Official Luthiers Forum!

Hello Forum Members,

I recently purchased a warmoth project guitar. It's really fantastic, but the person clear coated a decal on the guitar and I want to remove it. Is there a safe way to remove the clear coat and be done with the decal?

Thanks!

Hi Mr IKBRADLEY, welcome to the OLF sir, i'm no expert on this matter, but just wait a bit and others will chime in soon!

Serge

basically there are two ways to remove a finish: sanding it off or using a chemical stripper. Both have their drawbacks. A few things need to be answered before deciding which method to use. Is it a solid body or acoustic guitar? What type of finish is it? Does it include a burst or dyes? Where is the decal? With this information a better decision can be made as to which method you could use.   

Robbie,

It's a solid mahogany Warmoth LP. The decal is apparently clear coated on to a metallic black cherry finish that was done in the Warmoth workshop:
Guitar Finish

Wow! Unfortunately if you chemically strip it you are going to remove the black as well.   This could be a difficult one! If the decal is stuck in between layers of clearcoat then there is a slight possibility (stress the slight) you could scrape down to the decal and remove it. Then you could recoat with a clearcoat until everything is level and then buff it up again. If the decal is stuck to the black then...