Painting New Headstock

[DoItMyself]

Hello,
Got my Warmoth parts and they look great. I had the neck finished with Satin Nitro Finish and it also looks great but I'd like the headstock face to be a solid color. I've read the Satin Nitro Finish is actual a polyurethane so don't know what it really is.

After looking at countless hours of finishing videos, figured I'd ask the experts here for what would work best on this headstock. I'm planning on using a spray on lacquer and don't know if I'll need to do a clear coat. I'm not a painting expert but been painting things for over 50 years.

One video I saw the guy did 6 coats of satin black, no clear and it looked great. Also saw the recent Stewmac finishing videos and it also looked great but they did 3 color  coats and 14 clear. Not really looking to do that much.

Any suggestions or experiences painting over the Warmoth Satin Nitro Finish would be great!!

Thanks

 

[Spud]

I have never ordered a pre finished Warmoth neck and I don't know what the actually spray on them. However, if it is in fact poly, you don't want to spray laquer over that. Better to lightly scuff with say 1500 grit and use some rattlecan oil based black.

 

[DuckBaloo]

Satin nitro is satin nitrocellulose lacquer, I don't know why someone would say it's poly.

Nitro over poly is just fine (Fender has been doing it on RIs for 40 years now); poly over nitro can be troublesome, you have to be damn sure the nitro is dry.

Satin finishes have "flatteners" in them, clear solids that land and set randomly to break up the way light reflects off of the surface. Generally, only the final clear coat is satin, prep and color coats are the same as you would for a gloss finish. Since this is already coated in a satin finish, you have to decide to level it some with sandpaper then apply the color and clear coats, our just finish overtop. If spraying a gloss finish, 10-12 coats of clear is normal because you have to have even finish built up to survive wetsanding and buffing. With a satin finish, 3-6 coats of satin clear should be enough. You have to be extra careful of runs, because there is no spot repair with a satin finish.

 

[Spud]

Nitro over poly is just fine (Fender has been doing it on RIs for 40 years now); poly over nitro can be troublesome, you have to be damn sure the nitro is dry.

I assume you are referring to Fender using polyester high build primer vs polyurethane. I still stand by saying lacquer over polyurethane is a bad idea.

 

[DuckBaloo]

Nitro over poly is just fine (Fender has been doing it on RIs for 40 years now); poly over nitro can be troublesome, you have to be damn sure the nitro is dry.

I assume you are referring to Fender using polyester high build primer vs polyurethane. I still stand by saying lacquer over polyurethane is a bad idea.

FMIC has used a polyurethane sealer coat on the RIs like American Vintage, American Originals, etc. since they launched in the '80s. They don't spray polyester at Corona (they do in Ensenada). Pore fill, polyurethan sealer soe the finish doesn't shrink back, then nitro color coat and clear coats. Sometimes the color coats are polyurethane as well. Tokai does a similar thing on the midrange clones, whenever Tokai says the finish is "lacquer topcoat", it's nitro clear over polyurethane color coats.

It works just fine. But this is moot since the Warmoth satin is nitro lacquer.

 

[Spud]

:icon_thumright:

 

[DoItMyself]

It works just fine. But this is moot since the Warmoth satin is nitro lacquer.

Thanks,
So what about using 6 coats of a solid lacquer color vs 3 coats lacquer color then several coats of clear both over the satin nitro lacquer Warmoth used?
Or whatever someone did to paint their Warmoth satin nitro finished neck.

 

[ragamuffin]

You definitely want to use a clear coat if you want it to look good

 

[DoItMyself]

Would spray enamel ie Duplicolor or Krylon bond with the Nitro Lacquer?

Thanks

 

[NedRyerson]

Check back into the archives:

https://www.unofficialwarmoth.com/index.php?topic=8754.0

(warning: the linked topic is 13 years old, so resist the urge to necro-post)

 

[jay4321]

I don't know if you started this, but what does the body look like? And what exact color are you looking for on the headstock?

The easiest way to go would be Duplicolor Perfect Match, and in many cases you would not require a clear coat. You'd be spraying more color coats in those cases but they work, and satin black for example is easy. Will take fingerprints like nobody's business but not hard to apply. Stuff dries pretty fast and easy to come by.