holy_diver Posted March 2, 2005 Report Share Posted March 2, 2005 (edited) Hello, I was wondering if anyone has any tips or instructions for creating a crackled guitar finish. Any suggestions or info would really be helpful! I saw this body on eBay, and realized that I simply must recreate it on a body that I've been wanting to re-finish. Are there any specific products that create this effect? Edited March 3, 2005 by holy_diver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 Find your local M.L.Campbell distributor. They are probably a cabinet shop supplier. They make a crackle finish lacquer. It's a two part system where you shoot a quick dry over a slower dry. Isn't even that expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holy_diver Posted March 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 (edited) Find your local M.L.Campbell distributor. They are probably a cabinet shop supplier. They make a crackle finish lacquer. It's a two part system where you shoot a quick dry over a slower dry. Isn't even that expensive. ← Thanks for the reply... I checked out the crackle finish you suggested, and found an example on a website of the finish and it is definetly "crackled", but I guess what I'm looking for is something that will make for of a cracked effect. This is the M.L. Campbell finish: The guitar body that I referenced in my first post has an entirely different effect, more of a rigid cracking. It looks like the top finish is thickly coated, and maybe it is heat-treated to get such sharp cracking... I really have no idea about these kinds of things. I found a guitar with a crackled finish similar to the M.L. Campbell crackle finish laquer (pictured below, at right), and comparing that with the other cracked finish the difference is really obvious. I prefer the white one on the left, it just looks much nicer, and that's the effect that I am aiming for. Any other suggestions? I'm really dying to remake the cracked finish, but have no clue of where I should begin. Edited March 3, 2005 by holy_diver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 The crackling effect is highly variable according to how you put the finishes on. I don't have a lot of experience with the stuff, but a friend of mine does and he says that you can get the effect that you want by varying the thickness of the topcoat. Check with the Campbell folks. They're usually very user friendly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 In all honesty, that white crackle, looks more like it's hand painted than actually cracked, every line is the exact same width, and it's in almost to radial of a pattern. Not random like a true crackle finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maiden69 Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 I was going to post the same thing LGM just posted. too perfect to be a crackled finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holy_diver Posted March 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 (edited) In all honesty, that white crackle, looks more like it's hand painted than actually cracked, every line is the exact same width, and it's in almost to radial of a pattern. Not random like a true crackle finish. ← At first I thought that may be the case as well... but what makes me think against that is that there's the same crackling pattern in the pickup and bridge cavities. It seems like someone went through an awful lot of trouble to paint the inside, when that part will be completely invisible once the guts are put back in it. If it is hand painted, this finish seems a wee bit to "custom" for the price that the Charvels which had this factory finish carried. Also, I saw a couple other photos of damaged areas on the backside of the guitar where parts of this finish had flaked off. The chips of paint missing were perfect little pieces of the crackle pattern....like pieces of a puzzle missing. It doesn't seem to me that a solid painted on finish would chip so "linearally" (not a word?). Perhaps I am wrong, and the finish is indeed painted on....I guess I'm only wishing for any easy solution to recreating that. So, if I were to try painting something like that, does anyone have any suggestions about how I might get such thin black lines in between each piece of the white? Would I paint it black first and then just carefully stencil each piece of the top color on? I have plenty of experience when it comes to painting, I am an oil and watercolor artist, but I'm very new with experimenting on guitars. I have only done simple refinishes with stain and clearcoat, I haven't tackled graphics painting yet. Edited March 3, 2005 by holy_diver Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted March 3, 2005 Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 Guys I have to disagree. Take a look at the pickup cutouts. Anyone who took the time to line out and draw in a detail like that in there is obsessive compulsive beyond belief, and probably under a psychiatrists care. I've now talked to two different finishers who say the same thing. Put a heavy coat of a quick drying finish over a slower dryer and wait. The degree of crack is dependant on the internal adhesivness of the top coat. One of them showed me shots of a mirror frame that he had shot in red and gold that looks almost identical to this guitar. Most finishing companies make a system to do this. Saves a lot of trial and error. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holy_diver Posted March 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2005 Guys I have to disagree. Take a look at the pickup cutouts. Anyone who took the time to line out and draw in a detail like that in there is obsessive compulsive beyond belief, and probably under a psychiatrists care. I've now talked to two different finishers who say the same thing. Put a heavy coat of a quick drying finish over a slower dryer and wait. The degree of crack is dependant on the internal adhesivness of the top coat. One of them showed me shots of a mirror frame that he had shot in red and gold that looks almost identical to this guitar. Most finishing companies make a system to do this. Saves a lot of trial and error. ← I really appreciate your input... You have given me hope that this may very well be possible. Thanks. I will try some experimenting on some scrap wood and see what comes out. If I find the right effect, I'm sure I will be posting some pics in the project section. I'm keepin' my fingers crossed on this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LGM Guitars Posted March 5, 2005 Report Share Posted March 5, 2005 I never said it was hand painted, I just said it looked like it. It would be very easy to replicate something like that with a black paint pen. Just draw the lines on. There are acrylic paint pens, use one of those over the white color, then clear the whole thing. There are many ways to make paint crack, nice thing when you're looking for an effect like that where it's all the same width, is that if you paint it on by hand, you can actually incorporate hidden images into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holy_diver Posted March 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2005 It would be very easy to replicate something like that with a black paint pen. Just draw the lines on. There are acrylic paint pens, use one of those over the white color, then clear the whole thing. ← Are there any specific brand of paint pens that you would suggest? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarGuy Posted April 1, 2005 Report Share Posted April 1, 2005 This is a very similar type of finish in a base clear system. You spray the substrate and then put plastic wrap on it, mush it around a bit and pull off the plastic wrap.Crazer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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