"Unstaining" a strat

[Mike Sayre]

I bought an ash strat body, stained a dark color, and then naturally decided it was too dark. Any hope for removing stain in a way that I can a)go natural b) stain a lighter color? Or am I going to be applying a nice opaque color?
Thx

[Steve Senseney]

Painting is a real option.

Sanding will lighten the color.

You can try a bleaching agent. This might help.

End grain will absorb more of the stain, and it will be hard to get out of the end grain in an even manner.

This might be a "burst" type of finish option.

Of course, practice on scrap first!

[Clay Schaeffer]

A light sanding may remove most of the stain, as Steve mentioned. Using the solvent the stain was dissolved in and wiping with clean rags might remove a bit more, and even out what stain remains.

[Michael Lewis]

Lake Placid blue, arctic white, classic black, . . . . . . . . .