Jupiter

Hey Brian! Would you consider doing a tutorial on those epoxy inlays you mentioned? Sounds interesting. Or just post it here on the forum if it's that simple. Thanks! Ben

Thankz a lot, Brian! I'll probably be trying the zteel wool and vinegar trick zoon. I'll let you all know how i turnz out... Oh, juzt thought of zomething.... will the vinegar-bazed ztain ztink up my guitar? Man, wouldn't that zuck... Any ideaz? Ben

Hmm..... very interesting! I need to ebonize the rosewood fretboard of my project guitar. Would the steel wool and vinegar trick work? Also, if i ebonize it like that, would i have to seal the board somehow { the board is a fully scalloped one i did myself... fingers no touchie wood on this one! }? Thanks! Ben

Wow!!! Great tutorial, Ampage!!! Thanks a lot, the axe looks freaking amazing!!!!!!!! This should help me out a lot! Ben

Hey guys! Well, as a fellow swirl-lover, let me voice my two cents here... After i read this tutorial, i was all excited about the possibility of doing my own swirl, so in my static excitment, i told the first person i saw: My Mum! I said, " i learned how to do swirl finishes on guitars last night! ", and she said, " Oh, you mean with oil paints on the water? "... i was kinda stunned that she knew, and i said, " Uh, yeah... and you add Borax to the water ", and she nodded her head and said " To break the surface tension". Hmmph. It's not that big of a secret, guys. Here's the way i look at it: 1. Just because you've watched one of those 'Magician's Secrets Revealed' shows on TV does not make you David Blane. Years of practice will. 2. Let's say someone gives you a brush, some paint, and a canvas. They tell you, 'this is how to paint', and give you some tips. Do think that a work of Rembrandt is going to magically appear when you try to paint? Nah... What i'm trying to say is that Darren and Herc are the magicians and Rembrandts. They are GOOD at swirling. And i'm sure they'll tell you, it took tons of practice to get where they are! While a person that reads the tutorial may be able to get a decent-looking swirl out of their first couple of attempts, it still won't be anywhere near what Herc or Darren could acheive. The only info we have is that we know how to do it... so what, that doesn't make us good at it! Ben

Yeah, i thought about that after i posted last night.... man, that would be a mess... Any more tips? Thanks! Ben

Hey guys! The guitar i'm working on { a reshaped Schecter C-7 } has a typical Strat-style neck joint, which i really don't care for... it's just a great big old block with a metal plate on it. The neck has a 4-bolt configuration, but it's not offset like, say, an Ibanez AANJ bolt pattern is. I suppose this is also the typical Strat way of doing it. So, what i'm wanting to know is how tough it would be to reshape it... i'd like to at least mash a palm sander on the back of the block, so it at least won't be so thick. But, if i had my choice, i'd reshape it into a quasi- AANJ. I guess if i did this, i would have to fill the old bolt holes in the neck { wouldn't i ? } and redrill them, fill the old bolt holes in the neck joint, and redrill them, too. If i did this, would i be able to use the bolts that it came with stock, or would i want to go buy new ones? They seem to be skinnier than AANJ-style guitars have. Would this be as hard to do as it sounds? Please help! Ben

Holy crap that guitar is going to be gorgeous !!! Share the specs, please! 6 or 7-string? That thing looks freaking amazing!!! Reminds me of my blue Ibanez USRG10. Do you mean you'd reccomend acyrlic laquer for the paint of just for the clear? What grit paper do i use to sand eveything? I'm sorry if i misunderstood, but do i have to sand the clearcoat, too? Also, this may be a stupid question, but... do i have to put a coat of sanding sealer on the bare wood spots, or could i just primer over the bare wood? Oh, what type and colour of primer should i use? Thanks!!! Ben

Wow! Thank you bery much for the excellent tips, GEdward! I'll be sweating my ass off while cutting the tape, but that seems to be the best possible way to do it! So... 1. How many cans of paint? 2. What type of clear to use over acrylic enamal? 3. What about sanding between coats? Is this even necessary? How do i do it, and with what paper? Thanks guys, you're all a great help! Ben

UH whoa...... Didn't mean for those last 3 emoticon's to be on there! Anyway, the band i was trying to say was 'Kid Rock'. Hope that clears things up! Ben

SWEET! rock Thanks for all of the tips, guys! It doesn't seem as if this will be too hard after all! Okay, here's one i forgot to ask, too. How many cans will i need to do a complete body and matching headstock face? Alright, so acrylic enamel is okay... so what kind of clear shall i put on top of that? Any tips on the sanding process? Alright, let me tell you guys the kind of finish i'm thinking of doing here.... the best example i can offer is, unfortunately, from a very horrible { in my opnion } band's guitar player... Did anyone see that VH1 special where all of those newish bands did Aerosmith tunes? Well, if you did, then you probably got a good glimpse of Kid rock's lead guitar player's Les Paul. It was black and silver, and the colours were divided on the body by a curve down the middle { sort of like the same curvature as that of the halves of a Yin Yang}. It's kinda hard to explain, so i hope someone knows what i'm talking about. Anyway, i think it looks totally bad-ass, so i'd like to do my guitar in silver and another colour { maybe metallic blue... please offer any suggestions} like that. So, how would you guys suggest doing this kind of paint job? Or would it be too hard to do by myself? Thanks for all the help!!! Please post soon, Ben

