My Strat Is Back from the Finishing Shop...Can I Get Your Opinion?

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: My Strat Is Back from the Finishing Shop...Can I Get Your Opinion?

Well, I was going to suggest Guitar Mill...so I guess I'm out!

FWIW, I've had work done by them that turned out great.

Nitro is just a bugger to mess with to be honest...you might never, ever get a factory clean finish like you'd get on Poly...unless you pay big bucks...

 

[formula73]

Re: My Strat Is Back from the Finishing Shop...Can I Get Your Opinion?

RS. They redid the top of my 73 LPC after they filled the Kahler rout and you can't tell where the blending begins and the factory finish stops.

 

[JordanM82]

Re: My Strat Is Back from the Finishing Shop...Can I Get Your Opinion?

RS Guitar Works did a Tele body for a buddy of mine... looked great, Nitro as well. Has been playing it for a year or so, shows no signs of wear, checking, cracking... none of that. I would talk to them. I was impressed for sure...

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: My Strat Is Back from the Finishing Shop...Can I Get Your Opinion?

There is all this talk of nitro being difficult to work with and near impossible to get perfect, but I've never personally had a body professionally painted in nitro that was flawed in any way. And since most nitro paint jobs from factories are put onto "higher-end guitars," which will tend to be built by more skilled laborers (in general), I haven't seen too many of them that are bad either. Sure, finish flaws caused by poor workmanship are all over new Gibsons, but usually not cracks and the like that speak to the *****iness of nitro. I've seen plenty of bad finish work (mainly poly, because it is on lower-end guitars), but it is usually factory paint jobs, not guitar paint shops serving the aftermarket. What are you paying a paint shop for if they cannot do the job without flaws? I think it really depends on the skill of the painter, not on the material used for the finish.

 

[DankStar]

Re: My Strat Is Back from the Finishing Shop...Can I Get Your Opinion?

with thin nitro, isn't it going to get "road worn" pretty fast anyway?

to be honest, I think the body looks kinda cool in pics provided, but can you post some that are a pan-out that kinda show it as you'd see it walking into a room or something? thanks

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: My Strat Is Back from the Finishing Shop...Can I Get Your Opinion?

Yeah, nitro is a bugger. Very brittle, chips and cracks easily.

But it is easy to work with because it dries fast and is easy to sand.

 

[SabbathFan0220]

Re: My Strat Is Back from the Finishing Shop...Can I Get Your Opinion?

Thanks again for all the input, guys. Honestly...the guitar doesn't look terrible. I'll probably just leave this one as is. The question is who to send my custom body to because I still don't have a shop that I trust. I guess RS is next.

As requested, here are some pics of the guitar from farther away:

And with some parts resting in place (the neck is still too snug so it's sitting on top of the pocket):

 

[CTN]

Re: My Strat Is Back from the Finishing Shop...Can I Get Your Opinion?

WOW, that looks GORGEOUS.

 

[Powdered Toast Man]

Re: My Strat Is Back from the Finishing Shop...Can I Get Your Opinion?

Have you considered auto shops? They should be better at applying coats, I would think. Granted you probably can't get nitro (unless they spray it with NO2 :lol: ).

And isn't nitro historically brittle?

Great suggestion! My buddy used to work for an Autobody company and he took two of his guitars to their paint shop. They came out BEAUTIFUL! They even did some stuff like custom metal flake and such. The finishes looked as good as factory.


Anyway, to the OP, honestly, if it's Nitro, it's going to wear, check, and look like crap in enough years anyway. I wouldn't sweat the small imperfections at this point. Even the major manufacturers offer no warranty on a nitro finish. One of my local Fender dealers had a David Gilmour signature Strat - brand new - on the wall. They ended up having to discount the price because the finish developed a crack. They told me they even tried calling their Fender rep to see if they could send it back - he just laughed at them and said, "Nitro? Sorry, nope."

The only reason anyone would finish or purchase a guitar in nitro these days is because they want it to "relic" over time.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: My Strat Is Back from the Finishing Shop...Can I Get Your Opinion?

I also prefer how nitro feels to the touch. Poly, no matter how high in quality or how thin it is, feels plastic-like. It's kind of like the difference between dungarees (denim) and dress whites (100 percent polyester). The whites will sure as hell look newer for longer. But actually wearing them is kind of gross. And when nitro wears, scratches, and damages, it looks good to me. Poly looks terrible to me when it starts showing it's wear.

 

[orpheo]

Re: My Strat Is Back from the Finishing Shop...Can I Get Your Opinion?

I finished a couple of guitars in nitro and it's doable to get a high gloss, supertight finish with it. the stranger nitro things, like this matt black, is hard to do.

the nitro/poly discussion has been done a thousand times, and I don't actually care that much about it. the nitro's age nicer, the poly's don't age at all unless you really bang 'm up. but even then they look worn, not SRV-style worn

 

[DankStar]

Re: My Strat Is Back from the Finishing Shop...Can I Get Your Opinion?

WOW, that looks GORGEOUS.

+1,000. guitar looks bad azz dude!

 

[SabbathFan0220]

Re: My Strat Is Back from the Finishing Shop...Can I Get Your Opinion?

I'll admit, it does look great in those pics, but I just can't touch this thing without the finish flaking off. I just tried to install the ferrules...chipped again. The switch...chipped. The control cover was a snug fit...more chips around the edges of the cavity. This guitar will be down to bare wood before I know it.

I own a Gibson, so I'm not new to nitro, but I've never dealt with anything like this before. This is not my first guitar build. I actually have a good five years of experience and know a lot of the little tricks for proper assembly. I got a quote from RS, I may just cut my losses (again) and have them redo it.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: My Strat Is Back from the Finishing Shop...Can I Get Your Opinion?

That neck is absolutely gorgeous.

 

[Aceman]

Re: My Strat Is Back from the Finishing Shop...Can I Get Your Opinion?

As for the neck pocket/cavity - unwad the panties.

As for the Nitro - why?

The outcome over all - no better than this:

As for the overall look - very nice. I'd like to know the entire cost though...I bet it hurts to think about it.

 

[phred]

Re: My Strat Is Back from the Finishing Shop...Can I Get Your Opinion?

Contact Tonar8353 on the Unofficial Warmoth forum. He does amazing work.

 

[TheLivingDead]

Re: My Strat Is Back from the Finishing Shop...Can I Get Your Opinion?

Oh dayum! I really like that!

Shame about the sub-par work though.

 

[Strat111]

Re: My Strat Is Back from the Finishing Shop...Can I Get Your Opinion?

The guitar does look gorgeous. And that neck? Wow. Maybe what you need now is to do a light layer of clear coat just to seal the whole thing. Very light.

 

[ilovebender.com]

Re: My Strat Is Back from the Finishing Shop...Can I Get Your Opinion?

Thanks again for all the input, guys. Honestly...the guitar doesn't look terrible. I'll probably just leave this one as is. The question is who to send my custom body to because I still don't have a shop that I trust. I guess RS is next.

As requested, here are some pics of the guitar from farther away:

And with some parts resting in place (the neck is still too snug so it's sitting on top of the pocket):

I like the dark neck and the natural look of the grain in the fret board and the chrome pickup rings, looks cool.

 

[uOpt]

Re: My Strat Is Back from the Finishing Shop...Can I Get Your Opinion?

It's not even a smooth surface.

What are they thinking?

My first re-ranch looked 10x better.