Squier JMJM Refinish

[Lo-Fi]

This thread has been a total public service - thanks so much for the comprehensive post. Your guitar looks amazing.

I recently acquired a Squier JMJM and haven't been digging the colour scheme too much. I've decided I'm going to have a crack at stripping the poly with a heat-gun and then respraying with charcoal frost metallic. If my results are a fraction as good as yours I'll be pretty pleased - total inspiration.

[jimmer_5]

Man, I was just commenting on how much I liked this guitar the other day, and now I find this thread about it! Great work!

[tdbajus]

Flabberghasted.

[PixMix]

Thank you gentlemen, I really appreciate your kind words.

[CrazyOldHermit]

This is amazing and inspirational.

[Shadoweclipse13]

More crappy late night photos. Should be able to make a few outdoors photos tomorrow. Pg arrives tomorrow too, so perhaps a quick mock up is in order. Color looks inaccurate in these shots.

So after lots of this:



finally...

Very noob-ish question here (and I AM very new at the finishing process): are you using wetsand sandpaper with the buffing/rubbing compound? I thought the buffing/rubbing compound was just applied with one of the soft applicators pad thingies and the compound itself acted as the gritty part to remove the scratches (and I mean that as that's what I probably wrongly thought, not trying to correct you, I truly don't know). The finish is just superb and if there's a step missing or something I'm doing wrong, I'd definitely like to know

[PixMix]

You are right Shadoweclipse13, there's quite a bit missing there as far as the steps go. The first photo you quoted illustrates wet sanding, probably 600 grit paper on the photo, this is still me trying to level the clear and get rid of all the orange peel. The white pasty looking stuff is actually dish detergent that I add to water during wet sanding. It acts as a lubricant allowing the sandpaper to slide effortlessly through the surface. I did 400, 600, 800, 1200, 1500, 2000, 2500, and buffing/polishing with soft cotton fabric (recycled old shirts).

[danp3man]

Wow- looks awesome- a lot of work goes in to the finish. An inspiration to me to try to keep the quality up on my JM project and not hurry it! I am anxious to see the finished product- only hope mine comes out half as nice as this. Dan

[Shadoweclipse13]

You are right Shadoweclipse13, there's quite a bit missing there as far as the steps go. The first photo you quoted illustrates wet sanding, probably 600 grit paper on the photo, this is still me trying to level the clear and get rid of all the orange peel. The white pasty looking stuff is actually dish detergent that I add to water during wet sanding. It acts as a lubricant allowing the sandpaper to slide effortlessly through the surface. I did 400, 600, 800, 1200, 1500, 2000, 2500, and buffing/polishing with soft cotton fabric (recycled old shirts).

Ok, thanks!! I don't feel so dumb now I need more practice, but at least I'm not totally cocking it up

[PixMix]

Wow- looks awesome- a lot of work goes in to the finish. An inspiration to me to try to keep the quality up on my JM project and not hurry it! I am anxious to see the finished product- only hope mine comes out half as nice as this. Dan

We all are anxious to see the whole thing assembled and ready to play. But really, rushing steps is most certainly going to backfire. On the bright side, in finishing/ re-finishing most mistakes are correctable. They will through you back for a day or a few weeks, but not ruin the whole thing, like it can happen when cutting a body from a blank. Finishing is definitely an exercise in patience.

[blind radish]

OK

so when can you start on doing one for me?

Done! Missing one string, but I'll fix this today. Time to play some guitar.

[PixMix]

OK

so when can you start on doing one for me?

Done! Missing one string, but I'll fix this today. Time to play some guitar.

Thank you, I am flattered, but I have no proper space, equipment and time. I have to rely on good weather and dry air. Next time I'll have that in my area it will probably be May.
Otherwise, I actually enjoy the process (except for the wait time).

[thecolorwaves]

Thank you AW, now I have a lot of work to do to bring things back to "plays like butter" state. This shall be the wining combo. Mark worked this magic again, I don't have enough good words to say for his punctuality, communication and the quality of work.

May I ask who produced the Pickguard? It's absolutely stunning. As is the guitar as a whole!

[PixMix]

Thank you AW, now I have a lot of work to do to bring things back to "plays like butter" state. This shall be the wining combo. Mark worked this magic again, I don't have enough good words to say for his punctuality, communication and the quality of work.

May I ask who produced the Pickguard? It's absolutely stunning. As is the guitar as a whole!

Thank you! Spitfire7 is a member here. You can contact him through this forum or through his website:

https://spitfiretortoiseshellpickguards.wordpress.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[waz77]

Flabberghasted.

My Ghast is also Flabbered!