Doh...... posted this in the wrong area... sorry, please move this ! Ben

Hey guys! I'm going to be painting a guitar using sprays very soon, and i was needing to know if there is any type that i should avoid... From everything you all have said, i should avoid enamel, right? But what about acrylic enamel? That seems to be what the majority of paints i find are. What should i use? Any tips to get the finished product looking it's best? Next question... It seems like after spraying, well, anything with spray paint, it always smells REALLY strongly of it for a pretty long period of time... anything i can do to shorten or eliminate this? Okay, one more... What i'm worried about is the sanding in between coats part. What paper to use, how mush to sand, etc... if anyone has first-hand experience with this, it would be a lot more helpful than pointing me towards a tutorial. All tips are welcome! Please help soon! Ben

Jerremy, i just have to know how the hell you got to know so much about paints and guitar tech... behind every great teacher, there lies a great teacher... Ben p.s. Please help me out over in the ' aerosol paints' thread!!!

Anyone?

Which is do-able? The candy-apple or the Plasticote colour-change? If you're talking about the candy-apple, please give me some info about candy-apple finishes. I don't know a whole lot about them, but the ones i've seen are SWEET. What would happen if i did silver under green? Or could i do yellow under green to make the green brighter? See, i'm really wanting bright metallic green, like, grass/leaf green, or the colour of a real emerald or jade. There was a limited run of Schecters in this colour this year or last year. I don't want it to be as acidic as, say, Grabber Green, or Loch Ness Green, just a nice, bright green, preferably metallic. I can't seem to find any greens that are bright enough, though, so thats why i was wondering. Thanks! Ben

Well poo, Brain. AH well, thanks for the info, it saved me some frustration! Okay, i have some more questions! Has anyone tried doing a candy-apple-type finish with aerosol by spraying, say, a coat of silver, then another colour on top of it? Would that work? I found a product by Platicote today that was a PPG-type finish { colour-changing, like the Mystic Dream paint job on the EB/MM JPM guitars}. It was emerald green/copper, it looked SO great! It even said that it was usable on wood! You had to buy the base and clear coat seperately. Here's the thing, though... a while back, a company { which i probably shouldn't name...} had a similar paint. I saw the results on a motorcycle helmet, and it really looked like shyte. Does anyone know if this is any better? Thanks! Ben

Nasty, thanks for the tip, Dave. Yeah, i've seen that guy that chromes guitars. haha, but really, if i'm asking questions about spraypaint, do you think i could afford that ??? An Iceman would look really sweet, though. Ben

Oog Well, that certainly doesn't sound good. Brian, what did you mean that i'll love how it looks till i try to paint the other side? How did the chromes that you did turn out? Like i said, i'm not expecting the guitar to come out looking like liquid mercury or anything. Does it retain that silver, foggy-mirror look that i saw and described? If so, thats fine by me. Also, would that aerosol acrylic enamel clear-coat that i found work? Thanks for the help, as always !!! Ben

Hello again! More questions... Okay, so i went to Wal Mart a little while ago and checked out their paints... i went to automotive and found a "chrome" paint. I tryed it out on a piece of cardboard, and walked off for about 10 minutes while it dried a little. When i came back and looked at it, i was impressed with the results! It wasn't mirror chrome by any stretch, but it was a nice, foggy-mirror silver. It wasn't fit for a Chromeboy, but i still liked it a LOT!!! Here's the deal.... all that it said on the can was ' Enamel ". it said on the can that it was reccomended for trim and accessories... would this pose any problems??? Could i still use it on a guitar if i put sanding sealer on the body, and got it to a nice, smooth finish, then put clear coat on top of it? I had been thinking about painting the guitar green, but i would like this, too! Here's another question... In the automotive section, i also found an acrylic laquer aerosol clear coat. Would this offer a great, tough, SHiNY protective coat if i put enough coats on the guitar? Thanks for the help, guys!!!!!!! Ben

Hello guys! Maybe i'm stupid for saying this, but you can use plain old spray paint on guitars??? Does it look good? Do you have to put clear/laquer over it to make it look nice, deep, and glossy? Or does it always just look cheap? Do you still have to use sanding sealer on the wood, then start painting? See, i have a guitar that i may stain very soon, but if i could just paint it with spray cans and get a good-looking finish out of it, then i'd rather do that! Please help ! Thanks! Ben p.s. could someone maybe just post an instructional about how to do this?