Refinishing a guitar

[phil_104]

Hello,

I am thinking of refinishing a yamaha pacifica that was given to me, and making it my frankenstein guitar project. I was wondering if any of you had tips on what to do.

Right now I know that I must sand the surface, spray on a primer, apply the coat, and then a clear coat. If any of you have a few does and donts, that would be awsome.

Phil

 

[MikeS]

Re: Refinishing a guitar

Obligatory post with reranch link: www.reranch.com

 

[The Golden Boy]

Re: Refinishing a guitar

I don't know if this will apply to you..

I decided I was going to refin my Telecaster with a can of Krylon. Everybody and their mom said to just rough up the existing with some fine sandpaper and just spray over it. No... I knew better... I sanded off loads of that finish, left some really great grooves into the wood, and when I started spraying the paint- the wood just sucked it up. What should have been one can and a couple of coats turned into a bunch of cans and 93 coats and I finally got tired of it and sprayed a huge thick coat on that dripped all over the place and left orange peel where it didn't drip, and some of the furrows in the wood weren't totally filled in with the paint in other spots.

Just rough up the finish and spray over it.

 

[3th3r]

Re: Refinishing a guitar

Another obligatory post: Spray Paint Your Guitar

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: Refinishing a guitar

I don't know if this will apply to you..

I decided I was going to refin my Telecaster with a can of Krylon. Everybody and their mom said to just rough up the existing with some fine sandpaper and just spray over it. No... I knew better... I sanded off loads of that finish, left some really great grooves into the wood, and when I started spraying the paint- the wood just sucked it up. What should have been one can and a couple of coats turned into a bunch of cans and 93 coats and I finally got tired of it and sprayed a huge thick coat on that dripped all over the place and left orange peel where it didn't drip, and some of the furrows in the wood weren't totally filled in with the paint in other spots.

Just rough up the finish and spray over it.

+1 billion

 

[MikeS]

Re: Refinishing a guitar

Well, it's all in the prep work. The easiest solution is to start with an already stable base... scuff it up and prime from there as described. If you want to go to bare wood, know that you'll have to perform a lot of prep work before you even think about base/color/clear applications.

The one good thing about building on top of an already thick finish is that you completely mask the wood's natural resonance. I say that can be a good thing because some chunks of wood resonate horribly. I honestly think my old RG had a better acoustic tone with a hard plastic shell than it did with a thin coat of poly.

 

[PoorMan]

Re: Refinishing a guitar

Don't use Krylon. It'll crack and never harden.

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Refinishing a guitar

Yeah, just use the re-ranch stuff, or use car paints.

It depends on the type of wood on the amount of prep required from bare wood. Basswood, or alder, or poplar, just needs a sand & sealer. However, if it's ash then it's a royal pita!

You can just use the existing paint as the under coat, if it's not too thick. Sand it down with 220, wet. 220 will gradually reduce the thickness quite a bit. After sanding it, you can sand it down to bare in a small spot or two to test the remaining thickness. If it's still judged too thick, then keep wet sanding with 220, untill it's thin enough that you just barely start getting a few little bare spots in places. At this point always sand with the grain.

Once the remaining paint is thin enough, then just use it as the under coat, and go to the primer and color coats. If your going the same color, or if the under coat is already a suitable color, you probably won't even need a primer; you can go straight to the color, and then the clear coats.

Use just enough color coat to get even coverage, and no more than three or four clear coats, before (careful) wet sanding and buff out. If it's not a metalic color coat, you can also lightly (don't even touch the edges) wet sand (320) the color coat to take out any orange peel, before going to the clears.

 

[phil_104]

Re: Refinishing a guitar

Could i use an airbrush for this? And if so, is it possible to add clear coats with an airbrush?

Phil

 

[butnut]

Re: Refinishing a guitar

NO. Use a small 'jamb' gun or touch up gun at minimal.

 

[phil_104]

Re: Refinishing a guitar

So i couldnt use an airbrush for the color and then apply the clear coat another way? Caus I have a friend who owns a airbrushing, and I was thinking of a dark side of the moon paintjob....lol. Just wondering what my options are.

Phil

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Refinishing a guitar

To do that type of a graphic you have to use an airbrush with it's tightly controlled spray pattern and probably carefully set up masking. It will require an artist with experience in air brushing to really pull it off.

For the basic color coat and the clear coats, you will want to use a wide spray pattern, with the correct amount of overlap, from something like a HVLP spray gun (used to paint cars), or you could use re-ranch's aerosol cans system.

 

[mrfjones]

Re: Refinishing a guitar

i personally would suggest using reranch. I stripped and refinished a tele just a couple weeks ago and I took off almost all of the paint by sanding. I would suggest getting it down to almost raw wood, but leaving enough of the poly to form a good base coat. good luck

 

[JacksonMIA]

Re: Refinishing a guitar

Check out my brother's frankenstrat in the link in my signature. It was done with Krylon.

The BIGGEST tip I can give you is be patient. It's better to have to put several extra coats on your guitar because you're doing them too thin than to put them on too thick. Let each coat dry and cure well before doing anything else with it. Let it hang dry for a couple of weeks (longer is better) before you start doing your final sanding. All of this is regardless of what type of paint/spray method you use, though drying time is different for most paints.

Don't use Krylon. It'll crack and never harden.

Not if you do it the right way.

 

[kmcguitars]

Re: Refinishing a guitar

So i couldnt use an airbrush for the color and then apply the clear coat another way? Caus I have a friend who owns a airbrushing, and I was thinking of a dark side of the moon paintjob....lol. Just wondering what my options are.

Phil

A Airbrush with the largest nozzle available will give you only a Lil' more than a 1" fan. It's ideal for Burst and graphics,But painting a entire guitar with it is a major pain.(I've tried) The next step is using a Preval Unit (available at depot,or most hardware/paint stores. The problem with preval units is you have to work fast,And keep the can straight the whole time. If you angle the can, Or spray longer than a minute... The can gets cold and starts spiting paint.(not good) Next option is to get a Small HVLP gun, And small compressor. On sale... Your looking at spending $200. ( Simply not Worth it for a one off)