders have an alder veneer. If i remember correctly scott_F tried stripping the paint off and he found a cheap veneer of alder and a dark nasty looking soft wood. Who knows, maybe yours is good wood, but from what i've heard, they're crap inside of a polyurethane shell. :smoker:

Mine is solid alder..

 

[Kommerzbassist]

Re: Stripping Squire finishes?

Squire and most MIM fenders have an alder veneer. If i remember correctly scott_F tried stripping the paint off and he found a cheap veneer of alder and a dark nasty looking soft wood. Who knows, maybe yours is good wood, but from what i've heard, they're crap inside of a polyurethane shell. :smoker:

Mine is solid too.. I sawed around in the control cavities a bit to make more place for some extra parts and it was all alder