Removing nitro-cellulose

[Mac McElwain]

I have just acquired a delicious Gibson Southern Jumbo from 1973. My first Gibson. It is a fabulous instrument. Sonds and plays gorgeous, but has a truly awful black nitro finish which is shot to bits and must come off. I think this is non-standard. I guess it will have to go back to sunburst. I'm a beginner to this refinishing business, so can anyone help by telling me how to get the black nitro finish off without damaging the soundboard, back,sides and binding? Scrape? Strip? How can I treat the soundhole purfling to get the black out from between the circles? And those are my easy questions!

[Mac McElwain]

You're not going to believe this, but the name of my advertising company in Auckland (and other places) is Mojo. Spooky huh? There's a couple of interesting clunkers on Trade Me (Musical Instruments - guitar and bass - acoustic), both with broken heads but both looking like an easy fix. I reckon the Yamaha is the best bet. If you are in there, I will stand back!
MAC

[Alys and Simcha]

Hi Mac. Sorry, didn't see your reply till today. Can't see them on trademe but feel free to go for anything you find. I've still got two hanging in the workshop. We're so busy with shop repairs, it'll be a while before Kristen gets through those two. Cheers, Simcha.

[Mac McElwain]

They both went. The headless 6 month old Yamaha was the best bet. Went for $61!! I didn't bother in the finish, but someone got a nice axe cheap or will make a handsome profit.
MAC

[LARRY KLOSE]

Frank Ford (who else?) has an article on amalgamating lacquer finishes. If the finish is in rough condition, this might be the way to go, assuming you can get the material (Cellusolve or lacquer retarder thinner) where you live.

http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Luthier/Technique/Finish/Lacquer/Am...

Frank's pictures will probably help you see whether your problem is amenable to this process. It clearly will take some time. And in the end the ax will still be black. I had a '36 Epiphone Olympic archtop with really bad flaking finish that I might have done this to if I had kept it--it looked like the perfect candidate.

Look around Frank's site--he has a couple of other articles on how to lay down bits of lifting finish, IIRC.

By the way, for small volumes of retarder thinner for lacquer, try a model hobby shop. Many of the paints used for model work are lacquers and most product lines will have bottles of retarder in the same size bottles as the pigments. Make sure it's lacquer, however and not an enamel or other chemistry.