Painting Guitars

[legato]

Any of you guys ever painted your guitars? Any good or bad experiences you can share?

[MikEh]

gusto ko din malaman to... matagal ko nang gustong gawin pero natatakot ako kasi baka pangit ung labas.

[fraudulentzodiac]

ako rin, if given the chance gusto ko fiesta red kulay ng strat ko...

[gisan925]

tried painting an mij strat from white to red. painting solid colors lang ang experience ko. just be sure maganda ang preparation ng guitar body. i just bought the primer, paint , top coat from a paint store. just be sure the top coat is fully cured before wet sanding it with super fine sandpaper.  buff to gloss manually or with a buffer.

[dizzymark]

ako din, pagnakabili na ako nung red na epi SG gagawin ko siyang white hehe 

[legato]

tried painting an mij strat from white to red. painting solid colors lang ang experience ko. just be sure maganda ang preparation ng guitar body. i just bought the primer, paint , top coat from a paint store. just be sure the top coat is fully cured before wet sanding it with super fine sandpaper.  buff to gloss manually or with a buffer.

Ummm ok. Lots of info here but follow up questions

1. How would you know kung maganda preparation ng body? And how do you prepare it?
2. What kind of paint?
3. Whats a top coat?
4. What is "wetsanding"?

Thanks bro!

[jonathan.au]

I've already painted my guitar 3 times. Originally white, i painted it black, then white, then black again. heheh.
The first 2 times, i used the canned enamel paint. Came out very amateurish..
The last one, i used my dad's varnish equipment from his old furniture business. Turned out quite well. except hindi ko naliha mabuti. So medyo palpak pa rin..

Anyway, the guitar is now resting in peace....

[jonathan.au]

Ummm ok. Lots of info here but follow up questions

1. How would you know kung maganda preparation ng body? And how do you prepare it?
2. What kind of paint?
3. Whats a top coat?
4. What is "wetsanding"?

Thanks bro!

Based on my humble knowledge, which may not be correct

1. basta dapat pakinisin ng liha..  better kung may makina kang pang-file.
2. I believe most guitars use lacquer-type paint. 
3. Top coating is done to make it glossy. Pero ang pagkakaalam ko nara-rub pa yon para makuha mo yung kintab na parang factory-made
4. simply put, basain mo yung liha habang ginagamit mo.. para mas makinis ang kakalabasan.

[gisan925]

tried painting an mij strat from white to red. painting solid colors lang ang experience ko. just be sure maganda ang preparation ng guitar body. i just bought the primer, paint , top coat from a paint store. just be sure the top coat is fully cured before wet sanding it with super fine sandpaper.  buff to gloss manually or with a buffer.

Ummm ok. Lots of info here but follow up questions

1. How would you know kung maganda preparation ng body? And how do you prepare it?
2. What kind of paint?
3. Whats a top coat?
4. What is "wetsanding"?

Thanks bro!

1.Preparation would include stripping of the old paint until you can already see the wood. From there you will be sanding it until a fine texture of bare wood is achieved. Application of wood filler,primer is next. Then you apply the base coat or first color. Then the color of your choice is applied. then the topcoat, then the wetsanding and buffing. Give the newly painted body at least a week of curing prior to buffing.
2. you can use automotive paint
3. top coat is the clear coat applied on top of the color of choice.
4. wetsanding is letting your sandpaper soak in water overnight prior to using it to sand the guitar body.

hope this helps..

[soulfeather]

I had an old cheap guitar before ... i should have sanded down the old paint before covering it again  ... what happened was i used a paint remover solvent and it's quite messy and it does not do the job well... (or maybe I’m not good with paints or the works) 

After striping the paint I coated it with a white primer thrice (I don’t want to put on some other stuff that might affect the wood or the tone of the wood.

I repainted it with krylon mystic… a spray that I bought in ace hardware… I think I used two of them… finish was good…. sort of blueish violet.... na yung guitar... the problem was the decal at the headstock... got cut out a card board for it... of course if this was an expensive guitar i would have gone with the oroginal decal as well....

Pero tinamad akong mag assemble ulit… hehehe… I’m still finishing the assembly part… a little every day…. 

[Al_Librero]

I'm currently on my eighth or ninth finishing project. On some of those bodies I experimented several times over them. Very work intensive in all cases.

I've seen cars being painted. Believe me, compared to cars, painting guitars can easily be much more work intensive if you want something resembling professional-level quality.

One thing I can guarantee, though. Nobody achieves good results on their first shot at refinishing a guitar.

1. How would you know kung maganda preparation ng body? And how do you prepare it?

Sort of what they said. Sand it down. But in many cases, stripping to bare wood isn't necessary. Keeping the sealer coat flat and intact will suffice, unless you're going for an oil finish or something. I'd advise against using a power sander, unless you're adept at handling one. Those things will sand through both paint and wood hard and fast.

2. What kind of paint?

Acrylic lacquer, nitrocellulose lacquer, enamel, polyurethane, polyester, varnish, oil, etc.... take your pick.

3. Whats a top coat?

What they said... clear coat.

4. What is "wetsanding"?

What they said as well: sanding with soaking wet paper, or even oil, depending on the finish to be sanded. Some people also mix oil-free soap with the water for even smoother sanding.

[greasykid]

Kahit gaano ka kapangit mag-spray ng pintura, liha at oras ang katapat non! 

