MIA tele refinish project

Re: MIA tele refinish project

so the gold coating is done!!! for some reason it was really really hard to get good pics at this point. with the flash on you get a better idea of the color but for some reason the sparkle makes the finish look too thin as if you can see through, i assure you this is not the case, lol. with the flash off you get a totally misrepresented idea of the color....go figure. anyways, it looks way better than either of these pics portray.

flash on
P1010194.jpg


flash off
P1010195.jpg


anyways, now i will begin with the clear coating. ill be following the double coating method as mentioned before: spray one coat and wait about 15 minutes for the solvents to rise out then spray a second and wait at least 4 hours before the next round. im going to put a full spray can of lacquer on before i even think about wetsanding...a sand through on a sparkle finish would be disasterous.
 
Re: MIA tele refinish project

Looks good so far. A tip on pics, take them outside when it is cloudy.

You shouldn't have to sand the clear at all. Just a buffing if anything. If you do have to sand, use very very fine sandpaper and wet sand lightly but only after a few coats. You shouldn't need to spray a whole can on there, that'll be overkill. Six thin coats, max, maybe, with a final wet sand and buff/polish after the last coat has thoroughly dried.
 
Re: MIA tele refinish project

ErikH said:
Looks good so far. A tip on pics, take them outside when it is cloudy.

You shouldn't have to sand the clear at all. Just a buffing if anything. If you do have to sand, use very very fine sandpaper and wet sand lightly but only after a few coats. You shouldn't need to spray a whole can on there, that'll be overkill. Six thin coats, max, maybe, with a final wet sand and buff/polish after the last coat has thoroughly dried.
Click to expand...

the clear always needs sanded, lol. im using the stewmac aerosol cans cause i lost my access to the pro spray equipment i had at one point. i find these things spray just a tad to slow so the lacquer tends to dry a touch too much before it hits the body and you end up with some, albeit mild, orange peel. six full coats over the body could easily be close to a can since i never finish the can all the way anyway to avoid end of can spitting.

im prob just gonnan proceed the way i intended since the lacquer melts the layer below it anyway so you only ever really have orange peel on the top. ill prob do around 6 coats, give it a real good wet sand with 800, maybe 1000 grit and then do maybe 4 more coats and final wet sand with 12/1400 hundred then let it cure for about a month to ensure absolute proper drying before buffing.

either way, im excited. i actually already got the first coat on the back and it looks fantastic.
 
Re: MIA tele refinish project

Sanford said:
Did you keep the blue color in the pickup/control routes?
Click to expand...

its mostly gone and they are gonna get coated in shielding paint anyways. although thats prob not even necessary since lets just say it aint tele pups going in this thing.

just out of curiosity, why do you ask?
 
Re: MIA tele refinish project

scottish said:
the clear always needs sanded, lol. im using the stewmac aerosol cans cause i lost my access to the pro spray equipment i had at one point. i find these things spray just a tad to slow so the lacquer tends to dry a touch too much before it hits the body and you end up with some, albeit mild, orange peel. six full coats over the body could easily be close to a can since i never finish the can all the way anyway to avoid end of can spitting.

im prob just gonnan proceed the way i intended since the lacquer melts the layer below it anyway so you only ever really have orange peel on the top. ill prob do around 6 coats, give it a real good wet sand with 800, maybe 1000 grit and then do maybe 4 more coats and final wet sand with 12/1400 hundred then let it cure for about a month to ensure absolute proper drying before buffing.

either way, im excited. i actually already got the first coat on the back and it looks fantastic.
Click to expand...

Well, yeah, I probably should have included "over metallic colors". lol. Usually that first coat is very thin. Too thick and there's the risk of making the metallic particles "sit down" so they lose that sparkle effect. This is even when the color coat appears dry. That is why it's not really recommended to sand much, if at all, during the color stages of metallic colors. The second and even third coat of clear should be ok to wet sand.
 
Re: MIA tele refinish project

scottish said:
just out of curiosity, why do you ask?
Click to expand...

I was just curious, then I was picturing the gold/blue combo and my brain twisted a little bit. I'm still unclear as to whether I liked the image or not. No real reason.

Guitar looks good so far, though. Any special treatment for the neck?
 
Re: MIA tele refinish project

Sanford said:
I was just curious, then I was picturing the gold/blue combo and my brain twisted a little bit. I'm still unclear as to whether I liked the image or not. No real reason.

Guitar looks good so far, though. Any special treatment for the neck?
Click to expand...

nah, the neck is fine as it is. still got the factory finish on it and no need to mess with it. the previous owner even added a very claptonesque cigarette burn to the headstock which i love, lol. only thing im not sure about is that its been routed for a fender LSR nut...so we will see how that goes. ive never used one
 
Re: MIA tele refinish project

I've found that no matter how thin you spray with the StewMac cans, You always get more orange peel than you would using Reranch cans? The reranch clear coat cost a little more, But the paint seems to lay down smoother than any other rattle can. I don't know what Bill Lester does to those cans,But the results are about as close to a HVLP gun as you can get in a rattle can. It's not the nozzle, I've tried them on other cans. It's something in the way he mixes (thins)the paint or how he pressurizes the cans? He's got some kinda mojo there?:approve:
 
Re: MIA tele refinish project

ive never used the reranch clear coats and honestly considering how hard it is to get anything from him i dont think i want to ever try them just incase they are that good.
 
Re: MIA tele refinish project

yeah pretty much. with nitro paint you have to use a nitro finish and ive already sprayed the 1st clear coat on the back and sides. the stewmac cans arent bad, dont get me wrong, they do a really good job considering its just an aerosol can.
 
Re: MIA tele refinish project

Ok, so here we are with 4 double coars of lacquer on there which is just under one can of stew mac spray nitro.

I took ErikH's advice about the pics and took them outside when it was cloudy. The pics look a lot better so thanks man, still doesnt give a great idea of the sparkle though, there is more there than it appears. Im sure it will come out more when the final buffing is done.

P1010197.jpg


P1010198.jpg


P1010199.jpg


No wet sanding has been done yet and it actually looks like it might not need it. Im gonna give it a week or so and take a proper look at it. If it looks ok then i might just say its done and wait another few weeks before buffing it out. If it looks like it needs wet sanding then i will shoot it with a few more coats and then go to town.
 
Re: MIA tele refinish project

and here is a little teaser:

teaser.jpg


im not giving out what pups are going in there though, lol
 
Re: MIA tele refinish project

Hey Scottish...Whats the status?

is that new P-rails you are unloading...was that an idea for this guitar? what kind of pickup and wiring situation are you going to do?

-Brian
 
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