Stripping Nitrocellulose Paint / Lacquer From Gibson Les Paul Junior Nitro

In this video I'm using solvents (Acetone) to strip a Gibson LP Junior to prepare it for a TV Yellow refinish.

[@michaelgriffith6641]

That's a nice mahogany top, I might have stayed with a translucent finish myself, but TV yellow is awesome too. A Junior Gold top or Pelham blue would be cool too. I plan to refinish a Les Paul Studio this summer. Just for a practice/ 1st time project. It's ebony satin now, I won't choose the new finish until I see the maple top bare.

[@stoosam3244]

Very enjoyable and a very high quality result. I'm stripping n.c off a tele that was applied by the previous owner. It is too thick and therefore a tad soft and the bridge and neck plate have indented into it - its probably sucking tone away by not letting the hardware sit on a proper hard finish. Have started with a blow torch in patches which melts it enough to enable it to be scraped off a layer at a time. I started with a plastic scraper but it doesn't really work. But the metal one isnt damaging the wood, with care, so thats good. I don't mind too much if there's a little 'damage' to the finish - a bit of mild relic'd look is good for this. But to get the last of the n.c. off, heat wont work. And your video is the answer. Ill finish with acetone (cloth and gloves and ventilation ) and then 120 and 240 grit as you said. Then I'll just use a tung oil finish. Thanks.

[@mantoncustoms]

Thank you. Glad the video has helped and good luck with the tele project!

[@deanmccaskill5495]

Great video. I have an actual 1 p90 “traditional type” TV yellow Gibson LP Jr. The previous owner had some kinda “punk rock” stickers on it ( gag) that reacted with the finish. But what’s worse is Gibsons TV finish in the first place! It’s of course nitro but it’s as thick as an Epiphone. I’m so close to sending it away to get it refinished properly. It’s a great Jr. And I’d always wanted a yellow Jr. Anyway just thought I’d drop a comment and compliment. Great video and great channel. Subscribed!!!

[@mantoncustoms]

Thank you! Yes, I have seen some interesting things on modern Gibson which have come through the workshop, including very thick and soft finishes! I do love a LP Jr though. Thanks for nice comments and subscribing 😃

[@gooseabuse]

Excellent demonstration, I've seen people sand these things down but your way was so easy in comparison and the wood looked better afterwards as well. I want to dye my brownish flying V a vibrant red, I was considering lightening the wood with something like Goudey Wood Bleach. I've seen in done on mahogany furniture. Is this a crazy idea? You seem like a knowledgeable guy, I appreciate any advice you can give me.

[@mantoncustoms]

Thank you. Yes this is much easier than sanding! I haven’t used the wood bleach you mention, but I’ve used oxalic acid before to bleach/lighten wood slightly before. It works, but is fairly subtle. Another option would be to spray the transparent red you want rather than dyeing the wood directly, this would give you a bit more control of the colour. Thanks for watching.

[@scottdunbar4898]

Nice work. To each their own but I don't understand covering a beautiful piece if wood with paint. Thanks for the video.

[@mantoncustoms]

Thanks for watching!

[@michaelgriffith6641]

Thanks for sharing this

[@mantoncustoms]

Thanks for watching!

[@jonlavigne3270]

Would this work nearly the same on polyurethane? I have a Firefly Junior double cut that I want to strip the white off of. I’m afraid to use a heat gun on the finish in case it messes with the glue.

[@mantoncustoms]

I’m afraid not, polys are unaffected by solvents. You’ll be best off with a heat gun used very carefully.

[@jreagle58]

I have a guitar I built several years ago. I finished it in seafoam green with several layers of nitro clear coat. Over time the clearcoat started to crack. I would like to remove the clear coat but not the green color coat and refinish it. Any suggestions? Common sense tells me to slowly hand sand it until the green coat begins to show in the sanding dust.

[@mantoncustoms]

You could try that approach, but it may not work out so well. It’ll be very difficult to sand back evenly. What I’d do is sand back as much as you dare (but not until you hit colour) then spray lacquer amalgamator onto the cracked areas to repair them. It’ll probably take several applications. Then follow up with some more clear to fill any remaining surface irregularities around the cracks. You could skip the sanding back all together really, but you might end up with a thicker than optimal finish.

[@ernestschultz5065]

Was this guitar modified for a neck pickup and bridge with a stop bar tail piece? It's like no Jr I have ever been.

[@mantoncustoms]

It’s a limited edition 2016 junior single coil

[@Paul-rt4ix]

@@mantoncustoms It's a LP Special. Jr only has 1 p90.

[@Paul-rt4ix]

It's a LP Special.

[@mantoncustoms]

@@Paul-rt4ix ordinarily yes, but not in this case. It was sold as a junior…google ltd edition 2016 les Paul junior single coil and you’ll see it. It was when Gibson were trying everything to improve sales.

[@CheapshotBonanza]

Are you using any breathing protection? Do you need to?

[@mantoncustoms]

Yes, I mentioned it during the intro. Best to wear a respirator with vapour filters

[@-DILLIGAF]

That WAS a beautiful guitar…

[@bombsarefalling5518]

People keep telling me acitone will make the colour seep into the wood. Is this possible ?

[@mantoncustoms]

You may get that happen during the process, but any colouration doesn't sink in deep and more Acetone will remove it easily enough. Not really something to worry about. Thanks for watching :)

[@bombsarefalling5518]

@@mantoncustoms Thankyou for the quick reply. That’s what I thought. I’m also being told it will melt my binding but I believe if I don’t let it sit there shouldn’t be a problem

[@mantoncustoms]

@@bombsarefalling5518 no problem :). The acetone will melt binding, but as you say it doesn’t really happen instantly. So you can either make sure you don’t get much acetone on the binding for any length of time….or what I usually do is mask off the binding and make sure any acetone that runs off doesn’t go in the direction of the tape. You can also stop a few mm above the binding then finish off with a scraper to get the areas immediately around the binding.