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Is there a good way to remove somebody's spray bomb paint job from a factory lp gold top ?JimY39102.6352199074

No.

I would start sanding with my 5" RO sander and plan on going through a lot of sand paper.

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

Details please?

What year is it, any guess how long ago it was oversprayed or what type of
paint it appears to be? Do you have any inkling as to the condition of the
original surface under the added finish?

I guess one of the more important issues on how it should be treated is the
year the guitar was made.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

I've never done a job like yours, but....
I was going to suggest the LeeValley Greensolv paint remover to you, but I notice they can't ship it to the US. Perhaps you can source a similar product.
I found it to be very 'controllable' when I was stripping black paint from a couple of tweed amps. I managed to get the paint off without disturbing the film of tobacco tar and shellac on the tweed. (!)
If you have the right 'mindset' (think restoring the MonaLisa, Q-tips, etc) you can probably do this job a small amount at a time. If the original finish is very old (and hopefully was dirty when re-sprayed) and the overspray is new you will have a better chance. If the body was sanded before the overspray, it will be a lot more difficult.
You do have to be careful with solvents around plastic bindings.
Even if you are 'on the clock' and counting your time I would save the sander as last resort. A sharp cabinet scraper (flexible or curved) is a possibility if you have a light touch.
Good luck! I don't know how valuable the guitar is, but if it is older it might be worthwhile checking with a professional restorer before hacking away.
Cheers
John

it's a mid eighties and the paint flakes off with a finger nail .. but I can see where the top was sanded b4 sprayed. It has character as it is .. but have considered restoring to look 20+. I have no idea when it was painted. I've used zip strip b4 and it lifted the gold boullion that I applied to a test board. An important, think it through first type of person suggested rubbing compound till the paint is gone .. should I listen to my wife ? ;>)

I'd be tempted to go real easy and use a warm soap solution with one of those plastic steel wool pads - the finest you can get your hands on. Scrub very gently. If you use any kind of solvent, you risk lifting off the old finish, which you will want to try to restore.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I agree with Don. Although, if you're hoping for a new look, I believe the
best thing to do would be to use jasco stripper, being hyper-careful
around the bindings (I've melted my bindings on accident), and use Guitar
Re-ranch gold top spray to redo the color. Nitro over that.

For an '80's LP I would personally think it easier just to strip the top clean
and repaint it. Like James mentioned, Guitar Re-Ranch sells some really
good stuff in aerosol cans. I've never used their paints personally, but I've
seen some customer projects that used it and they really seem to have
nailed their colors.

As to paint removal, a scraper would be my first choice whether I was
stripping the top entirely or just trying to get down to the original finish.
I've never been much a fan of strippers, partly because I never felt any
need to try. A good scraper can get the job done in less time than it takes
to apply and wait for the stripper to start working (and isn't nearly as
messy or noxious). I certainly wouldn't use any stripper or solvents if I
wanted to save the original finish. Depending on how delicate the
scraping work would be in areas I may draw a hook on a single edge
razor and use that as a scraper. I personally feel that I have much more
control with a scraper than with sandpaper.David Collins39102.8961111111

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.

Wow .. very helpful. Thanks. I keep looking at it, wondering where I am going. It would certainly be nice with a transparent natural and new top. Did I say it has a one piece back ? I have bags of liner gold dust, which I could rub in then nitro .. but I don't want to make it look new or un-played. Thoughts crossed my mind, if I strip it .. it might loose the tone. Geeze - o - peek does she rock. Best sustain I have ever heard. Maybe it's me.

I like the scraper idea ..