Clear Nitro over Duplicolor... and Aging?

WoodGrain67

WoodGrain67

New member
I've got a build underway of a 5150-style guitar that has the red/black/white striped paintjob using Duplicolor paint from AutoZone. The color coats have been applied, dried for several months, and sanded/buffed to a decent shine – though one can see the troughs where the stripes run due to the different layers of color.

I'm trying to decide if I want to spray clearcoat on this guitar or leave it alone.
If I do it, I have Reranch clear nitro on hand but I'm worried that it might yellow over time make the guitar look bad. Is that a legitimate concern? If it is, I'd be interested in recommendations for other brands/types of clearcoat that I could use?
 
Re: Clear Nitro over Duplicolor... and Aging?

If you're going for authenticity, Eddie didn't clearcoat.

If you don't care about authenticity, you'll have to lay on enough coats so that way you have enough buildup to sand the clearcoat smooth without sanding off the edge of a stripe.
 
Re: Clear Nitro over Duplicolor... and Aging?

Also..... real nitro may react badly with whatever the Duplicolor finishes are....
 
Re: Clear Nitro over Duplicolor... and Aging?

ICTGoober said:
Also..... real nitro may react badly with whatever the Duplicolor finishes are....
Click to expand...
DupliColor is acrylic lacquer. It should be OK.

Just remember, all the old finishes being nitro is a myth. A lot of the original '50s and '60s finishes were actually acrylic lacquer. Don't get hung up on nitro.
 
Re: Clear Nitro over Duplicolor... and Aging?

Go back to the auto parts store, Dupli-Color makes a clear coat in a rattle can. Both gloss and satin are available, iirc.
 
Re: Clear Nitro over Duplicolor... and Aging?

Just remember, all the old finishes being nitro is a myth. A lot of the original '50s and '60s finishes were actually acrylic lacquer. Don't get hung up on nitro.
Click to expand...

I am NOT hung up on nitro. I've been doing guitar repair for big music stores for 39 years, and I've run into too many morons who think paint is paint, and sprayed clearcoat nitro over their enamel finishes and melted it. It fricking well matters that you DO NOT mix your finishes, making sure everything is compatible. It also doesn't help that the internet is awash with crap opinions and lies, with very little truth to keep everyone straight. Just trying to do my part here, that's all.

Glad to know that Duplicolor is acrylic lacquer, though - the guy should have no troubles.
 
Re: Clear Nitro over Duplicolor... and Aging?

Ah, I didn't mention why I stayed away bfrom Duplicolor clear -- I read multiple posts on multiple forums that it tends to stay on the soft side.

I'm home now, so I took a quick pic of where I'm at. I still have some touch-ups to do on the body and then more polishing. I also sprayed clear nitro over the maple neck below the headstock.

 
Re: Clear Nitro over Duplicolor... and Aging?

I used Duplicolor clear ten years ago; it got HARD, quick and has remained that way (there's a joke hidden here somewhere...)

(And brittle; I believe I layed it on too thick and after moving to a more humid environment it displays cracking which I could describe as extensive :P A near-authentic 'relic' look, if I was into that.)
 
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Re: Clear Nitro over Duplicolor... and Aging?

Thanks for the feedback all. I think that I'll leave it without clearcoat. If I don't like it five years from now when my patience for this build has returned, I'll sand it down and start over.

By the way the intent for this build is a generalized evh axe, combining elements from the frankenstein and the 5150, using a Musikraft neck and body. the pickup will be a SD Custom Shop 78.

I've made more mistakes on this build than I'd like...
-swamp ash was more work to grain-fill than I first thought,
-the green 3M tape that I used had bleed and I learned that another tape would have saved me some pain,
-after taping over the white base coat, I spayed white again over the tape-job, which I read would help with paint bleed issues, but it made it worse when I sanded the second red coat because t1riangle tips went white upon wet-sanding because the white gathered up higher in those apexes. And the stuff bled anyway, ugh.

My consolation in all of this is that when I look at photos of the original 5150, I'm doing alright.
 
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