Refinishing to make it darker

[Notyethendrix]

Hi fellow warmoth builders!  Here's my current axe that I'm working on.

It seems gorgeous in pictures, but in reality I don't really dig this red.  I'm thinking of refinishing it to either darker wine red, brown, or black. While try to remain the quilted maple's flame.

II know there will be a lot of people saying sell this body if I don't like the colour, but I LOVE the sound of it.  So, I really want to do something about the look of it.

Is it possible? Thank you for reading this  :icon_thumright:

 

[spauldingrules]

You really love the sound of your pickups, neck, strings, and bridge.  There is nothing you can really do to that body except paint over it or sand it down.  Sell it and move on.

 

[-CB-]

You might be able to an overspray .... nobody has ever said this for sure, but lacquer may be ok over a fully cured warmoth finsih

Before you nay say... its IS compatable over a Fender finsih...so I'm not ruling out the W finish unless somebody says "for sure" its a no go.

Assuming it works... an overspray with some deeper shade toner, perhaps even a burst of sorts... then reclearcoat and blend at the edges.

 

[dbw]

Damn dude, I wouldn't attempt such a thing.  If you can spray poly you could probably paint it a solid color but other than that I think you're up shit creek!

 

[RLW]

Guitars and women have a lot of interesting things in common.

I'd rather have one that works over one that's just purty.

 

[Notyethendrix]

Hmmm.... how about if I remove the poly, and paint it with transparent red/black over the original colour?

 

[chuck7]

if you strip it back down to wood, you can do pretty much anything you want.  I feel sorry for you though, having to sand down a carved top

 

[-CB-]

You really.... are gonna have a hard time with stripping.  You cant strip just the top, you'll never get it to blend with the rest of the guitar (sides and back).

The overspray thing... not a bad route to go.  What you'd do is fine sand the top - just to get some tooth on it.  Say 800 grit, just knock the bright off.  Overspray with toner, then clear coat.  The Mohawk Toners would be excellent for this - assuming the catalyzed finish W uses is safe to lacquer over, once its fully cured.  As I say - the Fender finish is safe, not all finishes are tho.  BTW, you can test the finish to see if its safe.  Mask the body... then take a Q-Tip with acetone on it, and wipe inside the pickup route.  If the finish softens and comes off, its not lacquer safe.  If the finish stays firm - you're good to go on an overspray.