Bluestreak Posted March 12, 2009 Report Share Posted March 12, 2009 Hi guys, I've just finished building my custom V. You can view it here. Now that it's assembled, working, and playable, I'm going to tear it down and send the body off to be painted. Question 1: Grain filler. I have some Dexcon 4000-psi epoxy here at home. Rather than order some Z-poxy, I was going to use this stuff as grain filler. Any reason why I shouldn't, or why I should just use Z-poxy instead? I notice Z-poxy seems to be the product of choice for grain filler and I was wondering why can't any clear epoxy be used. I use Dexcon on things like the tremolo post holes (keeps them from oblonging over time) and I have good luck with the stuff. Since this is my first guitar build, I figured I'd ask. The only stupid question is the one you don't say. Question 2: Primer. I struck a deal with a local auto body shop to paint the body. This guy helped restore my Mustang coupe. We were going to use an auto body primer, but aren't sure it is the proper product to prep the body for paint once the grain has been sealed. Will auto body primer work fine, or is there some other product that is better suited to painting my guitar? I think that's it. I may have more questions later. Thanks! -Roger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syxxstring Posted March 12, 2009 Report Share Posted March 12, 2009 Here's the process I've worked out: Prime Guide Coat, block sand Fill Guide Coat, block sand Sealer Paint Clear Block sand Flow coat Buff and polish, if neccesary. Depends on the wood, priming, block sanding, filling should be fine for wood. We did a guitar in a House of Kolor training class that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supplebanana Posted March 18, 2009 Report Share Posted March 18, 2009 looks good... isn't that the same shape as the one Vinnie Vincent (ex Kiss/ Vinnie Vincent Invasion) ??? I'd agree with syxxstring if ya just gonna block colour it... seems like the logical process to me. As long as the Primer & later coats are compatable with each other there's no reason why you can't use Auto paint/primer - I've done a few from both rattle cans & other autmotive sprays using a Pro spray gun (no photo's unfortunately). sb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syxxstring Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 It just a generic Telecaster body. The big thing with automotive paint is to stick within a system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wood is good Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 It just a generic Telecaster body. The big thing with automotive paint is to stick within a system. Haha, he was talking about the V in the link. You dont need to grain fill that wood, IIRC, Its poplar or something, which doesnt need to be grainfilled. So you dont have to worry about any epoxy or anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foggy Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 (edited) Interesting seeing how other people would go about this. Having tried epoxy as a grain filler many moons ago I'd advise against using it, one because in my experience it's a pain in the butt to use, and two, because again, in my personal experience, on a guitar body like yours it's totally unnecessary. To answer your question about using automotive primer, yes, automotive primer is perfectly acceptable for use on guitars. Particularly in this case as you're getting it painted by an automotive painter, who'll no doubt be using automotive paints likely of the same paint scheme. With your primer a good tip is, if you're applying a light colour basecoat after priming, ideally use white primer as this makes your bright colours brighter. If you're using a dark colour basecoat, a grey primer is fine. If it were me painting your guitar, after you'd stripped it of hardware I'd give it a light sanding down to remove any contaminents that might affect the application of the primer, and also to give the primer something to 'key' onto. Then, assuming your going to be applying a solid colour to the guitar, I'd go straight on with the primer coats (applied lightly and slowly built up). Once I'd got a uniform coverage of primer applied over the whole body I'd then wet and dry it back with 800 grade, and if necessary, re-apply more primer coats until such time as the body was perfectly smooth and ready for whatever basecoat/colour your going to apply. It doesn't look like you need to be worrying about filler, but if there were any marks or dings in the woods surface these should be filled during the priming stages (using something like Isopon P40) and sanded perfectly smooth before the final primer coat is applied and wet sanded prior to the basecoat being applied. It's very easy to make very hard work of prepping guitars for paint by putting in stages that aren't always necessary. Some woods do benefit from grain sealing before priming, but this isn't hard and fast for all woods by any means. Sometimes a coat of clearcoat applied to the wood and sanded back also works perfectly well as a sealer coat. Straight forward painting of guitars is nowhere near as complicated as some folk might like you to believe. Just don't rush through the process, take your time, do it carefully and be totally thorough with your preparation stages. Good preparation is 'THE' key to a good ultimate finish. So until your guitar is perfectly prepped and smooth at the priming stage don't think about applying any paint. If your man is a professional car sprayer he should know how to paint and clearcoat anyway, so you shouldn't really have a problem. Jim Edited March 19, 2009 by Foggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syxxstring Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 Remember the color of your primer will only matter if you use a system that doesn't require a sealer coat. HOK's system for instance you can not paint on the primer, you must use Ko-Seal. It is white, black, or metallic silver. All