Spray Painting your guitar?

[djt]

It does sound crazy to me at first, but I keep reading that you can get a professional factory finish with high quality automotive spray paint. I bought an alder body and I have always like white bodys with rosewood fretboard combos. Surely somebody here has tryed this. Thanks for the help!

[MoOMaN2679]

I did a Lake Placid Blue with the aerosol spray can's from ReRanch.com. I think it turned out fairly well, especially since it was a metallic color.

[djt]

Wow thats prrty!, is there anywhere that I can go without having to order it?

[Jack Wells]

You can use Krylon and clear coat it with Deft. These are available at Walmart.

[KokoTele]

You're lucky to have an alder guitar, that wood is not supposed to need much surface prep before painting.

You can get a good finish with anything you can apply evenly, clearcoat and sand easily.

[TELEkinetic]

You may have already visited this link:

http://home.flash.net/~guitars/ReRanch101.html

If not, go there and read. Wherever you get your supplies from, these are pretty solid procedures to follow.

Good luck!

[Ronkirn]

you can get a professional factory finish with high quality automotive spray paint

Didja know, the in the good 'ol days, Leo used automotive finishes on the guitars, DuPont Duco (nitrocellulose) and DuPont Lucite (acrylic lacquer) were the finishes of choice.

Today, you can take the old DuPont finish codes to a good automotive finish supplier and he can match it up with an inexpensive modern equivalent, about 15 bux a pint.

Or if you can get a color swatch, the Sherwin Williams Chemical Coatings distributors can match it with Nitrocellulose Lacquer at about 25 bux a gallon.

Automotive finishes cover MUCH better than the typical lacquers and enamels available in spray cans, so one pint will easily do the color coat on 4 - 6 bodies.

After allowing it to dry completely (about 2 weeks) you can start applying a clear coat.

Still having fun, and practicing, how 'bout you.

Ron Kirn

[mvmsl2]

I used DupliColor basecoat and clear when I build my sister's strat, rattle cans from Pep Boys. The key to it as always is a very patient prep, and even more patient wait time for the paint to harden (its extremely tempting to start compounding and polishing as soon as that clear feels hard!) Now her guitar looks like a 99 Dodge Neon Alpine Green Pearl!

[teleman65]

Originally Posted by mvmsl2

I used DupliColor basecoat and clear when I build my sister's strat, rattle cans from Pep Boys. The key to it as always is a very patient prep, and even more patient wait time for the paint to harden (its extremely tempting to start compounding and polishing as soon as that clear feels hard!) Now her guitar looks like a 99 Dodge Neon Alpine Green Pearl!

Do you have a picture?

[Jack Wells]

I've used Krylon, Rust-O-Leum, and Lowes house brand for my color coats. I like Krylon the best because it drys faster. Krylon is an acrylic lacquer. I don't know about the others. Ace Hardware's house brand is made by Krylon and has colors not found in the Kylon brand. I recently picked up some DupliColor copper metallic from Pep Boys. I think I'll use it to do a matching headstock on something. The point is, if you don't have to have an actual Fender color, you can get your paint locally. Clear coat with Deft gloss ......... it is a nitrocellulose lacquer. You'll save money.

Here are three little Ferden Minis.

........

[mvmsl2]

I'll have to have her take some more pics for me. That's the only one I took. She took possession of it the day I finished up the string trees and put a custom logo on it.

[aznrambo481]

Originally Posted by jwells393

I've used Krylon, Rust-O-Leum, and Lowes house brand for my color coats. I like Krylon the best because it drys faster. Krylon is an acrylic lacquer. I don't know about the others. Ace Hardware's house brand is made by Krylon and has colors not found in the Kylon brand. I recently picked up some DupliColor copper metallic from Pep Boys. I think I'll use it to do a matching headstock on something. The point is, if you don't have to have an actual Fender color, you can get your paint locally. Clear coat with Deft gloss ......... it is a nitrocellulose lacquer. You'll save money.

Here are three little Ferden Minis.

........

Did you buy aerosol spray cans, or just get regular paint and spray it? If you got regular paint, do you have to thin it down before you spray it?

[Jack Wells]

Aerosol.

[Aen]

Originally Posted by jwells393

You can use Krylon and clear coat it with Deft. These are available at Walmart.

+1. Except i haven't gotten to the clear coat yet. I did it right over a Sage green metallic finish, I'm waiting for more black paint to wear off, so I can have TEH RELICZ!

[djt]

Also, is it just aerosol primer under the paint?

[Ronkirn]

The DupliColor grey primer available at most auto parts shops is an acrylic lacquer, rapid filling and very easy to sand... a few coats will fill just about any grain.
Adding a color coat, Krylon works great, after about a good week of drying to be sure the solvent is gone to prevent chemical incompatibility problems (ugly), is quick and easy... again allow a lot of time to dry because Krylon and Deft are not compatible unless the base coats are completely dry. . . as in devoid of their solvents. Deft is Nitrocellulose too. Test it by applying pressure with a fingernail in a concealed place like under the pickguard. If you can easily make a dent.. it ain’t ready…

If you put down a couple of coats of Deft Satin, start with very light coats with good drying time between then proceed to a couple of good wet coats. It will sand very easily... then finish with a few clear gloss coats.. now allow it to dry a Looooong time to harden... then proceed to the wet sanding and polishing stage...the longer you wait to let it harden the better the finish will be.. I’m talkin’ weeks and/or months here… you will have an awesome finish.. and not that far removed from the color finishes of the '62 Fenders.

Ron Kirn

[djt]

Does anybody have a pic of a natural finished alder body? Does anybody do that with alder?

[TELEkinetic]

Originally Posted by djt

Does anybody have a pic of a natural finished alder body? Does anybody do that with alder?

Here is the back shot of my Maple capped Alder body.



I purposely left the grain unfilled as Rod DiStefano suggests in his website.
Check out the "info" page.

http://208.56.238.182/


Here's the front in case you are curious.

[RichardWitt]

[QUOTE=TELEkinetic]
I purposely left the grain unfilled as Rod DeStefano suggests in his website.
Check out the "info" page.


Hey that's a beauty!!! Love the front! Very sweet! That's what I love about this forum, truly inspiring! Thanks also for the link! I love "Swampy" in the Tele section, more inspiration!

[jpkusa]

I've been mulling over the notion of trying my hand at this for a while. Problem is, I don't have a garage. There's a small tool shed behind the house, but it's not humidity-controlled, and I live in the most humid city in America, practically. Plus it's pretty dusty and dirty in that shed. Any ideas on where to spray a body? Can you spray outside and bring it in to dry, or will it be too fume-y?