Guitars Painted Here!!

[chipfoose]

Okay I know what you mean and I have encountered teething problems at times but I consulted the buisness next door who are a well established firm who restore furniture and have worked with wood for over 50 years. At the moment I am Painting over a dozen gaame machine cabinets for them which are basically arcade machines that are hand made . They are made from wood,sealed and then painted by me see them at zombiearcades.com. Thje place and dear friends next door to us for 26 years now are H.Tebb and son st.helens. So any advice I need is there.

[WezV]

The kit's the same and many of the paints are the same - look how many guitars are done in House of Kolor finishes. Slightly different preparation, but the same primers, paints and lacquers for most solid finishes.

Fender used automotive paints after all...

And the basic technique with a gun is the same to get an even finish - that's the hardest part to learn. The rest is just sanding and knowing the right preparation, neither of which are particularly hard.

not wrong on any of those points, same kit, same techniques, same skills. although look at the average car and you will see that they are nowhere near as flat and shiny perfection as we expect on guitars. ... there is still a learning curve when switching to wood which seems to largely come from wood compatibility, sealing and curing

different species will take paint differently. some need grainfiller, some don't, some will benefit from a decent sealer, others don't need it... you can hardly use primer on a guitar that is going to be translucent or clear... then the colour of the wood needs to be considered to see what the final colour will be.

not to mention any issues of contaminations.. you can simply wipe metal down but this is not always enough when working on absorbent wood... obviously best avoided altogether - but its not always the way things work.

the cure time will depend on the paint, but most mistakes come from assuming the time stated on the tin will be the same on wood. even two pack paints which can feel hard in less than 15 minutes will still sink in for a week or two when sprayed on some woods

for refinishes there is also compatibility issues to consider if you want to spray over the existing paint. just means recognising existing paints types and knowing how they will work with the material you want to spray

yeah, straightforward stuff i know. but enough to catch out people that have not sprayed guitars before and expect it to work like finishing a modern car

At least that's what I was told by Neil, and he does some beautiful paint jobs

and i bet he got a few wrong before settling on a technique and materials that worked for him. everything gets simpler when you know how

[Sporky_McGuffin]

you can hardly use primer on a guitar that is going to be translucent or clear

Absolutely - but I did say "for most solid finishes".

and i bet he got a few wrong before settling on a technique and materials that worked for him. everything gets simpler when you know how

And when someone else is willing to tell you.

[HerbieTheRadDorklift]

I'm still shocked that chipfoose won't read Harry Potter.

[chipfoose]

Hey all
If anyone would like to send a small sample pattern of wood I would be happy to paint it to a colour so you could observe the finish closer.That would not be a problem.