dvd's on re-finishing and wiring?

[wilkinsi]

do such things exist? i don't see it as way to give away trade secrets, i for one would find it inspiring and encouraging to do my own re-finishing without the fear of fucking up a perfectly good guitar. at least, i could buy a cheaper guitar, then buy the tools n' stuff and have a go at things like stripping it down to the bare wood, putting on base coats through to the finished product. once proud of my accomplishment, i could move on to taking it out on my more valued guitars. why am i asking this? because there are virtually no custom re-fin shops in the uk.

[Bengal65]

Yep, they do exist and I have 2 of them. Check out Dan Erlewine's DVD's and other video's at www.stewmac.com. Dan also has a sense of humor while he works. There is not a 100% Coverage of all techniques used out there, but these are pretty well done.
These on VCR tapes. They haven't converted to DVD yet.
Assembling-This one is pretty good

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Video,_DVD/Solidbody_guitar_building/Assembling_A_Solidbody_Electric_Guitar.html

Spray Finishing videos

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Video,_DVD/Finishing,_repair/Spray_Finishing_Videos.html

Now these are DVD's on setup refretting etc.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Video,_DVD/Dan_Erlewine's_Repair_Series.html

These are electronic books or you can get a hard copy. John does an excellent job with very good step by step instructions. He is using aerosols to paint in these guitars. I don't recommend this type of paint because of the cure time, but the techniques in stripping, preparation, masking etc. are the same for the better paints like Nitrocellulose lacquer, acrylic lacquer and acrylic urethanes and epoxies used by the big guitar manufacturer's and automotive refinishing.

http://www.paintyourownguitar.com/

[Bengal65]

Here's another resource (not a video) but is a good place to go with questions. Reranch is mostly Nitro lacquer, but the members use all the paints.

http://www.reranch.com/reranch/

[wilkinsi]

thanks guys. the hunt is on.

[jackson1]

Bengal, what's your experience with paintyourownguitar? Have you bought one of his books? Any good?

[Bengal65]

Bengal, what's your experience with paintyourownguitar? Have you bought one of his books? Any good?

I bought 2 of his books just for grins. I've been finishing for a long time and was curious on his methods. He covers refinishing very well. Aquiring parts, stripping finishes, prepping the parts, spraying techniques, masking, pinstriping, clear coating, simple graphics and buffing very well. I would not however use Krylon to paint a guitar personally. However, it can be done and John warns you in the text to wait 6 months before buffing out the finish. He explains why and what is happening with the finish during that time.

The techniques can be applied to using other more durable and faster curing finishes.

[jackson1]

Thanks Bengal65. The impression i got from looking at his stuff and mailing him, is that he's a fine guy doing good work. Nice to hear that his books are okay. I was looking into buying the Bengal Tiger PDF - his pictured Bengal on the site looks really cool. Did you get the Bengal book? Did it unclude a template?

[Bengal65]

I didn't get the Bengal, but I'm sure it's good. I just have the "general" book. It has the EVH and Zakk Camo techinques as well as all the basics.