Equipment

[mikild]

Hey. I've just begun painting guitars with a friend of mine. Problem is we live in the Dominican Republic and getting hold of some equipment isnt easy. I've been reading that to paint guitars you guys use nitrocellulose laquer. I've been to many stores and the only nitro they carry is clear or white. Dont they make it in any other color, or do i have to mix it with tint? If i have to mix, where do i get this done? Car paint shop? Also, there isnt a damn place here that carries cool wood tints, only the regular 'wood' colors...where should i get those? Lotta questions, i know...but thanx

[jnewman]

There are a couple ways of doing guitar finishes:

1. Solid paint (usually car paint) that you can't see the wood through.

2. Stain the wood, clear laquer (in which case you use aniline dyes, which you should be able to get shipped there as they don't count as hazardous materials). This lets you see the wood as well as possible and really highlights the grain if you do it right.

3. Use laquer with tints added to it (in which case you also use aniline dyes, which you should be able to get shipped there as they don't count as hazardous materials). You can still see the wood but the darker the color you do the more it obscures the grain.

You can get aniline dyes as powders, which'd probably be your best bet, and you usually dissolve 'em in water for direct application to wood (so that they evaporate slowly and get a nice, even color with no splotches) and in alcohol/mineral spirits to mix in with lacquer (so that it'll dissolve fully into the lacquer). Decide which way you want to do it and make sure the aniline dyes you order can be dissolved that way.