I Really Don't Care...

So I have a slightly beat up Squier standard tele in that slightly-too-yellowy vintage blonde colour.

I want to take a heat gun to it.

Now I've read a few guides and they're all rather complicated. Sanding sealer - undercoat, several coats of colour - varnish...

But I don't care about a perfect finish, I don't want it to look new. Not 'reliced' but not fresh either.

So my question is can I just buy this can of spay nitro sonic blue and give it a couple of coats?

"http://www.manchesterguitartech.co.uk/shop/sonic-blue/"

I'm thinking of Joe strummers tele, that just got a spray with some black auto paint.

Does it really matter?

I've used his sonic blue, it does what it says on the tin (sorry). Yes, if you're not bothered about the whole glass finish job, you can just spray that on and it will look pretty good.

However, it might look better if you put a coat of the right primer on first, and finish with some coats of clear nitro - even if you don't bother wet sanding and everything else.

Of course, it gets expensive when you start buying all the different cans of stuff.

A lot of people will disagree; but if you know what you'll be happy with, you could spray on the blue paint with nothing else and be very happy with it.

Without all the other stages it will chip off fairly easily. But no finish is immune to a bit of bashing. Just depends what you can live with.

Yeah, £15 is my budget on this one.

I'm imagining it looking quite cool, especially if it's so thin you can still see the grain and if it starts wearing away very quickly.

This is the inspiration, looking at it now I can see that a lint tint gloss over it would look great. I don't see much primer on this one...

http://www.themusiczoo.com/images/11-05-09/58_Telecaster_Heavy_Relic_Sonic_Blue_R47932_1.jpg

Maybe if I did the colour coat then let that settle, maybe wear a bit then do the tint gloss in a few weeks when I can afford it...?

If you want to see the grain, I think that guy does a darker blue that's more of a colour wash. But I prefer the sonic.

You're right - no primer there.

Whatever you do, sonic blue is such a classic colour I can't see how it wouldn't look good.

Yeah I don't want to see the grain in the traditional way, just maybe have the texture still there.

Glad you think it's a good idea, I'm excited to get started. There will be pictures.

Are there any other fans of the slightly shoddy DIY spray look? Or anyone else who has done it?

Yeah I don't want to see the grain in the traditional way, just maybe have the texture still there.

Glad you think it's a good idea, I'm excited to get started. There will be pictures.

Are there any other fans of the slightly shoddy DIY spray look? Or anyone else who has done it?

Er, yes, but not deliberately.

Pictures?

Pictures?

Got pictures on my other puter - I'll post one later if I remember.

... I don't see much primer on this one...

http://www.themusiczoo.com/images/11-05-09/58_Telecaster_Heavy_Relic_Sonic_Blue_R47932_1.jpg

What you also don't see is pigment in the wood. Notice how where it is worn the wood looks relatively clean and bare?

That is because the wood was sealed prior to application of the paint coats. The paint wears away first. If the wood had been painted raw then some of the pigment would still remain in the wood.

So, if you want that type of wear to occur then you probably should seal the wood prior to painting. You can do this with clear wood sealer, shellac, or even clear topcoat (so long as it is compatible with the paint you are going to use.)

Ah, ok that makes sense, otherwise it just soaks into the wood? would a primer mean less coats?

I'm not really going for that same worn look so I'm going to stick with my cheapest possible method. Maybe I can get the poly off in a way that leaves the wood sealed.

The primer on this website is almost as expensive as the paint and I'm poor as ******

This isn't my number one so as long as it's not a complete disaster. If it comes out good I may well put a top coat on someday.

We're gonna need pics!

I think this is a cool idea. That Tele is purdy




Good luck Scottie

There is a reason you see guides with a lot of steps. Cutting corners doesn't yield very good results.

Those steps are great if you want an immaculate, professional job...

I don't care about that.

I just remembered hacking the sunburst off a bass with a knife when I was 17 and then spraying it white with just regular old acrylic paint. Sure, it looked like **** but it was punk and no one in any audience ever noticed

If you don't care what it looks like, why bother repainting it in the first place? A worn vintage guitar or a well done relic starts out with a fine finish, it's not merely a crappy finish. If you start with a crappy finish you will end up with a crappy finish and not a cool looking one. If you don't have the money or patience to at least attempt a decent finish job I wouldn't bother with it in the first place. You don't have to shoot for perfection but then again try for better than what a 14 year old would do.

