[lopar]

Ok, so I went down to my basement and got out my very first guitar.. which was a Suzuki (knockoff Martin) from who knows when... bad old, not vintage though. anyway, it's got cracked bracing and is bowed in. (that one wasn't my fault) so.. I applied some wood blue and a clamp (which will fix part of the problem,) then I began the sanding process to begin... *drumroll* my first refinishing job! aww yeah.. i just need to find the right kind of sandpaper so i don't keep gouging wood (hooray for wood fixing putty!)
i guess the reason i'm doing this is that even though it's an old, crusty, barely playable guitar.. it actually has a pretty nice, bright tone to it, and i just want to make it play and look good. most likely i will end in failure.. but i will press on. i will fight them on the beaches.. and someday, they will say of us.. never, has so many, done so few, for so much. yeh.

[Longhorn26]

60 grit will take off your finish pretty quick, then you can buff it out with 100, and smooth with like 220 or 300.

[lopar]

sweet.. thanks!

[Hellfighter]

woah, 60 grit would be WAY overkill, it would certainly rip the finish right off. I wouldn't mess with anything less than 120 grit, I usually sand the finish off of the back of my necks (unless they already come 'clean') and use 500 grit wet/dry and it eats the finish right off.

[BillSPrestonEsq]

some of those old suzukis predate world war 2. Be careful with the putty. Also use light sandpaper.

However, a lot of the early suzukis were classical. Judging by your problems, you might want to make sure its not intended for nylon strings. Get me the model number and I can look up anything you want about it.

[nate95366]

Sanding (as it sounds like you're already doing) is certainly one way to start a refinishing project. 60 grit is known as "stock removal" sandpaper. That means it's meant to actually adjust the physical dimensions of blocks of wood by significant amounts - in better English, the stuff eats wood FAST!!! 120 grit may even be a bit too agressive for merely taking the finish coat off. This project is going to cost you a good bit of elbow grease (unless you've already went for the 60 grit - then it will only cost you your guitar...), but I'd probably start off with 220 grit if I were sanding, working to higher numbers and making sure I was doing an even job.

A somewhat easier method for stripping finish is to use chemical finish strippers. There are many on the market. The real downside to these is that many contain hazardous chemicals that can really do a number on you if you're the type that doesn't follow safety precautions. The real upside is that they absolutely do not eat away any of the wood, just the finish. And then you scrape away or steel-wool away the gooey finish residue and let the piece dry. And then after surface prep, it's ready to apply a new finish coat again. That's what I would do in the future, of course paying full attention to all safety guidelines, especially those concerning proper ventillation.

Nate

[BillSPrestonEsq]

Im going to reitterate that Id like that model number. I work for Suzuki currently. I can find out exact specs on finish if its post 1953.

[lopar]

hmm... this is an H. Suzuki... and I don't believe they produce guitars anymore, so I *think* it's a different Suzuki.. i hope i'm wrong cause i'd like to know more about it. this is a W-70, i believe, and from what i've learned it's from around the 70s.. definitely not pre WW-2 (i wish)
it was my first real guitar.. from a flea market, and never in very good condition (i didn't know that at the time.) then when i got my first electric (a brand new squier.. also terrible condition ) my sister insisted that she give the acoustic (i didn't have much of a choice.. railroaded and parents intervened) to one of her friends, who let it languish in her basement, develop a bracing cave-in.. and APPLIED GLITTER NAIL POLISH AROUND THE SOUNDHOLE

it's possible that it's for classical, although the tuners seem to be standard garden variety steel string tuners. i *think* from my research that these suzukis were near-direct martin knockoffs, so it's likely it's steel.. i'm probably going to replace the tuners if possible.

so anyway.. any potential worth it had is gone now from abuse, and that's why i'm basically rebuilding the entire thing.. i already have half of the bracing fixed, the obvious loss of glue on one leg of an x-brace.. it's still caved in a little bit though, and i think it's somewhere in the center, though i haven't found any obvious areas where it needs regluing so i'm a little confused about that.

i've got the finish off the entire neck and the backside of the headstock.. i'm having real problems with the front of the headstock, the body, and the sides/back... i think it might be a laminate, but i'm not skilled enough at recognition to figure that out.. basically the power sander isn't doing anything but leave little streaks (at 80 grit), and there's no way i'm taking a dremel to all of it because all it does is gouge the wood (case in point: having to use putty on the headstock.)
are there any good ways to get the finish off the corners? (at the dovetail joint between the neck and body)

[BillSPrestonEsq]

Originally Posted by lopar

hmm... this is an H. Suzuki... and I don't believe they produce guitars anymore, so I *think* it's a different Suzuki.. i hope i'm wrong cause i'd like to know more about it. this is a W-70, i believe, and from what i've learned it's from around the 70s.. definitely not pre WW-2 (i wish)
it was my first real guitar.. from a flea market, and never in very good condition (i didn't know that at the time.) then when i got my first electric (a brand new squier.. also terrible condition ) my sister insisted that she give the acoustic (i didn't have much of a choice.. railroaded and parents intervened) to one of her friends, who let it languish in her basement, develop a bracing cave-in.. and APPLIED GLITTER NAIL POLISH AROUND THE SOUNDHOLE

it's possible that it's for classical, although the tuners seem to be standard garden variety steel string tuners. i *think* from my research that these suzukis were near-direct martin knockoffs, so it's likely it's steel.. i'm probably going to replace the tuners if possible.

so anyway.. any potential worth it had is gone now from abuse, and that's why i'm basically rebuilding the entire thing.. i already have half of the bracing fixed, the obvious loss of glue on one leg of an x-brace.. it's still caved in a little bit though, and i think it's somewhere in the center, though i haven't found any obvious areas where it needs regluing so i'm a little confused about that.

i've got the finish off the entire neck and the backside of the headstock.. i'm having real problems with the front of the headstock, the body, and the sides/back... i think it might be a laminate, but i'm not skilled enough at recognition to figure that out.. basically the power sander isn't doing anything but leave little streaks (at 80 grit), and there's no way i'm taking a dremel to all of it because all it does is gouge the wood (case in point: having to use putty on the headstock.)
are there any good ways to get the finish off the corners? (at the dovetail joint between the neck and body)

H suzuki? as in hammond suzuki? That could be a very interesting guitar. Use a chemical stripper, not a power sander. 80 grit + power sander = thrashing a guitar.

[Only Alive]

I used 150 to take the finish off my guitar, and it still damaged the grain a little in a few spots. It's better to spend a long time taking it off slowly than ripping it off with 60 or something.

-Nick

[Casey]

are there any good ways to get the finish off the corners? (at the dovetail joint between the neck and body)

Someone suggested chemicals earlier.