Strip the finish?

[Philly Q]

Car paints are great if you're doing solid colours - I've got several guitars I did 15-20 years ago and the finishes have held up really well.  I wouldn't bother with metallics though, unless you're a very skilled sprayer, because you can't really wet-sand between coats.

But if you're going to use spray cans make sure it's in a very well ventilated area that's easy to clean!

You get loads of little paint particles in the air which settle as dust.  A long, long time ago I spray-painted a couple of guitars in my parents' kitchen, and when I'd finished (20-odd coats later) there was a fine layer of blue dust everywhere, even inside the cupboards.

[_tom_]

Oh yeah I burnt the back of my guitar a bit when I was using a cr@p small heat gun  :oops: When I did the front though I used a big one I found in the garage which worked perfectly with no burn marks, it actually looks great since I put some gun stock oil on it -



:D

[WezV]

if you do metallic paint you dont sand between coats at all - you need to do lots of light coats because if it goes on to thick all the metalic particles 'flop' and you loose the 3d effect they can creat.  Once you have a good solid colour coat built up you apply a lot of clear coats which can be levelled out and buffed up

[Bird]

I think it'll be easier if I just go with a lower output pup for the neck position on the RT. Thanks for the info. It may come in handy for future Warmoth projects.    :)

oh yeah sorry for hijacking your thread  :)

Not a problem. It's very useful information for future projects. I'm taking notes here  :)

[WezV]

ah my brother does car respraying so that will be the easiest and free-est option for me :P

how many coats would you say it would need?

that really depends on the paint and spraying gear your brother has - if he has sprayed before let im judge it

[badgermark]

Gonna try bumping my question here again...

I'm thinking of stripping my black SG back to the wood, then possibly staining it a la tom there. What steps need to be taken or would it be easier for a professional to undertake this job?

[WezV]

already answered

The SG Special has a nitrocellulose finish which will strip quite easily with Nitromors - messy job though.  And be careful around the headstock if you don't want to lose the Gibson logo.

and

if using chemical strippers then do it outside and make sure the stripper is fully neutrilised before you continue - - but be warned - strippers wont touch most finishes except for the nitrocellulose ones!!!

[Philly Q]

Yep, as I mentioned, it should be easy to strip the SG with Nitromors because it has a nitro finish.  Follow all the instructions about keeping it off your skin and out of your eyes, because it stings like hell.  

Instead of neutralising it with water like it says on the tin, use white spirit because it won't raise the wood grain.

Then... I don't know, because I've never done a stained or oil/wax finish.  Wez?   :?:

[badgermark]

Cool, I just wanted a comprehensive answer from someone who knows what they're doing before destroying my gibson... Any on-line tutorials for this kind of thing? And whats the chances of the wood looking cack?

[WezV]

well personally i dont do much direct staining - i tend to use tinted lacquer instead.  the problem with adding stain directly to the wood is that it is very easy to make it look streaky or patchy - there are ways around this but it all takes a lot of practice.  Plus the stain soaks into the ends more than the front so it goes darker, and any imperfections will soak up more stain and by highlighted

the only thing i will direct stain would be a figured maple top, and that takes a lot of prep to avoid the problems i mention above.  but it looks so damn good!!

oiling on the other hand is very easy and i thing i have described it on here before so have a go with the search function

[badgermark]

Thanks Wez, I shall get a-searching and let you all know if i decide to strip the gibbo naked. Woo-Ha.

[Philly Q]

Any on-line tutorials for this kind of thing?

I don't know about online, but there's a good section on finishing in Dan Erlewine's Guitar Player repair book.  Probably the Melvyn Hisc--k book too, but I can't actually remember what it says about finishing.

And whats the chances of the wood looking cack?

Well, if it's a new-ish SG Special the body's probably 2 or 3 pieces, joined at fairly random points (i.e. not down the centre).  Mahogany's pretty straight-grained though, so the joins aren't usually too obvious.  But you might be unlucky and find the pieces are different colours.

[Bird]

Here's a site in the States
http://www.reranch.com/
I don't think they ship outside the US but they have a forum and a couple tutorials on prepping and painting and whatnot.  :)

[deg0ey]

I've lost count of how many times this thread has been hijacked, so I don't feel the need to apologise :P

I'm looking at getting a new neck (and possibly body) for my strat (see avatar) from the land of Warmoth. Now, they're charging £83 to do a clear gloss finish on a body, and £41 for the same thing on the neck. I know it would be cheaper to do it myself, but how much work is actually involved? Would I get a decent result, or am I likely to **** it up?

[WezV]

the price warmoth are charging is good because there finish will be of a very high standard.


you can probably get good results doing it youself if you read up on it and practice on scr@p but its still unlikely to be as good as warmoths