Removing stain/refinish

[Silver Sable]

So some nimrod took a basswood RG body and put a really light cruddy stain on it (while the hardware was on apparently as every screw in the sucker was rusted in place). Whoever did this also didn't bother putting any protective coat so it is scratched and smushed all to hell.

SO! I'm going to rescue this poor mistreated soul and hopefully turn it into something beautiful again.

I honestly can't figure out what model this thing is. The neck has a serial number starting F7 and it is one of those silver/gray sticker kind of serial numbers. It is obvious the neck is an original wizard neck, and the body has a 560 stamp inside... but the fretboard has sharktooth inlays. I can't find anything anywhere that shows a 1987 560 with sharktooth inlays... something somewhere seems amiss.

Anyway, my question to ya'll was what to do about the damn stain? Can I just leave it and seal over it, prime and paint? Or should I try to use a varnish remover to get it off the wood before I seal and prime? The wood was not sanded or sealed or it wouldn't feel so rough and dry... I just don't want to get my paint coats on and find something reacting to the stain. I could easily prime over it...

I dunno. Has anyone tried it?

[ryanb]

You won't get rid of the stain without sanding off a lot -- probably a lot more than you want to take off. Therefore, yes you should just seal it well and proceed with the (opaque) finishing. The only questions are what type of finish/sealer you are using, and what type of stain is on it now. The wrong combination might have some risk of causing a problem -- especially with an oil-based stain.

I would recommend that you give it a good coat or two of shellac first. That will seal in the stain just fine, and let you know right up front if there os any issue. Once the shellac is on, you can cover it with pretty much anything without any problem.

[Silver Sable]

Thanks, I'll try that. I have to sand quite a bit anyway because this poor thing was so beat up. The pickup screws were rusted entirely into the body so I had to pry them out instead of just unscrewing them. That left a few impressions in the wood, but after one of the heads snapped off completely, I had to stop trying to use the screwdriver. I need to fill in and reshape the edges as well. Basswood without any sort of hard protection = very bad edges.

If this thing did have an excellent condition edge, a perfect condition wizard neck, and only cost $150 I wouldn't have bothered...

[albee1952]

It is probably an RG760 which is a 560 body with a bound neck with sharktooth inlays. If the neck is in good shape, its certainly worth some work or even a replacement body off the bay or from one of the vendors up top. Same body shape and heel as the earlier JEM models.

[Silver Sable]

I bet you're right on that one. I can't wait to get this baby back to her former glory... or better.

Thanks guys.