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I friend brought me an Epiphone that he basically ruined the paint job on. Some kind of gold crackle finish. He used spray can paint on it. It's a frigging mess. The wood has no figure. I thought it might be fun to rebuild it. It has a set neck. Looks like I might have to remove it. How? He wants to add some kind of flamed veneer. Clear finish. Has anybody here ever done that? Gonna have to rebind it to. None of this scares me, but I thought I'd pass it by the experts first.

Mike

Is his first choice for this one to recreate a LP Gold Top?

I've heard good things about the guitar reranch gold aerosol spray. Here is an article on it. The article is from their site so take it for what it is worth. I haven’t seen a guitar done with it in person so I can’t give any actual feedback other than what I hear in the rumor mill.

http://www.reranch.com/goldtop.htm

I love the gold tops.

I know that isn’t what you were asking really, but it could be an easier approach for an ugly Epi. If it was what your friend "REALY" wants, might be a good suggestion.

Good luck with this Mike. Sounds like a fun project.

Not sure why you fell the neck may need to come out but it can be done, just not the easiest thing you will do that day. The joint should be very similar to a Gibson, but I have never really looked. On a Gibson some of the frets are pulled at the body and small holes drilled down at the edges of the tenon, I would also do a few in the pickup cavity at the end of the tenon. These must go all the way to the bottom of the tenon without going through the body. Steam is then pumped into the holes and after a bit the neck will start to work loose and should come out. As far as veneering a carved top I am thinking you will need a vacuum press of some type for that one, shouldn't be to hard as most Epiphones that have figured tops only have a veneer anyway.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Follow this link to Chis V's tutorial on veneering carved tops. http://luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10117&t=36949

This guy had ruined the binding which also goes around FB. It just seems to me it would be cleaner to pull the neck. The steam suggestions were what I was expecting. I'm missing the point on the veneering and pickup routs. Are u saying because they are there a vacuum press will pull the veneer in? I was thinking filler blocks of Friendly Plastic would help.

Mike

I don't know about that. I have rebound a few fretboards and never pulled the neck. Could see maybe pulling the fretboard but I have not found that necessary on the ones I have done.

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Brian

You never know what you are capable of until you actually try.

https://www.howardguitarsdelaware.com/

Seems like a lot of work for an inexpensive guitar, unless you are doing it for fun.
If this is the case, go crazy with it. Sometimes I take suff apart to see what makes it tick.
You could just beat it and scrape it all up like Fender does on its new "relic" guitars.

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

+1.
My recommendation would be to mask the binding on the body(or scrape after finish) and shoot a solid color. The finish underneath what your buddy did should be a polyester, and make a decent base to lay down some lacquer. Just scuff it up and go. Done this a great many times with no issues.
And I agree with B. Howard. Just replace the neck binding. You really don't want or need the hassle of pulling the neck. MHO.
Ok, after re-reading your post it looks like my recommendation is the polar opposite of what the guy wants. It's up to you whether you want to tackle that mess. Unless he was paying me good money, I'd still go with my suggestion.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

There is another option possible.
Do you know if the finish underneath what your buddy laid down was intact or not?
If he just took a spray can and sprayed overtop of an existing finish, there's still hope yet.
I mentioned earlier that the finish underneath is probably polyester.
Those factory finishes are mostly bulletproof. I have tried to remove them with many different types of paint remover, and most of it rolls off of them like water off of a duck's back.
You could use a mild paint remover, like Citristrip, and just remove the spray paint. I'd be willing to bet it would leave the original finish intact. Buff it out, repair any binding, and you're golden. Just a thought, and worth a try.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.