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Painting A Neck-- Where Do I Tape Off?


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I'm using a nice old neck (rosewood fretboard) for my new project, but I want to paint it the same color as the body I'm building.

I plan on taping off the fretboard and the sides of course for the color coat. But I'm wondering what should be taped off when it comes time to do the clear-- the sides already have clear on them. I don't want to get anything on the top of the fretboard.

Should I try to avoid sanding off the existing clear on the sides of the fretboard?

Should I sand the sides, tape them off for the color coat, then just tape off the top of the fretboard itself for the clear?

I couldn't find this mentioned in any of the tutorials--but maybe someone has a link for this?

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No one has any ideas?

What I'm thinking I can do is this:

For the color coat: tape off the fretboard, including the sides completely, so no color gets on there. When that is dried, I can remove the tape.

For the clear coat: apply a fresh line of tape, this time exposing the sides while masking the fingerboard. This way there won't be any transition between the clear over the color and the clear at the edge of the fingerboard.

Does this sound right? Can you think of a better way?

(edit:) As long as I'm at it, I just read mledbetter's comment about frisket --ya learn something new every day! Is this an appropriate mask for rattle cans, or will it just melt under all those chemicals?

No rush, take your time, I've got a couple of weeks of work before I can even think about finishing... :D

Edited by idch
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I was waiting to see what the real builders had to say, but here goes.

IMO, you're on the right track. Mask off the sides of the fretboard for the color, then just the top for the clear. To my thinking, the clear seals off your paint line and lets you have a smooth transition between the painted and "bare" wood.

I did one that way and it worked out pretty well. As a learning experience, if nothing else.

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