First ever guitar project

[Nymeria]

Hi everyone, 

I'll hold my hands up and say I'm a complete beginner when it comes to guitar building and, well, anything wood-work related. But having said that I have wanted to build/refurb a guitar for quite a while and I have recently taken the plunge. Rather than buy a half-decent guitar and make a hash of it, I decided to start with a cheap, second hand guitar that I can learn and make mistakes on without worry. 

I brought an Encore telecaster from a cash converters that had a few nicks  and stripped it. I was hoping for a solid body but alas, cheap chip board. I have used a combination of heat gun and sanding to remove the paint and I plan to spend the next couple of days sanding more and polishing it smooth. Can anyone please offer some advice for painting chip board guitars? There's not alot of advice online as hardwood is (obviously) the go-to material for the majority of people. 

All tips and feedback appreciated

 

[Bizman62]

As you've probably noticed you can't sand it totally flat and level. Especially with chipboard there's always a gap between two chips somewhere. So you'd need some sort of a filler. For chipboard any paintable filler should work, however I'd choose one with plastic rather than stone just because of the weight. Primer would also be nice for the smoothest finish. So it's filler for the rough job, sanded flush up to 180 or so, then primer, sanded down to 320 and then the final coats of coloured topcoat, maybe finished with a layer of clearcoat depending on your choice of paint. Looks simple but is not.

Some advice here: https://pittsburghsprayequip.com/blogs/pittsburgh-spray-equipment-company/sanding-primer-before-painting-wood-a-complete-guide