Strat project - Paint, etc?

Aux_Axe · Post by **Aux_Axe** » Sun Jan 16, 2011 11:02 pm

Beat up old strat copy, paint has gone to hell and back again. Any opinions or suggestions for paint? Brands, types, etc. I've tinkered with guitars for ages, but this will be my first painting experiment. I suppose I need to scrape/sand off the old paint/stain first, since it's chipped pretty bad. What should I use for clearcoat over the paint? Also, pickups are officially shot. Suggestions for new ones? It has 2 singles and a bucker. Buck works fine, singles are destroyed. Opinions, anyone?

Fingers crossed for good wood grain.... Will post pics as soon as I'm able.

Peace.

(one more thing, colour suggestions? I was thinking fiesta red with a fat racing stripe down the center)

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 12:20 am

I'm a fan of stripes on guitars . . . unless it's a competition stripe on the mustangs.

try http://www.reranch.com/

they have sealer, color, and clear. a little expensive (you can do it cheaper, probably a lot cheaper) but it has everything you need and Fender authentic colors, if that is important to you. they also have very good instructions for painting guitar bodies.

Aux_Axe · Post by **Aux_Axe** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 12:34 am

Thanks for the response.

I was hoping maybe there was something I could snag from my local hardware store or guitar shop to paint it.... I guess rattle can won't work too great, quality wise. I realize there are a lot less colours, but, I'm sure I could settle on one if it would be alright to use generic rattle paint. Opinions? Also, I appreciate the link. It gave some good info.

Thanks.

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 12:48 am

I've had really good results with dupi-color auto paint. Their primer was one of the best I've ever used and the colors look really good. That's what I would recommend. I don't think they have a sealer and you'll want to seal the wood fo' sho.

Aux_Axe · Post by **Aux_Axe** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 1:24 am

Thanks. I'll be sure to check it out tomorrow.

Any suggestions for colour? Not really sure what I want, to be honest. It's pretty generic looking at the moment. Aged white pickguard, rosewood fretboard.

Once again, thanks.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 4:45 pm

No point hitting up reranch for Nitro unless you're after vintage correct. Most modern guitars aren't painted with nitro anyway..

Aux_Axe · Post by **Aux_Axe** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 7:12 am

Hmm, what about clear coat? Do hardware stores carry anything decent?

So far, I've gotten most of the paint off and starting to sand it smooth. Decent wood-grain, though not ideal. Thinking about staining it, instead of painting....

SKC Willie · Post by **SKC Willie** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 7:14 am

I'm not totally sure about wood staining as I've never done it. I would be concerned that applying any clear on top of stain might be tough.

That, I can't help you much with that.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 11:46 am

Aux_Axe wrote:Hmm, what about clear coat? Do hardware stores carry anything decent?

So far, I've gotten most of the paint off and starting to sand it smooth. Decent wood-grain, though not ideal. Thinking about staining it, instead of painting....

I think at this level you'd be best off looking at the reranch 101 articles and looking at sites that contain loads of info on refinishing. there's a lot to doing this sort of thing right and best check an article about it before doing anything.

For example you may have sanded it back but unless you have sanded right through the sanding sealer (which you may not be aware of as it's usually transparent) any stain will not soak into the wood. Be sure to get down to proper wood! Even then there may be deep bits of sealer ingrained.

Also you need to find out about Grain Filler and whether to use a darker grain filler before staining to get a good look.

Aux_Axe · Post by **Aux_Axe** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 5:08 pm

Good stuff. Thanks. I never even thought of that. I'm going to check out CanadianTire and the both hardware stores today - maybe they'll have something tolerable. Might just get super lazy and rattle can this thing some vibrant colour....

Should have pics up within a day or two.

Thanks again.

bassintom · Post by **bassintom** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 3:09 am

portugalwillie wrote:I've had really good results with dupi-color auto paint. Their primer was one of the best I've ever used and the colors look really good. That's what I would recommend. I don't think they have a sealer and you'll want to seal the wood fo' sho.

Dupli-color is the way to go.

Aux_Axe · Post by **Aux_Axe** » Wed Jan 19, 2011 9:06 am

Checked out the hardware store. Lots of duplicolour selection. Perfect.

Got the colours picked out, pretty much. This thing is going to be hideous! ...I probably shouldn't be proud of that. :lol:

Aux_Axe · Post by **Aux_Axe** » Sat Jan 22, 2011 3:29 pm

Project is being put on hold, unfortunately. Shite.

Aux_Axe · Post by **Aux_Axe** » Tue Feb 08, 2011 8:04 am

Update: Going for a swirl paint job. Fuck yes.