Keyser beat me to it.

To duplicate that type of finish requires sanding sealer (which is essntially a non-pigmented primer). The vintage Fenders you see with wear and "no primer" were all sealer with Fullerplast - a clear polyester sealer.

If you are going to set a visual target AND a budget, you're going to have to raise the budget. Unless you are extremely skilled you'll never even get close to a decent looking job without saler and clear coats.

One of the biggest mistakes I see made by novice finishers is sanding the color coats and trying to polish it. *Or* sanding the olor coats and applying clear coats over the sanded color, resulting in thin spots where the clear has melted through the sanded color coats.

I suggest you search the forum and do some extensive reading before trying to coat anything, then practicing on scrap first. You say you don't really care what it will look like - but what it will look like with your plan of action is more likely to be a fingerpainted or randomly splashed surface than anything remotely approaching a halfway-decent looking job.

While you keep saying you don't care what it looks like and give examples of hack jobs you post conflicting info about adding clear coats 'later" and such.

Read Colt's post again, save your money, leave your guitar alone and do a lot of reading. What little money you have now will be totally wasted with your lack of planning and "I don't care - but here's what I want to acheive" approach.

As promised, my sonic blue masterpiece.

Slight disaster that needs refinishing when I can summon the moral fortitude and the cash.

Did primer, paint, and lacquer - then realised I didn't like the colour. If you look at the unfinished pic you can see it is CLEARLY not sonic blue, despite what it said on the tin (it was from Northwest Guitars). I thought it might change when it dried, or grow on me. It did not.

So I sanded the lacquer off, intending to paint the right colour over the wrong one.

However, I'd sanded back to the wood in some places, where I'd made marks getting the ferrules out (I'd added some of the hardware). So in a lapse of sanity I put another coat of primer over all of it.

When the guitar was finally finished, I put some masking tape around the control plate while doing the wiring, to protect the finish.

But when I removed the masking tape the new layer of paint came off. Now, if a paint finish can't even withstand masking tape, there's something wrong. That second coat of primer seems to be the culprit, as everything on top of that came off.

So at some point I'll sand that off and spray again. And this time I might even go the whole hog and wet sand and buff etc.

I don't really care about the whole glass finish thing either, but if I'm going to go to all that effort it's worth trying it. I can't make it any worse.

For the moment I've patched up the finish, as you can see, But it's not robust - the slightest ding and it chips.

I love sonic blue, and I'm really proud of my first build. But I wonder if these things are ever finished. We take em apart, tinker, rinse and repeat . . .

It's not the destination, as they say . . .

So even when you try to do it properly it can still go **** up...

That doesn't look too bad but it sounds like you've had a nightmare.

Ok so I bow down to you guys and I'll take it one step at a time to get, if not a professional finish, at least one that looks ok and doesn't rub straight off.

I can afford to hire the heat gun in a couple of days. Wish me luck.

If all you want is a 'quick and dirty' change to blue then skip the heat gun.

Clean the current body with a water based degreaser (any decent kitchen cleaner will do), lightly scuff sand the existing finish, then apply the blue paint.

Yeah, I don´t know if you would get the wear you are looking for, but painting over the current finish (after scuffing lightly with 320 grit sandpaper) would make it MUCH more easy to get a good finish.

Just paint over the old finish???

That sounds cool!!

I should clarify, I'm not really concerned with a 'worn' look I'm just not too concerned with a perfect look either. The pic above was just inspiration really.

I actually seriously tempted now to just rough it up and spay some flat black matte auto on to it...

"By the end of 1976, Strummer’s guitar body, including the pick guard, has an extra coating of grey primer and black automobile paint."
http://www.strummerguitar.com/images/410_JoeStrummer002.jpg

Or some other colour.. Hmm, options.

Krylon do a combined paint + primer!

http://www.krylon.com/products/dual_paint_primer/

I don't think there's a right and wrong way to do any of this stuff. If you're happy with it, then it's right.

