Home Depot or Auto Parts Store Paint?

[Radspin]

I am refinishing a cheapo guitar and want to spend as little money as possible. Can anyone tell me what would be the best type of spray paint that I could get from either Home Depot or Pep Boys, which are the two closest stores to me? I want to do a solid color, not a sunburst or stain.

I can also get Rust Oleum or Krylon from the local hardware store but don't know if they're any good, and I don't like the store's limited color selection.

[ludashoeless]

interested as well

[Thinlineggman]

I'm using Krylon on a build right now. And that is available at HD. Rust-oleum works too.

[funkymann1]

Well, here are some facts...if you are using rustolium or krylon chances are you are using enamel....if you will work with a basic color like red white or black your auto parts store will have duplicolor lacquer which to me is easier to work with... (Don’t use the engine paint as that is enamel with ceramic, just look for the blue lacquor cans).I can tell you from experience enamel clear is CRAP!! it will take months to cure were laquor will only take a month.....now here is the kicker.....I have never done it but lots of people here & other forums say enamel & lacquer does not play well together...so if you started with enamel you should end with it.....what you may want to try is what I’m trying, go to an auto paint supply store & buy urethane & buy some preval sprayers from home depot & use the good stuff....just make sure you wear a good mask.....or you can buy lacquer from reranch & have your a$$ handed to you price wise!!! They are a serious rip off!!

[somemadhope]

I concur.
If I had to refinish with aerosols on a budget, I would use duplicolor lacquer from an auto store for 6 bucks a can. Advance auto parts has always had a ton of colors available.
Rustoleum clear lacquer is decent enough and only 5 bucks at my HD, but I would go ahead and use the duplicolor clear lacquer to be safe.

What color and type of finish are you painting over? You can likely get by without primer if its white or similar to your desired color.

I would plan on 2 cans of color and 2 cans of clear if you want to wet sand and buff out for high gloss. It also assumes having a good prepped surface and laying down coats evenly without runs or sags. Mistakes = buying more paint.

[Radspin]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I will look for Duplicolor and go with Krylon or Rust Oleum if I can't find a color I like at a store nearby. For fun, I want to finish it in an unusual rather than "stock" guitar color--say, orange or purple instead of white or black, for example.

I am spraying over a poly sunburst finish Peavey Strat copy, so I am going to sand the poly and use that as a base coat. The guitar is in good shape; I just can't stand the look of the cheesy sunburst that covers the arm contour to hide the fact that the top is veneer and the body is plywood! This is my beater guitar so there's no stress involved if I mess it up but I would like the finish to come out somewhat nice.

I am debating whether to clear coat or not--I like the look of both non- and clear-coated finishes. But...enamel clear takes too long to dry?

How long will it take enamel like Rust Oleum or Krylon to dry enough for me to assemble the guitar, vs lacquer?

[Radspin]

Ahhh, there's an Advance Auto Parts a few miles from me.

Duh, forgot to ask about sanding and buffing but I can look that stuff up on previous threads.

I feel a "pics or it didn't happen" coming on...

[somemadhope]

Just to clarify, I was referring to rustoleum's clear lacquer, not any of their enamel products.

I doubt many people here at all would really reccomend enamel over lacquer. With lacquer each new coat will 'burn' into the previous coat due to being solvent based, letting you build up the finish. The end result can be sanded smooth, then buffed.

Enamel will not do this. You will have multiple coats and if you sand through one coat into the coat below it - you end up with witness lines.

With lacquer be prepared to do the color and clear then leave it alone for 2-3 weeks. Then wet sand and buff. Then assemble guitar.

[somemadhope]

Ahh, and since this is a burst you are painting over I would factor in a can of white primer so you get good coverage with your color of choice.

[Radspin]

Thanks again for all the advice--I'm off to Advance Auto Parts.

[KenH]

If you have a Michael's, AC Moore or Joanna's near by they sell Design Master Lacquers. They are full sized cans and come in tints and solid colors. Reasonably priced too. These two were finished with this product.

[Radspin]

Wow, those came out great!

Well, I went to the auto parts store and did not like any of the Duplicolor colors, except for a color that looks like Fender Desert Sand, but I passed on it. So, I went to Home Depot and bought Rust Oleum Painter's Touch primer and gloss color (a funky shade of lime green--like I said, I WANT this guitar to look distinctive). What am I in for as far as finishing time, ease of use and so on? The cans say, "contains acetone and xylene." I am not going to have time to spray the first coat for a day or two or whenever it stops raining, so I can change my mind if I want.

