Naked '72 Gibson SG Custom Body score!!

[jimistone]

You need a decent sprayer, a dust-free environment, good quality paint, flawless prep work, and some experience.

I tried the DIY bit when I was a teen. Telecaster body strung up by a coat hangar through the neck boltholes, using automotive type laquer. Turned out terrible. Dust in the finish (environment), uneven color tone (lack of professional sprayer and experience), wouldnt cover wood grain even with 3 coats (lack of prep)

Getting cars painted by a pro cost a lot of money for a reason. Its a skill to lay paint evenly. I work for a major furniture company and see some of the pieces that get repaired. They only trust one guy in the whole shop crew to run the spray booth (you wouldnt have one of those would you?) and he does a great job..... because he has the right equipment and paint, and does it every day. Don't mean to discourage you. I built a drumset a little later in those teen years and didn't even consider painting them, just wrapped in blue sparkle wrap- wish it was that simple with other instruments.

Well, let me address this post and the other "Do the people here reccomending a DIY job actually KNOW how hard that is?" post....since I recomended the do it yourself refinish.
Here is a pic of my '66 strat that I did in lake placid blue nitro laquar. I used 3 cans of spray paint from www.reranch.com. They offer nitro laquar in spray cans that shoot the paint as good as an air powed paint gun. There are complete step by step instructions on the website for preping the body, priming, applying the paint, and cutting and buffing the finish. My "paint booth" was a tiny 5 X 6 metel utility shed in my back yard. Plastic bisqueen over a makeshift frame....in the back yard...would even work well for a makeshift paint booth .

A complete moron could do it with this much help (my finished guitar is proof of that)
I have not seen a better "pro" finish than the one I did myself.
The pic doesn't really do my strats paint job justice IMO...there is a deep gloss and glassy smoothness that didn't really translate to this pictiure.

I would NEVER advise someone to tackle something I thought they couldn't handle, and that I had not ALREADY tackled myself.

 

[muttley600]

Well, let me address this post and the other "Do the people here reccomending a DIY job actually KNOW how hard that is?" post....since I recomended the do it yourself refinish.
Here is a pic of my '66 strat that I did in lake placid blue nitro laquar. I used 3 cans of spray paint from www.reranch.com. They offer nitro laquar in spray cans that shoot the paint as good as an air powed paint gun.

That simply is not true. Those cans are not even close to even a cheap HVLP setup.

I don't want to get involved in the is it easy or isn't it debate. My thoughts on the subject are legend as are those of other experienced guitar makers here and elsewhere. But just a few words

If you want to have a go at it yourself by all means do. However do some SERIOUS research first. The finish on a guitar is the hardest part to get right and easiest part to get wrong. Budget on a good deal on man hours even if you have the equipment. Be prepared for some mind numbingly boring prep work and flat sanding. And then some more for rework. If the guy who has quoted you has examples of his work that you believe are good go for it now before he changes his mind.

My "paint booth" was a tiny 5 X 6 metel utility shed in my back yard. Plastic bisqueen over a makeshift frame....in the back yard...would even work well for a makeshift paint booth .

I'm not disputing that you did this and turned out a very nice finish on your strat. But this is seriously bad advice and potentially dangerous don't even think about shooting Nitro in such circumstances or other finishes for that matter.

Seriously Jimistone I'm not getting at you but please be aware that finishing a guitar with any form of spray equipment is neither easy or entirely free of risk and there are many dangers to health and environment if it is not tackled correctly. I'm all for people tackling stuff themselves and try and help where I can by posting advice from my years of experience. Finishing is not something that should be undertaken lightly.

 

[muttley600]

Oh and just to add to your decision making process. Black is about the hardest solid colour to get a decent finish with. Cream or white are no walk in the park either.

 

[dave.....]

finish ?

re ranch has some cool stuff ... i used there spray cans for the two color sunburst on my strat ... after that i used my clear [nitro] to finish it w/ lost of sanding beteween coats ........ and yes i am a pro w/ nitro i have a spray booth and all the proper equipment .......... thats why i recomended taking it to a pro ........ not that some guys cant get a pretty good finish at home ...... but having all the right equipment and a lifetime of spraying nitro defenitly helps ......... hope i dont offend anyone

 

[muttley600]

Dave, no one is offended I'm sure. Its not the stuffing up the finish thats the problem. That can be put right. Its the potential hazards involved with shooting lacquer without the correct gear and guidance that concerns me. The damage to health or even worse explosive burns that are harder to put right The risk is very real. Unless you plan on doing a good deal of finishing then it really is best left to someone who is geared up to do it. If someone is really keen to have a go themselves fine but do some serious research and be prepared for a steep learning curve.

