Painting a guitar body

[metal4you]

This is my first time painting a guitar body. not sure what to do. I sanded the body down and sprayed primer on it sanded it and then painted it with acrylic enamel. Is there another step to do before I clear coat it or just put clear on it and then I am done and does to much paint effects the sound of the guitar. Thanks

[Trussrod]

This is involved. People usually use a paint system from a specific manufacturer. A lot of manufacturers have several lines of paint and the components are often not interchangeable between these various lines. On a car body that might include a series of products such as a metal cleaner, metal converter, etching primer, high-build primer, sealer, base coat (color) and clear coat. There are a lot of variations to this. You should look up the products you used for more information on what the next step might be or whether the components you used were compatible in the first place.

[Learn Guitars]

Chances are you have already made a few errors with your material choices. Acrylic Enamel? Single stage catalized enamel I would guess. If it is a non metalic, you will need to sand it before applying a single stage Acrylic Enamel clear.

[metal4you]

It is a none metallic paint so should I wet sand it before I clear coat it and would a lacquer paint been a better choice. I am using spray can paint.

[DonP]

Let's see some pictures.

[Learn Guitars]

I would at least use a red Scotch Brite pad on the color coat. But since it is enamel and not catalized, it will need a bit of curing time as Enamel is rather soft. Laquer may have been the better choice of the two.

[sully]

Are you open to just stripping it back and starting over? Enamel takes FOREVER to cure, and as Mike's already mentioned, it's pretty soft. You can probably just get a can of paint thinner and wipe it all off.

If you need to use spray cans, that's fine, but stick with something lacquer based. If you've got an auto parts store nearby, the Duplicolor brand makes acrylic lacquer in many colors.

Sully

[metal4you]

Well I am going to finish the job with Enamel and see what happens. I know Enamel takes longer to dry but I thought it was more durable. Maybe when my wife is not looking I will stick it in the oven on 400 degrees for 20Min's. When I am done I will post pictures. After all it's only a ibanez guitar. If you do not see pictures in the next 2 weeks then you will know I F it up. Thanks for the help.

[RobRR]

In all seriousness, dont put it in the oven... it will release toxic fumes.

[sully]

Holy fuck dude, I hope you're kidding.

When I was 17, I painted a guitar with rattle can enamel. It never cured. Ever. Save yourself the hassle. Strip it and start over with lacquer.

Sully

[sik_kreations]

Step away from the spray paint. If ur serious check out paint forums such as kustomkulturelounge.com. Or ..........wait what was the other one ohh it slipped my mind..........lol.........learnairbrush.com j/k mike.... If u feel it's out of your league have a pro do it. The average for a refinish is 250. To buy clear, base, reducer, and primer the first time u will have spent that and some.

[Learn Guitars]

Not to mention that the glue that holds your guitar body together starts to break down around 160-180 degrees.

[Rich#6]

I see a Darwin award in your future.

[metal4you]

Relax guys. I have no intention on intoxicating my family, burning my house down or even worse un-gluing my guitar. I have done stupid things before but that is mostly done on a motorcycle.

[axmann]

Last strip job I did I used some aeresol stuff from PJ-1 I think. Worked well. For finishing, go to ReRanch guitar on the web. They have been extremely helpful to me and promptly reply to emails.They have a great selection of can stuff. I'm with Sully, laquer rattle can can give some really nice results. After a bunch of "quick" spray jobs making huge fumes,I made up a portable spray booth with filters and a cage fan. I run a couple 4-5inch ,flexible tubes off it, about 8 feet long. I run them out the basement window. Works pretty well for cans and airbrushes .I just got a real gun and am going to start experimenting. I'm guessing the booth will have to get modified because of the higher volume . Sully has a great example of a nicely done somewhat portable booth on one of his vid's. I'm going to do one that size someday for garage painting. We just have shit humidity when its warm here which can be a problem spraying in the garage.