Steps in Refinishing A Rickenbacker

[admin]

I couldn't resist posting this copy of Mark's response on alt.guitar.rickenbacker outlining the steps involved in refinishing a guitar. They appear verbatim below.

"Well there is a lot of time involved in refinishing a guitar...

1-Removing the hardware,
2-filling the holes with a soft putty so that when buffing is done no
compound/polish will flow into the holes and raise the grain, ruining a great finish
3-stripping the finish,silicone and other contaminants are a problem and stripping the wrong way can lead to a major headache
4-prep sanding, also known at the factory as #30 sanding (and will for the rest of my life be called that)
5-sealing the wood,and filling the pores of all open grained wood
6-color coating
7-clear coating,this is 3 coats per day and as many as are needed. How many?On the average with catalyzed Lacquer I spray 3 coats at room
temperature, and let this set for 48 hours. Scuff sand and shoot HOT catalyzed lacquer -3 coats .
Let this sit for 24 hours,scuff sand and shoot 3 coats of HOT cat.Lac....wait 24 hours.(on a maple guitar this builds really fast,on porous wood like mahogany or ash there is a different process)
8-shoot 3 more coats again,let hang for 48 hours.
9-wetsand with 1200 grit to check for level(don't go nuts sanding, but if the first indication is ok, then switch to 1500 and then 2000 and final sand.

Let the guitar hang for 3 or 5 days to "kick off" and buff, some touch up on the sanding may be necessary but you won't know till you get into it.

This is a good general scheduling for some finishes. Conversion Varnish, Catalyzed Urethanes and polyesters build at different rates and require different scheduling. But this gives you a decent clue to the work that goes into a paint job. I have left out the spray booth and gun cleaning ...this can take up lots of time and you would not want to have some old dry hunk of goldtop Les Paul come out of the gun and into the middle of your paint job. So cleaning is very necessary."

Mark