The instructions on the can say the stuff dries pretty fast, and to either spray a second color coat within an hour or after 48 hours. Should I sand between color coats? Is it better to try to spray within the hour or wait 48 hours?

Ken, there's a Michael's near me so that would be an option. According to the Design Master website the stuff sprays on matte and then you can spray a clear coat over it. The thing is, I like the Lime Green better than any of the colors on the Design Master site. (I know, it's crazy but I want this guitar to look a little crazy.) But, will I get a more professional-looking finish using lacquer or is it more a question of the care taken in the finishing process?

Decades ago I refinished a guitar in solid color Krylon if I remember correctly and wet sanded between coats with 400 and then 600 before the final sprayed coat. It actually came out very nice. At the time I didn't even know you could get grit finer than 600!

[somemadhope]

Unless you get gnarly orange peel or runs/sagging from super heavy coats - don't sand the color coats at all. Do all your sanding to get your surface prepped beforehand and for the after clear coating.

[Radspin]

Thanks...I would have thought I'd have to sand the color coats.

I wound up spraying a coat of Rust Oleum white primer and already the guitar looks 100 times better. I could almost leave it with the white primer finish--it has a cool matte white funky look that is SO much better than the cheesy sunburst it had. But this thing is destined to be Key Lime Green!

[Thinlineggman]

Originally Posted by Radspin

Thanks...I would have thought I'd have to sand the color coats.

I wound up spraying a coat of Rust Oleum white primer and already the guitar looks 100 times better. I could almost leave it with the white primer finish--it has a cool matte white funky look that is SO much better than the cheesy sunburst it had. But this thing is destined to be Key Lime Green!

I LOVE that painters touch white. I use it for primer on all my builds. And it does in fact work with lacquers!!!! I have sprayed acrylic lacquer over it and did a nitro clear over the acrylic.

[Radspin]

So, Thinlineggman...I STILL have the option of going to lacquer--pretty cool! I have to say the Rust Oleum primer has been great to work with so far--it went on easily without drips, dried nicely and quickly and sanded easily. I'm going to put the second coat of primer on today as I sanded through the finish in a few areas and it doesn't look like it covered the sunburst 100 percent--probably the fault of the painter and not the paint.

It's also nice to know that I might be able to get a pro-looking finish using this primer--I was a little leery of the fact that I'm using Rust Oleum primer instead of Duplicolor or Design Master (when I saw that can of green paint in Home Depot, emotion took over and shoved logic out of the way).

[Radspin]

There's a new wrinkle...pun intended!

I just sprayed the second coat of primer and it developed this really cool-looking finely textured surface. In fact, it looks a LOT like the "suede" finish on my Don Grosh ElectraJet Standards. (He doesn't offer this finish anymore.)

I'm wondering...if I just leave it and don't sand it, will the color coats take on this finish? If so, I might go for a satin rather than gloss finish. Like this (very hard to see in the photo though):



This is actually becoming a fun project...might not come out the way I planned it, but what the heck. And I confess...I like green guitars.

[R. Stratenstein]

If I understand your description accurately, it sounds like you sprayed a "dry" coat--meaning not enough paint--and it essentially dries as it flies through the air and sticks to the surface. Don't know about subsequent coats. Typically, primer coats are sanded, so I don't know what kind of effect you'll get if you spray over it with your finish coat.

BTW, I've had really good luck with Krylon. It seems to work better than Rust Oleum products in my experience, and there are some pretty wild Krylon colors. Sounds like the Rust Oleum is doing the job for you, so carry on. . .

[Thinlineggman]

This be my rust-oleum painters touch primed baby.

It went: primer> Montana gold acrylic (greenish blue) > Montana gold lacquer glossy clear.



And this one ^^^^ is in progress. I'm actually using a painters touch color this time. Not sure how much I like how the color is drying out though. It's supposed to be matte, but it dries kinda awkwardly glossy... (hard to tell by the pic though)

[Radspin]

I think I'll sand the second coat and spray another primer coat (there are still a couple of "shadows" where the base color has a hint of showing through. Stratenstein, you might be right--I sprayed on a hot sunny day and took so much care not to get drips that I might have backed off a little too much. The paint seemed to dry practically instantly. I don't think I can convey this in a picture--the effect is subtle, not drastic.

Basically, what I'm trying to do with this guitar is get my technique down by experience, trial and error. I'm not ready to buy a spray painting rig just yet.

One other question for all of you experts...if I apply the color coats and the finish is not quite perfect, could I remedy it by spraying finish clear coats and sanding them?