Custom painters

[The Rossness]

I was wondering if anyone could recommend me someone who custom paints guitars. I'm in CT- Is there anyone who is in CT or NY, or MA you could recommend? I tend to like old school finishes.

[wilkinsi]

We all know Mike Learn is king of custom painting guitars. No idea where he lives. PM him.

[Matt_B]

Mike resides in Colorado. Visit his site and drop him an e-mail for info. Anything you can imagine, he can do and he will do it very, very well.

Out of curiosity, why are you looking for a local painter?

[The Rossness]

Mike resides in Colorado. Visit his site and drop him an e-mail for info. Anything you can imagine, he can do and he will do it very, very well.

Out of curiosity, why are you looking for a local painter?

Just thought I could get something done quicker. Maybe I could drop off a body at his shop and pick it up a week later.

[Cjpalo]

I live in Colorado and am currently looking for someone to refinish a guitar, how do I contact Mike?

[AlexL]

I live in Colorado and am currently looking for someone to refinish a guitar, how do I contact Mike?

Email him at [email protected]

- E.

[straycat]

A paint job takes more than a week to do.Just a heads up.
rsguitarwoks.net they do some great work.They are in KY so a bit closer.
They did some old school graphics for me and did a great job.

[Matt_B]

Out of curiosity, why are you looking for a local painter?

Just thought I could get something done quicker. Maybe I could drop off a body at his shop and pick it up a week later.

As someone else pointed out, it is highly unlikely that you will find any experienced painter that will be able to get a body refinished in a week. Here are some things to consider:
1) "Reasonable" shipping time back and forth will be 6 business days if you ship Priority Mail. This assumes that you're only going to get the body refinished.
2) The condition of the body (presence of dents, dings, scratches or lack thereof) will affect prep time.
3) Finishes take a little time to cure/harden fully.
4) Doing a professional quality paint job takes time. Even in the simplest paint jobs require time for sanding and buffing.

I've had (4) guitars refinished/custom painted and the quickest turnaround I've had was 5 weeks from sending out to receiving it back. I would say in the very best case you're looking at 3 weeks.

[4koa]

Rossness

check out Marty Bell..you'll have to ship to CA but he has super super quick turn a round times and does high quality work

http://www.martybellfinishing.com/

[bratfink]

I know a guy called Jeff Brown from the Mopar Club in UK. He has just moved to Ontario and does custom paint work. He is very good. I can get details if you are interested.

[bratfink]

His email last time I checked was this:

[email protected]

[Rockinloud]

Check out www.bigheadguitars.com in Pennsylvania. Paul does excellent work. He's usually backed up so don't expect anything quick but it's well worth the wait. If you click on the custom shop tab then "Custom Shop 004" you can see pics of my blue flame Charvel 750. I get compliments on that thing all the time. I also have a DeMartini Crossed Swords that Paul painted. Of course as mentioned from what I've seen you can't go wrong with Mike Learn either. Some of the best work I've ever seen right there. Enough said.

[Aso]

My model 5 took about 2-3 months to have done but I sent it to Dan Lawrence and told him I was in no rush to get it back. The guitar looked amazing when I got it back. You would almost swear it was new. Dan was great to deal with but he is in California so that would be a coast to coast trip for your fiddle.