Quick Topcoat Solid Color Sanding Question

[Mickguard]

I'm (re)painting a guitar these days. I've done the primer and a couple color coats--all nitro based (the clear coat will be too).

Yesterday I knocked back the color coat with 600 and 800 grit sandpaper. The sanding scratches of those are still visible, obviously. I'm tempted to spray another color coat, but this time without sanding back.

My question: Suppose I just go ahead with the first clear coat--will the solvent in that make the sanding scratches of the color coat disappear?

I don't mind adding another color coat, I'm going to the store anyway. But if I don't need it, then I'll just move on.

[RAI6]

The scratches won't "disappear" on their own.

There is no reason to sand your color coats.

You should only sand your clears...

Now, I would think you need to make sure that the scratches aren't so deep, that they will still show through your next coat. Then re-coat, and proceed to your clears.

[Mattia]

The scratches will, in my experience, dissapear, as long as you haven't scratched through a deeper layer, although I've only ever sanded a colour coat once.

But next time, don't touch the colour coat unless you really can't avoid it.

[Mickguard]

The scratches won't "disappear" on their own.

There is no reason to sand your color coats.

You should only sand your clears...

Now, I would think you need to make sure that the scratches aren't so deep, that they will still show through your next coat. Then re-coat, and proceed to your clears.

Yeah, ordinarily I wouldn't have, but there were a couple of spits, so I decided to give it a go (knowing that I could always add another color coat). The scratches are 800 grit, so they're not deep at all.

Or I should say were, because I've since added another color coat -- in the end it was a good decision, because I was able to deepen the color that way (probably the original coats were still letting some of the primer through, because I went with a white primer -- that's for the future, after the guitar starts to get beat up a bit )

And the new coat went on really nicely, no spits and hardly any orange peel at all.

Meanwhile, I've been wondering something else...the previous owner of my strat spray-painted the top of it (over the original poly finish). And as far as I can tell, he left it like that, no clear coat at all.

Well, when I got it, I decided to sand it down and polish a bit...I didn't go crazy on it, just enough to give it a better gloss. And it really does look pretty good, considering....and the paint's very strong -- I've had the guitar for three years now and I still haven't been able to chip or scratch it. And I'm not gentle either.

So --- I do plan on adding the clear coat-- but I wonder really how necessary it is.