Areas to mask

[Mostaguen]

Hi guys! I'm planning on building my first warmoth stratocaster and since I have a friend that own a paint gun, I decided to do the finishing myself to save some money!

I am getting an ash body and mapple neck and I want the finish to be clear glossy.

The thing is i'm not sure on what I need to mask when painting. If I don't mask the areas like the holes for the electronics and neck piece, it will allow the parts to fit well but if I don't spray these parts, I am afraid that humidity might come in contact with the wood and damage the guitar. Can anyone give me a tip on the areas to mask?

 

[Cagey]

First, Welcome to the board! We have a lotta fun here, and there's a lotta high-priced talent floating around, so enjoy!

As to your question, unless you're shooting garage floor epoxy or Sears' Easy Living Latex where you end up with some super-thick coating, you really don't need to mask anything. But, depending on the body style, some guys have been known to stuff a cork or something in the bridge mounting holes or the string ferrule holes. Even that's of questionable value as you may tear up finish removing them. It's easier to deal with the dried finish after the fact, and easier to deal with sanding between coats during the whole finishing process.

If you have bridge stud mounting ferrules already installed, you may want to run a bolt into them to protect the internal threads, or just pull them out and put them back later. If you don't have bridge stud mounting ferrules, you may want to question what you were thinking about when you specified your bridge.

 

[Mostaguen]

Thank you for your quick reply!
I won't cover anything then... And now that I am thinking of it I can always sand off the too thick part to fit the electronics and neck.

 

[Cagey]

Nothing should end up so thick that it'll be an issue. Unless you have a death wish or a very nice paint shop, I'll assume you're shooting lacquer. Those coats go on very thin, and get thinner as they dry/cure. I've put as many as 15 or more coats of sealer, color coat and clear coat on a body and it doesn't amount to squat. Poly goes on a little thicker, but you usually only end up with 1 each of sealer/color/clear, so same thing. Properly done finishes just aren't very thick.

It sounds like maybe you haven't done much of this before. You may want to get some cheap wood scraps and practice with finishing those before you attack a valuable guitar body whose appearance you'll be sensitive about. I seriously understand impatience, but I also want to warn you of the frustration of a crap finish because you jumped into something you weren't prepared for. You'll end up having to strip it, sand it and start over... it's a pain in the shorts that's easily avoided with a little practice.

 

[Mostaguen]

Yes, I understand but i'm in no hurry right now I'm just freshly out of college and starting to work this summer so this is more of a "summer project" and a little gift to myself 
I had allready planned to practice on some scrap wood that I have here.

On the same note, is it the same thing for the neck? (Without the fret wires)

 

[Cagey]

Well, good. I can't emphasize the importance of practice enough. You need to learn how the gun behaves, how to set pressures and flows, hot to mix the coatings, how to sand them back between coats, on and on. It's not a trivial task, and can be quite time-consuming even once you're reasonably good at it. That's why getting it done by others is so expensive. I mean, lacquer is cheap, but you'd be hard-pressed to find somebody to do a lacquer finish on a guitar for less than $300. It's a lotta work, no matter how good you are.

As for necks, I'm not sure what you're asking. Being made of wood, they have the same demands any hunk of wood does. Different wood species may require different handling/treatment, but that doesn't change because they're used as a neck. Some species are harder than others to finish and/or may not require any finish at all. but you'd have to specify which one you're talking about. The Warmoth site lists out which woods they don't require a finish on to remain warranted and those that don't, so that's a good starting point.

I will say this: if you've never played a raw wood neck, you're missing out. Some of those exotic woods feel super good just raw, and won't suffer from being unfinished. They're often more expensive, but since you don't have to finish them, you often break even. But, even if they cost more, it's often worth it. You haven't felt a good neck until you've played some fine-sanded Pau Ferro or Bloodwood. You'll wonder why anybody plays finished necks until you realize that if that's what everybody wanted they'd cost 10 times as much. Then you keep your filthy mouth shut! <grin>

 

[Mostaguen]

:laughing7: Thanks for the tips, I will definitively check these out!
Well thank you for your time. I will try to upload some pictures whenever I'm done with it.