Ok, don't laugh. Painting pole pieces?

[AprioriMark]

I'm installing p-rails on a guitar that I'm building, and I really want the pole pieces to appear black.  I wouldn't think there'd be an issue with sound or whatever, but I do wonder how to best go about it.  Should I apply paint then clear coat?  Anything I should be wary of?

-Mark

 

[m4rk0]

sharpie!!!

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

+1

There's no prep and can reapplied anytime.  Oh, and i laughed a little, only because I'd considered it before.

 

[erogenousjones17]

Yeah I'd say go with a sharpie. Sharpies are like duct tape; you can do most anything with them. Just out of curiosity, why are you painting the pole pieces? Is this a "none more black"-type thing?  :laughing7:

 

[jlegnor]

I'd go with a sharpie too. But no matter what you use, it's gonna look like silver pole pieces painted black. It may look ok from a distance, but up close not so good.

 

[jackthehack]

Can't think of the brand name right now, it's that new acrylic paint that will stick to plastic/metal/anything without primer. Spray some on a Q-tip and use that to paint the pole pieces.

I used that spray paint to paint the RG BBQ HB on the axe below, and had to touch it up with the Q-tip method, was chrome to start out with:

 

[AprioriMark]

Yeah I'd say go with a sharpie. Sharpies are like duct tape; you can do most anything with them. Just out of curiosity, why are you painting the pole pieces? Is this a "none more black"-type thing?  :laughing7:

Yeah, I want the metal on the guitar to be intentional and not incidental.  I'm using a brushed chrome Wilkeson bridge and brushed chrome locking tuners.  I may look at the pickups in the guitar and not care, but what's in my mind is subtle black, so I wanted to know what's possible.

-Mark

 

[bob7point7]

I would pull one of the polepiece screws out of the pickup and measure it. You could probably find the same size screw with a black coating at McMaster Carr, or even the local hardware store.

 

[-CB-]

I had a can or Prof. Peter's Patent Permanent Pole Piece Paint here someplace....

If you like the sharpie you can always go down to HD and get some appliance paint - black.  Its a tough grade of enamel and once it dries (takes a bit longer) its pretty tough stuff indeed.  Repaired my stove top with superglue to fill the chip, then white appliance enamel.  It dried hard as blue steel, cat cant scratch it.

 

[Alfang]

CB loves his superglue,

Hey Jack, a buddy just dropped off a 1961 Melody Maker, looks just like yours, it needs a new pickguard, single pup version, know where I can get one that says melody maker on it?

This guitar is in pretty good shape, just needs a few small things and about 15 minutes on the stew mac buffer.

I read today, these sold for $99.00 and are worth around $2500 now, in good cond.

 

[jackthehack]

CB loves his superglue,

Hey Jack, a buddy just dropped off a 1961 Melody Maker, looks just like yours, it needs a new pickguard, single pup version, know where I can get one that says melody maker on it?

This guitar is in pretty good shape, just needs a few small things and about 15 minutes on the stew mac buffer.

I read today, these sold for $99.00 and are worth around $2500 now, in good cond.

$2500 is kinda high in most instances, unless you find one that sat 40+ years in the case under the bed....

Has it been modded, or does it have the original PU? The Gibson single coils are weird and you can't get a Fender one to fit (hole's too small). You might occasionally see an original pickguard on eBay, and there are several sources that you can get a repro one from but mostly they don't have the "Melody Maker" silk screen on them. Here's one link, haven't ever used the source, and note it says "Decals not always available" http://tjn442.tripod.com/id2.html You could always buy a cheaper plain one and decal it yourself