Okay so I'm totally..

Painting? Routing? Set-up tips? Or just straight-up making a guitar from scratch? Post here, and post pics!

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Doog
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Okay so I'm totally..

Post by Doog »

..gonna refin my Jazzmaster in BLACK(AUG), thanks to some encouragement by JamesBob and the telling of Hurb's Wonderful Refin Tale.

Gonna wait til next week, when my first week of summer commences and I have time to geek around

JamesBob said I wanna get my lucious booty down to Halfords and pick up some car colour- is there any type I want to be going for? Ditto the clear?

x
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Mike
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Post by Mike »

YES. Epicness.

You'll want to sand down the current finish to rough it up so the new paint adheres and then I would prime (they do Grey Matt Primer), and then Colour (your choice of black) and then Clear Lacquer.

Mike's Pro Tips:

- Sand the original finish like billy - no gloss left behind.
- Prime twice, 20 minutes apart. Don't go nuts each time, you don't want runs
- I would get two cans of colour personally, nothing worse than coming up short. Hang the guitar body, do the edges first and then the front and back. Loads of coats, like 20 minutes apart.
- Clearcoat - use at least 2-3 cans. Believe me, you'll need it to bring up a nice gloss. Get some very fine wet/dry for sanding with after you're halfway through clearcaoting - only sand after a week of curing or you'll sand through.
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Doog
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Post by Doog »

Do I really need to prime it, if the finish is nice and rough for the paint to stick to?
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Mike
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Post by Mike »

Why half arse it?
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Doog
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Post by Doog »

True enough, just wondering if it was neccessary- no point in wasting time or money if it won't make a difference.. but if it will, I shall.
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Post by Mike »

The best possible finish before you apply colour is necessary for the best possible finish overall.

With each layer you need to create the smoothest finish possible for the next coat. a bunch of lacquer will hide some nonsense, but not everything. I would do at least two-three coats of primer and then have a "gentle" sand with some fine wet/dry (1500) and a cork block. Just gentle, take off any raised bumps of paint.
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Doog
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Post by Doog »

Okeydokey, cheers.

Sorry to bring a re-e-wind, but any idea on the "type" of paint I'm after? Is it the only colour Halfords would sell? Any idea on the clear coat?
Last edited by Doog on Mon Jul 28, 2008 10:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
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James
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Post by James »

I think because he's doing black and he'll have a smooth white finish to go on anyway, he shouldn't have any problems not using primer.

To go over what I said last night a bit.

At halfords you wnat to buy the black paint and the clear. I'm nt sure what your store will be like, but here the section with the spray paint is just a kagillion different colours (labelled by what car company they match up to) and you'll have about 10 options for black(ford, vauxhall, etc.). Next to those they have yellow hite and grey primer, if you do use primer get grey. and they have clear with near the primer too.

also near the paint section are packs of the very fine wet/dry. I went a bit nuts and bought too many grades. In fact, I will have a look this afternoon and see what I have left in the garage. I'm thinking I will have plenty and it will be no problem to bring a few sheets to doogfest. it's about £2-3 a pack so it'll save you a few quid there.

Wilkinson sell cork blocks and loads of grades of sandpaper, they dont sell anything fine enough for they actually finishing stage, but you can pick yourself up the block and a few sheets to prepare it with for next to nothing. They also sell this foam block (actually cheaper than the cork block) that has rough edges that you can use for sanding. I found using one of those to be a bit more comfortable on the edges because they would bend slightly so you could match the radius a bit.

If you live near Halfords or can get there easy enough, 2 cans of black and 2 of clear will do you well, and you can always pick up another f each during drying time if needs be. If it's a bit of a cunt to get to, just spend the extra tenner and get 3 of each. If you don't use it all you can always use it to do a pedal or something anyway (matching headstock!!).
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Mike
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Post by Mike »

James wrote:I think because he's doing black and he'll have a smooth white finish to go on anyway, he shouldn't have any problems not using primer.
A smooth gloss finish is crap for spraying onto mate, the paint will no adhere. It will flake like a bastard.
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Post by James »

The one time I did it I went down to wood. I was assuming if he went through the gloss and a little into the white paint he would be alright to spray over that?
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Post by Mike »

James wrote:The one time I did it I went down to wood. I was assuming if he went through the gloss and a little into the white paint he would be alright to spray over that?
That's what I'm talking about when I say rough up the finish. I still say primer after gloss removal is the way forward. Black is incredibly unforgiving. Why not give yourself a better chance of a nice finish for the sake of £5 and some more effort?
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Post by Mike »

Perfect. They do larger cans of Lacquer and Primer you'll probably be interested in though.
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Doog
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Post by Doog »

Dope. I hate looking for stuff when I have no idea what it looks like. I'll slink off to Halfords on Friday I think, although it's a bus ride AND a 20 minute walk.

Stupid crappy shitty useless bus routes.

Maybe I'll just walk it and turn up there all SWEATY AND MANLAND
Last edited by Doog on Mon Jul 28, 2008 11:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Mike
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Post by Mike »

The checkout chicks will love that.

The ones at my local one think I have a massive solvent abuse problem. Still doesn't stop them flirting shamelessly. It's amazing what working with a bunch of bike enthusiasts will do to a girl.
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Post by Doog »

hahaha

"Sir, that's the 3rd can of clear coat you've bought in as many days.."

"BUT I NEEEED IT! I'VE NEARLY FINISHED OFF MY BODY!"

"Dear God, he's suicidal!"
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Mike
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Post by Mike »

I would definitely go for the "I'm huffing this stuff" approach rather than the hideous truth. I'll lose all my Dangerous Maverick Exterior.
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Doog
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Post by Doog »

You could just imply that you're refinishing a guitar for Doherty, and he's paying you with "magic injecty power".
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Post by More Cowbell »

WHy not see if someone with a black jazzy, would want to trade bodies with ya? Or put just your white jazzy body on ebay, then buy a black jazzy body?
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Post by Hurb »

He doesn't need primer if he's painting over the ruffed up poly. the poly will act like a primer. so long as when you sand it down doog you use a sanding block so you get no dips and pits. as they will show really bad through the black.
Also the black jazzy I brought down to doogfest last year had no clear. clear and black are the same price in halfords I believe. so you could just buy black and paint it with plenty of black instead of clear. makes repairing sand throughs a lot simpler.
The secret to a nice finish is prep work(the poly has done that for you! and sanding and buffing at the end.
Good luck!