Looking For Help On Vintage White Finish.

[Therioz]

I have never finished anything, but i am looking to complete a Saga Les Paul kit and finish it with a vintage white.

Looking for the white with gold hardware look.

like this: http://www.guitarsatbmusic.com.au/esp/guit...se-i_ctm_vw.jpg

What steps/medium should be used to accomplish this?

[Hydrogeoman]

Lots of ways to get there. I don't know much about those Saga kits but I believe they have a basswood body and a flamed maple top (sure you want to paint solid color over a flamed maple top?) so you don't need to grain fill before spraying. I have only sprayed with nitrocellulose lacquer, but here is a brief list of how I would go about it (this is with a spray gun and compressor; however, you can probably get close to the same thing with spray cans from Guitar Reranch for a lot less $$):

1) finish sand the bare wood to 220 grit

2) seal with 2 coats of vinyl sealer or lacquer wash coat (thinned lacquer)

3) mix about a 1/2 oz white lacquer pigment (I use Stewmac stuff) into about 6 oz of clear lacquer (50% lacquer thinner and 50% clear lacquer). Then mix, one drop at a time, vintage amber tint (TransTint concentrated Dye) into your mixture of clear lacquer and white pigment, stirring constantly, until you get a creamy looking "vintage" white. It helps to start light and spray on a test piece before the guitar, gradually adding the amber toner until you get the color you want.

4) spray the color coats (I let the coats dry about 1 hr between coats) until you get a good build (no wood showing through) and let it dry for at least a day

5) level sand (dry) with 320 grit, being extremely careful not to sand through the color into the wood.

6) spray clear lacquer coats (at least 8) and let the finish dry for at least 3 weeks before final sanding and buffing.

Keep in mind this is a very shortened list of the finishing process and there are many variations (techniques and materials) finishers use to achieve the same endpoint. You should spend a lot more time reading up on this site and also Guitar Reranch has some very good info on their site. Good luck!

[mastertone007]

HEy Hydro

That is very helpful. Thanks alot man.

Cheers

[Therioz]

Yeah i am doing a LOT of research before i complete this kit.

I have heard some bad things about the sealer, and i would have to sand through it to dye the wood.

I really like the class of a white les paul.

[hotgoalie11565]

Do you have any pics of the top? I'm just interested in how much flame there is on it.

[Therioz]

do a google image search for "Saga Les Paul".

I have not purchased the kit yet, still in the research phase. =]

[iskim86]

i have an unfinished saga PRS copy kit. in fact, i haven't even started it. it's been sitting here for several months already

if you want to get a solid finish like that you can just spray over the sealer.

the sealer has to be removed only if you want to have a transparent finish. the flame maple grain on sagas aren't very deep.

here's a picture of the flame

the lighting eliminates contrast, it's actually deeper than that.

[Therioz]

Any reason your kit has gone uncompleted? was there any prefit problems?

I am confident that i can compensate for any issues that arise, but like i stated before i am still in the research phase of this project.

[iskim86]

Any reason your kit has gone uncompleted? was there any prefit problems?

I am confident that i can compensate for any issues that arise, but like i stated before i am still in the research phase of this project.

negative. just lost my motivation i guess

the body also came with a crack in the sealer, but no biggie, as I will sand the thing off.

my main gripe is the fact that the neck came with a BENT FRET. for that reason alone, I lost motivation.