Charvel 625C with a Mystery finish applied over the top - removal options needed

[John Yungbluth]

Pleased to present for your consideration. . . . . . . . .

Also, I'm a hobbyist, not a professional repair person.   

Today I purchased a used Charvel 625C acoustic.  It is a Korean made guitar from the 1994-1998 era. Has nice looking abalone, I think, around the top and sound hole.  Top and sides appear to be laminates. Cannot tell for sure what the original finish is. But the neck was already attached when the finish was applied.  Smooth rounded off surface where the heel and body meet.

Seems to have been a nice $400-500 guitar when new. A previous owner cut back the mandolin style fingerboard extension over the sound hole. 

Here's a few before pictures.  Ghost cowboy image doesn't show up in pictures, maybe a vampire cowboy?

A previous owner applied a Mylar or some type of sticky plastic stencil decal picture over the top.  It was not one sheet, but a series of shapes that created the image in relief.    Then hand applied a top coat of some unknown finish across the entire top.  Bubbles, runs and various imperfections in the finish.  It ran over the sides onto the binding and had an dark, almost amber color.  No idea how long ago it was applied.

The binding cleaned up easily with a scraper.  Dribbles that got on the sides came off easily with gentile and careful scraping.  After removing the all the decal pieces you can see the witness lines where the hand applied top coat was applied.

Without knowing what this top coat is, any suggestions on how you would go about testing it and then how to remove the top coat and leave the factory coat in tack? Going from the least invasive to most drastic, sanding off both finishes.

Never worked on a top with abalone inlays, any special considerations to watch for?

The bridge is loose and I plan to remove it, so I can work on the finish before reattaching it.

Just want to clean it up if possible, or it may have to live out it's life with a ghost cowboy image on top.

 Thanks in advance.

John 

[Joshua Levin-Epstein]

Though finish is not my strong suit, I would wager that the original finish is almost impervious to any chemical you might want to use. You can test the finish by taking the tuning machines off and test solvents in the now exposed areas. Frank Ford has an article on finish testing over at Frets.com. I would try acetone (in this area) in a tiny amount to see if the finish softens. you should let the acetone sit on this hidden area for a bit, because it may soften over time.  If the finish doesn't react, you can try the acetone on the added finish. 

I was brought a telecaster covered with the gummy remains of some finish. I removed the bridge and tried naptha, and some other poisons. The telecaster had been stripped down to the base coat of some substance that was impervious to anything I tried. I ended up cleaning the guitar with lacquer thinner or mineral spirits. It cleaned up very nicely with no harm to the undercoat.

[Paul Verticchio]

The original finish is poly.
The "abalone" is plastic.
These guitars sold for around $250 when new. On the used market, they go for under $100.
Their main attraction during their super short lifetime were their body size (a great sofa picker) and their smallish necks.
Best of luck with the "finishing touches" and enjoy your cool acquisition :)

[John Yungbluth]

Thanks for the responses.  Still a bargain at the $30 I paid for it without any of the electronics I think.  

I'll pull a tuner and try the acetone process tonight.

Will the "plastic" abalone react poorly to the acetone? 

[Ron Frazier]

looks like real purl to me Plastic dose not reflect like this.

the sound hole I cant tell.  Real purl is cut in about 1 1/4 in pieces

Ron 

[John Yungbluth]

Joshua, Paul and Ron, thank you for your insights on this issue.

I was able to remove the hand applied top finish with acetone.  Thursday I'll wipe down the top again and make sure all the dribbles down the sides are gone.  Cleaned up better than I expected.

I did run into a surprise when trying to remove the old plastic miss shaped saddle though. This guitar was made with a  wider saddle slot, maybe because the original under the saddle pickup was wide.  The pickup and all the electronics had been removed.  The replacement saddle was too narrow and not tall enough.  So they packed multiple layers of card stock below and on both sides of the saddle.  Then as the hand applied top coat was added, they also covered the bridge and saddle, sealing the card stock in place.  I wound up drilling down through the saddle breaking the saddle in two.  Then with pliers and a wedge down the hole slowly worked the pieces free. 

Once I'm happy with the top I'll re-attach the bridge with hot hide glue and cut some rosewood shims to correctly position the new saddle.  And we'll see how she plays.

May go to my niece or get donated to a music program at St. Augustines's Indian Mission School, in Winnebego NE.

Thanks again everyone.  Stay tuned for my next episode of "Guitars. . . .From the Dumpster to Playability".

John

[Joshua Levin-Epstein]

John,

a new saddle blank might be large enough to dispense with any shims.

Joshua