~~~paint Job~~~

Squidge

Hey guys, need some advice from you guitar-yodas.

I have just bought a pretty tasty marlin strat at an even tastier price. Next to nothing, SO i have decided to pimp her up a little bit, take the piss and make her look GLAM.

So, i want to paint the body (flinches out of fear of being shouted at!). I know, i know...a lot of work?? After that i am gonna get a nice, pearly looking scratch plate, some skull knobs and i don't know what the fuck else!!

Has anyone got any info on how i could do this (take guitar apart, sand down body etc?)

PEACE!!

Spook Fish

i did the same thing a year ago, your right it is alot of work but if you dont rush it and do in stages it can be done with good results.
i basically used a heat gun to burn all the paint back then used one of those handy mouse sanders to sand it. then i fine sanded it by hand. after this point ( about 6-7 hours work depending on your skills) you will need to fill the remaining holes and seal the wood. always use the quality materials when it comes to wood. for the paint job, i used a surf green Montana spray paint. it's actually used for graffitti, but this shit is cheap and amazing quality, plus there are hundreds of shades. oh, & its Spanish so likes to be warm - get it cold and the stuff wont come out.. in an ideal world you would need a spray booth because of particals in the air. if your not to bothered about cosmetics, it can be done by just hanging the body on a coat or hook or something in a well ventilated area. the amount of coats is up to you, but remember the amount of sealant coats used previously. i recommend about 7-8 coats (light ones). a good idea to mask the neck pocket too as you may find it a bitch to get the neck back in with 10 layers on it.

all in all this is a really tricky project but if your up for it, f*ck it, give it a wirl, it is fun.

Squidge

Thanks man, i have tried a few different forums and you are the first to answer.

Just one thing.......i have no idea about taking the guitar apart in the first place. Could you shred any light? (pun was intended)

Spook Fish

depends on what guitar you have me thinks.

if you play strat it's pretty basic stuff. just unscrew the pickguard and strip the thing. good to keep all the wiring in tact. fenders are just screws and bolts man so if you have a good small tool set it should be a doddle. you may need a socket set to rip off the tuners. once you have painted it look into shielding. Stewart Macdonald web site is great for all this type of stuff. they sell every tool you can think of & every guitar accessory for biuilding and maintainance. http://www.stewmac.com/

just be care full with the electronics. if you use single coils, it may be worth the sheilding job with adhesive copper tape or conductive paint to eliminate hum and radio signals.

what guitar do you plan to pimp?

Squidge

It's an old Marlin strat, cheap thing but plays great man. Like i said, bought it real cheap so it seems the right thing to do....at least i will learn more about guitars this way.

Do i need to remove the neck?

Spook Fish

yeah, taking off the neck is a must. you may end up with very fine paint bits all over it which will piss you off no end.
i totally stripped mine down, just made sanding and all very easy.
when you've done the paint job and satisfied with it, take it to the local guitar guru or any shop that does set ups. they will set up & intonate it for you at a pretty good price. setting a guitar up is another kettle of shrimp all together, i'm not to good at the fine tunings so i get my friend to these bits. it's an easy job for some dude who knows his shit - 15 - 20 mins max. what colour is it now? if the wood is a nice piece under-neath you could just consider a real good sand / sealing job and leave it. i quite like guitars with no paint on. if the wood is exotic and dark it could just be oiled or waxed.

Squidge

It's like black/dark green. Mingin' colour really. I wanted to do that colour you see on cars, y'know. Prple one way, green the other....would that work? My cousin sprays cars for a livin and he could do it, i don't know if the paint would be too thick.

Pacomc79

wow cool stuff guys, nice info spook.

http://www.callahamguitars.com sells a shielding plate and other great hardware you might like that's a little better than tape.

stew mac sells most of the other stuff.

http://www.projectguitar.com has some more tasty info.

Pacomc79

Squidge wrote:

It's like black/dark green. Mingin' colour really. I wanted to do that colour you see on cars, y'know. Prple one way, green the other....would that work? My cousin sprays cars for a livin and he could do it, i don't know if the paint would be too thick.

the paint might be thick but why not try it? sounds cool. There's no rule it has to be nitrocellulose. You may lose a bit of resonance, but it's no biggie on that one. I think it's a cool idea.

Fender had some guitars back in the 80's called "bowling balls" because of a wierd drippy paint job, they are really cool. I say go for it.

Spook Fish

i love the quality of callaham. i see that custom tele set a while back and thought i might get it and start up a mexican pirate band LOL. no really amazing quality metal bridges. top draw.

hell, go all the way and get ya cuz to do flames! only kidding, it might well work, and if your cousin has the gear he may do a nice job with one of those guns - fast & neat. spray cans take practice to control them. neat idea with the purple green colour switching thing = $$. if your gonna paint it cheap, go for a solid colour IMO. but hey, it's all a learning curve - go for it Squidge.

on that note - there are some amazing vintage car colours. maybe check them out.

Pacomc79

make sure ya get some of that cool pearlescent stuff on the top too. Then post pics.

Squidge

Thanks for all the info guys....muchos appreciatos.

I will get amongst it this weekend, probably have some pics of it in about 2 months (ha...if i'm lucky)

You'll be the first to know dudes.

PEACE!!

Squidge

Just been told by my cuz that the paint job i want is usually used for metal, it may fuck up the finish on the wood cos it 'aint made for that.

Anyone got any ideas for a cool colour/pattern, i am thinking GLAM, shiny and glam.

Pacomc79

http://www.roxyguitarfinish.com/gallery_metallics.html


talk to this guy and maybe the guys at warmoth, explain your situation and ask them if they have any ideas.

If they stonewall you, try http://www.projectguitar.com


this is kind of cool and glam.

http://www.projectguitar.com/tut/swirled.htm

Spook Fish

Hey Squidge, do you think you'll be up for the Swirl Technique? that is pretty cool fun, & messy! looks the shit though. probably need the old nitro on her after. do you play in a glam rock band?

Squidge

Hey Spook, the swirl technique look awesome. Would love it!! I think i could pull it off but a bit scared i would mess it up. He who dares though huh?

Nah, i play in a "band" (inverted because we aint got a drummer, we only jam on wednesdays but we loooove it) and usually play punk/grunge. Cover a few songs, couple of our own.

I just thought 'hey, i got a cheap guitar, if i spend 150 quid (ooh...300 dollars?) doing her up, i would have a unique guitar, would learn a bit about the construction of an electric guitar and it would be fun' I chose a glam look because it opens the most doors to let my imagination run wild.