Folkway's Mark Stutman has found a super unusual 00028 Martin...

[Kerry Krishna]

  He is asking what Facebook friends think should be done. It is (he thinks) poly paint... How would you strip this guitar if you decided to do it?

[Kerry Krishna]

[Mike Kolb]

It's beautiful... he should leave it alone... just my 2-cents.

[Kerry Krishna]

Mike, in my extreem youth, I had a Norman 12 string that really was nothing special, but was my first actual 'bought' guitar. I knew a  quite well known Airbrush artist in Winnipeg named Peter Tetrault , and I decided for some reason, to get him to paint the lower bout  of the guitar with a cartoon character that I loved (Tumbleweeds for those old timers that might remember him).

 When I got the guitar back from Peter, it  did not even sound close to what it had when I gave it to him, but never actually sounded the same again. I sold it soon after. I can only imagine the difference in  before and after 'striped'  tone for a guitar with a painting as extensive as this.

[Paul Verticchio]

Hi Kerry.

I vote for leaving it 'as is' if it's NOT pre-war (Dubbaya-Dubbaya Eye-Eye) or has some other historic significance.

I think it's beautiful, warts and all. Besides, it truly is now a "Work of Visual Art". The painter just used a pricey canvas :) The level of detail in the painting is exceptional. Definitely not a stencil job ;)

When did Martin begin screwing their bridges onto the top? Just kiddin :)

Thanks for the photo my friend :)

[Mark Pollock]

Well, for starters, he could get that bridge fixed. Is there any historicity to this guitar?

[Frank Ford]

Izzat guitar from the 1920s?  Hard to tell from this photo, but it looks like a vintage one.  Is the paint job also vintage?  Might be worth considering leaving it alone, because it is way cool.  If paint is recent, then stripping probably would be the way to go, although I wouldn't count on salvaging much original stuff underneath and  I would  definitely do a condition inventory before proceeding.  

If it is a good prewar example otherwise, I'd probably start by scraping very slowly and carefully to get down to the original finish without using solvent which could well send the color right into the wood.  Could take a right smart while, you bet.   The process can pay off though.  In any case, I'd expect to need a full refinishing of the top.   From the wear around the sound hole, I presume the paint was done over other worn areas of the top, so you can bet on some problems with paint in the grain.

[Robbie Collins]

I've removed poly and it's difficult. The only ways I know include sanding or scraping, cracking the finish and peeling it off, melting it with a heat gun, or using aircraft paint remover. Poor top!

It might make a good stage guitar as the paint could dampen feedback while the paint job would be sensational .

[Ned Knepp]

First of all, I'd cast my vote with the "leave it as it is" crowd but if it's going to be stripped anyway I have some thoughts.

  I haven't heard of "poly" artist paints so I did a quick search and didn't actually get any direct hits on artist paints that are poly. What I did find were poly varnishes for sealing paintings. If I'm not being mislead by my search and the poly is a sealing coat, it may be fairly easy to undermine that layer and address the paint underneath. If nothing else the paint, if this is the case should help buffer the original top as the poly is removed. 

  Kerry, do you know how Mark determined it was poly? Did he do the "Q-tip test" or is he depending on what someone else told him?  

[Andrew]

I think if there is poly it would be a sealing coat, most likely. My moms a full time artist and Ive never heard of poly artist paints, but sealing certain types of paints is very common. Would be good to check with someone in the artist paint business though.

If it was me Id be in no rush to change it. Not that it wouldnt cross my mind.

[Kerry Krishna]

 The axe is a 1937 if that makes a difference.The axe was painted soon after it was originally bought.

[Ned Knepp]

The painting looks high quality, is there any chance that the artist is known? It could be worth more as a painting than it is as a guitar. 

[Kerry Krishna]

 Ned, I will go out on a limb here and say this type of home painting was probably duplicated hundreds of times on acoustic instruments.