[soulfeather]

check this out ....


http://www.bradsucks.net/archives/2006/05/29/guitar-painting-part-1/

[st0mpb0x_bahista]

guys try nyo tong link na to http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/tutorial5.htm

[Jayson77]

kaibigan ko nagpipintura ng car, sya din ang nagpintura ng mga guitar ko & guitar ni jennie. Marami na din sya na repaint na mga guitar puro polyurethane ang gamit nya para di madali magasgas and may top coat pa para mas glossy. PM nyo ako bigay ko sainyo yn number nya if interested kayo. Yung repaint nya sakin may 11 years na makinis pa rin.

[greasykid]

Eto na secret ng mga pros:

http://www.stewmac.com/tradesecrets/bridge_body/electric/tsblueguitar/blue_guitar01.html

[gjuanengo]

kaibigan ko nagpipintura ng car, sya din ang nagpintura ng mga guitar ko & guitar ni jennie. Marami na din sya na repaint na mga guitar puro polyurethane ang gamit nya para di madali magasgas and may top coat pa para mas glossy. PM nyo ako bigay ko sainyo yn number nya if interested kayo. Yung repaint nya sakin may 11 years na makinis pa rin.

Haha Thats how I did mine, I got a compressor and an air sprayer. ) Learned to paint like the people at detailers.

Plus nothing beats 6 clearcoats. 

[supacow]

you guys can check this thread at another forum!

we had a very intensive discussion about it

http://www.yupangco.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1861&highlight=painting+godin

[legato]

Thanks guys. Lots of good information here.

Ok. I went ahead and tried to strip the paint off a guitar using a paint stripper. Mabilis sya maalis e kaso medyo natakot ako kasi toxic yung chemical. Parang nasusunog yun kamay ko. Lumulusot kahit naka household glove. Yikes!!! I will never try to use this again especially in a confined area.

Also tried the drill with sander, ok naman sa flat surface. Problema kung sa sides na medyo kinakain yun wood. Hehehe, learning lots of mistakes here.

[legato]

I'm currently on my eighth or ninth finishing project. On some of those bodies I experimented several times over them. Very work intensive in all cases.

I've seen cars being painted. Believe me, compared to cars, painting guitars can easily be much more work intensive if you want something resembling professional-level quality.

One thing I can guarantee, though. Nobody achieves good results on their first shot at refinishing a guitar.

1. How would you know kung maganda preparation ng body? And how do you prepare it?

Sort of what they said. Sand it down. But in many cases, stripping to bare wood isn't necessary. Keeping the sealer coat flat and intact will suffice, unless you're going for an oil finish or something. I'd advise against using a power sander, unless you're adept at handling one. Those things will sand through both paint and wood hard and fast.

2. What kind of paint?

Acrylic lacquer, nitrocellulose lacquer, enamel, polyurethane, polyester, varnish, oil, etc.... take your pick.

3. Whats a top coat?

What they said... clear coat.

4. What is "wetsanding"?

What they said as well: sanding with soaking wet paper, or even oil, depending on the finish to be sanded. Some people also mix oil-free soap with the water for even smoother sanding.

Thanks bro. I think I read in the other forum that you use lacquer (lacquer acrylic right?).

How long does it dry?

[Al_Librero]

I usually wait for 4-6 weeks after spraying the final coat before I start flat-sanding and polishing. The longer the curing time, the better.

[legato]

I usually wait for 4-6 weeks after spraying the final coat before I start flat-sanding and polishing. The longer the curing time, the better.

How about in between coats of different color? I plan to stripe it. Thanks.

[ubersam]

Al and the others have pretty much covered all the basics. The project guitar website is also a good resource for the aspiring finisher/re-finisher. I got my info from there when I was looking into refinishing one of my guitars. Heres some of them:

When applying the clear coat, caution must be taken in an effort to avoid re-flowing the base coat.

• Make sure that the base coat has cured well enough not to run.
• Use light coats for the first few coats of clear, making sure that each coat dries well enough not to run.

Wet sanding:

• Make sure that the finish has cured enough before attempting to wet-sand.
• Start with a coarse grit (I like 400), working your way up to finer grit (1.5K or 2K) in the final stages. The objective to achieve a smooth even finish.
• The next stage will be the polishing stage. For me, this is a two step process, starting with extra fine cut rubbing compound to remove the marks left by the final wet sanding stage, followed by a glazing compound to remove any swirl marks left by the rubbing compound stage.

Here are some pics of my refinished S520:
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n188/ubersam/DSC00550-640x480.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n188/ubersam/DSC00546-640x480.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n188/ubersam/DSC00542-640x480.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n188/ubersam/DSC00538-640x480.jpg

[Al_Librero]

How about in between coats of different color? I plan to stripe it. Thanks.

Ah. If you're still spraying the color coats, you don't need to wait too long. When I did the faux EVH stripes, I only waited one or two days between different colors. Still, the longer the curing time, the better.

Here are some pics of my refinished S520:
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n188/ubersam/DSC00550-640x480.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n188/ubersam/DSC00546-640x480.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n188/ubersam/DSC00542-640x480.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n188/ubersam/DSC00538-640x480.jpg

Hey! I used the same color on my guitar. 

[legato]

Thanks Al. I'm doing an EVH replica too. Pero eto pagpraktisan ko muna tong lumang RJ body before the real thing. Sanding stage palang. Pag nagawa ko na share ko pics although matagal tagal pa siguro.

Thanks sa lahat. Share kayo mga pics nyo.