Paint Job project for King V. Help/Advice

[dave4378]

Sorry for the long post people, but i was just wondering if any of you could post close up photos of the back & sides of the neck & headstock of your white KV2s if you've got one.
I'm having a King V painted white, no it's not a USA & it's not neckthrough, BUT i was thinking of having the back & sides of the neck & headstock painted same color as the body, just like the U.S. ones. Because i'm not really keen on the wood/maple colored neck... doesn't really suit a King Vs IMO, they should have a painted neck.
Now the main issue is that the U.S. King Vs have a white binding around the outside of the neck & headstock. Obviously because i'm getting the guitar done white already it might make things a bit easier, i can just have the entire back of the neck & headstock painted all the way around the back & all the way to the edges & have those black dots painted along one side of the neck.
What i can't seem to determine from photos though, is if the white binding matches the white paint on the neck of the white KV2s...it would make my life easier than having to paint one small section of the neck another kind of white & the rest of the neck snow white. None of the photos i've come across over the net though are close up enough or clear enough.
Also how are those black dots applied along the top side of the neck, are they painted on or is there a different process involved.
Any advice & suggestions are welcome.

[StukaJU87]

No pics at the moment but just FYI....the binding is more of an ivory color. It does not match the white paint so you can see the line around the neck and headstock.

[dave4378]

No pics at the moment but just FYI....the binding is more of an ivory color. It does not match the white paint so you can see the line around the neck and headstock.

Darn, that's a bit of a pain. See mine has rosewood 5mm wide along the sides of the neck with white dots, but it stops at the neck & doesn't go all the way around the headstock. Problem with that is if you paint the neck up to the line where the rosewood starts the coat of paint will sit a little higher than the rosewood part. Can't be good for durability to have a line or edge where the paintjob ends.

[Axewielder]

I wouldn't do it. Painted bolt-on necks look ghetto.

[dave4378]

I wouldn't do it. Painted bolt-on necks look ghetto.

Yeah, but when you look at the guitar from a sort of side on view it looks out of place that the neck doesn't match the body. That looks great on a Strat type body, but not on the King Vs. I dunno it's just something that bothers me & is niggling at me. IMO maple or wood colored bolt on necks on King Vs look ghetto.

[Newc]

Painted bolted necks look just fine.

You could paint the edge of the board the same color white as the body/neck. Jackson does offer White binding as an option, it's just that Ivoroid is the standard (thanks to Gibson).

[dave4378]

Painted bolted necks look just fine.

You could paint the edge of the board the same color white as the body/neck. Jackson does offer White binding as an option, it's just that Ivoroid is the standard (thanks to Gibson).

Thanks, my brother just said the same, didn't even pause to think about it, he was like "yep, paint it"
How about the black dots down one side of the neck? What are the options in terms of having those applied. I don't want something shonky, like stickers LOL, & i dunno how my guitar guy would paint perfect little round dots, i'm sure there's a method to the madness. I vaguely remember seeing products for sale for appling binding & inlays & that type of stuff, dunno how it works, i never looked into it. Feel free to educate me.

[Digitised]

I think some dots are drilled and filled with something to give them depth for sanding level. Or you could use vinyls, or some sort of template + spray under a clearcoat depending on what state you have the neck in.

If i were you id leave the binding as it is, not only does it look more authentic but it gets round the problem of having to paint the binding which meets the fretboard.
Spraying the sides is easy enough but getting it to meet the fretboard exactly would be a nightmare for most people.

Just keep the binding as is, have it sanded with fine grade or wire wool to remove the clear coat (this should get rid of much of the aged ivory look) then you should be able to clearcoat this along with the white to give a more sealed and alltogether finish.

This should also avoid your dot issue.


Im currently on hold with my SL2H project, but im planning to repaint it all from scratch and ive planned out how to get a good finish along the neck and bound headstock. This is basically my plan to tackle the issue.

[dave4378]

I think some dots are drilled and filled with something to give them depth for sanding level. Or you could use vinyls, or some sort of template + spray under a clearcoat depending on what state you have the neck in.

If i were you id leave the binding as it is, not only does it look more authentic but it gets round the problem of having to paint the binding which meets the fretboard.
Spraying the sides is easy enough but getting it to meet the fretboard exactly would be a nightmare for most people.

Just keep the binding as is, have it sanded with fine grade or wire wool to remove the clear coat (this should get rid of much of the aged ivory look) then you should be able to clearcoat this along with the white to give a more sealed and alltogether finish.

This should also avoid your dot issue.


Im currently on hold with my SL2H project, but im planning to repaint it all from scratch and ive planned out how to get a good finish along the neck and bound headstock. This is basically my plan to tackle the issue.

Actually mine doesn't have binding per se, it's just has a rosewood fret board about half a cm thick joined on top of the neck, with white side dots painted on along the rosewood part, at least they look painted on. So to paint the neck, the paint would have to meet the rosewood section along the side of the neck & there'll be an edge where paintjob ends & the rosewood starts & the section that's painted would be slightly raised by a hair's width. This can't be good.
It would seem easier to paint the whole back & sides of the neck & just add black side dots by painting them on & then maybe applying a clear coat.
Oh yeah & the neck & guitar are in imaculate condition, but since i'm upgrading everything, i figured i may aswell change the colour of the guitar to make it look better & a little closer to a KV2 & have the colour i want since Jackson didn't offer it in that model & price range. They have a shit range of colour choices in their more affordable models. Couldn't even find one guitar in my budget that that came in a colour or paintjob i liked. ESP seem to be better for that. You can get the Lynch bengal tiger in an LTD series models for $1100 AUD & it's easier to upgrade hardware & pickups than to change the paintjob.
Not only that but the inferno red colour sample on the Jackson site looked like a beatiful bright red, but when i actually got the guitar it was really dark, almost burgandy unless under extremely bright light. It looked shit & i wasn't happy with it. Not only that but they discontinued the cobalt blue in that model, leaving you with the choice of trans finnishes (on a V?...yuck) & 2 solid colours, black (boring zzzzZZZZZ) & inferno red.

[dave4378]

Oh yeah & with the drill & fill method for the side dots here's the problem.

a) You could drill the holes first, paint the neck & then fill the side dots in after you've painted the neck, BUT then you have to sand the dots to wood level ruining the paint you've applied on the neck.

OR

b) You could drill & fill the dots first, but when you go to paint the neck, how do you cover the dots so they don't get painted & so the white finnish meets perfectly around the outer edge of each dot, the dots are tiny & that would be impossible

I don't like the rosewood fake binding that ain't even binding, down the side of the neck. Part of the reason why the US models look so awesome is because the white goes all the way to the edge of the neck making the darker fretboard stand out. Obviously it's binding & not paint, but i figured it would have a similar look & create the same sort of effect
Mine looks dark almost all over because it's such a thin D shaped neck so even from the side you can bearly see any maple, so from cetain angles it can look like the whole neck is rosewood.
Maybe i'm being anal, but i don't really like that.