custom painting

[guitardevil2005]

im thinking of custom painting my own guitar, how would i go threw this prosses?

[buddroyce]

1. Take your guitar apart and strip it of its hardware
2. Strip paint (heatgun, chemical stripper or sandpaper. You choose).
3. Take pride in the fact that you have finished the tedious process of stripping the paint and are now staring at your guitars body in her birthday suit.
4. Apply primer if need and then paint (or unless your going for an oiled finish then oil it up)

Take a trip to projectguitar.com and look at thier tutorials.

[parker_fly]

Actually I've heard many people say that if your just going to paint the guitar, you shouldnt strip it because the factory finish is the best base for the paint to be applied to...

[Scott 74]

Can't that kill some of the natural tone of the guitar with two finishes on there?

[buddroyce]

I guess it really boils down to how you want the end result to be like. It's very common to refinish a guitar(or a car) with the original paint still on it(that and it's probably a WHOLE LOT faster). I just prefer the natural wood with some stain than a flat opaque color, but then again that's me so it doesn't mean much.

[parker_fly]

Originally Posted by Scott 74

Can't that kill some of the natural tone of the guitar with two finishes on there?

I heavily doubt it will effect tone at all... could be wrong tho

[Phillip]

Originally Posted by parker_fly

I heavily doubt it will effect tone at all... could be wrong tho

Lacquer finish DOES affect the tone of guitar. If it's thick then it definetely has a big affect on tone. But if you just paint and finish it with a thin layer, it should be ok. If you plan to use more layers of lacquer on the new paint (to protect the paintwork), just sand down a bit from the old finish.

[evolvedmb]

So are you saying that you wouldn't totally sand the entire guitar down to the bare wood, but just rough up the lacquer alittle to get a good surface to adhere paint to? If I chose this option of painting over the original color, would I have to put down a layer of primer? or is that more for aesthetic value? I want to paint a solid White color over the Magenta red that is currently on the guitar. Thanks for responding!

[parker_fly]

Jeremy from LGM Guitars (look at the banner above) who I would consider to be more of an expert than any of us said this:

"Stripping to wood is a poor poor poor idea. You cannot get a better prepped surface than the factory paint.... "

I hope you dont mind im quoting you Jeremy.. I hope that helps.

[jski7]

Originally Posted by parker_fly

Jeremy from LGM Guitars (look at the banner above) who I would consider to be more of an expert than any of us said this:

"Stripping to wood is a poor poor poor idea. You cannot get a better prepped surface than the factory paint.... "

I hope you dont mind im quoting you Jeremy.. I hope that helps.

I'll have to second that . Usually , when you paint ANYTHING , you primer first . That just gives the paint something to grab onto . Sanding the original paint to roughen it up should work well . Autobody shops say that the original paint on a car is the best "primer" when repainting . That definately applies here as well .