Bursting my bubble... Any advice???

I took some shots of my recent Tele build. It seems the standoffs I used to hold my cardboard outline off the body left dark accumulations of the red/brown burst paint. I lightly sanded the defective areas to remove the dark spots but I'm still left with lighter areas...

Any advice is more than welcome.

Back and neck...
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...TeleBuild1.jpg

Front and neck...
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...TeleBUild2.jpg

Close-up of back...
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...TeleBuild3.jpg

What a drag!! I guess I'd sand it down and try again.
Or...darken the whole backside.

Any job worth doing, is worth doing over!
Good luck

Thanks for the goodwill. :salud:

I's really tryin' to avoid a do-over... I was wonderin' if there's anyway to just hit those spots and match 'em to the rest of the back. I like the way the paint just lightly changed the color of back.

I was hoping someone knew of of a technique I could use to address just those spots.

If worse comes to worse I'll do it over. It won't be the first time :bh

I may try using my body outline w/holes in it where the spots are to see if I can mist those areas lightly to match but I've got my doubts about that as it'll be tough to get it to match the rest of the back.

I was thinking maybe there were some pros out there that had to match burst repairs and could give a few pointers.

Nope, not in my experience. That's a do-over, I'd say. Sorry-
Next time try using a stick on the cardboard like a giant lollipop & hold it away from the body w/one hand while spraying w/the other.

Thanks for the lollipop/stick advice. That never crossed my mind and would have saved me some time!

If a do over is imminent I'll probably try my hole method first, seeing as it can't hurt.

As far as a do-over, should I just hit the flat surface of the back or the whole body?

I did spray a few clear coats prior to the burst coat, just in case something like this happened... :bonk

I've had that same thing happen to me (back before I got wise - LOL). The trick is you can't do 'spot treatment,' with color you have to do whole areas. What I would do first is try to wet sand (very finely) it lighter on the spots (say 600 grade), then sand out - lighter - from the spots, then rub it out. Basically, your only decent option short of a do-over is to to try and blend things by finely sanding lighter. Be happy it was the backside... :-)

I did the back side first just for that reason!

I thought about sanding it out lightly and may try doing so before completely doing it over.

I've also considered pulling the ol' Fender trick and just repainting the whole thing in a candy color. I was torn at the beginning of the build between CAR and two tone burst.

Would that be too much like cheating? :wah:

Spray the back black?

A black back is an option... I know Gibson does that on some the LPs. I'm just not sure on how to handle the tummy cut and if that would really meet my aesthetic approval.

Would be different to see on a Fender style axe though! :headbange

Thanks Zeiss. I went with your solution and sprayed the back black. Problem solved for the meantime. As long as I can get the burst (in black) right on the front side I should be OK.

If I don't comes to grips with the Gibson style paint job I'll pull a Rob and refinish it again in a candy color.

I've laready got a CAR Strat clone, which is why I went burst on this one.

How's candy tangerine (2002 Fender color) or candy lime green (like the Triumph Speed Triple) sound?

Looks like you were off to a good start initially. If you plan to relic the finish you could just leave it as is and go over it with a solid finish. As you probably know lots of original bursts were pulled from inventory when Fender got an order a shot it again for a custom color. When you get a few dings or wear marks through the custom color finish it looks totally appropriate to see a burst underneath.

This is exactly why a dumbass like me doesn't do workworking/finishing.

I could only hope to do as well as you. :salud: You were off to a great start.

It's definitely the hardest part (at least with F style guitars). I swore it off, but then still do one from time to time. very painstaking stuff for sure...

Thanks for all the support. :salud: I did the burst on the front side today in black. The black paint did not spray as finely as the red/brown burst paint and I'm not so sure about the outcome.

I didn't make the standoff mistake this time (thanks Rob), but the overspray from the black was much rougher than that from red/brown. i.e. the transition line is no where near as fine as it was before. See below...:wah:

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...69/bburst2.jpg

I may try to rub out the middle and remove some of the unwanted overspray. I'm not sure though if I should bring the burst outline in closer first with a couple coats of clear so I don't remove too much.

What do you think?

I don't quite get the concept of this project. Is the front finish just an experiment to determine a means of recovery? You don't intend to have two different finish schemes do you? At this point I personally would go over the burst and paint the body a solid color like dakota red or something and do the same on the headstock now that it's been painted. Telecasters typically do not have painted headstocks, but in my mind I see nothing wrong with this myself. The shading on the front does not look very good because the spray is too heavy; there needs to be more of a gradual transition of color. Better yet I'd start over with the finish all together; you'll end up having too much finish on it by the time you get done. If the neck has a maple board I wouldn't go with a painted headstock; but it's cool with a rosewood board. Sorry Dan, I'm not trying to be mean; just throwing out some ideas. You have to go with what is right for you. By the way, how were you intending to mount controls or run wiring from the pickups? Generally all the routing should be done before you finsh the wood otherwise the finish will likely get messed up. I think it is time to go back to square 1.

Not much to say. Gave you the benefit of my experience which was to always try gradually removing finish first - not adding it - when there is a f*ck up. I didn't offer that as as off the cuff opinion but as something learned after years of trial and error. I guess the human condition dictates that we all learn our own lessons. Lesson learned?

I'm not trying to exactly reproduce any one Fender model. I'm actually trying to build my personal wants into this build. Hence the forearm and tummy cuts. The board is rosewood by the way.

I'm also not dismissing anyone's advice. All advice is more than apreciated. I hope I didn't come across in any other way than apreciative.

Having said that I'm also running short of days to spray as I do not have a viable area to spray indoors. The black back doesn't truly meet my aesthetic approval but it's growing on me. I'd have much rather just used the red/brown burst paint.

But more than anything I'd like to have a useable guitar over the winter, so at this point I'm just experimenting, learning and making those mistakes now. If I don't end up totally in love with it I'll do a respray this Spring.

In the meantime I'll play it over the winter and get it sorted set up wise. I realize the routing should have been done prior to paint, but I still haven't decided on the final control set up. ANd again I'm running out of time to spray.

I'm leaning towards routing it from the back with a triangular control plate and placing a sigle volume, tone and 3 way switch in it, with triangular control placement ala the LP Double Cut w/24 frets.

I did take Gris' advice and lightly sanded the top from the center out. I'm still not satisfied with the outcome but if it doesn't grow on me it'll have to do until Spring.

Thanks again for all the help. I'll post some pics of the front now and the completed build when I get a control cover for the back.

Off-hand I'd say you need to use a finer tip an' needle valve on your airbrush or spray-gun when you do the color feathering. Also, thin your paints a bit more an' increase your air pressure a skosh (say to around 20-22 psi).

(I've never painted a guitar body before but I routinely use an airbrush when building models).

Best of luck, HTH

....I haven't read all the posts, but if it was mine:

A thorough all-over but gentle-ish rub back with fine grade w&dry (moistened) then get some wood dye in two colour options: Antique Pine and a very dark 'Dark Oak'. Now very, very gingerly, rub-in the Dark Oak over affected areas and allow to dry, then a more general all over back face with the Antique Pine. Allow to dry, assess and remedy if needed/add more of same.. (will be easily removed with white spirit etc). Then lacquer up thoroughly all over and at least 3 coats, perhaps rubbing down with the W&D between each. Even the final coat can be rubbed over and brought back up with a soft cloth and Brass polish - as I did to my brand new Gibson satin 335 !!
http://dc102.4shared.com/img/5163873...ed.jpg?sizeM=3