How to strip and refinish an Epiphone - Joe Bonamassa Firebird Refurb (Part 1)
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- čas přidán 10. 07. 2024
- How To Refinish An Epiphone Guitar
Have you have ever considered stripping, refinishing and upgrading and Epiphone guitar? If so, this video will show you how to do it. And the guitar we’re working on is a very special Joe Bonamassa Firebird.
In this instalment we’ll be showing you the way to strip the finish back to bare wood and upgrade the fretboard inlays and side dots, and how to make the neck feel nicer to play.
Next time we’ll be spraying the guitar and relic’ing the lacquer and parts to give it a more vintage look, and taking the electronics and hardware to the next level.
Timings
Intro 59:43
Strip Down 1:50
Bushing Removal 2.03
Stripping Begins 4:40
Silver Undercoat - 8:37
Basecoat Blues 10:19
New Fretboard Dots - 14:02
Edge Rolling 19:01
New Side Dots 21:26
Outro 25:00
Many thanks and seasons greetings!
Huw and Ed - Hudba
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I've stripped my share of poly finish off guitars, and this is the clearest and most accurate info I have encountered. Approach any metallic finish with fear and trepidation as well as a lot of spare time. Wear a mask
Thanks Tony. That's exactly what we were shooting for.
Some of the best video information regarding guitar refinishing that I ever seen on you tube.
A few years back I did myself a favor, I promised myself I would never strip another polyurethane guitar. Now I can die in peace
You must have the patience of a saint to do that job
That "teaser" is something like the opposite of a cliff-hanger! Impressive work, and I'm confident the owner/client is delighted! (And still "cheaper" than an original, I suspect...)
I have actually stripped the poly off of a Gibson Maestro Les Paul Junior so I know I exactly how hard it is to do this! I slowly transformed the Blue Burst Maestro JR into a TV Yellow Gibson LP Junior and although it was time consuming, it was really fun and the finished guitar was worth the work! I now have probably the only bolt on Gibson TV Yellow Les Paul Junior in the World! lol. I look forward to the next videos on this guitar!
I’ve never done an Epiphone but I just did a MIM Strat. Oh my goodness what a time! I sure didn’t do as good a job as this! Big gouges everywhere! The final product turned out ok though. It was my first try with a paint gun and nitro. I’m learning. This is great this video
I have owned three of the JB Firebird. Very solid craftsmanship on two of them. The first one was kind of wonky with somewhat different specs: Slimmer neck, lighter weight, knobs misaligned.
But the other two were definitely on par with Gibson quality.
I’ve done the same in a epi Les Paul standard and I’ve also removed the veneers! The actual wood didn’t affected at all and the guitar came out fine!
Love the guitar shape ! love me a Firebird !
I stripped my Epi Goldtop Pro this summer as I hated the poly finish. Man it was a job and half, but really glad I did it. I took the veneer off the top too. It was so thin and flimsy. I left the natural finish as the mahogany under all that paint was actual really characterful. I ended up oiling and waxing it. I have a very unique looking LP now. New pots and handwound P90s, not only looks good, sounds amazing too. Looking forward to Part II ;)
Upload some videos of that guitar, we want to see and hear your axe.
How did you remove the finish without damaging the binding?
@NathanSink heat gun and a scraper. Nice and slow. Its a killer job but worth it in the end. Just take your time.
Really interesting video!
Fantastic stuff Huw! :)
To my eyes, it looked like the base coat was 1mm thick alone.
The super glue trick is golden. Thanks, Hugh
At least 1mm Karl. Horrendous stuff to get off.
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Great content, can't wait to hear what the change of plans are.
I've rebuilt a couple Epiphone style Les Pauls, I replaced everything with Gibson USA parts and have been very pleased with the results.
IMHO, besides the poly finish, my biggest issue with Epiphones are the lower grade Fret wire they have used.
I bought my father a cheap melody maker from epiphone for this purpose.
I was literally just wondering how i would go about that?
Was going try to take the easy way out and just try to add accents. But I might as well do it completely custom.
I got some soap bar p90s going to route out down the bridge a jb humbucker I'm going to add for the middle, and I'll just leave the single coil for the neck. Eventually, i get a good custom bolt on.
I'll have to check the channel for a paint job video?
I was going to get a kit, but i love epiphone and have most of the parts already. For 99 bucks, i don't have to "fret" over messing it up.
Sorry for the dad joke.
Probably route it before i take the paint off?
Great video. I have the Bonamassa sunburst Firebird. Looks like clear for days. Love the guitar and Epiphones alnico II pickup. Just the poly coating bugs me. Thanks!
Ta Bo, and wishing you a merry Christmas
Thanx for a beautifully taught how-to...
The fretboard almost looks like rosewood... Izzit?
Thanks again and have a wonderful holiday
Glad you liked it. Yes the FB is rosewood.
