Painting your own guitar 101: A guide in pictures. (56k breathes in toxic fumes))

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Painting your own guitar 101:  A guide in pictures. (56k breathes in toxic fumes))
I threw this guide together out of old pictures of a Gibson Flying V I painted in 2009. The pictures were not meant to be used as a guide, but since I don't plan on documenting another paint job for at least the next several months, I decided to share the process with those interested in painting their own guitars. It is a nasty process that will require a ton of hours from you in order to do it right. You have to have a TON OF PATIENCE as the process can take up to a week. At some parts I also stress a lot of common sense things, just roll with it, I didn't want to have to reexplain too much. There are also a ton of different ways to go about doing this, every painter will suggest something different or completely different. This is how I do it, take from it what you will and have fun! Just be aware of the amount of work you must put into this process in order to have a smooth nice finish in the end. *Edit* One thing to add in, I had to sand this guitar to the bare wood which normally is not required to cover it with paint, but this guitar had that woodgrainy finish. Preexisting paint does help the wood remained sealed and the primer adhere to it easily. Just sand it it 220 or so initially, then switch to around 400 without tearing through to the wood all over, a little bit is fine. You'll figure out what works for you. A few notes on what kinds of paints and equipment I used: *3M 1/8 tape for the fretboard. I also sliced notebook paper to cover the fretboard, before using the masking tape to seal the fretboard up. Tape on fretboards will remove woodgrain. http://lh5.ggpht.com/_84Su51gpBtI/TO6vK6lj-qI/AAAAAAAABz8/90kJhoT_bKs/IMG_0663.JPG *Strong wire to hang the guitar from the ceiling. I typically run the wire through one of the tuner holes and connected it to our grated ceiling. *Permahyd Silicone Remover for wiping your fingerprints off the guitar and just general cleaning between sanding the primer, base coat, and clear coat. Make note to use this only on painted surfaces and not in a large amount. http://lh6.ggpht.com/_84Su51gpBtI/TO6vLaU2BZI/AAAAAAAAB0A/cMvmqe6Bpbk/IMG_0661.JPG *Tack cloth, this removes dust from the guitar without putting any addition cleaners on it, or generating any static. Use after the silicone remover. (Also use before applying the first coat of primer, in which you DO NOT use silicone remover. http://lh4.ggpht.com/_84Su51gpBtI/TO6vKtF_zYI/AAAAAAAABzs/SG4pP_KhNFg/IMG_0662.JPG *Air gun, these are handy for removing dust before entering the booth, and after you wipe down the guitar. I don't think there is ever a bad time not to blow off the guitar during this process, as long as you do it before and after. Just be mindful of the amount of dust that comes off the guitar if you blow it off before and do that outside of the booth/painting location. The amount after the wipe down should not be bad and the guitar should be hanging and ready so dont go removing it from the booth to blow it off at this point, leave it in. (Stressing common sense here ;) ) *Orbital sander on flat surfaces for the initial sand down, however the sanding involved after the first coat of primer was all wet sanding done by hand. *When Orbital sanding you only want to use 180-220 sandpaper. *When wetsanding the primer, 400 sandpaper works well. *When wetsanding the basecoat, if you need to, 400-600, but you MUST re-shoot the base coat if you have sanded on it. *When you are satisfied with the base coat, and you shoot the clear coat, you may consider wetsanding the clear, prior to applying the final clear for an extra smooth finish. I recommend wetsanding with 600 grit, as if you go higher, the clear coat will have a higher chance to run. 600 works well enough. *If you decide after this that you want to sand with a high grit sandpaper such as 1500-2000 and the buff the guitar, you may want to consider only doing so on the flat surfaces of the guitar. Buffers can burn the finish and there is not much room for errors at this stage. I personally aim for a good finish on my clear coating and avoid the buffing stage at all costs. *A good paint gun, this one runs about 500$. http://lh5.ggpht.com/_84Su51gpBtI/TO6vqDeWf5I/AAAAAAAAB0Y/0WFjLiUFl60/IMG_0659.JPG *I use auto grade Spies Hecker paints. http://lh5.ggpht.com/_84Su51gpBtI/TO6vL_3P_NI/AAAAAAAAB0I/31ftuFw0jxI/IMG_0660.JPG ____________________________ Step 1: Strip guitar. http://lh4.ggpht.com/_84Su51gpBtI/TO6gS7yq30I/AAAAAAAABxc/FvbmzFigPMc/s912/P3180015.JPG Step 2: Sanded with 180, then 220. Ready for primer coat 1. I wipe the guitar down here with a moist towel, and use an air gun to dry it and remove the rest of the dust. You don't want to soak the guitar here, just wipe up the dust. Since there isn't any paint on the guitar now, you don't want to use silicone remover or anything harsh like that. http://lh6.ggpht.com/_84Su51gpBtI/TO6gUyg01YI/AAAAAAAABxg/qolmkYh-9I0/s912/P3180020.JPG Step 3: Primer coat 1, next step is to sand the primer with 400 grit, then reprimer to ensure a smooth base coat will follow. http://lh3.ggpht.com/_84Su51gpBtI/TO6f_m3qtyI/AAAAAAAABww/0AKDZxV91RY/s912/IMG00027-20100509-2143.jpg Step 4: Sanded with 400 grit. (For this guitar I had to repeat step 3-4 about 3 times, as the wood grain body of the guitar took a good bit to smooth over). After its smoothed and you are satisfied, you may move on to painting the base coat. http://lh4.ggpht.com/_84Su51gpBtI/TO6gBJoV3JI/AAAAAAAABw0/zC6gMJDdYDQ/s912/IMG00030-20100509-2351.jpg Step 5: Base coat 1 of 3, (its a white guitar, white takes several coats to cover). http://lh4.ggpht.com/_84Su51gpBtI/TO6gFSdoydI/AAAAAAAABw8/zrLkVjaEX2s/s912/IMG00037-20100510-2031.jpg Step 6: Base coat in progress, just a few pointers on painting. Most people will pay most attention to the bottom of the guitar, that it goes on solid and doesnt run, however these locations I have found to be the easiest to over look, the easiest to Run I mean. http://lh4.ggpht.com/_84Su51gpBtI/TO6gNIkBmqI/AAAAAAAABxA/UUXjNK2ZwaE/s912/IMG00045-20100513-2152.jpg http://lh4.ggpht.com/_84Su51gpBtI/TO6kMggDB1I/AAAAAAAAByA/oJUx7dM4G8g/s720/IMG00053-20100513-2155.jpg http://lh3.ggpht.com/_84Su51gpBtI/TO6kOA0so8I/AAAAAAAAByE/pHvg2CvCpUE/s720/IMG00052-20100513-2155.jpg Step 6: Finished(?) Depends on how things went for you in steps 1-6 and if there were any issues. Belt Buckle scratches before: http://lh5.ggpht.com/_84Su51gpBtI/TO6lDi78CpI/AAAAAAAAByU/0mQCmPeyHxE/s912/P3180016.JPG After: http://lh4.ggpht.com/_84Su51gpBtI/TO6lF5nKtII/AAAAAAAAByc/HMyjWMH5V8g/s720/P5200020.JPG http://lh5.ggpht.com/_84Su51gpBtI/S_WiUTDaoyI/AAAAAAAAA4w/3tFpXJZ_A8g/s720/P5200014.JPG http://lh4.ggpht.com/_84Su51gpBtI/TO6nSK49RaI/AAAAAAAAByw/dnOmwHmU_rE/s720/P5200017.JPG http://lh4.ggpht.com/_84Su51gpBtI/S_WiNn6AbgI/AAAAAAAAA4s/_r423pd4JCQ/s720/P5200019.JPG Also if you have any serious questions about the process, and haven't found anything online, you may contact me and I'll try to help anyway I can. http://lh6.ggpht.com/_84Su51gpBtI/TO6ooCODXyI/AAAAAAAABzE/Jz4kjWqiUYo/me.jpg And do wear protective equipment while painting, cleaning the spray guns, and mixing the paint. Have fun, and good luck!
Dark Alone

