Unfortunately, to get what you want,
A spray can isn't enough. You will need several of them, probably five or more, and likely 10. A "shiny" surface involves a lotta finish removal, particularly with spray cans. The reason is that in order to get shiny, the surfaces needs to be level. Spray cans typically result in some serious "orange peel" that needs to be sanded back before you apply the next coat. Compounding the problem is rattle cans are already thinned, so there's little finish in the can. It's mostly reducer and propellant, which just boils off into the atmosphere. You'll be lucky to get one coat out of a can, and you need about 8 coats
minimum, preferably 12 or more. Costs can get out of hand in a hurry.
Add in all the abrasives you will need, plus various grades of buffing compound, swirl remover and polish, and it gets worse. That's assuming you do it all by hand, which is a helluva lotta work.
If it were me, I'd look up
Tonar here on the board, send him a PM and see if he'll help you. It's getting a bit late in the year for such projects around here, but I think he's somewhere that allows year-round work of this type, and he's very reasonable. Over the last 5 years or so, I've seen some incredible work out of the guy, as well as a great deal of help for those who attempt to do things themselves.
If you think you might do more than one guitar, you may want to consider getting an HVLP spray rig. Dedicated units can be had much easier than a full compressor-based spray rig. I use an
Earlex 5500 unit, and it returns professional results. If you figure a good paint job is going to run you anywhere between $250 and $400, it only takes two guitars to make this thing free. Just a thought.
Finally, you can always do the True-Oil thing. It's not a very robust finish, and it's time-consuming, but it's cheap and relatively easy. Plus you can practically do it in your kitchen. Given enough patience, you can get a really nice finish out of the deal. Won't last, but you can always take pictures <grin>
If you wanna do the lacquer thing yourself, there's
a very good schedule at LMII. Works like a charm if you follow it. You don't necessarily have to use their products - it works with most stuff out there.
