Official Luthiers Forum!

I just picked up a relatively cheap jazz electric archtop because I have too much work to do in the shop already, have no idea how to build an archtop and don't have the time to figure it out right now. I just wanted something to screw around with when I have free time.

Overall the neck is a little narrow to me because I build guitars for myself with 2" or 1-15/16" necks as I learned to play on a classical guitar and I have rather gigantic hands. However, for the style I want to play on this guitar (jamming) it should be fine. What is not fine is the feel of the finish on the neck. It's high gloss and I positively hate it. I prefer tru oil, matte finish feel 1,000,000 times better than this.

So the question is- what's the best way to fix the feel of this finish. It's an Aria FA-70 Korean, pretty sure it's some type of lacquer. Is it best to take some steel wool to it or to strip it down and re-finish with tru oil? I'm mildly worried about stripping it down incase I ever want to sell it, although it's not worth much at all. I've never used lacquer so I hope that someone with experience with it can chime in.

Why not just try the steel wool. If you don't like it, you can just buff it back up to the shine it had before, or go forward with a strip and re-finish. Just use an extra fine wool.

Scotchbrite, not steel wool.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Cheap Asian guitars generally have a polyester finish, not lacquer. I would start by sanding with 400 grit, and go finer if necessary. Polyester has a sweet smell when sanded.
Unless you just like the work, I see no reason to strip and refinish.

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John