Hi guys
Is this particularly hard to do, or will I be able to do this at home? I have a Japanese strat in Metallic red I'd like to refinish myself in a solid colour and nitro laquer. Maybe even a natural finish. Any tips, techniques or links would be fantastic.
Cheers
Reinhard
There's a red house over yonder........
No idea really but i've heard the nitro laquer is hard to work with.
Getting proffesional results can be tricky. Have you ever done a finish like this on something else?
The original finish is going to be a bear to remove. It's probably polyester and will require some pretty harch chemicals to remove it. Regular paint stripper won't touch it.
You won't know if it will look good in a natural finish until the original paint is removed. It could be ugly wood or a lot of pieces glues together. It's probably basswood which is not the nicest looking wood under a natural finish.
If the original finish is in good shape and you decide on a solid color, I wouldn't strip it. I'd sand it, prime it and paint it. The original finish is probably pretty thick and, added to the new finish, you'll have a lot of paint on there.
In the end there's a lot of wet sanding and buffing to do to get a real glossy finish. It's not had though and I believe that anyone can do it if they set their mind to it.
If you haven't finished any simillar surfaces yet, I'd better let the job to a pro.... Refinishing a guitar is far away from simple mods like pup & pickguard replacements. It'also far away from regular furniture finishing...
Despite the sanding work, which is not always that easy, especially inside strat's cutaways, it involves real hazardous and highly flammable solutions (especially nitro lacquers!!!), and must be done in special modified good-aired rooms (NEVER try that at home, especially if you have kids there!!!!!!). Further, the one who finishes must wear proper gas-masks, as long as he stays inside the finishing room, must have some breaks every 15-20min and drink milk in between. Is it worth to mention that a fire extinguisher must be right next to you? If this all sounds ridiculus, go figure, but ask a specialist first of all, and notify a medicine man to stand by!
Everybody's making good sense.
The stripping and sanding are tricky on a Strat body.
I would say, if you REALLY can't live with a red guitar, just sand off enough to get a good clean surface to spray the new color onto.
I went down to wood on mine. This was before I knew about places like this. I stumbled forth in blissful ignorance and wound up using the Deft that fezz mentioned.
I'm very happy with the results, but it was not easy.
Not easy at all.
http://www.lilypix.com/photos/showpi...=531&pid=36823
Had I been given advice, I would have been easily convinced to sand down to one of the under coats a sprayed a GM metallic olive, like an old LeMans.:yay
Good luck with the project.
"Well, I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused..."
Elvis Costello
Thanks for all the advice guys, I appreciate it
Would a small handheld sander with the right grit sanding paper be overkill?
Can I spray a light metallic (light blue) or something like olympic white over the red?
Will too many coats of paint (the red and the new colour) not have a negative effect on tone?
Thanks for the tips on working with laquer Fezz Parka, I'll be sure to excercise caution.
It really sounds like a daunting task, but doing it myself would be very rewarding, I'll have to seriously think about it.
Thanks again
Reinhard
You did a great job on your guitar NeoFauve, looks fantastic :bug
There's a red house over yonder........
That's probably fine for the flat surfaces.
The tricky parts are once you get to the edges or working in the cutaways. You don't want to sand to agressively and effect the radii.
I think that stuff should be done by hand.
FWIW- some of Fender's custom color finishes were sprayed on over bursts in the old days.
"Well, I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused..."
Elvis Costello
Google ReRanch for guitar finishing info and products.
Reranch.com will set you up.
It's not so hard if you are at handy.
I've done a few with great results using their products.
It seems like it wold be an easy thing to do but the more one finds about about toxicity with the stipping solvents and the sealer/finish it hardly is something I would want to deal with.
Living in an apartment really isn't condusive to this type of work either and I don't think they make masks for cats either.
I'm sure it's a rewarding feeling though and some of you here have done a great job of it!
I do all my spraying outside.
Yes, clear and car colors in Lacquer are still at many stores.
I get the tinted clearcoat and guitar colors from reranch.
Great job on those Wilko!
The closest I have come to anything like this was woodwork in highschool and sanding down a computer case and spraypainting it. So I have a good chance of coking it up
There's a red house over yonder........
What happens if u get dust on the wet finish, or a bug ?Originally Posted by Wilko
There's a red house over yonder........
You need to wetsand and buff them, so it doesn't really matter. Plus, mine are "aged" so it matters even less!
at reranch.com there are some pics of some Les Pauls I sunbursted. (the pics aren't very good). I have better pics at LPF
Didn't you refin the 68 LP? It looks great if it's the one I'm thinking of.
BTW the dog in you avatar looks great :rofl
There's a red house over yonder........
I have been reading a lot on the Reranch site, some great stuff on there. I think this is a project for the varsity holidays...
There's a red house over yonder........
Here's my 'burst:
The dog is my Yorkie at 7 mos. (last october) wearing his vampire costume for Holloween!
You did a great job on that LP
My folks got a Yorkie as a gift a few months back. It's pure bred but by far the biggest one I have ever seen. It's a menace :lol
There's a red house over yonder........
I seem to recall seeing some videos and books availble at StewMac (www.stewmac.com) on refinishing. They sell the tools and materials too, of course (although probably pricier than if you're willing to shop around).
-Mark
Is that Butternut a tinted transparent or opaque?I stick with auto colors from Pep Boys (Chevy Butternut Yellow is a good one) and Deft from Home Depot.
"Well, I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused..."
Elvis Costello
.
We could debate this, but Reranch stuff is NOT relabled Deft. One thing I will lean toward you on is that acrylic lacquers available at auto stores can do a good job. Particularly the Duplicolor lacquers. It's not nitro, but rather acrylic lacquer. It tends to resist yellowing whereas nitro yellows easily over time. Acrylic lacquer does wet sand and polish fantastically. Fender used acrylic as well as nitro in the early 60s, so no reason not to use it now.Re-Ranch Clear coat is just relabled Deft. The color stuff and vintage tint is cool, but you can get Deft any any home inprovement center. I stick with auto colors from Pep Boys (Chevy Butternut Yellow is a good one) and Deft from Home Depot.
BTW, I've used Deft and it's fine, but takes longer to cure out and it's a different consistency that the Rearanch clear lacquer...completely different. ;)
Go to the link to the refinishing forum at Reranch...the search funtion is invaluable and the members there are very friendly, helpful...great place if you want to learn about refinsihing from the gorund up.
Thanks, I'll do that. I'm just looking for a product to strip the poly from the guitar. Apparently there is something that does just that. I mailed reranch about this, but never got a reply, so I'll have to rely on Google. I'll ask the members to.
Cheers
Reinhard
There's a red house over yonder........
Polyester/polyurethane finishes are a beeech to strip...Aircraft Stripper is the only thing I've found to budge that nasty stuff...it takes hours/days to get it off...best to sand with 220 grit to scuff the surface and then apply the stripper and lay a plastic bag over the body...do one side at a time and be patient. The stripper is available at auto paint supply places and some auti parts stores...the fumes are nasty-beware...and wear rubber gloves!
Jasco Paint & Epoxy Remover is another chemical that will strip off poly w/relative ease. The ends of the grain will never be entirely free, but yi=ou can remove enough to appply a decent nitro finish.
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