I still can't decide whether to re-do mine "properly".

My next build is going to be natural, so I've been trawling around for tru-oil advice.

Nitro would probably colour the wood less. But with bare wood I think I'd have to do nitro "properly" to make it worthwhile.

I think I know what you mean, ignore the proper way to do it, scuff sand your polycoat and paint over it (which isn't improper, unless you think "tone" is in the finish). I bet it will look pretty good. It's YOUR guitar.

Just paint over the old finish???

That sounds cool!!

It is cool. Just give the body a quick sanding before spraying so the paint will adhere. NO PRIMER NEEDED. Color coat first, don't sand, four clear coats, let dry overnight, sand or leave it. Let sit until it stops reeking like paint, put it back together and play.

So I took your advice, did this yesterday.

Orthodox finishing fans, look away now...

Took it all apart..
http://i49.tinypic.com/sb30u9.jpg

Then I scuffed it up with some sandpaper and cleaned it with some white spirit.

Went with a nice 'antique' white I found in matt. Got three or four layers on and it was left at the mercy of the Great British 'summer'.
http://i48.tinypic.com/hsor9x.jpg

It was touch dry in an hour but I left it for 3-4.

Meanwhile I thought about the 'antique' idea and decided to give my pickguard the antique treament rather than leave it stark white. Mostly to give the guitar a kind of theme rather than make it look 'reliced'.

Teabags didn't work but in the end I found a method that worked so amazingly I have to share it!

I got one of my Girlfriends pens from her art supplies, a nice beigey brown. Drew on roughly the areas I wanted then took some tissue soaked in white spirit and took most of it off. This left a very subtle effect.

http://i48.tinypic.com/2elbjtl.jpg

Few hours later and it's nearly back together and looking nice. Might give it a clear coat someday but it's fine as it is. The pickguard looks amazing!

Nice job, looks good!

It looks pretty damn good. Great aged look but no relic'd. Question -the girl friend's art pen - is it colour fast or will it fade quickly?

good idea on the pg, looks gnarly

The guitar looks really good - you must be pleased with that.

Really nice!

Damn Son, ya did good! I have to admit I'm a sucker for Butterscotch so I liked it before, but that looks nice and the pick guard is a (insert here whatever the London analog to "home run" is!).

Well done,
Rex

Looks OK for all the shortcuts The real question will be how long it holds up.

To answer one "question" raised by another poster:

Now, if a paint finish can't even withstand masking tape, there's something wrong.

The "something wrong" was placing masking tape on an uncured film. Especially when marginal prep was performed. It's not a problem with the product - you just rushed it.

That seems to be the "theme" of this thread, as started by the OP: rush the job, don't buy all the materials, don't do it right because it costs too much for a can of primer or whatever.

The OP ended up with an interesting look. I don't dislike it. I just don't think it will hold up very long, and it's not going to "fail" as he pictures it failing. Like Colt said, there are reasons for all the info threads on this forum.

But if it works for you great. I "break the rules" all the time...but there's a specific plan as to why. I think that's the point a lot of folks were trying to make understood.

That looks great to me. Nice one.

While I truly admire the skills, and enjoy looking at the wonderful results of those of us who pursue the finely finished, flawless beauties that adorn these pages, my own prefrences (which, happily marry with my modest finishing abilities ;) ) is for the 'Strummer' school of finishing.

What can I say - '75 - '78 were my formative years ;)
I genuinely can not relax with a totally shiny, unscathed guitar.

There is a reason you see guides with a lot of steps. Cutting corners doesn't yield very good results.

Colt, like so many here, I always enjoy your build / finishing threads, and I really enjoy - and have appreciated - the valuable info that I have gleaned from them.

Your statement above does rest on the assumption that a 'quality' finish is always what is sought (and , of course your are right there - usually it very much is so), and also that the finish will remain predictable and retain its 'quality'.
Again, usually so!

But, I do see beauty in the way that this rattle can horror aged (dis)graceully :

http://jack.mauveweb.co.uk/images/strummer.jpg

Or for that matter Page's Dragon Tele, or Beck's Esquire, or even Bruce's butchered icon, or Francis Rossi's mussed up ol Greenie . .etc..

I like 'em rough!