Painting a pickguard, possible?

[joaopazguitar]

hi guys,

I have a 1-ply white pickguard that I'd like to change to, say, mate black or something on the dark side.

Is it possible to properly paint a pickguard? in a way that with a few scratches you won't have the paint peeling off and the white showing from underneath?

I also thought about some crazy things like covering the top with sand paper and applying some sort of sray finish on top

Any ideas (other than "buy a new pickguard" )

thanks!

 

[elijahz]

It's actually extremely easy to paint a pick guard.

My friend and I had this really cheap knock off les paul, and we were pretty bored so we figured we'd repaint some stuff like the pick guard.

Pretty much all you have to do is unscrew it, lay it out on some newspaper, put 2-3 coats of any stores generic spray paint, let it dry for a couple hours (very important), and screw it back on.

We spray painted a black pick guard gold by the way.

 

[tap4154]

I haven't used it on a PG, but have used Krylon Fusion on old plastic parts on a car I was restoring, and it works great. I think I've read that some folks have used it on PGs with very good results as well. It's formulated to paint plastics with, but works on a variety of surfaces (I used it on metal as well).

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

 

[Colt W. Knight]

Most paints on most plastic pickguards will peel and scratch off very easily. There are so many different type of plastics and paints, it is very hard to recommend something that will work "for sure".

That said, you can always go out and buy a cheap can of spray paint, spray it on, and see if it works. I would avoid lacquer based aerosols for plastic.

 

[joaopazguitar]

thanks, guys!

thats great help!

I will investigate both ideas. And welcome to the forum, Elijah!

 

[ctte2112]

If you spray clear on top it shouldn't come off easily.

 

[braderrick]

It may not scratch as easily with clear over it but still the sticking part is only going to be as good as the base coat.

 

[bayside]

Sure, here's a pic. Oil paint with Nitro clear coat.

 

[Colt W. Knight]

Sure, here's a pic. Oil paint with Nitro clear coat.

Very nice artwork.

 

[joaopazguitar]

...wow, you guys are great

not only did I get several responses on what to do to paint it, I also got an example of ART paint in a pickguard

I went out shopping today and I found the Krylon fusion-for-plastic paint, thanks, tap4154! I'm giving it a shot and will report later. It dries super fast, although it takes 7 days to achieve maximum strenght. the specs were very encouraging, though!

thanks, Gents!

 

[brookdalebill]

What about come kinda contact paper?

 

[Colt W. Knight]

Some advice. Do not tighten the screw down hard. Just lightly. If you go too tight you will displace the paint and it will bubble and wrinkle around the holes.