Nitro olympic white finish (Need advice)

ozan

Newbie
Messages
6
Hi,

I want an olympic white strat body (nitro finished) in my next project. I think warmoth's olympic white is not the traditional fender olympic white? And I also want nitro finish. So I'm going to buy an unpainted strat body from Warmoth and than will paint it. Can anyone offer me a site where I can learn about nitro finishing and also a site where I can buy the painting equipments. I saw this site while I was reading the forums.(http://reranch.com) They sell fender custom colours but I couldn't be sure if they are same as the real fender colours or not...

I also tought of buying a custom shop fender body from ebay but that seemed expensive, so....

I don't know much about painting I need every comments. Thankss...
 
As far as learnig how to spray nitro I would start with the book and video from Stew-Mac on Spray Finishing Basics.  They have all the info you need.  To get  equipment will cost you some money.  To get real good equipment, alot of money.

If you want to read up on Fender's early finishes here is a real good web sight. http://www.provide.net/~cfh/fenderc.html


Is this the color you are after?
whitestrat2.jpg
 
The folks at the guitar reranch (google that for their website) offer aerosols in many of the oem colors - and olympic white maybe one of them.

To do it the "right way" you need a product called "Fullerplast" which is a sealer, but really... it can be done with any sealer.

The expense of lacquer is if you want to do a lot for the lowest cost - then spray equipment is needed.  Aerosols work ok from places like ReRanch (and other places for other colors).

You will have to develop one very hard to do skill.  That skill is WAITING.  Lacquer dries fast, but shrinks for weeks.  Your final finish will need to sit for weeks to shrink in, then it can be leveled and buffed.  You CAN buff by hand, but let me warn you - its a long and tiring process.  I do it, but its not done in one session.  I wish I had a nice buffer to do that... but.. $$$ and I just dont finish enough guitars to make it worth it.  The drill motor buffers are... next to useless.  You need a BIG soft wheel to buff a body well... or do it by hand.  However, I've found out that is just about as hard to buff out 600 grit sanding as 1000 or 1500 grit sanding.  Some guys talk about going to 2000 grit - or finer - then buffing, and frankly its not needed.

You'll need GOOD quality sandpaper, the lacquer, and a can of naphtha to clean the body between coats (it takes off the grease and stuff from fingerprints or sanding residue, is safe for lacquer).

It can be done -  its not "that" hard, and the results can be pretty nice.  So far I've done an SG faded in clear over brown (and I might go REdo that since I got impatient and leveled it too soon).  Another SG faded in black cherry burst.  The top of a Les Paul Stanard (faded), big finish restore on a Gibson L6s, several small fixes on other guitars, and now Vic's BFT (Telecaster Thinline), and my goncalo neck for my BFT.  Once you get the "feel" for lacquer, it really is an ideal guitar finish.  And SURFACE PREP is the key.  Fill that grain, level it smooth and redo it several times on woods like alder, ash, mahogany etc etc.  Maple tops have tight grain and you dont get finish sinking in very much at all.

Before
shine3.gif

(half "buffed" out to see what it would look like... looked like poo!)

After
bcb6.gif

(all done from aerosols, black-cherry burst)
 
I want that thin nitro finish just like early fenders. I couldn't post picture I don't know it doesn't work...

On ebay, custom fender bodies are between 800-900$. I think I will spend more if I want a good nitro finish?

Also looked at Stew-Mac's site. There are lots of books about guitar finishing, I couldn't be sure Stew-Mac's book if it is good for a beginning or not... I firstly need a book and learn about finishing very well. Otherwise it would be dumb to buy expensive equipment... So I think I need more book advices.

By the way that SG is awesome

Thanks
 
The white on the Oly White strat is very thin.  It is 2 coats of white pigmented lacquer, level sanded and then 4 coats of clear water white.  The clear is mixed very thin with 1 part lacquer thinner, 1 part retarder, a dash of butyl and, one part clear lacquer.  This mix does not build alot and it flows and levels really well so I can start my wet sand and rub out with 2000 grit wet/dry and then I take it to the polishing arbor.

The Stew Mack book to get is "Guitar Finishing Step by Step".  It has every thing from wood prep to wet sand and final rub out along with what equipment to use and how to set it up.

I wish you could post a picture of what you are after and I could give you the production schedule of how to get that finish with lacqure.  The finish you are describing sounds to me like a Mary Kaye blond which is a see though white.

JRodgersS4600.jpg
 
I'll post a second prop for the reRanch goods. the selection is quite good, and the shipping dependable. o, and the products have been quite easy to use for a novice Nitro finisher - so much so that I am no longer shelling out $$$ to have my body finishing outsourced.

if I'm ordering a body thru Warmoth, I try to have them apply the finish as well. but for those clients who insist on Nitro, and for my own body works, it's now being done in-house by your truly. I would recommend you attempt to oil finish a few necks and bodies before attempring Nitro. if you can obtain a stellar oil finish the Nirto work will be right up your alley once you learn how to lay the paint from the rattle can

all the best,

R
 
Yeah definitely, starting with a nitro project is not logical but I will receive help from a guitar builder and I think I'm going to use a large carpenter's shop. (there will be all equipments that I'm going to need)

I don't want to see the body wood but I want a thin finish I think nitro finishes are always thinner than others?

I just can't send photos, it doesn't open.

This really close to what I want: http://cgi.ebay.com/2001-Fender-60-Custom-Shop-Stratocaster-Olympic-White_W0QQitemZ300141849965QQihZ020QQcategoryZ47069QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Here is one in the middle of the page: http://www.patsguitars.com/galleryo.htm

Here is also one in the middle of the page: http://www.patsguitars.com/4sale.htm

I don't think I want something really special. The one on ebay is what I am after.
 
Dude,
Go with ReRanch.  You can get rattle cans of Oly White and if you want it to look aged, spray a light coat of tinted clear, let it dry, and then continue with additional coats of clear.  Beauty thing is if you're careful, take your time, and follow Bill's instructions on his web page, you can get satisfying results.

Word of caution here:  dry fit the neck you'll use with the body loaded with hardware.  Even fender licensed aftermarket necks and bodies are no guarenteed fit to fender factory parts.  If using a Warmoth body, I recommend using a Warmoth neck. 

:icon_biggrin:
 
Stock up on lots of patience.  And I mean lots of it.  Like it has been said, it is not all that difficult to spray with good results.  It is mind bendingly hard to wait as long as you should before doing something more to the finish.  Plan on 10 to 12 weeks if it is your first try, something will happen along the way.  Just remember that nitro is very forgiving if you are patient.  Lots and lots and lots of patience.
Patrick

 
The ebay link is history. The pics from the middle of the page on patsguitars.com are NOT Oly White, they're Butterscotch Blonde - also available from ReRanch.com.  If you search Tonar's posts he's got a whole thread of doing that finish from scratch.

Buy lots of extra sandpaper, you can always sand it back if you screw up.  As to nitro being "thinner", you can slop any kind of finish on too thick, and it has no real tonal effect anyway.
 
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