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Does anyone know what the LP factory finish is? IS it Poly? or lacquer maybe? I'm trying to figure out if the minwax polyshades will work over the factory finish.

You can always use Dewaxed Shellac as a sealer and barrier between the LP finish and the minwax Poly. http://www.zinsser.com/product_detail.asp?ProductID=72

I have used to before between (2) incompatible finishes with no problem. Home Depot, Lowe's etc carries this stuff. Make sure you get some denatured alcohol (the solvent for shellac)to dilute it a little bit. I hope this helps.

I found somewhere on LP's site that they use a 2 part urethane finish on their drums so the poly shades should work ok on top of that.

I do not think should have any problems applying poly over the original LP finish.
Now if you were going to use lacquer over the LP original finish then you could run
into problems. You should never apply lacquer over poly/varnish but you can go the other
way around. If you want or have to apply lacquer over varnish/poly then you need to apply
a coat of dewaxed shellac as a sanding sealer first and then the top coat of lacquer. It would
not hurt anything to use a thin coat of dewaxed shellac first and then a top coat of varnish/poly.

great was thinking about working on them this weekend but I'm feeling lazy now or should i say tired lol. Thanks for the info.