 

[Zaphod B]

If someone is really keen to have a go themselves fine but do some serious research and be prepared for a steep learning curve.

Spoiler.

You probably think people shouldn't make their own TNT, either.

 

[muttley600]

Spoiler.

You probably think people shouldn't make their own TNT, either.

The way our security is these days I feel vulnerable leaving the house with my Zippo

 

[Zaphod B]

The way our security is these days I feel vulnerable leaving the house with my Zippo

No shit.

And the way the FBI is wiretapping these days, I probably shouldn't have typed "TNT."

Oops, did it again!

 

[muttley600]

No shit.

And the way the FBI is wiretapping these days, I probably shouldn't have typed "TNT."

Oops, did it again!

Theres an easy solution to that one just type it backwards we'll all know what you mean....

TNT

There you go

 

[dave.....]

tnt ???

wow i had not thought of that ........ great idea ........ i could probably whip some up ................ thank you for remembering how mutch i love to blow things up .................... he he

 

[Zaphod B]

Theres an easy solution to that one just type it backwards we'll all know what you mean....

TNT

There you go

Oh, that makes it all better!

I hope I don't see unmarked black helicopters circling my house when I get home tonight.

 

[dave.....]

boom

stormloader.com ...................... he he check em out

 

[Lt. Bob]

It really all depends on what level of quality you're looking for in your finished guitar.
If you want it to look like it was done at a factory and to be flawless no matter how closely you look at it ......... then you can't DIY. If, however, you just want it to look nice and want the fun of doing it yourself, then it's really not very hard.
I can't comment on the nitro controversy since I've not used it since the 70's and we had a safe booth and sprayer set up even back then although we were pretty blase about it.
But in the years since, I've done several gits with cans of paint from Home Depot or whereever and they all came out just fine ............... but not absolutely flawless and not as good as we could have done in our booth with the nitro.
Personally, I'd have no hesitation in doing it myself but I have a good bit of experience doing such things .. YMMV.
As for the worth of the git ....... after what's been done to it already, it's never gonna be worth a ton of money so that wouldn't slow me down at all.

 

[Zaphod B]

stormloader.com ...................... he he check em out

You shouldn't have been "whipping anything up" while you were making that last batch.

 

[muttley600]

stormloader.com ...................... he he check em out

You shouldn't have been "whipping anything up" while you were making that last batch.

Nope you've lost me now

 

[Zaphod B]

Nope you've lost me now

Oh, sorry, I was responding to his post title, which was "Boom."

It's my understanding that home manufacture of nitroglycerine is a very tricky business, and when the stuff is in liquid form it is very unstable and susceptible to vibration - thus my reference to whipping stuff up.

 

[jimistone]

Well, I actually have some experiance in painting. I painted helocopters in the service. That was done with dupont emoron (poly).

I have painted alot of cars with baseclear, poly, and also with nitro.

I have painted with sophisticated air powered paint rigs and not so sophisticated equipment.

The reranch spray cans shoot the paint extreamly well and really impressed me. Saying that one cannot get pro results with the spray can nitro laquar from reranch is just not true.

You can paint a damn guitar with a paintbrush and get pro results.

The finished product is not from spraying the guitar perfectly, it's from prepping the body correctly and wet sanding the finish to perfection. Runs, sags, air bubbles, and so can be sanded out.

I will say that the smoother the final coat is, the less block sanding that will have to be done...but a horrible paint application can be made as smooth as glass in the final sanding.
As far as the right room to spray it goes...the metal utility shed in my back yard works for me. I wet the room down and wear a respirator when shooting the nitro.
I can get pro results on a do it yourself job...It's not rocket science.

 

[jimistone]

As for the worth of the git ....... after what's been done to it already, it's never gonna be worth a ton of money so that wouldn't slow me down at all.

Exactly, that was the point I was making earlier in the thread.

 

[jamacian]

I have to agree with Jimi. I would save the money and go with cans. I have the luxury of 6 differnt spray rigs and 20 years of laquer, aliphatic, iso-polymer and enamel spray experience and if I had the can kit I would give it a shot. I would be most concerned with getting a tightly made matching wood plug to glue into place so that there's no extra air in the body and no excess of fillers at the surface. Get the prep right and start the priming, sanding and coating yourself. Worst case scenario would be you may want the final couple clear coats done by a pro if your job doesn't work out. The great thing about these nitro coatings is that you can buff a lot of quality into a barely passable spray job.

 

[Zaphod B]

I can get pro results on a do it yourself job...It's not rocket science.

Muttley, now it's your turn to say (in the least provocative and most professional manner possible) that Jimi wouldn't know a pro guitar finish job if it bit him on the ass.