tintable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluestreak Posted March 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 looks good... isn't that the same shape as the one Vinnie Vincent (ex Kiss/ Vinnie Vincent Invasion) ??? It is. It was the first guitar I ever saw when I first turned on MTV when I was a kid in '86 (the "Boyz Are Gonna Rock" video). I wanted to play guitar from that day... when I decided I wanted a new guitar, that V came to mind. I couldn't find/afford an original one (they only made 28)... so I made my own. You're the first guy to figure out whose guitar it was... most other people I've shown didn't know who invented it or they thought the twin-V was my idea! You dont need to grain fill that wood, IIRC, Its poplar or something, which doesnt need to be grainfilled. So you dont have to worry about any epoxy or anything. It's a two-piece alder body. It has very fine grain, but it does have grain, so I wasn't sure if it required filling. Interesting seeing how other people would go about this. Having tried epoxy as a grain filler many moons ago I'd advise against using it, one because in my experience it's a pain in the butt to use, and two, because again, in my personal experience, on a guitar body like yours it's totally unnecessary. I ended up using epoxy where it was needed. I used a hard piece of plastic as a squeegee and spread it very lightly into the grain over the face, back, top/bottoms sides, around the jack input, and on the tips of the V's. Hopefully this makes the wood stronger. There were also a few very small imperfections in the wood grain I wanted to smooth to ensure a nice finish. It really popped the wood grain where I filled, and it's almost a shame to cover such a nice piece of wood with paint. To answer your question about using automotive primer, yes, automotive primer is perfectly acceptable for use on guitars. Particularly in this case as you're getting it painted by an automotive painter, who'll no doubt be using automotive paints likely of the same paint scheme. With your primer a good tip is, if you're applying a light colour basecoat after priming, ideally use white primer as this makes your bright colours brighter. If you're using a dark colour basecoat, a grey primer is fine. The main body will be Sonic Blue (a purple/blue chameleon color offered on Ford cars from '03 to '08). The secondary V-fins poking out are going to be some kind of metallic silver. I left the shade of silver up to my paint guy, as long as it's a bright silver. If your man is a professional car sprayer he should know how to paint and clearcoat anyway, so you shouldn't really have a problem. This guy does award-winning auto restorations, mainly on late model Mustangs. He knows paint, he was just unsure if auto primer would be suitable for this application as he's never painted a guitar before. Thanks for all the tips. -R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foggy Posted March 19, 2009 Report Share Posted March 19, 2009 looks good... isn't that the same shape as the one Vinnie Vincent (ex Kiss/ Vinnie Vincent Invasion) ??? It is. It was the first guitar I ever saw when I first turned on MTV when I was a kid in '86 (the "Boyz Are Gonna Rock" video). I wanted to play guitar from that day... when I decided I wanted a new guitar, that V came to mind. I couldn't find/afford an original one (they only made 28)... so I made my own. You're the first guy to figure out whose guitar it was... most other people I've shown didn't know who invented it or they thought the twin-V was my idea! You dont need to grain fill that wood, IIRC, Its poplar or something, which doesnt need to be grainfilled. So you dont have to worry about any epoxy or anything. It's a two-piece alder body. It has very fine grain, but it does have grain, so I wasn't sure if it required filling. Interesting seeing how other people would go about this. Having tried epoxy as a grain filler many moons ago I'd advise against using it, one because in my experience it's a pain in the butt to use, and two, because again, in my personal experience, on a guitar body like yours it's totally unnecessary. I ended up using epoxy where it was needed. I used a hard piece of plastic as a squeegee and spread it very lightly into the grain over the face, back, top/bottoms sides, around the jack input, and on the tips of the V's. Hopefully this makes the wood stronger. There were also a few very small imperfections in the wood grain I wanted to smooth to ensure a nice finish. It really popped the wood grain where I filled, and it's almost a shame to cover such a nice piece of wood with paint. To answer your question about using automotive primer, yes, automotive primer is perfectly acceptable for use on guitars. Particularly in this case as you're getting it painted by an automotive painter, who'll no doubt be using automotive paints likely of the same paint scheme. With your primer a good tip is, if you're applying a light colour basecoat after priming, ideally use white primer as this makes your bright colours brighter. If you're using a dark colour basecoat, a grey primer is fine. The main body will be Sonic Blue (a purple/blue chameleon color offered on Ford cars from '03 to '08). The secondary V-fins poking out are going to be some kind of metallic silver. I left the shade of silver up to my paint guy, as long as it's a bright silver. If your man is a professional car sprayer he should know how to paint and clearcoat anyway, so you shouldn't really have a problem. This guy does award-winning auto restorations, mainly on late model Mustangs. He knows paint, he was just unsure if auto primer would be suitable for this application as he's never painted a guitar before. Thanks for all the tips. -R Sounds cool .............chameleon paints work really well on V's and by the sound of it you've got the right man doing your paint. Hope you'll post pics of the finished guitar Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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