Refinishing Guitars Thread: Useful links, tips, guidance.
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- Molly
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Refinishing Guitars Thread: Useful links, tips, guidance.
I reckon anybody with a little patience and $50 can refinish their guitar to a professional standard. With that in mind, I thought it wouldn't hurt to have a single thread where we can share useful tips, videos etc. Here are a couple I highly recommend:
- AiRdAd
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Re: Refinishing Guitars Thread: Useful links, tips, guidance.
your pencil rubber trick is a great one Molly - that helped me heaps!!!
Slowy wrote: To Danny, everyone is either a supplier, customer or a courier.
- robthemac
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Re: Refinishing Guitars Thread: Useful links, tips, guidance.
Don't you need fancy spraying equipment and masks and all that?
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Re: Refinishing Guitars Thread: Useful links, tips, guidance.
Get GrantB to do it?
1935 Martin D-45, 1942 Gibson Southern Jumbo,1950 Fender Broadcaster, 1954 Fender Strat, 1958 Gibson Moderne prototype, 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard.
1958 Fender twin, 1965 Vox AC30, 1966 Marshall JTM 45, 1977 Dumble OD Special.
Big black garbage bag full of original Klon Centaurs and TS808s.
1958 Fender twin, 1965 Vox AC30, 1966 Marshall JTM 45, 1977 Dumble OD Special.
Big black garbage bag full of original Klon Centaurs and TS808s.
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Re: Refinishing Guitars Thread: Useful links, tips, guidance.
Molly, that surf green colour you had mixed into a spray can... was that a custom mix or stock colour from a catalog somewhere? I have once called Spraystore, after your recommendation, and they flatly told me they could only do colours that are in various colour catalogs.
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Re: Refinishing Guitars Thread: Useful links, tips, guidance.
You should wear a respirator, its nasty toxic stuff, likely why they moved to using poly finishesrobthemac wrote:Don't you need fancy spraying equipment and masks and all that?
Slowy wrote: That's the problem; everything rewarding is just such hard work. Regret takes much less effort.
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Re: Refinishing Guitars Thread: Useful links, tips, guidance.
I took in a Resene colour chart. What I've discovered is that looking at one swatch in isolation is no use. You can swear blind that you've found the exact colour you're looking for then you see it relative to others and it's miles out. So, I called at a Resene store and got a sheet of green tints. I picked out the closest to surf green I could (from memory - I didn't have a guitar of that colour to hand). I too found that Spray store can only usually tint to the codes on their own swatches so I found the closest one and had a chat with the lady who was going to mix the paint. I showed her the swatch and my Resene chart example. She set about mixing her swatch such that it was as close as she could get it to what I wanted. It used to be that I could just give them the DuPont code but that doesn't seem possible anymore. I think there's so much variation anyway, especially when a guitar is old and the colour faded, you're as well to just find one you like that they can mix easily. Trying to get two anoraks to agree what is and it's the correct vintage shade of anything is impossible.codedog wrote:Molly, that surf green colour you had mixed into a spray can... was that a custom mix or stock colour from a catalog somewhere? I have once called Spraystore, after your recommendation, and they flatly told me they could only do colours that are in various colour catalogs.
I now spray the paint in my greenhouse. Lots of light. Nice and warm. Good ventilation. And I wear a 3M N95 mask (when I remember...). It is indeed toxic and explosive stuff.jeremyb wrote:You should wear a respirator, its nasty toxic stuff, likely why they moved to using poly finishesrobthemac wrote:Don't you need fancy spraying equipment and masks and all that?
What I love about nitro is how one coat melts into the previous one. And you can just about carve it. Get a low light over the guitar and you can gently sand-out any orange peel. Once it's flat it's easy to work it up to a mirror shine if that's what you're after. If you're patient you'll wait three weeks for it to stop gassing-off before doing that as it'll continue to dry and shrink in; undoing some of your careful sanding and polishing. Just wait a few weeks then do it.
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- Mr Echo
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Re: Refinishing Guitars Thread: Useful links, tips, guidance.
On a different tangent, I’m slowly use a rag to add on very thin coats of the matte Oil based poly. Originally thought I’d seal and stain. The ash completely resisted any stains etc. so i ended up sanding lots, burning, wire brush, filling and white shellac. but this is taking really well.
"Cash on the ballot, money to burn, Dealey Plaza, make a left-hand turn" Bob Dylan is a genius
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Re: Refinishing Guitars Thread: Useful links, tips, guidance.
How did you burn it?Kev77 wrote:On a different tangent, I’m slowly use a rag to add on very thin coats of the matte Oil based poly. Originally thought I’d seal and stain. The ash completely resisted any stains etc. so i ended up sanding lots, burning, wire brush, filling and white shellac. but this is taking really well.
When faced with quality, I recognise it every time.
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Re: Refinishing Guitars Thread: Useful links, tips, guidance.
I was planning on using a heat gun/ or blow torch. But no one I know had one. I got a Bunsen burner and hot handed it. I wish I’d gone a bit harder. But I’d already sealed it with white shellac and was concerned about the shellac bubbling or worse.
After the burning/ charcoaling I got a really fine wire brush and went ham.
Then wood grain filler, and more sanding and sanding.
After the burning/ charcoaling I got a really fine wire brush and went ham.
Then wood grain filler, and more sanding and sanding.
"Cash on the ballot, money to burn, Dealey Plaza, make a left-hand turn" Bob Dylan is a genius
- Molly
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Re: Refinishing Guitars Thread: Useful links, tips, guidance.
Been working on that surf green Strat body. Just thought I'd post a couple of pics.
First, I plugged the holes with wax polish. Water can cause problems / cracking / swelling around the holes during the sanding process so it's a good idea to try to keep the water out.
This is how it looked after the last coat of paint from the aerosol.
I first sanded-out the orange peel with 1200 went and dry.
More pics to follow in a minute.
First, I plugged the holes with wax polish. Water can cause problems / cracking / swelling around the holes during the sanding process so it's a good idea to try to keep the water out.
This is how it looked after the last coat of paint from the aerosol.
I first sanded-out the orange peel with 1200 went and dry.
More pics to follow in a minute.
- Molly
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Re: Refinishing Guitars Thread: Useful links, tips, guidance.
This is how it looked after sanding with 2000 wet and dry.
The 5000 Trizact pad.
Then a good polish for a mirror shine.
It's far from finished but getting there.
The 5000 Trizact pad.
Then a good polish for a mirror shine.
It's far from finished but getting there.
- kdawg2a
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Re: Refinishing Guitars Thread: Useful links, tips, guidance.
Looks good Molly.
1935 Martin D-45, 1942 Gibson Southern Jumbo,1950 Fender Broadcaster, 1954 Fender Strat, 1958 Gibson Moderne prototype, 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard.
1958 Fender twin, 1965 Vox AC30, 1966 Marshall JTM 45, 1977 Dumble OD Special.
Big black garbage bag full of original Klon Centaurs and TS808s.
1958 Fender twin, 1965 Vox AC30, 1966 Marshall JTM 45, 1977 Dumble OD Special.
Big black garbage bag full of original Klon Centaurs and TS808s.
- AiRdAd
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Re: Refinishing Guitars Thread: Useful links, tips, guidance.
Looks great. Were you happy with colour in the end?
Slowy wrote: To Danny, everyone is either a supplier, customer or a courier.