Telecaster Refinish Question

hayseed · June 17, 2011, 04:48:52 PM

I got a 2005-2006 MIM Fender Nashville Telecaster Deluxe today. It is Honey Blonde currently and there are some very big chips in the paint, not the wood. It seems like i could strip off the paint with my fingernail. The body looks as though it was "candy coated" or dipped. The wood grain even shows through on the back! I wouldn't mind having a natural colored Tele or even staining it to an original color of MY liking. Is it wise to start picking off the paint or will i end up getting into something i wasn't expecting? Hard to refinish?

VOLVO))) · June 17, 2011, 05:00:35 PM

Honey Blonde? You mean one of those faux (or real) nitro finishes? Nitrocellulose lacquer has a milky/blondeish finish (in it's natural form), but has an opaque transparency. Drop a picture of it on us. Nitro will come off easily, depending on what's under it, is how I would determine how to refinish it. Frankly, if it looks shitty, strip it off. I personally love the personality that nitro has. It Yellows over time, it looks like someone has blown cigarette smoke on it, and the nicotine has been sticking for years. It's permeable to moisture and temperature, unlike polyester finishes, or enamel. It's porous. It's one of the oldest forms of mass guitar finishing. It was originally used on furniture, and automobiles. It was one of the first finishes that was able to hold a real sheen. It's solvent based, so it's hella-flammable when worked with, especially spraying it. I guess, for it's time, it was revolutionary... It held color better than everything else, and it was durable as fuck. Perhaps someone used some lacquer thinner on it to get a glimpse of more of the wood, that's why it's so soft... Shoot some pics of the chips, and shit. You may be able to restore that using the rattlecan nitro from http://reranchstore.stores.yahoo.net/index.html

Engh... that was really fuckin' boring, too...

If you feel like you want to strip it and refinish, I'm sure Erik or I can walk you through, since we both do oil/wax finishes.

inductorguitars · June 17, 2011, 05:34:16 PM

I'm thinking it's a painted finish like this:

Def. strip it.

Take a look at my Tele refinishing series http://www.inductorguitars.com/series/telecaster-refinishing/

The worst part of the whole project was sanding off pore filler. Make sure you check out the post where half the guitar I sanded off the grain/pore filler. You'll end up losing about 1/16" all said and done.
Send pics. We'll help you through it.

hayseed · June 17, 2011, 06:01:10 PM

Inductor- That is the finish. I picked a bit more off with my finger nail while i was playing it. I will check out those links and get back to you guys. Thanks

VOLVO))) · June 17, 2011, 06:35:02 PM

Engh, poly..

id be willing to bet its a bunch of junk alder under it... 3 pieces of it...

inductorguitars · June 17, 2011, 06:44:58 PM

Quote from: SunnO))) on June 17, 2011, 06:35:02 PM
Engh, poly.. id be willing to bet its a bunch of junk alder under it... 3 pieces of it...

HE could get lucky. My tele is a 3 piece alder. (then again mine is from '90)

Lumpy · June 17, 2011, 09:40:40 PM

Don't pick off the finish, you're just making it look worse. Little dings in a blonde finish are hard to notice. DONT PICK AT IT (mom voice)

hayseed · June 19, 2011, 11:48:15 AM

I don't know much about the wood that guitars are made of. What is BAD/JUNK about adler specifically? I am very happy that it has the rosewood neck, mostly just a preference thing on my part.

VOLVO))) · June 19, 2011, 03:26:28 PM

There isn't anything specifically BAD about alder, it's just the multiple pieces in one guitar that's bad. There's a reason that guitar body was "paint-grade," I suspect you'll find out what's up once it's stripped...

inductorguitars · June 20, 2011, 04:45:15 PM

Quote from: hayseed on June 19, 2011, 11:48:15 AM
I don't know much about the wood that guitars are made of. What is BAD/JUNK about adler specifically? I am very happy that it has the rosewood neck, mostly just a preference thing on my part.

Not enough pretty grain to look at. Sometimes you get lucky tho. it's a matter of taste.

MikeyT · June 24, 2011, 01:33:50 PM

All Fender guitar bodies, including MIA, are two pieces or more.
There's no such thing as a one piece Fender body these days (don't know about the old days).

hayseed · June 25, 2011, 10:29:01 PM

i can see the grain very slightly beneath the poly/honey blonde finish and it looks ok. I am still contemplating what to do with it yet. I may go all Joe3 Strummer on it and sticker the hell out it! I really love playing it and I cant believe i never owned one of these guitars before.

VOLVO))) · June 25, 2011, 10:42:28 PM

Quote from: hayseed on June 25, 2011, 10:29:01 PM
i can see the grain very slightly beneath the poly/honey blonde finish and it looks ok. I am still contemplating what to do with it yet. I may go all Joe3 Strummer on it and sticker the hell out it! I really love playing it and I cant believe i never owned one of these guitars before.

Fuck. Off. No stickers. Send that son-of-a-bitch to me!

Hemisaurus · June 25, 2011, 10:48:54 PM

Quote from: hayseed on June 25, 2011, 10:29:01 PM
I really love playing it

so play it.

hayseed · June 26, 2011, 11:09:21 AM

Oh don't worry...I play it daily. For what I "paid" for it, it has already proven its worth.

I am not into stickers on my guitars either. That was a joke SunnO....relax. I had a very hideous BC Rich something-or-other years ago that merited a good sticker paint job just to make it easy on the eyes and it may have made it more playable! HAHA!

If i decide to strip this down I will post some pics up. I got the Tele for such a steal that wouldn't be losing too much if I fucked it up somehow so why not.