What if i sand the finished body and paint it above ?

[block]

Is it necessary to remove all the paint from the body and paint it from the start ? Can i just sand it,  just to make the surface wild , do a first hand with primer and a second with the colour of my  choice ?

[painted wood]

You could scuff it up with 220 grit, use nitro primer, sand with 320 or 400, then paint.  Some people do this.

Some people use a heat gun to remove the poly surface to bare wood and then use nitro paint in order to let the wood breathe.

I personally don't like poly b/c I feel it encapsulates the wood and robs some of the tone vibrations.  So I'd want to start with bare wood.

If you use a heat gun, keep it moving so you don't scortch the wood.  That's the only way to remove poly.  There is a thread or two on it here somewhere.

[mcjt]

you have to be careful with a heat gun coz the heat may ruin the glue in a 2 or 3 pc body.
i sadly learned this from experience.
i use chemical stripper.