Finishing follies

DarkPenguin

Senior Member
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370
How to finish a guitar body in 48 (and counting) steps.

1. Buy cheap affinity squier body off of ebay.
2. Strip paint.
3. Sand neatly.
4. Apply stain.
5. Apply 12 coats of tru oil intermixing with coats of dust.
6. Call good enough and put guitar together and enjoy guitar.
7. Put new pickups in and declare it the best sounding guitar in the house.
8. Decide that the finish isn't good enough for a guitar that sounds that good.  (<- problem starts here)
9. Sand down guitar.
10.  Buy wrong spray paint.
11. Prime.
12. Wonder about paint choice.
13. Paint.
14. Strip paint.
15. Sand.
16. Buy duplicolor primer and paint.
17. Prime.
18. Paint.
19. Put down 4 coats of lacquer.
20. Note that the solvent in the lacquer has wreaked the duplicolor paint.
21. Sand down to the duplicolor paint.
22. Repaint.
23. Apply shellac.
24. Put down 4 coats of lacquer.
25. Sand.
26. Watch shellac peel off  the duplicolor in sheets.
27. Sand.
28. Buy cheap ass krylon lacquer paint in black and white.
29. Paint guitar white.
30. Sand.
31.  Paint black stencil.
32.  Note stencil had lifted.
33. Sand.
34. Decide to make a B+W guitar ala the cookie.
35. Paint front black.
36. Remove tape line.
37. Use alcohol to remove tape residue.
38. Note that you knew that would remove lacquer after you removed the lacquer.
39. Say screw it and paint over everything with a candy red color.
40. Re-read the information on the can of candy red paint.
41. Rage impotently.
42. Finish the can of paint stripper.
43. Marvel at how much paint was on that thing.
44. Sand.
45. Apply an odd blue stain I found in a drawer.
46. Wait an hour.
47. Use alcohol to remove much of the stain with steel wool until it is just a tint of blue with darker blue end points.
48. Start applying lacquer.

I know I won't finish this before step 50.  But I'm hoping to conclude before step 60.  I don't think the body can take being stripped again.

Even with a mask I think all the fumes from paint and solvents has eaten a squirrel sized hole in my brain.

If I give finishing advice (other than don't) please do not take it.
 
Dude, sorry for your travail.


I think you probably could have eliminated steps 9-48 if you had inserted two steps after 8:


8.1 - Test your contemplated finishing schedule on scrap
8.2 - Do not proceed to step 9 until 8.1 works the way you want it to.


In any case, good luck.
 
That would have helped.  Having any kind of plan other than "just make it better than it was" would have helped.

The upshot is that I like what I have now better than anything else I've tried.
 
Oh, and the dye and wipe on poly finish I tried on my cheap GFS guitar kit is happily curing.  I planned that one.  I even tested application of materials.

Impatient me and detailed me seem to be two completely different people.
 
Your persistence and tenacity is commendable.  After step 13 or so, I would have given up and thrown it on the bonfire admiring the flames while enjoying a good beer or two or three or...
 
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