Nearest car aerosol colours to Fender sonic blue and surf green?

[Ageinggroover]

I'm sure this has been answered before but the search is so f*ck*d that I can't find any old posts.

Not decided on sonic blue or surf green yet but I'm going to refinish my strat plus in one of these and would prefer to use acrylic aerosols from Halfords or similar.

[koneguitarist]

You can have cans made up of whatever colour you want, in some places. Also check if they have a DuPont colour book, as the right colours are often in there and can be mixed .
Just go to a small independent refinisher not Halfords.

[matone]

Manchester guitartech sells the right colours and it`s the right sort of lacquer !

[TheGuitarWeasel]

Don't use Halfords or any other 'car intended' aerosols they are acrylic NOT nitrocellulose and never fully harden. For months after your guitar will be 'soft' and even take on the imprint quilting from the inside of a soft case! As matone says Manchester Guitar Tech does te right stuff ... as do several other flea bay sellers.

[WezV]

lots of info, including original paint manufacturers colour codes
http://home.provide.net/~cfh/fenderc.html

now you can use proper nitro from manchester guitar tech or rothko & frost - but it does get a bit pricey. colours are exactly what they should be though

you can take the info in the link above to a paint mixer and have them do you some tins with whatever sort of paint you want


but dont buy halfords tins. they make them with retarder to extend shelf life. this means they will stay soft for ages. also they have a round spray pattern which leads to runs. the better types have a fan nozzle for better paint control

[DiscoStu]

I refinished a Jagstang in Sonic Blue a couple of years ago. The closest car colour I could find was on a Fiat 500, and it's called cha cha cha azure.



Halfords didn't have that colour at the time so I ended up using the Manchester Guitar Tech nitro sprays, but be warned that they don't last long and are expensive! Superb colour though.

If I was doing another then I'd be checking in Halfords again to see if they've got the Fiat colour now. I've used their aerosols a few times and they're fine so long as you follow a few rules. Spray very fine coats and leave each overnight to cure. After many many coats (I did nearly 20 in total of primer, colour then clear) I let the guitar hang for a month to fully harden before sanding back and polishing.

For the record, the MGT sonic blue nitro can take an imprint too. It happened to me with the Jagstang.

[koneguitarist]

Don't use Halfords or any other 'car intended' aerosols they are acrylic NOT nitrocellulose and never fully harden. For months after your guitar will be 'soft' and even take on the imprint quilting from the inside of a soft case! As matone says Manchester Guitar Tech does te right stuff ... as do several other flea bay sellers.

Sorry but you are wrong, if you ask and tell them that you want cellulose they will give you what you want. We have a vehicle refinisher in Yeovil and he will make up cans of whatever colour and type you want. I did a black relic strat for someone on here a few years ago and the paint was great.
The guy who makes my guitars also uses them. I did not and would not advocate using Halfords cans.

[TheGuitarWeasel]

Sorry but you are wrong, if you ask and tell them that you want cellulose they will give you what you want. We have a vehicle refinisher in Yeovil and he will make up cans of whatever colour and type you want. I did a black relic strat for someone on here a few years ago and the paint was great.
The guy who makes my guitars also uses them. I did not and would not advocate using Halfords cans.

I'm not actually wrong, as any aerosol, bought over the counter at a car factors will not harden properly. Going to a re finisher and getting them to make up an aerosol or a can of paint is an entirely different matter. If you ask yor nitro that's what you will get. I repeat buying an aerosol can for Halfords, or any other 'Saturday morning' motor factor will lead to a sub standard job!

[Ageinggroover]

Don't use Halfords or any other 'car intended' aerosols they are acrylic NOT nitrocellulose and never fully harden. For months after your guitar will be 'soft' and even take on the imprint quilting from the inside of a soft case! As matone says Manchester Guitar Tech does te right stuff ... as do several other flea bay sellers.

Thanks for the replies but I've had a lot of experience with acrylic aerosols. The key is to low bake them for a hour or so and drive off the solvent which will make it hard and durable - it also makes it petrol resistant

If I was going down the cellulose route I'd just buy quarter or half a litre and whack it on with the spray-gun.

[Ageinggroover]

I refinished a Jagstang in Sonic Blue a couple of years ago. The closest car colour I could find was on a Fiat 500, and it's called cha cha cha azure.



Halfords didn't have that colour at the time so I ended up using the Manchester guitar tech nitro sprays, but be warned that they don't last long and are expensive! Superb colour though.

If I was doing another then I'd be checking in Halfords again to see if they've got the Fiat colour now. I've used their aerosols a few times and they're fine so long as you follow a few rules. Spray very fine coats and leave each overnight to cure. After many many coats (I did nearly 20 in total of primer, colour then clear) I let the guitar hang for a month to fully harden before sanding back and polishing.

For the record, the MGT sonic blue nitro can take an imprint too. It happened to me with the Jagstang.

Loving that colour stu, you're absolutely right about cellulose and acrylic, they'll both remain soft if you blow on too much at once. If you can get the body into the domestic oven, baking at a low temperature (say, 50-75 C) will speed the whole process up.