Would it make sense to sand the top of a pac-rim

[Super400]

Just wondering if it makes sense to try and make a silk purse out of a sows ear by thinning the top wood of a fairly nice looking Pac Rim F5 that is tonally and volume challenged. This would, of course, also remove that heavy finish that stifles any potential vibration. Would hand sanding be the best way to proceed?

I was considering this as an experiment more than a necessary action.

Any thoughts?

[sunburst]

If the mandolin is made of good wood,
If there is too much wood in the top,
If you have a good way to measure the stiffness and perhaps thickness of the top,
If you are going to do the same thing to the back,
If you can do a good job of re-finishing,
If you really want the project,
then, why not?
Otherwise, do something else constructive with the time instead, and use the $$ to buy a better mandolin.

[Super400]

It would be a project rather than a need. I have better mandos, so it is not absoluetly necessary. The better mandolins illustrate to me what a thin line between excellent and bad might be. I want to see if this theory could actually hold up. Also, no rush so it would be sort of like sitting on the porch whittling more than feverishly trying to get it done quickly.

[steve V. johnson]

I know a fellow who sanded all the finish off of a PacRim octave mandolin. He didn't bother to refinish it and left it open, sanding marks and all and was happy with it.

I couldn't tell much difference. The finish certainly is thick on most of those things...

stv

[sunburst]

FWIW, If I were doing the project, I'd probably start with a scraper rather than sandpaper. Sanding a finish off is a miserable task, and if you are going to re-graduate anyway, scraping through the finish and into the wood is no problem.

[high_lonesome_sound]

I actually posted this same question a month or so ago, and the feedback ran more against than for. But I went ahead and did it anyway, as a project and an experiment. This was on a 50.00 mandolin.

I used "Strip-X Stripper" to remove the very thick finish, sanded down to 800 grit and then polished with linseed oil/shellac. I need to go back and finish the headstock, but the body and neck are done.

My subjective impression (totally invalid)? I think it sounds a smidge better. There was no dramatic effect, but I had some fun with the project. I think that would be the only reason to do it, for the fun.

[Bernie Daniel]

Here is a thread about taking the back off a pac-rim mando to re-graduate it. revoicing (http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=7;t=41872;hl=morgan+monroe)

[Erock]

I sanded and scraped off the finish off the top of a low end solid top kentucky about 2 yrs ago. I then french polished with a thin coat of shellac.

FWIW, I definitely noticed a vast improvement in volume and a slight improvement in tone. It's amazing how thick the finish was on this thing. Would I do it again? Probably not, as it was a lot of work. I did it mostly out of curiosity. I had just upgraded to a much nicer mando and I figured I had nothing to lose by taking off the finish. In hindsight, I should have spent those hours practicing and my tone would have improved just as much!

[buddyellis]

You could get a larger improvement if you regraduated the top (the cheap pac rim stuff is usually way too heavy on the graduations) so if you are going to bother stripping it you might pop the back off and re-grad it, see that other link up above which contains the randy wood back removal method, and there are plenty of threads around on making a caliper cheaply. You really need to be able to gauge the plate thickness to do a decent job of this, and the tone bars probably need work, too, so you probably need to get the back off (the back will need regraduating, too)

Just pulling the finish isn't going to give you that huge of an increase, I'd bet, because most of the problem with these instruments is the 1/4" thick top board (presuming it is solid wood here, of course, not ply, if it's ply, don't bother)

[Super400]

Thanks for the insight. It still sounds like an interesting project, although to do it right appears to more challenging than I had hoped. If I move forward on this, I'll keep you posted. It is definitely one of those projects that, once started, will absoluetly have to be taken to the finish. If I don't think I will finish it it, I will not even start.

I think you know what I mean.

[testore]

A good friend of mine always says "you can't polish a ####". If it sucks because of poor construction and materials you'll never get it to work but if you think of it as a project then it may be fun, can't lose much.