Paint Match for Candy Apple (CA)

[TAorama]

Anybody ever get a good paint match for Ibanez factory color CA (Candy Apple)? I tried to get one of the local paint shops to match it with their computer matching thing, and it didn't turn out right at all. Another paint shop (these are automotive paint shops, BTW) said it couldn't be matched with anything like DuPont's ChromaBase, and tried to sell me a $300 quart of House of Kolor CA red. What a joke. I've had other paints matched (including metallics) for other factory Ibanez colors, but the red is not working out as well.

Anybody find a good paint mix in any paint system for factory CA?

[Rich]

You'll never get a perfect match. It's candy over silver or pearl [usually], and candy is transparent, color controlled by thickness and pigment content.

Red Flair isn't too bad and cheap.

[PatrickSimsCustomShopUSA]

Originally Posted by Rich

You'll never get a perfect match. It's candy over silver or pearl [usually], and candy is transparent, color controlled by thickness and pigment content.

Red Flair isn't too bad and cheap.

Rich is right, Kandy is pretty much impossible to spot match b/c its a transparent color over a silver or gold base. Everytime you put a coat of kandy on it gets darker, so as you get the area in question to the correct color its subsequently making the area around it darker, therefore the area that you are repairing will always be a lighter shade of red. For a perfect match theres only one option, repaint the entire guitar.

We specialize in refinishing, and Kandy's are one of our main specialties. Let me know if you have any other questions.

www.simscustomshop.com

[TAorama]

Let me clarify the question. I'm not looking to touch up a factory paint job. I'm repainting, from scratch. I want to match, as closely as possible, the factory CA color for the finished product. I just wanted to know if anyone had found a color, possibly from PPG, DuPont, or whoever, that was close before I go digging through 50 books of paint chips.

Also, I'm pretty sure that the factory paint isn't a true "Kandy" color. I've put the magnifyer on the areas where there's an exposed cross-section to the paint (like around the neck pocket), and there's no evidence of any basecoat (gold or silver). And if you think about it, I'm pretty sure Ibanez wouldn't go through the trouble of doing a three-stage paint on a high production guitar. I'm betting this is a single stage metal-flake paint. Worst case scenario is two stage, with the MF red base and a clear topcoat.

[David McCarroll]

[quote=TAorama]And if you think about it, I'm pretty sure Ibanez wouldn't go through the trouble of doing a three-stage paint on a high production guitar. QUOTE]

Fender have been doing that for close to 50 years now..... ;-)

There's a website called The Guitar Reranch who specialize in guitar refinishing materials : http://home.flash.net/~guitars/ or Stewart
Macdonald supplies actually have a book on guitar refinishing recipes.

Candy Apple Red was apparently Leo Fender's favourite colour, which may explain why Fender have persisted in it for so many years (and besides, it looks SO good!).

Good luck with the project!

David McCarroll

[Rotti]

Reranch is an excellent site with top notch products. I think the forum is down but those guys know thier stuff. Great place for guitar finishing info.