Strat #13 - Purple-Licious

dominus

King Midas to Cheap Guitars
Decided to try out a new paint, Testors' One-Coat Lacquer. I was skeptical, but they're right. One coat worked. Gotta be careful, it comes out thick and you can overdo it. (I've got two spots on here that need to be sanded down, but I may just leave it. Also dries nice and hard and shiny, so I'm skipping the clearcoat. 3 oz cans almost scared me off, but I bought three of them and hoped for the best. Now I get to take the other two cans back, because ONE 3 oz can was enough. I probably could have done the headstock too!

http://www.testors.com/products/137194

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This was a Legend brand Strat. Made of Alder, made in China, very accurate headstock shape, 22 frets, $80 delivered, what's not to like? (Aside from the original sunburst finish, can't stand tobacco/3TS/2TS. ) We'll just sand the logo off real quick and clearcoat over the headstock. Can't tell unless you look close. :D

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Again, went with a pearloid black over a plain black, just looked better.

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You can see the spot on the edge where I lingered for a millisecond too long.

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Dimarzio D-Sonic, flipped for brutality. It delivers.

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Again, I don't bother filling dents on these, not worth my time. Sand it with a fine sanding pad to remove the shine, then paint over it. When it's dry, assembly time. Looks good enough, plays great.

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Re: Strat #13 - Purple-Licious

Didn't you already post a new guitar day thread today? How many of these things do you do?!
 
Re: Strat #13 - Purple-Licious

That paint sounds (and looks) pretty amazing. Was it easy to work with? How long did it take to dry?

Good choice on the pearloid by the way, looks killer. This is one of the very, very few purple guitars I've seen that I've actually liked.
 
Re: Strat #13 - Purple-Licious

That paint sounds (and looks) pretty amazing. Was it easy to work with? How long did it take to dry?

Good choice on the pearloid by the way, looks killer. This is one of the very, very few purple guitars I've seen that I've actually liked.

Very easy to work with. One trick I learned is to warm up the spray can (I use a large plastic cup, fill it with hot water from the tap (some people boil water on the stove or use the microwave, but the hot water from the tap seems to work fine for me), let the can sit in the water for about 5 minutes, take it out, shake and spray. I do it for paint and clear coat, and when I used primers and sealers, same method.) Like I said, it's thick, so you have to time it well. I start on the edge then do the top, and you can see the spot on one edge. There's another spot on the upper horn inside the edge where I was walking around and dawdled. :D

I think I let each side dry 12 hours. When I rubbed the paint (along the pickup cavity, I'm no fool! ;) ), the paint didn't smear, and there were no specks on my hands. (There was with the Duplicolor Metal Specks, that one had to be clear-coated.) Then I pressed with my fingernail, didn't make a mark.
 
Re: Strat #13 - Purple-Licious

It needs a Quarter Pound at the neck and an SSL-5 middle.

Looks great!
 
Re: Strat #13 - Purple-Licious

Dude!!! I'm using that EXACT same paint to refin my old MIM strat! Good choice!
 
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