JohnCarroll Posted August 25, 2008 Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 Hello to everyone !! Great site here and thank you for having me. I am pretty much a newbie at guitar building and found that it is indeed an addicting hobby. I have built 3 or 4 telecaster style guitars now and I want to finish one in that elusive Butterscotch Blonde. I have been refinishing automobiles for some 30 years now so, needless to say, I'm not afraid to apply finish to the wooden body of a guitar. My question is: Does anybody know if there is a formula for this color? (the body is made of ash) I know that reranch has this color in a spray can, but I am looking for another route or a formula that I can mix myself. Anyone ?? Thank you in advance, JohnCarroll Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted August 25, 2008 Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 The vintage Teles used nitrocellulose lacquer, the most recent ones polyester. If you want to end up with a finish that behaves like a vintage one (including checking/cracking), nitro is the way to go (and not many coats at that). If you want it bulletproof, go with polyester or urethane (much like the stuff you already have experience with). I think your best best is to try to source the pigment used (perhaps ReRanch sells it?), mix up your own batches and shoot on scrap. You'll probably need to contact the manufacturer(s) to find pigments soluble in your preferred choice of clear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foggy Posted August 26, 2008 Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 (edited) Hello to everyone !! Great site here and thank you for having me. I am pretty much a newbie at guitar building and found that it is indeed an addicting hobby. I have built 3 or 4 telecaster style guitars now and I want to finish one in that elusive Butterscotch Blonde. I have been refinishing automobiles for some 30 years now so, needless to say, I'm not afraid to apply finish to the wooden body of a guitar. My question is: Does anybody know if there is a formula for this color? (the body is made of ash) I know that reranch has this color in a spray can, but I am looking for another route or a formula that I can mix myself. Anyone ?? Thank you in advance, JohnCarroll A good way of creating this kind of finish (particularly if you're already familiar with 2 pack paint systems, ie., basecoat and lacquer coat), is to prep and basecoat your guitar white, seal in your basecoat with a lacquer sealer coat and then once thats dried and lightly rubbed down, apply a second lacquer coat tinted with a small amount of yellow or tan basecoat paint to achieve your required shade. You could just apply this tinted lacquer coat straight over your white basecoat, but if for some reason you weren't happy with the shade you achieved you'd probably have to take it back to step one and start again. Sealing the basecoat in first gives you the chance to rub an unsuccessful tinted lacquer coat back, without re-basecoating white from scratch. I regularly use basecoat paints as tints in lacquer and they work very well, especially if you have transparents. Jim Edited August 26, 2008 by Foggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnCarroll Posted August 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 Hey there Jim, Thanks for the technical reply. I want the beautiful grain of the ash to show through the finish. How thin should the white base coat be? I don't want it to hide the grain of the wood. And we are talking about "Butterscotch blonde, aren't we? I know that Fender has another color they describe as Blonde that is much different than Butterscotch blonde. Thanks again for the info. JohnCarroll Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foggy Posted August 26, 2008 Report Share Posted August 26, 2008 Hey there Jim, Thanks for the technical reply. I want the beautiful grain of the ash to show through the finish. How thin should the white base coat be? I don't want it to hide the grain of the wood. And we are talking about "Butterscotch blonde, aren't we? I know that Fender has another color they describe as Blonde that is much different than Butterscotch blonde. Thanks again for the info. JohnCarroll John Just wondering what kind of an effect you'd get applying layers of a 'lightly' white tinted lacquer and building up to the desired shade? Never done that myself, but I'm betting it would create an interesting effect (thinking I might have to try that now), in theory you wouldn't lose the grain that way but you could adjust the colour. Just an idea - but got me thinking now Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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