Refinishing a guitar

[lhrocker]

I'm thinking of refinishing a guitar with a material finish. What I want to know is:

Is it possible to do a good job with a brush rather than shooting the finish. I would just sand in-between each of the coats? Also, I'm only planning on doing the front since this is a neck-thru.

Any suggestions, or should I just have someone do it for me?

Thanx,
Peter

[Jim Shine]

Re: Refinishing a guitar

You can do it with a brush, but you will not only need to sand between every couple of coats, you will also need to sand and rub out the finish afterward. If you have to use a brush your best bet is to really thin the finish out and apply a few coats between sanding.

[KongaMan]

Re: Refinishing a guitar

If you value your time (and if you want to improve your odds of a good result), you'll spray it. You can buy nice finishes preloaded into spray cans, or you can get a Pre-Val unit for about $4 from Home Depot. For more info on refinishing, see http://www.reranch.com. Be sure to check out ReRanch 101 and the forums.

But I'm confused: what does being a neck-through have to do with only finishing the front?

[quiksilver]

Re: Refinishing a guitar

Originally posted by KongaMan:
But I'm confused: what does being a neck-through have to do with only finishing the front?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Since I'm also painting the top on one of my neck-throughs, I'm guessing he means that way he won't have to paint or match the neck, which is typically painted (and non-removable) on a neck-through. If he paints the back, he'll have to either paint the neck or deal with a line between the old and new finish.

[lhrocker]

Re: Refinishing a guitar

Bingo Quicksilver - I just want to do the front and not have to strip the back and sides. I may just strip everything, but I want to try it out on this one first.

[sully]

Re: Refinishing a guitar

if you only clear the face of the guitar, you're going to have a line, and you'll also see the edge of the material.

sully

[STARGUITAR]

Re: Refinishing a guitar

It sounds like a neck thru is not the best choice for a material finish!