painting my guitar

clint_41

clint_41

New member
i am thinking about painting the front of my acoustic guitar, but i wanted to check here first to see if that would somehow mess up the tone or acoustics of the guitar. it has a spruce top and a clear gloss finish, and i was thinking that acrylic paint would be the best choice. so.... is it a bad idea? if not, im gona do it.
 
Re: painting my guitar

it could really change the tone of the guitar. dont ask me how or why, i dont know, but i do know it does. painting isnt all it is, if you want it done right, youd have to take off the finish, paint it, and refinish it. lots of work, very time consuming especially since you have to wait like 3-5 weeks or something for the finish to completely harden. i wouldnt recommend it unless you really want to.
 
Re: painting my guitar

Paint & Tone has been and will always be a subjective matter. Assuming this is NOT a high end instrument?? It's most likely a Urethane based finish on it now. Like the above posted mentioned...This will be a tedious job to tackle.
IMO I doubt you will hear a noticable change in tone, But some people have sharper ears than me.:)
 
Re: painting my guitar

In my opinion, it would make a difference in theory. However, in all practical uses, I don't think you'd be able to hear it.

I did my final year engineering thesis on acoustic guitars - comparing 2 guitars (a taylor and a yamaha) and carrying out vibration analysis on the guitar top. Although I didn't analyse the results of different finishes, I believe that the type of wood and the bracing influences the vibration of the guitar so much more than these smaller factors.

And think about it, when you're playing, you're holding the guitar against your body... so you're already damping a lot of the vibrating surfaces. And if you're amplifying it, the pickup, amp, EQ, etc will largely overshadow other factors. There are so many variables and the finish is just one of them.

So in short - Yeah there's gonna be a difference but I doubt we could detect it in a blind test.
 
Re: painting my guitar

I dunno bro. That's a $300+ guitar. Is the old finish bad? Do you really want to paint it?

If you did it tastefully and professionally, it shouldn't make a difference in tone. But it could still make a difference in awesomeness. That's a big deal!
 
Re: painting my guitar

im not talking about refinishing the guitar, im going to paint a design or picture or something on the front. its not that the old finish is bad, i just think it could look cool....
 
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