painting EMG's

[Blazphemer]

how should it be done and with what paint?
can it affect the tone?

[Model1VH2]

I've painted plastic pickgaurds in urethane and had no problems.
Goes on nice and is durable.

As far as how it would effect the sound ... I have no clue.

[Postal]

Pretty sure Mike L would say that it wont affect the sound at all.

[charvel750]

Absolutely NO AFFECT on tone. And that's not just EMG's but all pickups:






Trust me on that, I am a slave to tone.

[Grumpy]

And you're not afraid of painting either! Love them

[Model1VH2]

WoW! Those look great!
What type of paint was used?
How did you prep the metal hardware? Acid?

[charvel750]

I'm no artist, those were airbrushed by a pro. Not sure about the painting procedure, I assume you sand the wood down and go for it. Used "House of Kolors" if that means anything. The pickups get directly painted over, and a thin clear is applied. I made damn sure there would be no affect in tone. Absolutely the same as before paint.

[soc_monki]

house of kolor is automotive paint i believe...or at least mostly automotive LOL

nice axes...id be afraid to play a guitar with a painted Floyd though...youd ruin the paint!

[delt]

house of kolor is automotive paint i believe...or at least mostly automotive LOL

nice axes...id be afraid to play a guitar with a painted Floyd though...youd ruin the paint!

Jackson use mostly car paint i believe (or at least they did a few years ago)

+1 on the painted floyds, but that "skulls" WR with 3 mini-hums looks just killer!!

[goodwood]

Those are some wild paint jobs.

[Jackson/Charvelfan]

Wow these look great.

[soc_monki]

Jackson use mostly car paint i believe (or at least they did a few years ago)

+1 on the painted floyds, but that "skulls" WR with 3 mini-hums looks just killer!!

didnt Fender begin the use of car paint in the 50s? i know quite a few people who have guitars painted with automotive paint (one is a PRS...the g uy got it painted with a Nissan Grey color...really cool!)

[charvel750]

Yeah, House of Kolors paint for guitars, no problem. Also, no problem with the hardware chipping, it's all underneath a clear coat on top. So unless you purposely try to scrape the paint, it's good to go, trust me.

[delt]

... but do they put clear on the baseplate, on each individual saddle, and on the posts & screws? There would be barely enough spacing between the saddles to put them back on.

[Bengal65]

didnt Fender begin the use of car paint in the 50s? i know quite a few people who have guitars painted with automotive paint (one is a PRS...the g uy got it painted with a Nissan Grey color...really cool!)

Yes, but back then it was the automotive colors were Acrylic lacquer as used by Fender and Gibson. With the introduction of enviromental (EPA) concerns the auto paints are now low voc's 2-3 part catalyst urethanes. Acrylic lacquer for automotive finish is still available from PPG, but it's hard to get.

Back on topic: Auto Air colors (water base and less expensive), with a Urethane top coat clear will work fine especially if you are working with multiple colors and airbrushing.

Of course, HOK products are great also.