Repainting Questions

[JeradP]

This coming Monday, I will be buying a Tele copy at a pawnshop for $57. It's black, and I've never liked black on a guitar. I've never refinished, painted, etc anything, let alone a guitar

I've done some research and have a better understanding thanks to the threads on here, but if you guys could help me a little bit, I'd really appreciate it.

I want to paint the body and headstock to match. I was thinking sonic blue, surf green, rusty orange, or chameleon. My other idea was to use acrylic craft paint and make a colorful "mess" and put a clearcoat on it. I'm not wanting a sparkly, metallic finish, but I do want it to be glossy rather than matte.

-Do I NEED to strip the paint or can I just scuff it with sandpaper? Or can I not do anything but wipe it clean?

-Will acrylic paint adhere to a body?

-What kind of cheap clearcoat would work? I'm planning on getting paint at Wal Mart, like krylon spraypaint.

-Do I need a primer?


Since I'm not looking to do anything particularly fancy, and I am a bit of an idiot, what is the simplest way to do this? I just want it to be a solid color and not look completely awful. Is spray paint the way to go or is paint-in-a-can a better choice?

Gentlemen, thank you in advance for tolerating my questions. The threads I've read answered a lot of questions, but they also sparked new ones and made me second guess some posts.


EDIT-
This is the post that made me wonder if I can do this easily because it's a solid color I'm wanting...
"If you want a solid color like black or surf green, you can just scuff up the poly paint on the CV and spray over it. Reranch.com is one of the places of choice to buy nitro paint, and also has a good tutorial section."

[Ironwolf]

You can probably just scuff sand the current finish, provided it has no deep scratches or chips. The important thing is for the base to be smooth as a baby's bottom. You would also be best off painting it white before your final color coats. Black is a very hard color to cover effectively with a lighter color.

[JeradP]

Originally Posted by Ironwolf

You can probably just scuff sand the current finish, provided it has no deep scratches or chips. The important thing is for the base to be smooth as a baby's bottom. You would also be best off painting it white before your final color coats. Black is a very hard color to cover effectively with a lighter color.

Thanks for the tip. I was thinking about black being too dark, but it slipped my mind when posting. Thanks

[JeradP]

I'm thinking I'll go with coral pink/ shell pink, seafoam green, daphne blue, lake placid blue or capri orange. And I'll be getting the guitar tomorrow morning instead of monday :D

What kind of sandpaper do I need to buy to rough it up? Do I want a medium grit or a fine grit?

[ghostwolf]

sand it with 150, then follow that with 220. as for the color coat, lately a lot of guys have had problems with Krylon. Rust Oleum makes a great seafoam green that i used to paint my strat. it doesn't react with clearcoats the way krylon can. as for the clear, Deft clear wood finish is a nitro lacquer that works well. just mist the first few coats over the color, this will help prevent wrinkling the paint. unless there's noticeable crud or orange peel in the color coat, don't try to sand it before you shoot the clear.
don't be afraid to ask questions as you go. be patient, and if possible, practice on scrap wood before trying it on your guitar.

[JeradP]

Originally Posted by ghostwolf

sand it with 150, then follow that with 220. as for the color coat, lately a lot of guys have had problems with Krylon. Rust Oleum makes a great seafoam green that i used to paint my strat. it doesn't react with clearcoats the way krylon can. as for the clear, Deft clear wood finish is a nitro lacquer that works well. just mist the first few coats over the color, this will help prevent wrinkling the paint. unless there's noticeable crud or orange peel in the color coat, don't try to sand it before you shoot the clear.
don't be afraid to ask questions as you go. be patient, and if possible, practice on scrap wood before trying it on your guitar.

Thanks Ghostwolf
I forgot about Rustoleum, I think I'll go that way. I said Krylon, but I just meant standard, chain store spray paint rather than high dollar stuff. But I'll get Rustoleum. Primer isn't needed if I sand it? And do I need to get the entire black finish off or not? I'm going to town in an hour or two to get the guitar, then I'm off to Wal Mart (BLECHH!) to pick up some paint and sandpaper, and if needed, primer.

Here are the steps I THINK...
1-sand the guitar's glossy finish and scuff the black paint
2-Primer?
3-Several coats of paint
4-Sand after each paint coat
5-Spray a finishing lacquer (several coats)

Am I forgetting anything? Do I need a sealer before primer, or in place of primer? Do I need either or can I immediately start spraying coats of color?
I'm really excited about starting a project like this, this forum is a lot of help

[JeradP]

I'm getting ready to leave, wish me luck ;)
I'm getting a Rusto primer and a Rusto color today. I'll check the internet on my phone to check this thread for any more tips in the next hour. Thanks guys :)

[Colt W. Knight]

Originally Posted by JeradP

This coming Monday, I will be buying a Tele copy at a pawnshop for $57. It's black, and I've never liked black on a guitar. I've never refinished, painted, etc anything, let alone a guitar

I've done some research and have a better understanding thanks to the threads on here, but if you guys could help me a little bit, I'd really appreciate it.

I want to paint the body and headstock to match. I was thinking sonic blue, surf green, rusty orange, or chameleon. My other idea was to use acrylic craft paint and make a colorful "mess" and put a clearcoat on it. I'm not wanting a sparkly, metallic finish, but I do want it to be glossy rather than matte.

-Do I NEED to strip the paint or can I just scuff it with sandpaper? Or can I not do anything but wipe it clean?No stripping necessassry if there are no chips of paint missing. Just scuff the paint up with some 320 or buff thoroughly with some 00 steel wool.

-Will acrylic paint adhere to a body? Yes it will, just be sure to scuff the body evenly, and not put in deep scratches. Then clean it well with naptha, and you should be good to go.

-What kind of cheap clearcoat would work? I'm planning on getting paint at Wal Mart, like krylon spraypaint.Krylon really doesn't like accepting a clear coat. A automotive acrylic lacquer will do a better job. DEFT is a soft lacquer, and it takes too long to dry. I do not recommend it.

-Do I need a primer?To cover black with a lighter color, yes.


Since I'm not looking to do anything particularly fancy, and I am a bit of an idiot, what is the simplest way to do this? I just want it to be a solid color and not look completely awful. Is spray paint the way to go or is paint-in-a-can a better choice?I would just scuff the existing surface with some 320 lightly, clean with naptha, and then use quality automotive aerosol lacquer.

Gentlemen, thank you in advance for tolerating my questions. The threads I've read answered a lot of questions, but they also sparked new ones and made me second guess some posts.


EDIT-
This is the post that made me wonder if I can do this easily because it's a solid color I'm wanting...
"If you want a solid color like black or surf green, you can just scuff up the poly paint on the CV and spray over it. Reranch.com is one of the places of choice to buy nitro paint, and also has a good tutorial section."

Hope this helps.

[JeradP]

Colt-Thanks a lot! I ended up getting Rustoleum. I'll start a new thread appropriately named to mark my progress

Guys, thanks for the information

[JeradP]

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home...t-venture.html

The link to my Tele process journal :)