Best paint and methods!!!

RussG

Hi folks,
in your experience, what type of paint is the best when considering to re-spray and change the colour of a guitar body?
Also, any tips and advice on this subject would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Russ

rexter

Nitro spray cans from @SteveRobinson aka Manchester Guitar tech would be a good start. If your first time spraying (I’m assuming using aerosols not compressor?) maybe get some cheapo Halfords paint and practise technique before using the good stuff from Steve. 

He has loads of helpful guides on his website too.

my advise would be don’t rush, ever. Always ends in a fail and don’t be too discouraged if your first attempt ends up less than perfect. And perhaps most importantly, your end result will only be as good as your first stages, prep is everything! 

And do it somewhere safe!

baldy

I don"t know how much cans of Nitro are but I have just refinished a guitar, changing it from black to red.
It was my first attempt.
I got the aerosols, wet & dry & other bits & bobs from Halfords, cost me about £60 in total but if I did another one it would be cheaper as I wouldn"t need to buy wet & dry, panel wipes, masking tape etc just paint so probably £30.
Also after 4 coats of colour (1 can) I should have been finished but had runs on the front of both horns so sanded them out, gave the whole of the guitar a light flatting & sprayed another 4 coats on the horns & 2 more coats over the entire guitar.
In total the guitar had 6 coats of colour & 8 coats of clear lacquer.
As I had filled the single coil & trem routings I gave the guitar 4 coats of primer, 2 coats to show any imperfections, a light flat back & then another 2 coats of primer & a light flat back.
I spent a long time prepping & took my time spraying.
The result is acceptable (I think) but nothing like as good as a recent nitro re-fin I had done by @lamf68 on here just before xmas.
It was interesting to do but considering how much it cost me & the amount of time it took I am not sure if I would do it again when there are proper re-finishers who are very reasonably priced.
@lamf68"s refin on one of my Yamaha RGX"s
 

My attempt on another Yamaha (I filled in the middle single coil routing & also the trem routing)

BeardyAndy

The gold one looks stunning, what ever you paid it was worth it! 

baldy

"The gold one looks stunning, what ever you paid it was worth it! "
Believe it or not so little it is really not worth the money/time/effort of doing it myself as I am very fortunate in having an excellent & very reasonably priced re-finisher (@lamf68) 20 minutes down the road from me.
TBH I should have given the one that is now red to him rather than have done it myself as I don"t think that I am ever going to be happy with the finish on it that I have achieved as if you look at it at the right angle I can see flaws where as the gold one is flawless.

boogieman

If it’s a decent guitar or one you’re attached to then I’d second having Rich repaint it for you. He did a beautiful job on my SG recently, thread here. 

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/149660/well-apparently-you-can-polish-a-turd/p1

RussG

boogieman said:

If it’s a decent guitar or one you’re attached to then I’d second having Rich repaint it for you. He did a beautiful job on my SG recently, thread here. 

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/149660/well-apparently-you-can-polish-a-turd/p1

TBH, it's an old guitar that I bought to just do up as a project. I only paid £20 for it. Ill post some pics when I get round to it

boogieman

RussG said:

boogieman said:

If it’s a decent guitar or one you’re attached to then I’d second having Rich repaint it for you. He did a beautiful job on my SG recently, thread here. 

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/149660/well-apparently-you-can-polish-a-turd/p1

TBH, it's an old guitar that I bought to just do up as a project. I only paid £20 for it. Ill post some pics when I get round to it

Have a go with rattle cans then. 90% of getting a decent result is in the prep, you’ve done it right if you’ve got no fingerprints left after you’ve finished sanding. 

RussG

hahaha, tbh......i am totally in the dog house. Sprayed the first coat in the kitchen. Cherry Red is not a popular colour for kitchens!!!! However, three coats in, spraying outside, its looking pretty good. flatttening down between each coat

boogieman

Good luck! Try not to spray outside in damp conditions or you risk getting bloom in the paint coats (like a misting effect). 

RussG

boogieman said:

Good luck! Try not to spray outside in damp conditions or you risk getting bloom in the paint coats (like a misting effect). 

Yes....was caught by that once when spray painting a motorcycle tank in my youth!!!