Awesome!

Wayne W.

Could you put in how to mix the paint with the thinner,and also the primer,,example 2parts thinner and one part paint,something like that would be appriciated,Thanks so much for the info.

Metlupass2

Pro paint job FTMFW!

antipole

Looks like a brand new axe. Nice job.

.dave

Holy shit that's awesome... but I know I don't have the time, patience, or skill to get any of that shit done. How much do you charge for this kind of work? I have a black faded V that I've always wanted painted glossy black or white.

exhibit-sbt

Holy shit that's awesome... but I know I don't have the time, patience, or skill to get any of that shit done. How much do you charge for this kind of work? I have a black faded V that I've always wanted painted glossy black or white.

It's not a cheap process, very comparable to painting a panel on a car. The job on the V pictured above was about a 300$ job which is a very generous price for the work he received. Materials ran in at nearly half of that cost. The rest was just my own hours poured into it. If you interested in working something out, shoot me a PM. I'm also interested in trades for work.

TheGuardian

:eek: Damn, I wish I could do that.

DT1985

I want to repaint my old beat up strat copy. I painted grain, gravel and flat deck trailers for a year and different farm equipment for 2 years. I think I could make it turn out pretty decent.

Grindting

stky this thread

krypton

ridic.... bad ass bro!

kristomizer

Love the guide. thanks

I have 2 quick questions, bought and sanded a cheap bass as a practice painting but it looks like it has a varnish or clear coat under the original color.
Do I have to get it back to the wood or is it ok to paint over the varnish?

Also, is it best to use Acrylics, Enamels, or Two-pac paints?

feedthegod

What type of clear coat are you using? Most of the painting guides I see have you apply a Poly or Nitro after the paint.

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exhibit-sbt

Love the guide. thanks

I have 2 quick questions, bought and sanded a cheap bass as a practice painting but it looks like it has a varnish or clear coat under the original color.
Do I have to get it back to the wood or is it ok to paint over the varnish?

Also, is it best to use Acrylics, Enamels, or Two-pac paints?

You want the wood to have some sort of sealer on it that is meant for the wood. If you sand it all the way through you will loose that and the paint wont adhere so well to the wood. Above, I had to sand through that layer in order to get rid of the wood grain on the guitar's body. Afterwards I used a heavy layer of primer-sealer in order for the white paint to take to the guitar. Naturally including much wet sanding to smooth what was added.

exhibit-sbt

I hate looking for this to share with people so, bump.

Chase  M.

What brand or type of paint and clear did you use?

Sarah B.

Nice paint job ! very impressive I have not done one myself but I love to be creatve so you never know !

Sarah B.

LUSH !!!!!

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