Would love to get this done on my Firebird and turn it into a sunburst model instead of the gold. Nice t shirt by the way ;) Bought a fair few things from Spillers over the years!
Gotta love Spillers. A Cardiff gem.
Thunderbirds are Go!
I’m about to start this with an IBG Epi Junior. Do you have advice on getting the poly off the neck? There is no binding and the poly covers the sides of fretboard. I’m afraid this is where I’ll make a mistake.
That final base coat I guess is a sanding sealer?
With a solid body like you have there is it identical to Gibson? It looks that way from your filming.
Regards,
Andy.
Well, it's a proper multi-laminate through neck construction so pretty much vintage spec.
Hello, very interesting video. Just one question: why didn't you just sand the body???
Sanding makes a hell of a mess: the finish turns into a static electrically charged powder that gets everywhere! The finish will also gunk up the sandpaper so it doesn’t last long. The powder is toxic so you should use a respirator in a well ventilated area if you choose to sand. I refinished a beige Peavey T-15 a million years ago and I used a chemical stripper (outside) because my Dad didn’t have a heat gun (they were expensive, $10 Harbor Freight heat guns were a ways off). Peeling back the thick paint, I could see a huge knot on the arm comfort carve, and I knew why it was painted. 😂
What William said plus the fact that sanding doesn't really work with these finishes. You can go at them with 60 grit on an orbital sander for ages and nothing really shifts. I In my experience it's actually quicker to do it with using heat gun and scraper method.
How did you strip the neck?
Good choice to get rid of thick poly, I hate that stuff.
Cool work. Curious question: Why not use chemical strippers since you are going to cover the base wood back up anyway? Best Regards and Best Wishes!
Because I couldn't find one that works on the base/sealer coat.
@@tonetwinstv2863 Turned out beautifully Sir :) Thank You for letting us look over your shoulder! Best Regards and Best Wishes!
May I ask why?
You may indeed...
Huw, was chemical stripping not an option?
Hi Kevin. These days it's hard to find strippers that can actually remove finishes like these. The old stuff used to contain some really nasty chemicals and I guess they weakened the stripping power when they removed them. I've tried some industrial grade stuff on Epiphones and they have no effect.
@@tonetwinstv2863Agreed. You used to be able to get aircraft grade paint stripper that worked, but it was still a pain. I haven’t found anything that works on Epiphone tank armor finish since they quit making that stuff.
Steam the neck off and run it through a planer? Cheating, I know but damn nerve racking with a chisel and than many miles just to get to yowza!
Erm... it's a through neck construction. Not quite sure how that would work.
@@tonetwinstv2863 ….looks like I would have made a cricket bat with my approach!
I forgot about that neck-through construction. It looks beautiful. Great refin!Must be his favorite guitar. They just get better after the wood learns to be a guitar. I had a custom Nick Lucas made and it’s taken 8 year’s to begin to shine. Good bones, but it didn’t know what it was yet?
Any tips on a ceruse finish ash where I brushed out the grain so that the finish undulates for the contrast? 12 light coats of nitro on top but a bit confused on how to wet sand? Do I just sand the plain of the face and leave the grain fill alone? Maybe it would make it contrast even more…. Might look strange though? I’ve seen the Collings dog hair finish but it’s flat and uniform. I’m going to leave it out in one of our -25 below nights and hit it carefully with a heat gun to check the nitro. Black dye with silver gilt cream in the grain. Cream pickguard to give it a tuxedo appearance with a just hint of orange in the dyed flame maple yellow neck. A very dressed up guitar….my first tele and completely untraditional except in function. Have any tips on a sanding an uneven finish? I guess I may be lazy but I don’t want to burn through the finish on the margins of the ceruse and plain. Careful as you go I suppose?
Paint strippers, nowadays are usless, hot air gun the only option, let the heat be youre friend....
Sad but true...
why are we striping 1500 dollar brand new guitars? i mean i know why but i would not advise anybody go striping finishes unless its battered, and faded. a "shut up and take my money" kind of job if ive ever seen one
Totally get where you're coming from and respect your aesthetic preference - if not your cynical closing statement. The owner's reasons for doing this include getting the sunburst finish he would have wanted in the first place if they hadn't all been sold out, preferring the look and feel of a nitro finished guitar to a poly coated one and making the guitar about half a pound lighter. In addition, the neck is now almost 3mm narrower, so it feels more comfortable to play. As for the money side of things, the cost of the work added to the purchase cost comes to slightly less than current second hand asking prices on Reverb. Our guess is that if he decided to sell it with all the upgraded parts, he'd probably make a decent profit.
Why would you do it to cheap green wood? IMO waste of money and time. Better to sell off epi and build it from scratch with seasoned woods…
Corksniffer detected. I doubt that is green wood.
But then there wouldn't be a video
It's called content.