bit weird, guitar pimp

Mishra

ok lets start with my current guitar:


and now the guitar im getting two paychecks from now (les paul custom):


ok now i did this in sharpie, and on my current guitar it already wears and rubs off a bit under the pickups, is there something i can spray on it or something to stop this?

oh and on the lespaul, ill be cutting out a template and spraypainting it VERY CAREFULL thats a 1200 dollar guitar, any tips for that also?

ElysiumGX

[ QUOTE ]
is there something i can spray on it or something to stop this?

[/ QUOTE ]

paint.
although the design isn't bad, the thought of spray painting a new les paul is frightening.

Weiser_Cain

You can spray a thin coat of gloss on it, I'd wet-sand it with something like 400 grit sandpaper afterwards(be careful,tape everything you can't take off!!!), next time I'd read up and go paint all the way.

PeteJ

personally i'd pay for a pro to do it, seeing as the paint they use is like a thick plastic gloss rather than a standard spray. if you know how i'd rip the guitar to bits primer it twice, about 3 topcoats of white. about 3 of black and then laquer over the top probably 5 times. it wont come off then
it will however be a complete arsehole to put back together without scratching it and it probably wont sound nice either.

Keg

I'd have to agree with cuban pete: i'd go for a pro to paint the les paul. although elysiumgx makes a fair point too.

Asherr

the May through September issues of Guitar World have some articles about how to prepare/paint a guitar with standard spray paints.

motives

you would need to get som nice clears over the pattern.. some poly urethane clears and stuff like that. Look into automobile paints and techs and i think you will be fine

Michael Knubben

Or you can just get one of those diy kits, and then paint the design onto the body before you have it laquered.
I personally wouldn't, but that's just because i like my guitars plain and simple. If i were you i wouldn't do it with sharpie though.
here's how i'd do it:
1.Draw it with your sharpies on paper
2.scan it
3.totally rework it in a vector program. Adobe Illustrator or Inkworks (free) or whichever you like best.
4.print it and stick it on a sheet of plastic.
5.Cut out the bits you want black, and spraypaint till you feel funny in the head.

Here's a basic tutorial for stencils, with a few tips to keep in mind:
http://www.stencilrevolution.com/tutorials/tutorialsview.php?id=1
There are some more here: http://www.stencilrevolution.com/tutorials/

Good luck, and show it to us once you're done

dfacto

[ QUOTE ]
any tips for that also?

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't screw it up?

But the only thing I'd have to say is use an airbrush if you have one, and make very sure that your stencils are flush with the surface. Also make sure you don't overspray, because too much will cause a liquid buildup, and this could easily bleed in between the stencil and the quitar surface, totally screwing you over. Although if the stencil is paper, this may not be such an issue, since it should absorb the excess. Theoretically at least.

But I wouldn't chance it.

EDIT: Also, this is rather obvious, but make sure your cutting implement is as sharp as possible if you do a stencil. I would suggest getting some medical scalpel blades if possible. The cheap kinds are only a few cents a piece, but they are insanely sharp. Perfect for cutting stencils and the like.

almighty_gir

laquering a guitar is a veeeery lengthy process.

for this you will need to:

*sand the body right down to its wood finish.
*prime it
*paint your base layer, i would go for white, you will need specialist, non damaging paint, that allows the wood to breathe
*paint the secondary layer, painting the black onto the white will look better than the other way round, and be sure you pencil the design on first, using a very soft pencil.
*laquer, you can either get a pro to do this, or do it yourself. but it wont be easy at all, you will have to take several days, and possibly weeks, depending how good you want it.

things to remember:

*les paul's are set-necked. the necks are glued on, so if you want to remove the neck so you wont damage it with paint/laquer, then you will have a hard job, ull need to break the seal and then afterward, re-seal it strong enough that it wont come off when you string it.
*be mindful of the paint your using. Les Paul's have maple tops, and mahogany bottoms for the body. both react differently to paint, and both are essential to the tone of the instrument. if you damage one, you damage both. the marriage of the two woods is how the guitars get that "special" sound.
*for the love of god be gentle with her ;_;

seems like a nice project though. the best thing i can say, if you want to do it yourself, is to call a local luthier for on-hand advice, most times, they will be more than happy to help someone with a homegrown project. rather than having to do it themselves. and itll give you the peace of mind that if you fuck up, then he will be able to fix it

hope this helps. ive had some experiance building guitars. so ill try to help further if i can.

dfacto

I'd personally just try a stencil first. If it works, then great, if not, then you still have the option of sanding the finish down to the bottom and redoing everything.

saturnfive

If you didn't see it already, there's an article in this month's guitar player on doing this exact thing.

Justin Meisse

What about getting a vinyl sticker made up at a sign place? I know people uses vinyl graphics on their cars so it must be able to handle wear & tear.

Another idea is to get a thin piece of plastic sheet and cut it out to fit over the face of your guitar, unfortunately you might have to put some screw holes in the face of it, I'm doing that with my Ibanez bass.

Mishra

ooh a vinyl sticker. i never thought of that. good idea, and it will be so much easier and less DAMAGING

almighty_gir

actually, they do damage the laquer =/

Mishra

well im sure it would be safer than disassembling a guitar and reassembling it when i have never taken apart a guitar before.

dfacto

Well, I think you're either down to a stencil and spray job or a sticker if you don't want to do a full strip and repaint job.

The sticker you can take off, but it could, and probably will, damage the lacquer (at least after being applied for a long time), at which point you may be forced to redo the whole finish on the guitar.

The paint cannot be taken off without refinishing the guitar. Period.

I dunno, I think the sticker is a better idea.

almighty_gir

i say just find a nice les paul, and look at the lovely lovely finnish that it has, and leave it that way