Taz was castrated at 7 months and i have stripped him and he has a beautiful coat now, but then again i do cheat sometimes. Get a metal toothed comb, thread an elastic band between the teeth and comb. You will have to be gentle so it doesnt tug him too much until his coat comes out a bit easier. Once you have got the bulk out it is just a case of daily maintenance, but has both Taz and i find grooming very relaxing it is not problem to me. Like Max X 2 i had a professional groomer scissor cut him the first two times, now i just cut a bit off at a time so avoid mistakes. WIth Taz being black, it does ocassionally hide the odd slip up.
Unless you really want him clipped all over, i would try at least giving handstripping a try for now otherwise you may regret it later, as i suspect that once you have him clipped handstripping would be impossible.